Wednesday
Oct152008
New Notebooks Event
Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 12:07PM
Some pretty neat stuff was announced at Apples "Spotlight on Notebooks" event yesterday. Every man and his dog has various observations, here are just some random thoughts of mine.
Apple, please, please allow us Apple TV users to access a live stream of these events. It's so tiring to have 5 browser sessions and three chat rooms open to follow the news. I was absolutely knacked by the end of it!
That photo of the University students showing macs -I'm sure that was of a Mac user group at a campus not an actual class - bit naughty showing that. I stand corrected, it was a class of Journalists according to Stephen in the comments - my bad!
The absence of an $800 notebook was a suprise but it shouldn't have been as Apple never said there would be - the rumour sites getting it wrong again.
Reducing the price of the white MacBook to $999 - meh! In fact, the price of a white MacBook has gone up in the UK store - fantastic - not!
The "Precision Aluminium Unibody Enclosure" - fascinating to hear Jony Ive describe this and it is a big deal from Apple but looks like we missed it first time round. This is the same technique that Apple have been using for 9 months to manufacture the MacBook Air but we never realised and they never told us! With all the speculation about the 'solid brick" manufacturing process around, no one thought to examine the MBA more closely and put two and two together. Now Apple have heralded this as a new cutting edge innovation - well it's certainly innovative but hardly new.
I have to say that as a MBA owner, the laptop is one of the most solidly put together and beautifully finished notebooks I've ever owned. The feel and rigidity of the MBA is astounding in such a small unit. If they've transferred these attributes to the MacBook and MacBook Pro then they'll feel even better than they look.
New MacBook - Gorgeous! Not too concerned with the absence of Firewire 400 from these consumer units. The biggest issue is not that it won't support external Firewire Hard drives (external USB drives are OK of course) but it causes a problem for consumers with DV camcorders as these typically support Firewire.
Of course, the answer is simple - Apple would suggest that it's probably time to move to a new camcorder - one of those nice, inexpensive, HD Consumer camcorders, you know, the ones with AVCHD. Yes, the new ones that connect via USB2 and supported by iMovie08 and Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro. Problem solved and a non-issue - ahem!
MacBook Pros - The graphics chips in these look smoking hot. Very nice indeed.
New Trackpads - Use the trackpad as a button - genius. The biggest criticism of my MBA is that the button on the trackpad is too small. They've fixed this and made the trackpad 30% bigger. I've since heard you can also assign a portion of the trackpad as a right button as well. The addition of the extra gestures is just another step towards more and more gesture based actions. As Andy Inhatko says "Evolution not revolution"
Update to MacBook Air - New graphics are welcome but I'm not sure if I'll take the hit of upgrading my existing my MBA. Unless anyone makes me an offer I can't refuse for my existing MBA!
So on the whole, a good solid range of products, nor sure on the pricing but Apple know a whole lot better than I do.
Will I make the jump and upgrade or replace with a new notebook. Nah, I'd love to of course and get my hands on a new MacBook pro but my MBA is fine for my mobile computing needs at the moment.
Besides which, Apple is clearing the deck for some new product announcements at Macworld 2009, some new consumer based products I would bet. So I'll keep my hand in my pocket for now and see what happens in January.
Update: See my other posting about the implications of DisplayPort!
Technorati Tags:
Apple, mac
Apple, please, please allow us Apple TV users to access a live stream of these events. It's so tiring to have 5 browser sessions and three chat rooms open to follow the news. I was absolutely knacked by the end of it!
That photo of the University students showing macs -
The absence of an $800 notebook was a suprise but it shouldn't have been as Apple never said there would be - the rumour sites getting it wrong again.
Reducing the price of the white MacBook to $999 - meh! In fact, the price of a white MacBook has gone up in the UK store - fantastic - not!
The "Precision Aluminium Unibody Enclosure" - fascinating to hear Jony Ive describe this and it is a big deal from Apple but looks like we missed it first time round. This is the same technique that Apple have been using for 9 months to manufacture the MacBook Air but we never realised and they never told us! With all the speculation about the 'solid brick" manufacturing process around, no one thought to examine the MBA more closely and put two and two together. Now Apple have heralded this as a new cutting edge innovation - well it's certainly innovative but hardly new.
I have to say that as a MBA owner, the laptop is one of the most solidly put together and beautifully finished notebooks I've ever owned. The feel and rigidity of the MBA is astounding in such a small unit. If they've transferred these attributes to the MacBook and MacBook Pro then they'll feel even better than they look.
New MacBook - Gorgeous! Not too concerned with the absence of Firewire 400 from these consumer units. The biggest issue is not that it won't support external Firewire Hard drives (external USB drives are OK of course) but it causes a problem for consumers with DV camcorders as these typically support Firewire.
Of course, the answer is simple - Apple would suggest that it's probably time to move to a new camcorder - one of those nice, inexpensive, HD Consumer camcorders, you know, the ones with AVCHD. Yes, the new ones that connect via USB2 and supported by iMovie08 and Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro. Problem solved and a non-issue - ahem!
MacBook Pros - The graphics chips in these look smoking hot. Very nice indeed.
New Trackpads - Use the trackpad as a button - genius. The biggest criticism of my MBA is that the button on the trackpad is too small. They've fixed this and made the trackpad 30% bigger. I've since heard you can also assign a portion of the trackpad as a right button as well. The addition of the extra gestures is just another step towards more and more gesture based actions. As Andy Inhatko says "Evolution not revolution"
Update to MacBook Air - New graphics are welcome but I'm not sure if I'll take the hit of upgrading my existing my MBA. Unless anyone makes me an offer I can't refuse for my existing MBA!
So on the whole, a good solid range of products, nor sure on the pricing but Apple know a whole lot better than I do.
Will I make the jump and upgrade or replace with a new notebook. Nah, I'd love to of course and get my hands on a new MacBook pro but my MBA is fine for my mobile computing needs at the moment.
Besides which, Apple is clearing the deck for some new product announcements at Macworld 2009, some new consumer based products I would bet. So I'll keep my hand in my pocket for now and see what happens in January.
Update: See my other posting about the implications of DisplayPort!
Technorati Tags:
Apple, mac
Reader Comments (6)
"The biggest issue is not that it won’t support Hard drives"
Don, what do you mean it won't support hard drives?
Thanks,
DW
Hi Don,
The only thing I'm currently waiting on is a 17'' MBP, and sadly that's the only one which didn't make it. Overeall, I think Apple has a few nice new products.
I'm waiting just a bit longer to get me a new 17'' MBP and a new MacPro :-)
Regards,
Stefaan
DW, by that I meant that a lot of people like to use Firewire External drives rather than USB hard drives and so will be forced to use USB.
I think I'll clarify that in the post - thanks for the heads up.
Don
Any thoughts on the erosion of the 'Pro' distinction in terms of looks?
They both look really sexy, but does that take away from the professional-ness of the old MBP brushed-all-over look and make it a less distinct model from the consumer MacBook?
It's also interesting how the bar to entry is actually being raised in terms of price. I can't help thinking Apple are doing 'exclusivity management' if that makes sense - making sure the MacBook doesn't get too popular to become ubiquitous and therefore lose some appeal for being different.
Hi Peter,
I think it's clear to see that there is some erosion, but I think it's deliberate. Apple are upping the status of the MacBook - their best selling notebook, so that can only assist in selling more. I think the Pro range is still going to appeal to the people who need pro features - larger screen real estate, faster graphics, more expandability.
"That photo of the University students showing macs - I’m sure that was of a Mac user group at a campus not an actual class - bit naughty showing that."
These are journalism students:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flickerbulb/1477994596/
Maybe not quite a random sampling since journalism students are probably more likely to use Macs but not quite as naughty as showing a Mac user group.