Apple MacBook Range Update Detailed Comments

metal never looked so tasty

Your know it Darky I ordered a top line macbook pricey but im worth it

only downer is I have to wait until the 29th for delivery

noooooooooooooooo

I wonder why apple has gone for such a love it or hate it design. It was understandable for the air as that's mostly a fashion item but on more practical machines it seems like it's just going to drive away customers who hate the designs without doing more to give apple a unique look.

i've placed an order right now for the base macbook pro. but the increased price tag is seriously stinging. i was hoping for a £1000 price tag... but oh no, apple just have to use the most complex manufacturing process, and bring prices right down to earth...

oh well, all will be resolved once i recieve my first mac :D

on a side note, i hate the fact that matte screens aren't an option >:(

and can the two graphics card work simultaneously (like amd's crossfire x for notebooks)?

and how will that huge buttonless trackpad work in bootcamp windows? i will still need windows for 1 or 2 applications (3ds max STILL has no mac version...)

so has anyone crunched the numbers on what it will set us back compared to the US?

- how bad is the "being british" tax this time?

@theory28: http://www.apple.com/ukstore

it looks very similar to the alienware area-51 m15x and on that you can change the colour of the backlit keyboard depending on your mood

maybe i'll just never understand macs. these do look lovely but £949 for 2GB of ram and a 160GB hard drive. they do look nice but you've gotta be having a laugh?

Yes, let's all spend £2k on an average spec laptop. Sad, fashion victim with money to burn? Ready, Steady...GO! Everyone else...Move along, nothing to see here, move along.

It's the OS that ultimately makes the price tag worth it. I never understood Macs either (though had never used one), then I took up a job at Apple... Having used a MBP every day for the past 18 months I'll never go back.

This article reads like it was written by an over-excited 12 year old. Why does a normally credible technology digest site crumble into a gushing mess over anything apple (or SSD) related?

These new macs certainly look stunning, but I am concerned about the price bumps, especially the macbook line. I could just about justify the cost of the mid-level macbook to someone with the previous generation of machines, but I really think I'd struggle to with that £949 RRP. Apple really do seem to be sticking two fingers up to the "style over substance" criticisms.

I was also hoping to see the resolution bumps on both pro and regular machines. 1680x1050 on the pro and 144x990 on the regular. In my opinion, the pro needs it more than macbook, but in both cases, they are premium machines and should be kitted out accordingly. This was one of the main reasons I traded in my MBP for an imac.

>> maybe i'll just never understand macs. these do look lovely but £949 for 2GB of ram and
>> a 160GB hard drive. they do look nice but you've gotta be having a laugh?


What's not to understand? Take a look at Apple's earnings and market growth and compare that to high volume vendors. Porsche is selling like a handful of overpriced cars and yet they are slowly taking over VW who are selling like 50x as many cars.

It's marketing 101: find your niche and milk it.

I can no longer defend Apple anymore, they are just no too expensive.

Long time Mac user from Mini-MacBook-iMac-MBP and now can't justify going the new route, or pushing my misses onto a Mac. Will tell her to get a Dell instead and save the money :(

Excellent. It appears that there is no longer a Firewire port on the Macbook. That will please Duet owners looking for a portable setup.

I watched the keynote, and they say that there are now more multi touch features (such as 4 finger gestures for expose, and desktop) and the fact that there was no right click button didn't matter before, why would it matter now that the button is gone? In the keynote presentation they say that you can change the settings so you can right click with windows as well.

I am definitely ordering one, but I have to make up my mind about which to buy. the 15 inch MBP, or the 13 MB. hmm.

Anyone noticed the 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo CTO option on the 2.53GHz MBP? Which CPU is that?! :)

I can't believe I'm going to be the one that brings this up...

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BLACK MACBOOK!? :(

Is firewire800 compatible with 400 through some kind of adapter? What about all the current firewire-equipped video cameras?

As usual Apple come up with products that look great but are impractical and too expensive. A large portion of Apples user base is professionals in the movie/photo editing business and Apple really need to get it into their heads that these people DO NOT want to work with glossy screens, and especially not glossy screens with glossy glass in front of them.

I'm a big fan of Apple software (except iTunes), I even use Safari as my default browser on my PC. But Apple your software is not and never will be worth the insane premium you stick on your machines. Seriously your notebooks are matched in specs by reputable manufacturers such as Dell, Asus, Acer, Samsung, Lenovo, Toshiba and more by notebooks that are half the price. And yes you may produce some nice looking (if a little bland) designs for your products, and you may have an easy to use yet no more stable then Windows operating system, but that is still not worth a 100% premium over your competitors!

The blackbook is gone and with 6 months so probably will the white book, apple are using a new process which is more costly eventually this process will get cheaper and so will the new macbooks.

GherkinG said on 15th October 2008

"Is firewire800 compatible with 400 through some kind of adapter? What about all the current firewire-equipped video cameras?"

Firewire 800 is backwards compatible with 400. Suitable cables are widely available.

Nice laptop, shame about the price. I was really looking forward to this update as a Macbook was at the top of my shopping list for xmas. However it is about £250 more than I wanted/can afford to pay.

Yet more style over substance from Apple

No firewire on the macbook, so wouldn't be able to use either my audio interface or videocamera with it and the lust disappears in a puff of smoke, oh well.

Do we know what brand SSD's Apple are using yet?

I had the same complaints about the price when I was switching after 20 years of Windows. Comparable hardware from a PC company was significantly cheaper. Now that I've been using my 17" MBP since April, I have to say that it's been worth every dollar because of the OS and the fact that the machine itself is very well designed IMO. Neither are perfect, nothing is, but it's pretty close when it comes to my needs and opinions.

Due to having to pack it around a lot, I was considering switching to a 15" and now that the new models are out I'm even more temped to do so. At first I was tempted a little by the MB, but having had a Sony SZ for several months I already know that the vertical screen resolution is something I could never get used to, so I'm going to stick with the 15" MBP.

Having already decided, the only money-related decision for me is whether I get a new one of a previous version for much less money. I have no complaints at all about the hardware on the unit that I already have other than the lack of an HDMI port and since the new models also lack this, it's a moot point. (Even if a refresh of the 17" adds one, I'm still no longer interested in a 17", so it's still moot.) I don't mind parting with the money for a new 15" because I can still get $2k for my 17" where I am, so that takes a lot of the sting out of it. However, I may cheap out and just get a previous model as there aren't a lot of actual "performance" updates on the new one. (Mind you, the updates that are there are for the most part, very nice. It's just a little harder for me to justify based on non-horsepower related things.)

As for the details and marketing of the new models, these are my thoughts and opinions. (And probably some incorrect assumptions.)

The milled chassis is awesome. Rigid, solid, etc. However, I don't understand the marketing of it being "seamless" and "one piece": My MBP is a metal bowl with the stuff secured into it and a lid put on. Two pieces, one seam. The new models are an upside down bowl with the stuff secured into it and a bottom put on. Two pieces (albeit both metal this time), one seam. So again, IMO, and cool change, but deceptive marketing, unless I'm not "getting it".

The marketing of the display going all the way out to the edge. Huh? Does that black bezel go away and turn into display space? :-) If one considers the display assembly as a whole to be "the display" then I guess every laptop on the market can tout the same claim. Sorry, "notebook". I'm old.

The glossy display is a wash for me. I had an awesome Dell XPS2 gaming laptop for years and it's glossy display not only never bothered me, but I ended up preferring it. Then once I moved to the MBP without one, I ended up liking that just as well. Having spent way too much time in front of both, I now realize that for *me* it makes no difference. I'll just get used to either one in no time at all.

I like the side-loading CD as my MBP often sits closed and on it's forward edge when I am using an external kit with it. I always have to take it down to access the drive.

I don't like the lack of a full size DVI port. The mini may look prettier, but was it a structural design necessity or just asthetics and a way to sell more dongles.

I don't like the lack of an HDMI port. (Gotta sell those Apple TV's I guess.)

The battery indicator on the chassis instead of on the battery is neat looking, but a bit against the point if you have an extra battery or two: More useful to be able to check the level of your spares without doing a swap first. Small things.

All around very nice looking machines though. I just have to decide between the latest or saving some cash and getting the now hideously outdated OLD one from days gone by. (Soon to be weeks gone by!) In the end, I'll probably get a new one because I like toys.

i still have to wait a little while for my 15 inch base model... so frustrating

Any idea when a review model is coming in? I've not been able to find a review of this yet - anywhere.

I actually tried out the touchpad when I went into my local Apple shop (I was purchasing an iPod at the time), and whilst I thought the glass touchpad would be a bit smudgy smudgy, like the iSmear, it's actually really, really nice.