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New MacBooks: What Apple Got Right And What We Want
Inside the new MacBooks: Audio and Video
Inside the new MacBooks: FireWire, USB, and the NVIDIA Controller
On the Way Out: FireWire and Matte Screens?
New MacBook Pro Battery Has Less Battery Power Than Old One
FireWire's MacBook Absence—Inconvenience Or Fatal Flaw?
Apple MacBook Late 2008: review
Jobs responds to outrage over MacBook's missing FireWire
Death to FireWire 400
Aw, I Just Bought A MacBook Last Week ...
FireWire Isn't Alone: A Brief History of Features Apple Has Killed
Farewell, my lovely FireWire
Apple Knows Best? Don't You Believe It!
New MacBooks: What Apple Got Right And What We Want
PC World's Nick Mediati says:
Apple's new MacBooks are finally here, and the upgrades they feature are more than modest. The new Apple laptops sport slimmer designs, brighter and more power-efficient LED-backlit screens, new graphics systems, buttonless trackpads and more. The updates have led some people to wonder whether now is the time to switch from a PC to a Mac.
But as cool as the updates are, Apple has not achieved MacBook perfection. Here's a look at what Apple got right and what I would have liked to see....
You can check it out at:
http://tinyurl.com/6s6hl7
Inside the new MacBooks: Audio and Video
Appleinsider's Prince McLean reports:
Apple's new MacBook and MacBook Pro models present a variety of changes in the way audio and video are handled, including support for iPhone-style integrated mic headphones and the new DisplayPort standard. Here's what's new in audio and video....
You can check it out at:
http://tinyurl.com/5j7yrq
Inside the new MacBooks: FireWire, USB, and the NVIDIA Controller
Appleinsider's Prince McLean reports:
Apple's new MacBook and MacBook Pro models contain more innovation than just their case design, graphics, and the improved accessibility of their internals. Here's a look at other details related to FireWire, USB, and the new NVIDIA-based controller that replaces Intel's chipset.
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/6ym8c4
On the Way Out: FireWire and Matte Screens?
TidBits' Adam C. Engst says:
Last week's introduction of the redesigned MacBook and MacBook Pro brought a number of welcome (or at least interesting) changes - the buttonless glass trackpad, a magnetic latch for the MacBook Pro, the capability to drive a 30-inch external display, and more.
But two seemingly small details have generated a firestorm of complaints from Mac users: the elimination of FireWire from the MacBook, and the dropping of a matte screen option from the MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro (the 17-inch MacBook Pro retains the matte option for now). Has Apple gone too far in the quest to simplify, or are users just whinging? And with the removal of FireWire - first from the MacBook Air and now with the MacBook - are we seeing the beginning of the end of the technology for Mac users?
For the full commentary visit here:
http://db.tidbits.com/article/9818
New MacBook Pro Battery Has Less Battery Power Than Old One
Gizmodo reports:
This confirms what I suspected—the new MacBook Pro battery has a lower capacity than the old one. About 16 percent less to be specific. The old battery was rated at 5600mAh/60Wh, but the new ones are rated at 4700mAh/50Wh. This perfectly explains why you now need to use the integrated Nvidia GeForce 9400M on the new Pro to get the same five-hour (rated, not real world) battery life as you did with the discrete 8600M GT on the previous-gen Pro......
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/56qe8q
FireWire's MacBook Absence—Inconvenience Or Fatal Flaw?
Macworld's Peter Cohen says:
As our first look at Apple's new laptops suggests, there's plenty to talk about with the new laptops introduced this week. But it's what's not there in the revamped MacBook product line that has people talking - yelling in some cases. And that's Apple's as-of-yet unexplained decision to drop FireWire connectivity from its consumer-focused laptops. Some users are saying point-blank that they're not going to order the new hardware without FireWire.
The absence of FireWire ports is certainly an inconvenience for some users. But it shouldn't be considered a deal-breaker for most of us, anyway....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.macworld.com/article/136200/2008/10/macbook_firewire.html
Apple MacBook Late 2008: review
The Register's Stephen Dean reports:
Apple's MacBook: the junior MacBook Pro in all but name....
Those specifications aren't drastically different from those of the last generation of MacBooks, which raises a question mark over the price increase.....
Apple explains this by saying that the two main requests they have received from MacBook users were for a metal casing and improved graphics performance. In other words, they wanted the MacBook to be more like its big brother, the more powerful and expensive MacBook Pro.
And that's pretty much what they got - the new MacBook is, in essence, a slightly smaller version of the MacBook Pro. Think of it as the 13in MacBook Pro that sits alongside the new 15.4in MacBook Pro and the upcoming revamped 17in model.....
For the full review visit here:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/17/review_laptop_apple_macbook/
Jobs responds to outrage over MacBook's missing FireWire
Appleinsider's Prince McLean reports:
In one of his characteristically terse email replies, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has reportedly told one Mac user that changes in video camera technology have reduced the need for FireWire on his company's 13-inch MacBooks.
The one-line response to a fan complaining over the lack of FireWire on the new entry level aluminum MacBooks is blunt but also points out that technology has changed since the company began including FireWire with Macs in 1999.....
You can check it out at:
http://tinyurl.com/644an6
Death to FireWire 400
Salon's Cyrus Farivar says:
...For a company that hasn't even yet cracked the 10 percent market share of the computer industry, Apple is remarkably adept at making spec decisions that affect the entire industry.
The new round of laptops ditch FireWire 400 in favor of USB 2.0. As many longtime Apple watchers no doubt recall, it was but 13 years ago that Apple helped usher in this new standard of high-speed data transfer between peripheral and computer....
But with the sudden dissappearance of FireWire 400.... it seems pretty clear that this standard is no more. Even Steve Jobs himself wrote one customer to say that he didn't need it anymore.
Many Apple fans aren't too thrilled with this decision. Just read the Apple discussion boards....
For the full report visit here:
http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2008/10/17/apple_firewire/
Aw, I Just Bought A MacBook Last Week ...
TUAW's Cory Bohon says:
When I was faced with the decision of buying a MacBook Pro or waiting, I immediately took the leap of faith without knowing if Apple would be releasing a new unit within the next few weeks or not. As it turns out, I was wrong and Apple did release a new MacBook Pro. However, I did not suck it up and go on ... I went searching for some answers as to what you can do if you are in the same situation. In this post, I'm going to tell you what I found out.....
You can check it out at:
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/10/17/awe-i-just-bought-a-macbook-last-week/
FireWire Isn't Alone: A Brief History of Features Apple Has Killed
Technologizer's Harry McCracken reports:
Apple has a storied history of being the first company to introduce an array of new technologies in its computers, or among the very first, at least. It all started with color graphics in 1977's Apple II and continuied features such as graphical user interfaces, Firewire, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and light-up keyboardsand items such as the buttonless touchpads on its new laptops. But it's just as core to the company's character that it's often the first company to kill a technology if it appears to be heading for the dustbin of computing history.
Which is causing a bit of a firestorm this week: The new MacBook has no FireWire port, and some Apple fans are very, very unhappy about that. In our T-Poll on the topic, 49% of respondents are pretty ticked off, and 85% think FireWire still has life in it; only 10 percent applaud Apple's decision....
Like I say, Apple would clearly prefer to move too fast rather than too slowly when it comes to eliminating technologies that may be past their prime.....I know of no instances in which feedback from angry customers caused it to reverse its decisions.....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/66mrh7
Farewell, my lovely FireWire
The Guardian's Charles Arthur says:
Down these mean streets a man must go, and if he's carrying a modern camcorder, then it's going to have USB 2.0, not FireWire. And that, in a nutshell, is why it's farewell, my lovely, to FireWire - according to no less an authority than Steve Jobs...
So wait - FireWire is faster, yet USB2 wins out? Yup. Why? Because USB was originally driven by a group that included Intel, which pushed it further with USB2. Intel dominates in this field; the Intel-backed standard wins. It's a classic case of "good enough" coming through in technology,,,,,
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2008/oct/17/apple
Apple Knows Best? Don't You Believe It!
ZNet's Joe Brockmeier says:
I hope Ron Miller's latest post on Daniweb doesn't go to Steve Jobs' head. According to Miller, Apple knows best, and we ought to just accept that.
No thanks. Now, I'm pretty sure Ron's being somewhat facetious, but I'm not sure Apple thinks differently. Watching the Cupertino crowd over the years, I'm pretty sure they do think they know best.
He's referring to Apple's decision to scuttle the Firewire port on the new line of MacBooks....
Overall, I find Apple's "we know how you should use your computer" attitude really off-putting — and one of the reasons I just can't see switching to Mac OS X. Linux isn't perfect, but the primary assumption behind the OS is that the user knows best how they want to use the system. That's something I can get behind.....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/community/?p=120
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