Other Sites
Storage Interface Shootout: USB2 vs FW400 vs FW800 vs SATA on the 'late 2008' MacBook Pro 2.8GHz
Engineer: Killing FireWire on MacBooks Was Necessary
The Unibody MacBook FireWire Fiasco Didn't Have to Happen
MacBook vs MacBook Pro: Hardcore Graphics Death Match
6GB of RAM Possible In New MacBook And MBP
FireWire-to-USB: MacBook Redeemer? Maybe. Not Yet.
Pogue On The MacBook Makeover
Storage Interface Shootout: USB2 vs FW400 vs FW800 vs SATA on the 'late 2008' MacBook Pro 2.8GHz
BareFeats' rob-ART morgan reports:
HardMac broke the story that the 'late 2008' MacBook Pro has improved USB 2.0 speed. We posted their link on our Quick Takes but want to "second the motion" by posting our own findings....
Insights - Rob concurs with HardMac that USB 2.0 on the new MacBooks is truly faster - but still not quite as fast as Firewire 400, noting that up until now, every time BareFeats tested a USB 2.0 storage device on a Mac, the transfer rate was about half that of FireWire 400 even though it had a higher theoretical speed rating (480Mbit/s), but obserfves that in the new MacBooks while it's still not quite as fast as FireWire 400, it's close enough to explain why Apple did away with the FW400 port on all new MacBooks and MacBook Pros.
That of course doesn't mitigate the loss of easy FireWire bootability and Target Disk Mode on the 13" MacBook.
Rob also tested two different SATA scenarios - a notebook drive in a SATA enclosure connected to a SATA Expresscard and a 1.5TB Seagate Barracuda in a SATA enclosure and connected it to the same LaCie SATA II ExpressCard/34.
Conclusion? "What SATA lacks in convenience (not built-in to MBP, no bus power), it makes up for in speed."
For the full report visit here:
http://www.barefeats.com/mbpp10.html
Engineer: Killing FireWire on MacBooks Was Necessary
Wired's Brian X. Chen reports:
The lack of a FireWire port on the new MacBooks left some disgruntled customers clamoring for an explanation to no avail. Making up for Apple's lack of a response, electrical engineer Rainer Brockerhoff studied a dissection of the MacBook's design and concluded removing the port was necessary due to a space constraint....
The new design approach involves putting the motherboard and ports all on one side of the notebook, meaning it was necessary to eliminate FireWire to make room for the Ethernet, USB and power connections.
The benefit, Brockerhoff explained, is that having the motherboard on one side of the notebook is more "rational" than having it span throughout the entire device, as it did in the older models. Also, this approach creates easier access to the battery and hard drive.....
IFixit's Luke Soules, who performed the disassembly of the MacBook cited by Brockerhoff, agreed with the engineer's assessment that there isn't room for a FireWire port given the new unibody design and motherboard layout.... But there is one way Apple can revise the MacBook design to cram in FireWire, Soules said. The company could move the security slot toward the front of the MacBook, which would require reducing the battery size and in turn cutting down on battery life - from about 5.5 hours to 4.5 hours.
For the full report visit here:
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/10/engineer-lack-o.html
The Unibody MacBook FireWire Fiasco Didn't Have to Happen
Low End Mac's Dan Knight says:
There's been a firestorm over the lack of FireWire on the Unibody MacBook. Longtime Mac users who have FireWire hard drives, camcorders, or peripherals complain the Apple has abandoned them. Support staff bemoans the loss of FireWire Target Disk Mode, a great tool for diagnostics.
As a longtime Mac user with several FireWire-only drives, I hear their pain. I'm as disappointed as anyone that Apple has abandoned the faster FireWire port, making USB 2.0 the only option for connecting peripherals.
Rainer Brockerhoff, an electrical engineer, has studied teardown photos of the aluminum MacBook carefully and determined that the size constraints imposed by the enclosure, hard drive, SuperDrive, and battery simply didn't leave enough room for power, ethernet, two USB ports, video out, microphone and headphone jacks, a security lock, and a FireWire port with all the ports on one side of the MacBook.
With the SuperDrive on the opposite side, something had to go, and eliminating FireWire removed a potential 7W power drain. According to his analysis, it made more sense to provide two USB 2.0 ports and eliminate FireWire.
I'm not convinced.....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://lowendmac.com/musings/08mm/macbook-firewire.html
MacBook vs MacBook Pro: Hardcore Graphics Death Match
Gizmodo reports:
Here they are, the MacBook and MacBook Pro graphics benchmarks you've been waiting for. Our basic Mac-only benchmarks used in our dual review were great at showing how close the CPU performance was, but not great at illustrating the disparity between chunky-hunky 9600 GT and the comparatively weak integrated 9400M that we saw firsthand while playing Spore. With a little time, we've been able to:
• Install Windows XP and run 3D Mark
• Play a little Crysis—yeah, Crysis
• Get ahold of Adobe CS4 and run some rendering jobs
The conclusion? If you're a serious gamer or work with graphics of any kind and you need an Apple laptop, you're gonna want the MacBook Pro. Here are the raw numbers to prove it.
For the full report visit here:
http://gizmodo.com/5070561/macbook-vs-macbook-pro-hardcore-graphics-death-match
6GB of RAM Possible In New MacBook And MBP
The Apple Core's Jason D. O'Grady reports:
Ramjet now offers the ability to upgrade the new aluminum MacBook and the black bezel MacBook Pro to 6GB via one 4GB SO-DIMM module (US$599) and one 2GB module ($75) to reach the system maximum of 6GB.
According to the company the modules are fully compatible with the latest Apple firmware, and are SPD configured for the MacBook and MacBook Pro.
For the full report visit here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=2465
FireWire-to-USB: MacBook Redeemer? Maybe. Not Yet.
THe Apple Blog's Darrell Etherington says:
Apple's decision to axe FireWire from the MacBook line is not sitting well with many users, to say the least....
So what can be done about, short of severe DIY case-cracking, mother-board soldering changes that could result in death and/or dismemberment? One option shows potential. According to ZDNet.com, Pixela offers a FireWire to USB DV transfer cable, designed specifically with digital video transfer in mind.
Don't go ordering one just yet, though. Currently, the cable only officially supports Windows XP (no Vista, either). So unless you're running Boot Camp, or virtualization software, you're out of luck.....
When we contacted Pixela, a representative told us that OS X support has been discussed by their planning committee, but no firm decisions to go forward have yet been made
For the full commentary visit here:
http://theappleblog.com/2008/10/30/firewire-to-usb-macbook-redeemer/
Pogue On The MacBook Makeover
The New York Times' David Pogue says:
Apple's bestselling MacBook laptop just got its 2008 makeover. It's a thing of beauty, clad in aluminum like its more expensive Pro siblings. It's slightly lighter than the previous black or white plastic models (and, at $1,300, more expensive), but feels sturdier and more sculpted, thanks to the tapered edges.
There are many changes to loveand one that makes me sad..... the MacBook doesn't have a FireWire jack.....
Last week, on the phone, I got a chance to vent my unhappiness to Steve Jobs himself....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/the-macbook-makeover/
Tags: News ď Tech-Industry ď
