FYI: Amazon is having some special rebates right now on the new Apple Laptops. $100 rebate on the new MacBook Pro
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I couldn't resist taking a drive to the local Apple Store to check out the new MacBook and MacBook Pro that were announced on October 14th.
I was personally interested in a few features:
- The new Aluminum Unibody - a seamless enclosure carved from a single piece of aluminum.
- The Glass TrackPad that acts as a single button.
- The Mini DisplayPort connection which replaces the DVI or Dual-Link DVI Connector
- The black “border“ around the display like the new iMac
- Any difference in graphics with the MacBook Pro, which has two NVIDIA Chips - NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
MacBook Aluminum Unibody
High five to Apple for a sexy Aluminum Unibody on the new MacBook and MacBook Pro. You really need to see it up close and touch it to experience the difference. Pictures and description won't do it justice.
The new Apple notebooks are solid and polished and are indeed a huge difference compared to my 6-month-old MacBook Pro. There are no visible screws and no squeaking that occurs like when you rest your hands on it like other notebooks. The keys on the keyboard are so much more secure, durable, and less prone to dust and dirt as they protrude through their respective areas in the aluminum unibody shell.
Seriously, the new Aluminum shells are hands down the best design.
Glass Trackpad
If nobody told you the TrackPad was glass, you wouldn't think it was glass. Feels the same as on my 17” older MacBook Pro except:
- It is quite a bit larger
- It doesn't have a separate button
- It is a button
You can press anywhere on the TrackPad and it will physically move up and down and click. It sounds cheesy, but it really is slick. It also supports new gestures that you can read about on the Apple Website.
Even better, if you also go into System Preferences, you can optionally configure the bottom right corner of the TrackPad to act as a Right-Click. Therefore, when you press down in the vicinity of the right bottom corner it will do a Right-Click instead of a Left-Click.
Kudos to Apple for the nice Glass Trackpad as well. It turned out better than I expected.
Mini DispayPort Connection
The Mini DisplayPort Connection is a smaller replacement to the DVI or Dual-Link DVI Connectors. Right now I have a Dual-Link DVI Connector on my 17“ MacBook Pro to drive the 30“ Apple Cinema Display HD. It is rather big and bulky compared to the Mini DisplayPort.
However, I have concern here that Apple is pushing another of its own connectors. You heard what happened on the new MacBook, right? Apple does not have a FireWire Connector on it and many people still have video cameras and what not that only have a FireWire connection on them. Only the new MacBook Pro has a FireWire 800 Port and just one.
So what makes Apple think I want another one of its notebooks that only has a Mini DisplayPort connector only to have them dump it for another standard and now I am stuck with a useless Mini DisplayPort connection on my MacBook with nothing to connect it to? Could happen :)
Besides, I have a 30” Apple Cinema Display HD and they are charging $99 for a Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter. Geez...
Thumbs down on the Mini DisplayPort Connection unless I hear something positive other than it is smaller. Thumbs down on the fact that the MacBook doesn't have a FireWire 800 port as well.
Update 10/18/2008 - DisplayPort in New MacBook and MacBook Pro is an Industry Standard
Black Border around Display
This is nit-picking a bit, but I have a preference for the aluminum / silver color around my current MacBook Pro Display as opposed to that black border that they used on the new iMac and now on the new MacBook and MacBook Pro. That goes for the keyboard keys, too. I like the silver-colored keyboard keys as opposed to the black-colored keys on the new MacBook and MacBook Pro. Just a preference. Your opinion may be different.
As mentioned above, however, I do like the fact that the keyboard keys now protrude up from the new unibody aluminum frame - much more solid, secure, and I suspect dust and dirt free.
Graphics
I can't tell squat about the graphics from a simple trip to the Apple Store. Heck, you knew that. Everything looks the same. However, the reason Apple switched to NVIDIA was to get a huge performance boost in graphics. I suspect it is a lot better, but let's wait for some benchmarks to be published.
Btw, recent MacWorld Benchmarks suggest the MacBook and MacBook Pro are much closer in performance than previous models, making the MacBook possibly a more attractive buy than the MacBook Pro. Of course, like I said, no FireWire on the MacBook and the MacBook Pro does have that NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT if you truly need the graphics performance ( it comes at a price however ).
Here are some thoughts from the MacWorld Article:
“So with graphics now on more equal footing, the new differentiator between the MacBook and MacBook Pro is the former’s lack of FireWire ports. The MacBook sports a pair of USB 2.0 ports, and while USB is everywhere, for many users, the absence of FireWire is a deal breaker. I have to admit, I’m really unhappy about this, too. USB is slower, doesn’t offer the convenience of FireWire Target Disk Mode for easy system migration (a task I perform countless times a year), MiniDV Camcorder transfers into iMovie HD will become much more difficult, and the speed of USB 2.0 pales in comparison to FireWire 400 on the Mac. And without a card slot to add this functionality, it appears that users will once again have to decide between having a smaller and lighter system and having basic Mac functionality. We’ll be running some USB 2.0 vs FireWire tests shortly and will report to you our findings.”
Good Point. The MacBook doesn't have an ExpressCard/34 slot like the MacBook Pro so you are somewhat screwed if you really need a FireWire Port.
I plan to keep my 17” MacBook Pro for now :) Nothing compelling to move to a newer MacBook or MacBook Pro. However, if I was in the market for a new notebook, I would buy a new MacBook or MacBook Pro hands down. Although I don't agree with all of Apple's changes, they make really good hardware!
New MacBook and MacBook Pro Posts