(Updated 10/21/08) Steve Jobs and Co. rolled out their new line of laptops today, making big changes to the existing Macbook, Macbook Air and Macbook Pro models. But with one exception, the new models are more of a step backwards, a lost opportunity, than an improvement.
The one indisputable improvement is with the graphics chips. Nvidia’s new GeForce 9400M chip and the even faster GeForce 9600M GT version are a gigantic improvement over the integrated graphics controllers in the previous Macbooks and Macbook Airs and a solid improvement even over the Macbook Pro. If you’re into playing computer games, this is a must-buy, must-upgrade justification. For everyone else? Not so much.
Look at what else changed. Again, we have Jobs’ useless emphasis of the thinness of the new models. Does anyone actually care about this? It’s like laptop anorexia. Despite the prettier dressings, the new Macbook Pro models are the same weight as the old ones, a feature people do care about. I really am not very interested in how many chips are inside my laptop or whatever other invisible, irrelevant improvements Apple made.
In addition to the lack of weight savings, the new models have about the same battery life (BUT SEE UPDATE2 BELOW) and got only mild speed bumps for their main processors. I do like the fact that hard drives on the new Macbook Pros are accessible/upgradable by users.
A couple of the other changes, however, are actually worse options than what was on previous models. There’s no longer a matte-finish screen option. All the laptops come with hyper-reflective glossy displays. Ugh. And they all come with the chicklet-like keyboards that aren’t as good for quick typing as the flatter keyboards on earlier Macbook Pros. More minor annoying changes include the loss of Firewire 400 and DVI ports on the Macbook Pro, which still has a Firewire 800 port. The Macbook loses Firewire connectivity completely. There’s a new port for connecting to displays (dubbed, logically enough, the “Mini Displayport”) but no cables or adapters in the box to connect it to any of your existing hardware. For $29, you can get a dinky cable to plug your DVI cable into the new Mini Displayport.
And of course, there’s the prices. An old model of the Macbook was cut to $999 from $1,099 but new models are at or above the old prices. These are tough economic times and a price cut could have a game-changer (as some Wall Street analysts were expecting).
Bottom line, from a laptop user’s perspective? Crappy displays and less useful keyboards are a hard pill to swallow when the only real benefit of the new lines is better graphics performance.
Now, about that hackintosh…
UPDATE:
A few worthy links:
Mac OS X Hints is running a poll on the new glosssy screens. So far, a plurality are with me and hate the super-reflective display.
Jason Snell has his usual comprehensive run down on changes and new features over at Macworld. He’s pretty stoked about the new Macbook and correctly notes that it’s half a pound lighter than the previous model (my bad).
John Gruber rounds up and roasts all the off-the-mark rumor mongers.
BetaNews reports on Jobs’ post-presentation remarks, including his view that the low-cost netbook segment (cough – hackintosh – cough) is “a nascent market that’s just getting started” and “we’ll see how it goes.”
And mobile specialist JKontheRun wants to see something in the lower-end portable category from Apple.
UPDATE2:
There are reports that Apple actually reduced battery capacity and battery life is suffering, according to Ars Technica’s review of the new Macbook Pro.
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