Apple Unveils New MacBook

[Jack Bauer]

LINK: http://www.apple.com/macbook/macbook.html

The MacBook at a glance:

1.83GHz or 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo
13.3-inch (diagonal) TFT glossy widescreen display
Apple Remote with Front Row
Up to 2GB memory(3)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Slot-loading optical drive
Up to 120GB hard drive(3)
Built-in 54-Mbps 802.11g AirPort Extreme wireless
Analog and digital audio in and out
FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 ports
iLife ’06, Mac OS X Tiger

It is also available in black or white, much like the new iPods. I'm personally excited about the iBook's long-awaited replacement. It looks awesome and the specs are definitely a step-up from its predecessor. And its attractively priced as well.

[Alferd Packer]

More like iSpooge. Goddamn, that's a slick machine.

[Melchior]

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950

Interesting, but isn't this a pretty bad card?

[Seggybop]

It looks really cool, but it seems like that's the main thing you're paying for. Too bad, since the previous release of MacBook Pro was the best laptop available for the money.

[Durandal]

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950

Interesting, but isn't this a pretty bad card?

Yes, but the average consumer doesn't really care.

[Shogoki]

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950

Interesting, but isn't this a pretty bad card?

I thought people would know by now that's just how Apple rolls when it comes to video cards. Everytime a new computer by Apple comes out, this comment pops up.

[InnocentBystander]

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950

Interesting, but isn't this a pretty bad card?

I thought people would know by now that's just how Apple rolls when it comes to video cards. Everytime a new computer by Apple comes out, this comment pops up.

Everyone else makes machines which have quality graphics cards, I have to figure that eventually they'll offer a wider selection. Right..?

[RThurmont]

Tsk tsk, Apple doesn't have to have quality graphics cards, don't you know. The reason? Because they're Apple.

Seriously, I like the look of new MacBook, although I disagree with Apple's abandoning the iBook/PowerBook branding in favor of the MacBook/MacBook Pro branding, for two reasons:

1. The new duo-tier branding has the effect of positioning the MacBook Pro primarily as a PC for business users, which is moronic, since it is a PC that is every bit as appealing to the average user who has $4,000 or so to burn on a new laptop.

2. The new branding is annoyingly reminscent of Microsoft's tacky "Standard Edition" and "Professional Edition" brand architectures.

My professional annoyance at the new branding aside, this is a geniunely intriguing product. I like the magnetic power cord, I like the new keyboard, and who knows, maybe I'll pick one of these up. I've been literally spending days working in Powerpoint designing training presentations for my client here in Ghana, and I am darn frustrated with it-and am tempted to get a Mac if for no other reason than to get to use iWork with the cool, crisp Keynote graphics.

[Shogoki]

I can't think of a single Apple computer since the G4 that didnt come with a second or third rate video card as the default option, even the dual G5 only had a 9600 as default. If anything it was to be expected for them to go for the even cheaper solutions made available when they "switched" to Intel, and that's just what they've been doing since.

But really, the average user can't tell an IGPU from a proper video card if it came up to it and hit it in the face with a baseball bat.

[Stark]

But who cares? Sure it's unnecessarily cheap, but it's not like anyone is going to play games on an Apple laptop anyway. Maybe they figure that so long as the card can keep up with their desktop and regular apps, it's good enough.

[Spacebeard]

Seriously, I like the look of new MacBook, although I disagree with Apple's abandoning the iBook/PowerBook branding in favor of the MacBook/MacBook Pro branding, for two reasons:

1. The new duo-tier branding has the effect of positioning the MacBook Pro primarily as a PC for business users, which is moronic, since it is a PC that is every bit as appealing to the average user who has $4,000 or so to burn on a new laptop.

2. The new branding is annoyingly reminscent of Microsoft's tacky "Standard Edition" and "Professional Edition" brand architectures.

I hate the branding also, but for a different reason: I just find the name "MacBook" repulsive. I refuse to utter it aloud and in speech still refer to these laptops as "the new PowerBooks" and "the new iBooks". I'm also a little annoyed that they dropped the "PowerBook" name, which had been Apple's longest-running brand name other than "Macintosh" (beginning with the PowerBook 100 in 1991).

As for the issue of "Pro" implying business and thus turning off wealthy individuals, I think first of all in the case of Apple products it's meant to imply "creative professional" instead - photographers, filmmakers, artists, musicians - and second of all my experience with wealthy individuals indicates that they're easily able to convince themselves that they really do need the "business", "professional", or "enterprise" versions of everything. Don't wealthy individuals still buy "business class" airline tickets?

At any rate, I'm in the market for a new laptop, and I'm torn at the moment between this and a previous-generation ThinkPad for a similar price. The pros of the new iBook, from my perspective, are the dual-core CPU and the magnetic power connector (my previous laptop, a circa-2002 iBook, went through three AC adaptors and two DC-in boards due to tripping accidents). The pros of the ThinkPad are the rugged exterior, the TPM chip and fingerprint reader, and the fact that it will run OpenBSD near-perfectly while the "MacBook" won't at all.

But who cares? Sure it's unnecessarily cheap, but it's not like anyone is going to play games on an Apple laptop anyway. Maybe they figure that so long as the card can keep up with their desktop and regular apps, it's good enough.

Right, although I think it's far less "cheap" than a lot of people seem to think; a brief look at competitors' websites shows that 13.3-inch laptops with a dedicated GPU aren't too common, they tend to cost more than this one does, and in one case they even have a hardware toggle to use the integrated graphics instead for improved battery life. And the dedicated GPU they give you still sucks for gaming. If you want a fancy framebuffer, you really should be looking at a desktop or at least a big-ass 17-inch desktop-replacement notebook.

[phongn]

I can't think of a single Apple computer since the G4 that didnt come with a second or third rate video card as the default option, even the dual G5 only had a 9600 as default. If anything it was to be expected for them to go for the even cheaper solutions made available when they "switched" to Intel, and that's just what they've been doing since.

The MBP comes with a pretty good GPU (Mobility Radeon X1600) and the Intel iMac comes with the desktop RX1600.

[Uraniun235]

Most Mac faa... fanatics (ahem) are far too refined for such low-brow entertainment as *sniff* electronic games.

[Stark]

People who play games on laptops are NOT like me, and I will never understand them. Shit keyboard, delicate hardware, huge cost, battery limitations... Even worse on an APPLE laptop, where there are bugger all games anyway.

[Kettch]

People who play games on laptops are NOT like me, and I will never understand them. Shit keyboard, delicate hardware, huge cost, battery limitations... Even worse on an APPLE laptop, where there are bugger all games anyway.

Um when did I hit the way back button to 1998?

If you just have to play that new game & can't wait for the port, why not boot up the Mac in XP?

In other news, Ars did a head to head between the Univeral Binary Q4 & by loading it via boot camp.

[Stark]

Oh fuck off you horrible little man. Spending double for a laptop and dealing with all the laptop bullshit is a silly way to buy a game platform, and the graphics hardware is fine for what it's designed for. It doesn't even have a massive widescreen media monitor! Why would a gamer even BUY it?

[InnocentBystander]

Oh fuck off you horrible little man. Spending double for a laptop and dealing with all the laptop bullshit is a silly way to buy a game platform, and the graphics hardware is fine for what it's designed for. It doesn't even have a massive widescreen media monitor! Why would a gamer even BUY it?

Mobility is a joyous thing to have.

[RedImperator]

Unless you travel a lot, why in the hell would you spend extra money for a laptop gaming rig, Mac or PC? Hell, I play about three games and I have a separate Winblows box for it. The laptop--and iBook G4--is for work and the Internet.

Speaking of, my iBook has been an absolute workhorse for me, completely reliable and painless to operate. Joke about Mac fanatics all you want, this is by far the best laptop I've ever owned, and probably the best computer period. I probably wouldn't have gotten through grad school without it. It's too new for me to even think about upgrading, but I'm going to whatever iteration of the MacBook is available when the time comes.

[Uraniun235]

If you just have to play that new game & can't wait for the port, why not boot up the Mac in XP?

Rebooting just to play a game? Barf, man, just barf. Completely inconvenient and unacceptable. (Especially to anyone picky and discerning enough to buy a new Mac. Jesus.)

Mobility is a joyous thing to have.

A "gaming laptop" is nowhere near as mobile as a lighter laptop. There are a few circumstances where a "gaming laptop" might be called for, but for the most part they're an unwise purchase compared to a lighter, leaner laptop coupled with a gaming desktop.

[Durandal]

But who cares? Sure it's unnecessarily cheap, but it's not like anyone is going to play games on an Apple laptop anyway. Maybe they figure that so long as the card can keep up with their desktop and regular apps, it's good enough.

And they're exactly right. People who want to play WoW on their Mac laptops should go with a MacBook Pro. I'd never buy a laptop for gaming anyway (the gaming "laptops" I've seen have all been at least 1 1/2 inches thick, huge and ugly as sin), but whatever floats your boat.

Seriously, all this whining about integrated graphics in machines that are basically meant for e-mail, surfing, paper-writing and maybe some mild multimedia work is just absurd. The GMA950 isn't anything to write home about, but it supports CoreImage and Quartz 2D Extreme, which means the GUI will be plenty fast.

[His Divine Shadow]

I only got 200 euros so far in my savings account, far from being able to afford the new 17" powerbook... Besides I'm likely to blow the money on a Ruger before... I ain't going to have a new computer for a loong time.

[rhoenix]

I bought a Powerbook apparently right before Apple switched to Intel. Yes, you smartasses, I'm painfully aware that Mac OS X has utter shit for games. However, whatever else I've done with it, it's done efficiently, flawlessly, and quite fast, even today. I've had it now for about a year or more, and I still love it. My usual uptimes with my laptop are in the 30+ days range - usually reset due to Apple releasing an update that requires rebooting (...I'm still not quite sure why it requires a full reboot, since it's built on UNIX...but anyway).

The new MacBook just sounds...dumb, in my opinion. iBook and Powerbook just sound more catchy. The stats on both are...deeply impressive, and I found it quite cool that the upper-end MacBook is black in color, not white.

[weemadando]

Why do you need a graphics card on an apple anyway. If it can handle Myth2 then its as up to date as it needs to be...

[Seggybop]

It really doesn't take much for a laptop to be able to play most modern games. My laptop cost less than one of these MacBooks a year ago and it came with a Radeon 9700. Obviously nowhere near the best, but it still runs Oblivion. My friend's laptop with a 6600 is much better, and it was around $1200 several months ago.

[Quadlok]

Why do you need a graphics card on an apple anyway. If it can handle Myth2 then its as up to date as it needs to be...

Hey now, Myth 4 came out for Mac 2 or 3 years ago.

This laptop reminds me of why it sucks to not have much in the way of liquid assets. I want one, dammit. Oh well, maybe 3 or 4 years from now I'll get one, or whatever has superseded it in the interim.