So, I’ve watched Steve Job’s presentation, studied the specifications, read the various opinions online and now offer my thoughts about the new Apple MacBook Pro (hate the name!) notebook computers:

Positives:

• Fair price ($2000). A similarly configured laptop from other vendors costs:
  • Gateway NX560 = $1800 (good specs, but historically terrible quality)
  • Dell E1705 = $2300 (they only sell a 17″ system, which naturally costs more)
  • IBM T60 = $2049 (somewhat inferior specs in comparison to Apple)
  • Acer 8204 = $2000 (with better specs than the Apple, but … four letter word for computer disaster)
  • HP dv1000t = $1900 (significantly worse specs than the Apple)

  And yes, we can argue at great length over what it means to be similarly configured, but I’ve found, in general, that Apple’s pricing is within 10% of everyone else. So, all things considered, no luxury tax from Apple.

• Lighter (5.6 pounds) and smaller (1 inch thick) than any equivalent notebook I know of. For example, the IBM Thinkpad T43 weights 6.0 pounds, has a 15″ (vs. 15.4″) screen and is 1.4 inches thick.
• Built-in high quality video camera (for when Skype eventually get around to releasing video skype for Mac – which should be “real soon now”)
• Has a dual core Pentium-M (or I guess Intel is calling them Core Duo now) processor in it. Two processors on one chip for double the speed. In reality, depending on the application, it will only be about 30% - 60% faster. It does however really shine when doing multiple things at once. For example: try, all at once, burning a CD, downloading something from the Internet, playing a video, browsing a photo library and creating a backup and watch a single core chip grind to a halt.
• Battery life is currently unknown (but will be pretty good since it uses a new lithium-polymer battery technology instead of standard lithium-ion)
• Very bright screen. Apple says it is as good as an external LCD monitor. Better than most other laptop screens on the market (those super-bright Sony screens may look nice, but the glair off the ultra-reflective surface makes them very difficult to read text on. What use is a screen that is difficult to read off of?!).
• Much, much, much better graphics card (ATi Mobility Radeon X1600) than anything else on the market. This is important because Mac OS X takes full advantage of the graphics card, unlike Windows, which makes no use of it whatsoever (until Windows Vista is released next Christmas).

Negatives:

• Costs an extra $200 - $300 for novelty of getting the latest and greatest Intel processor. But, when the processor prices come down, Apple will probably keep the MacBook price the same and just add more features, so no harm in buying one now.
• Doesn’t have a modem. Steve Jobs has decided they are obsolete (an external USB-modem costs $50).
• Cheaper consumer iBook laptops with smaller screens will probably be release in April or July.
• Can’t yet run Windows applications inside of Mac OS X. However, many people (Microsoft included) are feverously working on this.
• No two-button mouse on the touchpad. Mac OS X does not need a right mouse button, but it may be difficult to use Windows (once it is available on the MacBook) without plugging in an external mouse.
• Some notable Mac application providers haven’t created so called “universal binaries” yet that are needed to achieve optimum performance on Intel processors. Key applications (for example Office and Photoshop) will run relatively slowly (at 50-80% of original speed) until new versions come out.
• Seems ever so slightly rushed: same basic case as the previous model. No revolutionary new feature. (Apple is being smart by not changing too many things at once). Nothing that fundamentally distinguishes it from a standard PC (apart from the camera, weight, size, “front-row” remote control, software and operating system). Okay, there is actually plenty unique stuff about this computer. I eat my words.
• The MacBook Pro is, for all intents and purposes, an iMac desktop computer in a portable case. However, the iMac is roughly half the price. This is realistic pricing for the added portability and miniaturization, but feels rather uncomfortable, since the two systems are otherwise so similar.

It is a really good laptop. I was however wishing it to be lighter than the previous model, have a bigger hard drive, have enhanced application startup performance using Intel’s Robson flash-memory caching technology and use faster Core Duo processors than 1.83 Ghz (they go up to 2.16 Ghz), all of which should have been possible, but would, of course, have driven up the cost.

Also, Apple engineers aren’t magicians. While the MacBook Pro’s hardware is, in my opinion, better than everything else on the market, it is only by a slight margin. The main reason for buying this computer is the Mac OS X operating system, not the hardware.

So, in review, on all accounts a great machine. Only a few unknowns still need to get resolves. I’ll wait at least until April before buying one for myself . I’d really like something smaller and lighter than the current offering to replace my prehistoric Dell Inspiron 4150 monster. For example: a 13-inch MacBook Pro would hit the spot …

Update: Apple has upgraded the MacBook Pro processor options to feature the fastest Intel processors currently available (2.16 Ghz) and boosted their default “low-end” model up to 1.83 Ghz. Large hard drives are also available as build-to-order options. Battery life also appears to be at least as good as the old Powerbooks’. However, the new MagSafe power supply brick (85W) is roughly 30% larger than the the old 15″ Powerbook power supply (65W).

So, all I’m left wishing for is Robson and slightly less weight (especially since the larger power supply makes this new Mac heavier than the previous model).

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 4th, 2006 at 7:59 pmand is filed under apple. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.