New Aluminum MacBooks

[jeffbax]

http://www.apple.com/macbook/#designvideo

Holy shit they are sexy, and their production engineering is amazing (and environmentally friendly as hell)

They also come with a Geforce 9400M (same as MacBook Pro) instead of Intel, which means you can actually play some games on it.

Alas, now is no time to replace my MBP.

[Sandman]

I want one eventually....I would have hoped that the new Pros would be cheaper though.

[diablopath]

I'm on the market for a laptop.
And I was really turned on.
Until I saw $1300.

No thank you. >.>

[Disgustipated]

Ahhh... if only they were affordable.

[Slack3r78]

The nicest thing I can say about them is that they're really pretty.

I had been pondering selling my 2 year old Macbook Pro and buying a Macbook if this upgrade was decent.

So we got a pretty new case, DisplayPort which nobody uses with optional $30 adapters, obscenely expensive DDR3 memory, and a ninja $200 price hike.

No Steve, lowering the price of the old already overpriced model by $100 does not count as a price drop.

At any rate, Apple did a pretty good job of not selling me a new Mac.

[jeffbax]

Ahhh... if only they were affordable.

Yeah, Apple always beating their sales expectations would have it seem many people disagree with you on that.

As for Displayport, I think most computer manufacturers are moving to it as its royalty free, unlike HDMI.

I think the build quality jump, significantly better video, improved multitouch, improved displays, environmentally friendly, backlit keyboard standard, larger HDDs (which are now all 100% user replaceable) are worth it... and the price didn't go up, they just dropped the lowest-end pricepoint (for now...)

The Pros also have dual GPUs now, with the ability to toggle between 9400M and 9600 GT depending on usage requirements and desire to extend battery life.

The video improvement on the regular MB is also going to be huge with 10.6 and OpenCL.

[pomeroy]

Yeah, Apple always beating their sales expectations would have it seem many people disagree with you on that.

As for Displayport, I think most computer manufacturers are moving to it as its royalty free, unlike HDMI.

I think the build quality jump, significantly better video, improved multitouch, improved displays, environmentally friendly, backlit keyboard standard, larger HDDs (which are now all 100% user replaceable) are worth it... and the price didn't go up, they just dropped the lowest-end pricepoint (for now...)

The Pros also have dual GPUs now, with the ability to toggle between 9400M and 9600 GT depending on usage requirements and desire to extend battery life.

The video improvement on the regular MB is also going to be huge with 10.6 and OpenCL.

Haha...love it. Thank god you made it over, bax.

[Disgustipated]

Yeah, Apple always beating their sales expectations would have it seem many people disagree with you on that.



I think we can both agree that, much like the PS3, Apple's Macbooks would sell a lot more units if they were more affordable.

[Rich Richards]

I think we can both agree that, much like the PS3, Apple's Macbooks would sell a lot more units if they were more affordable.

True, But it really doesn't seem to matter... they sell a shitload of them anyways.

-R

[Disgustipated]

True, But it really doesn't seem to matter... they sell a shitload of them anyways.

-R

They do sell boatloads of them, but imagine if they could drop them down to the $600-700 price point, or at least add in a more entry level model. I think they'd see even bigger sales, is all I'm saying.

Also, great to see you on here.

[pomeroy]

True, But it really doesn't seem to matter... they sell a shitload of them anyways.

-R

FUCKING NO!

NONONONO.

Ban him. Ban him now.

[Disgustipated]

FUCKING NO!

NONONONO.

Ban him. Ban him now.

First off, he's cool.

Second off, he's done it forever and it hasn't been noticed like xcalibur or fiercey's post signings. Wanna know why? Because he's not a douche. Follow his example.

[mister slim]

I think we can both agree that, much like the PS3, Apple's Macbooks would sell a lot more units if they were more affordable.

Imagine how many they would sell if they were free! :eek:

[pomeroy]

First off, he's cool.

Second off, he's done it forever and it hasn't been noticed like xcalibur or fiercey's post signings. Wanna know why? Because he's not a douche. Follow his example.

Seeing my post quoted showed me that it didn't come off as sarcastic as intended. I guess I should've used smilies.

Regardless, it doesn't really bug me either way. I just thought I'd get the "OMG POST SIGNING" thing out of the way.

[Sandman]

Back on topic....

I've had this hungering to try a Mac for a while now. My current laptop is nothing more than an internet machine so I would want something with more power. I'd be more inclined to get an iMac and use it as my main system at home and keep my laptop for on the go stuff than one of these new MacBook Pros.

[Disgustipated]

Seeing my post quoted showed me that it didn't come off as sarcastic as intended. I guess I should've used smilies.

Regardless, it doesn't really bug me either way. I just thought I'd get the "OMG POST SIGNING" thing out of the way.

Oh, ok. *Puts down gun*

[jeffbax]

I think we can both agree that, much like the PS3, Apple's Macbooks would sell a lot more units if they were more affordable.

MacBooks are not in the same situation as the PS3 is. They are not made profitable by software sales for one. They are premium computers, and Apple has no reason to chase down the ultra-cheap computer market.

I think you need some perspective. One in Three dollars spent on laptops in retail stores is spent on an Apple brand laptop. Chasing the cheap PC market would result in shittier Macs and less money for Apple, where is the incentive?

Marketshare isn't everything. As the PC industry growth rate sits around 10%, the Mac growth rate is around 40% anyway.

Besides, what would the sales increase be? Dropping the price would have to put a pretty big surge in sales to make up for the loss in profit margin. Your advice to Apple has been repeated for years now and the only thing Apple has done is prove its right to ignore those that tell it to chase the cheap market, or even worse - license Mac OS.

Mac market share is around 8% in the US right now. Contrary to popular belief, iPods are only about a quarter of Apple's revenue, the big gains have been in computers. They are doing fantastically. With 8% marketshare, they have no debt, about $24 billion in the bank, great stock and exceptional growth rates. There's no real justification for lowering prices like you say at this point.

[pomeroy]

MacBooks are not in the same situation as the PS3 is. They are not made profitable by software sales for one. They are premium computers, and Apple has no reason to chase down the ultra-cheap computer market.

I think you need some perspective. One in Three dollars spent on laptops in retail stores is spent on an Apple brand laptop. Chasing the cheap PC market would result in shittier Macs and less money for Apple, where is the incentive?

Marketshare isn't everything.

Besides, what would the sales increase be? Dropping the price would have to put a pretty big surge in sales to make up for the loss in profit margin. Your advice to Apple has been repeated for years now and the only thing Apple has done is prove its right to ignore those that tell it to chase the cheap market, or even worse - license Mac OS.

What will be interesting is seeing how Apple does in the market now. I wonder if their sales will suffer with the economy in such a downturn.

[Gormanimal]

Back on topic....

I've had this hungering to try a Mac for a while now. My current laptop is nothing more than an internet machine so I would want something with more power. I'd be more inclined to get an iMac and use it as my main system at home and keep my laptop for on the go stuff than one of these new MacBook Pros.

The iMacs are pretty nice machines. I use a 24" for my work. It's great having so much screen real estate to use.

[Gormanimal]

What will be interesting is seeing how Apple does in the market now. I wonder if their sales will suffer with the economy in such a downturn.

More specifically, people should look at changes in sales relative to other manufactures during these bumpy times.

[Banacek]

At any rate, Apple did a pretty good job of not selling me a new Mac.

They sold me on a MBP... from the previous revision. My Macbook Core 2 (not even a Duo) is just too slow and the 2GB memory limit is killing me. A refurbed on goes for $1499. Sounds good to me.

[Rich Richards]

Sorry about the sig there guys... me forget again.

I'll do better next time.

[pomeroy]

Sorry about the sig there guys... me forget again.

I'll do better next time.

Dude, I really hope you don't think I like hate you or anything. I don't really care. I was mostly making fun of the posters on EvAv (and now CoG) who used to have fits about the post signing.

[Rich Richards]

Dude, I really hope you don't think I like hate you or anything. I don't really care.

Heh.


No worries... I understood your humor. I got railed for this on 'That Other Site' so I should know better anyhow.

But I do think I'll pick up one of these new Macbooks either way. (trying to get back on topic)

[itchyeyes]

These new Macbooks are amazing. About the only thing I can find that I'm not too excited about is I wish they'd trim some of that black bezel around the screen down to give them a smaller footprint. I'm really interested to see how the 9400M GPU's perform, as the thing that's prevented me from getting an iBook/Macbook in the past has always been the pitiful GPU. Also, anyone notice that they're using DDR3 RAM? Kind of an odd decision given the price/performance gain (ie there is none with a C2D CPU).

[Raen]

These new Macbooks are amazing. About the only thing I can find that I'm not too excited about is I wish they'd trim some of that black bezel around the screen down to give them a smaller footprint.

Rather than that I'd got for a larger keyboard. I mean it does look pretty well spaced even on the 13", but given the amount of space they've got around it they could have bumped up the keyboard size by a reasonable amount.

Anyway I know they're all about performance at a cost, but I won't be buying one. If the price point were lower i'd consider it. However considering the 13" is about £600+ and my new Toshiba that I ordered yesterday was £339 with 2 gig extra RAM and a case with specs that are somewhat comparable I'm happy with it. Sure the Mac would run better, and have better battery life but that doesn't justify almost doubling the amount of money i'd be spending on it. I'd also like to clarify that I'm not moaning about the price point itself, pretty much all the arguments i've seen justify it, but merely that I am unable/unwilling to pay that much. That's just how life works. If was able to pay for it I'd drive a Bugatti Veyron, rather than taking the train and I'd live in a mansion, rather than a 2 bedroom flat.

[NoName]

The macbooks have always looked nice. I'm more interesting in an ASUS EEE pc though. Yay for super small laptops :D.

[DeathtollWRX]

Looks itereting. Won't be buying though since I recently picked up a Macbook Pro Core Duo

[itchyeyes]

Looks itereting.
It's actually quite a substantial shift in terms of the way they manufacture the products and what it allows them to do with the design. It's just that most of the stuff is under the hood.

[jeffbax]

Looks itereting. Won't be buying though since I recently picked up a Macbook Pro Core Duo

Surely you are kidding? This is the least "iterative" laptop design in ages.

[mister slim]

Maybe that's supposed to be "interesting".

[OldJadedGamer]

While pretty, doesn't scream "update" to me. I'm still happy with my current MacBook. I'll make the plunge for a new one when they have a touch screen interface and Blu-ray included... so a few years to say the least.

I usually keep my Macs for 5 years at least before upgrading.

[Gormanimal]

Yeah, I think they look great. The solid case design is pretty cool too. Unfortunately, I just update to a new MBP recently and can't justify another upgrade now. Someday...

[J Arcane]

These new Macbooks are amazing. About the only thing I can find that I'm not too excited about is I wish they'd trim some of that black bezel around the screen down to give them a smaller footprint. I'm really interested to see how the 9400M GPU's perform, as the thing that's prevented me from getting an iBook/Macbook in the past has always been the pitiful GPU. Also, anyone notice that they're using DDR3 RAM? Kind of an odd decision given the price/performance gain (ie there is none with a C2D CPU).
I gots a thread talking about using one to run WAR over here: http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=1283

Looks like you've found it already though. ;)

As for DDR3, well, frankly I applaud it. Since the Intel switch Apple has been dreadfully behind on much of it's hardware, so in my mind it's actually sort of refreshing to see them at least make a marginal attempt at getting a head of the curve, which is what I used to expect from them in the old days.