Sure enough, Apple has started rolling out the new Intel powered Macs.
I bought a 20″ iMac G5 in July, and decided to sell my laptop in October – finding that, of course, I still have a need for a laptop. My iMac is simply gorgeous and completely satisfies my photographic endeavors – except that I have to work from home. I long for the days of taking my laptop on vacation, to a cafe, back and forth to work, or even just popping in a movie while traveling. I refuse to give up the 20″ goodness that I’ve been spoiled with, but definitely could put a laptop to good use.
Funds aside, I guess that buying two Macs within a year rings of hedonism.
Here’s the rundown (via apple.com):
YouÂ’ve dreamed about it long enough. Now it has a name: MacBook Pro. Powered by a dual-core Intel engine. Up to four times the speed of the PowerBook G4. Eight times the graphics bandwidth. With built-in iSight for instant video conferencing on the move. And Front Row with Apple Remote to dazzle everyone in the room. Wait no more. MacBook Pro starts at just $1999.
MacBook Pro At a Glance
* 15.4-inch widescreen display
* 1.67 or 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo
* 667MHz frontside bus and main memory
* PCI Express architecture
* Up to 120GB Serial ATA hard drive
* ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with up to 256MB memory on 16-lane PCI Express
* ExpressCard/34 slot
* Dual-link DVI, VGA adapter included
* One FireWire 400 port, two USB 2.0 ports
* Optical digital and analog audio I/O, built-in microphone and stereo speakers
* Slot-loading SuperDrive
* Illuminated keyboard, Scrolling TrackPad
* Built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11g), Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, and Gigabit Ethernet
* Mac OS X Tiger with iLife Â’06 featuring iWeb, iWork Â’06 trial, and more
Has Apple come out with the answer to my needs? At first I thought yes, but the more I delve into the details, I’m wondering if it’d be better to wait, yet again. Why am I apprehensive? First generation products typically are the ‘guinea pigs’ of the family. There are a few quirks with the MacBook – which may or may not warrant any concern, depending on the reality of your needs. For example:
The new MacBook Pro lacks dual layer DVD burning – is this a factor? Not really, as my iMac supports this.
The S-video output, the modem, and the FW800 have been removed. – one primary purpose of having S-video is the ability to use projectors for presentations. The Firewire 800 isn’t as much of a factor if you lack the gadgets for supporting it, but it seems that for $2500 they’d include it. Lack of a modem? I understand that Apple is one of the leaders in moving forward with new technology, often replacing those which lag behind. However, those of us living and working overseas probably could have found this quite useful even in this day and age of broadband. Still, it’s not a make or break point for me.
Battery life – this has yet to be tested, but with increased power requirements and faster chips, will the battery life be able to perform for 4+ hours? It seems that with all of the rapid advancements technology has made, we’d have affordable, compact batteries that could last much, much longer than today’s offerings – this holds true for all portable gadgets, but is most obvious when using notebooks in my opinion. Even 6 hours simply doesn’t seem on par with the snowball effect of technological advancement.
Only time (and hands-on reviews) will tell if these factors will affect those who pine after the latest Apple offerings. I’ll let my lust cool down for a few months before making any rash purchases (great – right around the time I visit the States this summer).
What are your thoughts on these Intel powered Macs? See Kottke’s take on this – hilarious!