[montgomery_burns]

[quote name='Jason Snell']
>

montgomery_burns said:

> "DisplayPort is an emerging display-connectivity standard"
>
> If Apple uses the same signaling protocols but then sticks on their own proprietary connector that is not available anywhere else, are they really following the DisplayPort standard?

As the article says, it's unclear if the Mini connector is actually part of the spec or not. Apple seems to suggest that it's not actually proprietary -- it's just the first one to use it.

I am not willing to give Apple the benefit of the doubt on this one. After watching Apple create their Mini VGA, Mini DVI and Micro DVI connectors, I would not put it past Apple to create yet another one of their proprietary connectors. Here is the DisplayPort web site which shows a standard DisplayPort connector:

http://displayport.o...e/VGA-Cable.htm

It is about the size of a USB connector. Unfortunately, I could not find any information about Mini DisplayPort on this web site. If the Mini DisplayPort connector really is part of the spec, wouldn't it also be on their web site? This new connector needs to be investigated further. What if it turns out that Mini DisplayPort is Apple's own proprietary design and only Apple makes adapters? Is everyone going to give Apple a free pass like they did for all the other "Mini" connectors?

I also noticed that Apple's Mini DisplayPort to Dual Link DVI adapter costs $99.

[sigma8]

I don't know if this request has been made, but I'm hereby requesting an editorial piece on the loss of firewire in the Macbook, and what this bodes. Doesn't this render 20% of iLife somewhat moot? (iMovie and iDVD firewire camcorders)

[dpshonen]

Previous generation MBPs were iconic. It represented cutting edge design that was imitated by many but none came close to the original. You saw its image on movies, televisions and advertisements as the computer used by the masses even though its market share was eclipsed by the Dells and HPs of the world.

I feel this new version has lost that edge completely. Despite the innovative fabrication, its form resembles Sony Vaio of yesteryear. I don't expect this new version of MBPs to replace the previous model as the icon of the current era.

Decision to abandon physical switch altogether from the pointing device altogether continues the design philosophy of form over function--hopefully the new multi-touch gestures will not cause mass incidents of CTS.

[JakeT]

[quote name='montgomery_burns']
>

prl53 said:

> The ease with which you gained access to the insides really excites me. This is the first laptop I've seen, at least from Apple, that gives me easy access.

The Powerbook G3 Pismo went a step further and allowed you to slide out the optical drive and slide in a second battery or second hard drive. Apple should have offered this feature in the new MacBook Pro. With certain people arguing about not needing optical drives, wouldn't the ability to easily remove the optical drive be a welcome feature? Who wouldn't want extra-long runtime on battery? Before anyone responds with arguments of structural integrity, stiffness, etc, please note that these were the same arguments that you made against having an easily accessible hard drive in the MacBook Pro. And look what happened. How much more egg on your face do you want?

Yeah, I really liked the Pizmo. It was a great design. I like being able to swap out a DVD, battery, or hard drive. It's not very often that I need the DVD, so an extra battery would be nice. A second hard drive in that space could be useful as well. I liked the shape and color of the Pizmo. I've never liked the gray aluminum color. It is so ugly. Could we at least have a couple of color choices?

Apple seems to be obsessed with thickness. I don't get that. Thin is nice, but no where near the top of my priority list.

I'm disappointed with the new Laptops.

[Jon_jon]

I like the new MacBook and MacBook Pro. I have been waiting for these for quite some time now and I think I'll buy one. The only disappointment was the absence of FW on the MacBook. I do prefer the MacBook over the MacBook Pro for the reason it is so much more portable.
I don't understand the whole Blu-Ray issue. I don't really see the need for it right now.

[robogobo]

Just an idea that you almost pointed out but didn't quite articulate- With the hard drive so easily accessible, the most obvious alternative to FW Target mode is to slip the drive out and hook it up to an external enclosure or one of those quick sata to USB adapters, and choose "transfer to another volume" from the migration assistant. Of course, this only solves one of the many problems with dropping FW. It's still hugely disappointing to those of us who use it everyday.

[Isidore]

Having had a quick look at the new machines at the Apple Store in London, I must say that the MacBook leaves me very disappointed as I was really hoping to buy one. The glossy screen I can live with though I don't like it- it will probably be possible to stick an overlay on it like on the iphone. The killer issue for me is as for the Air: No FW. I use two machines and sync them daily using an external 2.5" fw drive. So which ever machine I am using has the latest version of my home folder and files. This cannot be done at reasonable speed over USB, so it's an absolute deal breaker. And I haven't even considered the cost of all the fw only stuff I have, cameras, scanners etc etc.

In other ways the macbook looks great (aesthetically it's much nicer than the jumbo pizza size 15"), the trackpad works really well, I was instantly at home with it, and it's at the top end of what is a proper portable in terms of size- the 15" is just too big. But without a fw port or an expresscard slot, this thing is just a toy. I'll be keeping my plastic macbook for the forseeable future.

Where oh where is the spiritual successor of the 12" powerbook, the last professional but small laptop Apple made? Anyone else for a Sony based Hackintosh?

[tolis]

A small step for Apple, the giant leaps are left for the competition.
There are at least two technology leaps, BluRay and solid state drives (SSD) that Apple should have implemented, at least in the higher end Pro line, but once again chose to lag behind. Despite some worthy improvements, I see a narrow life cycle for this line

[jbtipton]

The lack of a FireWire connector on the MacBook is a total deal breaker. It's critical to have a bootable backup drive available for a laptop. I use SuperDuper to create and maintain this backup and this system has saved my ass numerous times. As far as I can tell, there's no way to create a bootable FireWire drive on the MacBook. USB drives are useless for this purpose because you can't boot from them. The same goes for wireless and Ethernet drives.

The lack of Blu-Ray is stupid beyond words. How am I supposed to create HD content for my clients??? Apple should drop the word "pro" from the applications in thier Final Cut suite until this inexplicable shortcoming is corrected.

What is the source of this total cluelessness? To Steve Jobs I say, "Are you inebriated?"

[steffi1]

Just like you can boot from a USB Flash Drive you can also boot from an external USB drive.

[Isidore]

You can boot from an external usb drive but most of them cannot be powered from the usb port so you need to carry a clunky power supply too. Plus the speed as compared to even fw400 let alone 800, is pants.

[robeddie]

Ahh yes, no firewire. I hate to do it, but I have to jump on the thumbs-down bandwagon.

To me, it seems like Apple design guys (brilliant though they often are) are stuck in their ivory tower in Cupertino and get so 'into' the design aesthetic that they forget that real people, with real budgets, like to buy and use their products.

It's been said before, but here you have a consumer level laptop, and we can't use our consumer level DV cameras with it to edit. Wasn't it Apple who advertised these things not long ago as THE tool for casual home movie editing?

It's like they keep saying "hey back in 98, we did away with floppy drive and that worked, so what else can remove now?"

One more thing ... this actually reminds of the 'translucent menu bar' fiasco that Apple encountered when they first came out with OS 10.5. Another case of them going with form over function. In that case, after voluminous complaints, they fixed it.

Sadly, in this case, there will be no software fix. Now, they expect all of us 'consumers' (who are buying the macbook to save money in the first place) to buy a new camera. (BTW, my firewire DV camera is only 18 months old).

Hey Apple, out here in the real world (you know, us folks who have faithfully bought your stuff) are feeling screwed over.

[macwilf]

Well, I have ordered a MacBook to replace my close to 4 year old iBook, so I guess I will be very satisfied with it, anyhow:) The lack of FW is not a deal breaker for me as I never would have done any serious video editing on such a small screen but since they claim that it can easily drive a 30 inch display, it sounds a bit shortsighted I must admit.

Apple is an annoying company, that way. They make splendid products and fabulous software but their tendency to always be steps ahead in cutting out useful features/parts/technology seems to be a bit too zealous from time to time.
Maybe USB will beat FW but are we there yet? My cheap camcorder has only got FW 400 but I guess I have to go for USB on the next but what I hear is that FW is much more stable. Is that not true anymore? The risk of dropping frames have been considered greater with USB, I have understood. Is that not the case any longer?

As for bootable drives, it must be repeated that with an IntelMac you can use USB so that is no problem.

The BluRay is no loss for me. There will probably come cheap enough external drives for it soon if they are not out there yet, so for those who really need them, there is a solution. But on the other hand, when you pay around 11 000 Norwegian Kroner (1740 US $) as the price is for the cheapest of the new MacBooks here in Norway, and when you know that you get rather good and powerful PC laptops with larger screens and bigger harddrives etc. etc., for 8-9000 NOK, you do not feel that Apple should follow their "less is more"-philosophy to such extremes, always. OK, if that would affect the price, too, so that you would even pay less for more, I would applaud it, but as it is now, the only reason why I do not go for a PC-laptop is because of the OS they have... If Linux had been even more user-friendly than it is today (yes, even Ubuntu), I would seriously consider that option, but as it is, I still go for a Mac.

The glossy screen. I have a new iMac and we also have a G5 iMac with matte screen. Sometimes I compare videos on the two and although the glossy seems so shiny bright and with vivid colours at first sight, I still think that the matte wins over time, because after a while it seems like it shows more subtle values and depths although it appear less vivid at first. Where you see deep black on the glossy, you see blacker shades of dark to paraphrase old Procol Harum. But one is getting used to the glossy and when the mattes are all gone, we will not be able to compare - but who knows whether that is all good then? (irony)

But I have no use for a pro machine while travelling, so I still think that the MacBook will be one I will be very satisfied with.

But I would have wished for a more elaborated explanation as to how one use an Ethernet-cable to transfer accounts between the old laptop and this new one? Or where can I find that explained in details? Glad if anyone here would enlighten me on this point:)

[Isidore]

Just out of curiosity, booted my macpro from my portable backup drive which is fw 800 or usb. With usb, you need an external power supply and the boot time to the log in screen is 53 seconds, then a further 55 until the desktop is built fully. Over firewire, first stage is 28 seconds and the total process is 54. From past experience there is not a huge difference for this sort of activity between fw 400 and 800. It's doable of usb but Apple have lost the plot on this one, unless the stuff I've heard about being able to connect to firewire over the ethernet port is achievable?