The announcement of the MacBook Pro has brought up a lot of questions and Jason O’Grady and possibly “Sandwich Man” are looking for answers:
• What the expected battery life of the MacBook Pro?
• What happened to the FireWire 800 port?
• Why regress to the slower 4x single-layer SuperDrive?
• An ExpressCard slot instead of a PC card slot? (Could frustrate EV-DO card users)
• Why the MacBook Pro name?
Full article here.
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He’s the guy predicting things, (or trying to, at any rate) why doesn’t he give us an answer?
AND
what happened to S VIDEO? i didnt see it in the pics
Steve explained the MacBook Pro name in the Keynote. He said they got rid of the Powerbook name because they no longer use the PowerPC processors, and they want the name Mac “in all our products”. Thus, the new name.
it’s nice to see prices not increasing… but I hope the prices do reflect how apple adjusted iPod prices
i can answer one question:
Why the single-layer DVD drive?
one word: upgrade path.
separate Apple dvi->s-video adaptor
Yeah…i dont think many people really like the name…and battery life is always a big decision breaker…however apple has always kept it around 5 hours.
Maybe this all suggests that while Apple was souping-up the last PPC books, it was because they were really spooked about sales declines. Turns out to be unfounded…
or… the dual layer isn’t as big a hit as expected?
“Steve explained the MacBook Pro name in the Keynote. He said they got rid of the Powerbook name because they no longer use the PowerPC processors, and they want the name Mac “in all our products”. Thus, the new name.”
There was no PPC processor in my PB 145. So the Power name predates the processor.
Will the PowerMac the be called the Mac Mac? Or maybe the Big Mac, and the Mini will be the Litttle Mac?
The name MacBook sounds like you’d order at the choke & puke with a side order of fries
DakRoland, you just answered my question. I had been wondering why they didn’t go with “Pro Book”? That would have avoided the double “k” sound (MakBook), and would work consistently with the other lines:
iMac – ProMac
iBook – ProBook
But if they want the name Mac in all products, then clearly the old naming scheme, for both iBooks and PowerBooks, had to go. It’s not just a case of getting rid of “Power,” but also the “-Book” suffix for both laptops.
It’s really not that big of a deal because Dual-layer discs are still too expensive. Besides, Blu-ray is on the way soon enough anyhow.
I’m guessing the non-dual-layer was to make the MacBook Pro (cries at repeating such a horrible name) so thin…
That being said why the hell didn’t they release the intel processors in new boxes? the online store just looks a confusing mess of the same computers twice. Also, in the UK the G5 iMac is £899 while the intel is £929… not what SJ said.
I think Gary’s answer, “Upgrade Path” explains everything. I wouldn’t buy this new MacBook Pro right now unless a car ran over my existing 17″ and I had to have a new laptop. There is nothing terribly exciting about it.
I wouldn’t mind having it to test on if I was currently developing a product.
•What the expected battery life of the MacBook Pro? – That’s what I’d like to know. Either it’s incredible and Apple wants to surprise us, or it sucks and Apple wants to surprise us.
• What happened to the FireWire 800 port? – I think this has to do with the fact that Apple is likely using an Intel chipset that does not support FW 800. I expect this to remedied when the Rev. B MacBook Pro ships.
• Why regress to the slower 4x single-layer SuperDrive? – This baffles me as well. They have the 8x DL SuperDrive in the 1-inch thin 17″ PowerBook G4. Why can’t they put the same drive in a 1-inch thin MacBook Pro? The only only reasoning I can think of is that this new drive uses SATA, and an 8x DL version is not available. However, I don’t know if this sort of drive even exists and I’m trying to put a happy face on this scenario. It could just be that Apple is being cheap (hopefully NOT the case).
• An ExpressCard slot instead of a PC card slot? (Could frustrate EV-DO card users) – ExpressCard is an Intel standard (wink, wink, nudge, nudge
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> ). Not to mention the fact that Apple is known for getting rid of old technology in favor of newer stuff (ie: latest Power Macs).
• Why the MacBook Pro name? – Watch the keynote again. Steve explains it pretty plainly.
Is anyone else getting the feeling that this MacBook model was rushed to market? I’m not gonna be an early adopter on this one.
I’m guessing the battery life is similar to previous generation P’Books.
G4 PBook: 50 Wh battery, 65W power supply. SO max possible draw is 65 W –> 46 min @ maximum draw
MacBook Pro: 60 Wh battery, 85W power supply, So max possible draw is 85 W –> 42 min @ maximum draw.
Pretty close. ~90% of previous gen.
I sure hope these “Monday Morning QB’s” find something else more constructive to do with their time than ponder these stupid ass questions. I mean really, “why the name ‘MacBook’ “?
I couldn’t give a ratz ass what Sj calls it as long as it long on useful features, faster, lighter, cheaper, easier to uuse, yada, yada.
Rock on SJ
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And this is the Rev A machine, simply to give others a temperature cooler, faster Powerbook. Best bet would be to wait until June.
As always with Apple, machines in this or the other lines released later in 2006 and 2007 will offer much more.
Not bad for their first step into the Intel waters.
Ah yes, Jason O’Grady, that great prognosticator of all things Macintosh. After all, Jason totally nailed it with his predictions about the Plasma Displays from Apple. And now he’s blathering about stuff that will become apparent in the next few days? Why do we even give him the benefit of our atttention?
My advice to my fellow Mac fanboys (Admit it: we are. Get over it.): keep your pants on. We won’t see the new Mac Books for another few weeks, and already, everyone is making assumptions and second-guessing everything. Just wait a few frickin’ days until Apple publishes more details. These puppies haven’t even been tested yet. Armed with scant knowledge and making rash assumptions, the message boards are alive with a ton of self-appointed experts (Mr. O’Grady included) already going off about things for which they have no details.
Just be cool everyone. We’ll find out enough soon enough. And if it makes you feel any better, I just went and ordered my Mac Book yesterday. I am that confident.
There. I feel better now.
Alternate explanation for 4x single-layer SuperDrive: Battery Life.
MacBook battery life is a little low and a lower spec SuperDrive might have kept it from being lower. Again I say, rushed to market.
(for one account of battery life, see the very bottom of this page: http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2006/1/10/2436 )
• What the expected battery life of the MacBook Pro? That’s a good question, especially since power consumption was one of the big issues that Intel was supposed to remedy.
• What happened to the FireWire 800 port? As much as I hate to say it, FW800 never caught on. I think it’s done. If Apple isn’t pushing it, no one will.
• Why regress to the slower 4x single-layer SuperDrive? Cost maybe? They added an iSight but the price stayed the same. They will improve this eventually.
• An ExpressCard slot instead of a PC card slot? (Could frustrate EV-DO card users) If it was a PC card slot people would have complained that it wasn’t (fill in the blank). You can’t please everyone.
• Why the MacBook Pro name? Because they dropped the PowerPC (I know, the name precedes the PowerPC but most people don’t remember that), and, my perception of what Steve said was that they want to get away from the word power because power consumption was such an issue with the G5. And to put the name Mac in it. I think that’s the most important issue. I only wish Ives would have completely redesigned it though. New name, completely new look. It looks pretty much like the last PowerBook, but darker.
Tech question:
Why in the Apple Store do the new intel Macbooks tout the spec:
“667MHz frontside bus”
and the “old” PowerPC books don´t? Does it matter and what is a good speed frontside bus?
one word: upgrade path.
heheh, that’s two words. =]
I hated the name MacBook at first because in relation to what we are accustomed to, it sounds generic. I think that’s why so many people hate it. Once the transition is complete, the naming will make sense. It doesn’t right now. Steve said they wanted the name Mac in all their products and i think this is a larger part of the branding strategy for an upcoming ad campaign. It also is a good way to differentiate the computers from whatever appliances they may have in development.
In a couple years MacBook isn’t going to sound so bad.
Okay…I´m a nerd with a worthless point:
The specs for the new Macbook Pro says its thickness is 1.0 inches (2.59 cm)
2.59 centimeters is equal to 1.02 inches.
My math teacher always said if you are going to compare numbers show them both to the same decimal places…
——
And regarding battery usage the specs say the following:
“Battery life depends on configuration and use.”
—–
Now I will go back in my nerd cave.