Apple CEO Steve Jobs yesterday unveiled “cleaner, simpler versions of the existing line of MacBooks and MacBook Pros, but [they] manage to do much more. (That’s a lesson that PC makers, who load each new generation of their machines with endless gimmicks and extras, never seem to learn.) At this rate of hacking down the product line, I suspect that within three years, the MacBook will be nothing more than a sheet of unbreakable glass,” Josh Quittner reports for Time Magazine.
Jobs also unveiled “How To Make A Laptop Stronger, Lighter and Cheaper By Carving It Out of A Block of Aluminum. This technological feat was pioneered on the earlier superlight MacBook Air and from this day forward (until we reach the Glass Singularity, I guess) will be standard fare on all Mac laptops. Jony Ive, design boss and Apple’s second-most important man, explained: “Rather than start with a thin piece of aluminum and add multiple parts for structure, we start with a thick piece of aluminum.” The frame, or ‘unibody’ that results after much drilling, cutting and buffing is so gorgeous that Jobs directed his Apple-uniformed cadre to hand out one per row and let the press and analysts kvell,” Quittner reports.
“Where PC makers wallow in confusion — some laptops include multiple types of mouse (touch pads and pointers), for instance — Apple has found a moment of Zen. The new MacBook has eliminated its single-button mouse altogether; every interaction now occurs via a glass touch pad. To select something, you simply push down on the glass pad. Or as Jobs said, “The whole trackpad is the button.” This generation of touch pads, by the way, lets users do a lot more with one hand. One finger directs the mouse, two fingers enlarge and reduce images, three fingers allow you to rapidly side scroll through documents, and swiping four fingers across the pad manages all the windows one has open on the screen,” Quittner reports.
“The new laptops also have new graphics cards that are supposed boost image-rendering speeds 500%,” Quittner reports. “That should be great for games.”
Full article here.
ah, zen! and I think I’m the first post too!
“…great for games.” Woot.
The “whole trackpad is a button” innovation is clever. I’m surprised that it was such as surprise to me, since it should have been expected. Apple did essentially the same thing with the Mighty Mouse, where the whole mouse body was the button.
Apple seems to hate buttons. For their next trick, they’ll find a way to get rid of the keyboard buttons. I suppose they already did that with the iPhone…
“Zen and The Art of Firewire Maintenance”
Wish you could patent the CNC stuff.
I have some specialized aluminum tools here at work done that way. Incredibly light and strong and sleek.
Can Dell make the switch? Not easily and Apple is almost a year past perfection with the Air.
I hope soon the glass trackpad could be swapped with the iPhone if desired. I don’t really think it will happen, but it would be cool and make everybody want to buy both the specs would have to be the same for the trackpad, the iPhone, and the iPod Touch across the board.
New video port, NO firewire, No Blu-ray, NO $1099 model. Graphics mean nothing if you can’t plug in your camera.
Jobs had the back rows of the auditorium disciplined for being slow to pass the unibody frame along at the rate he commanded.
They’ll be seen weeks from now, stumbling around like the zombie powder victims in ‘Serpent and the Rainbow’.
“I suspect that within three years, the MacBook will be nothing more than a sheet of unbreakable glass”
Zod, Ursa and Non from the Phantom Zone will not be eligible for purchase.
“Graphics mean nothing if you can’t plug in your camera.”
It’s long past time to get rid of your SCSI camera.
people who want to edit on macbooks should get with the program. A 13″ screen? Hello? Anybody home?
Buy a used MBP with 15″ screen off ebay, case closed.
Do you buy a minivan for its fantastic 0-60mph speeds?
No firewire is good, too many ppl would try to cut corners, then complain Apple sux because it couldnt handle their 4k edits and Maya renders.
Trust me, I went from a 13″ crt, to 15″, 17″, 21″, and now 23″,
and my eyes greatly thank me.
GUYS. You can buy a USB-to-FireWire adapter. You can buy a screen matte film. It’s really, really, really not a big a deal.
No Blu-Ray. How the hell are you supposed to create and distribute HD content? Going to email your parents a 25 GB version of that HD family vacation you just created to play on their new HDTV?
No FireWire. Won’t matter, because you can’t get the video off your HD camera into the MacBook anyway…
I guess Steve believes everyone should own a PS3 for Blu-Ray satisfaction.
Only the computer illiterate are “confused” by computers. More intelligent people call it choice. One is not forced into whatever Steve Jobs decides for you.
Sheep…
I wonder if Apple was planning to bring that trackpad button idea to the next iPhone only to get beaten by the BlackBerry Storm.
>GUYS. You can buy a USB-to-FireWire adapter.
They just don’t work with Macs… :0(
Philip: can you provide a link to a USB to Firewire adapter that works with OS X?
Let’s not forget the addition of LED displays that are brighter and more energy efficient, especially when battery life is a priority. The new graphics chip will definitely make games perform better on the MacBook. With the MacBook & MacBook Pro models having the same aluminum case, the models look more integrated.
5x as Snappy!
I can understand the dismay of no FW on the MacBooks. Apple has decided FW is a Pro-only conduit. All my current still and video cameras use FW. I haven’t shopped the latest crop of cameras. Are they still using FW or is there a switch to USB 2 happening there? Anyone actually know what camera manufacturers are doing now?
MacBook Zen! Of course!
Target Disk Mode to save my users’ files when things go south. Now what? I guess I’ll have to put their drives in a Tray Dock. Sigh.
@ Jane, you ignorant slut!
Re: “No Blu-Ray. How the hell are you supposed to create and distribute HD content? Going to email your parents a 25 GB version of that HD family vacation you just created to play on their new HDTV?
No FireWire. Won’t matter, because you can’t get the video off your HD camera into the MacBook anyway…
I guess Steve believes everyone should own a PS3 for Blu-Ray satisfaction.”
Get a Sony. Oh, but it going to cost over $4000. Hmm. But for a lot less, a Macbook Pro, an external Blu-Ray recorder and iMovie is…or for about the same amount, add Time Capsule, an iPhone, 24 monitor
Everyone really needs to settle down with this whole firewire disappearance. Yes I am upset also that it is gone on the macbook. But you have to look at what Apple is doing as a company. They are getting away from as many cables as possible. They want to get to wireless as they possibly can. Look TIME CAPSULE, MOBILE ME. I am sure they did their homework on how many macbook users, not pros, use their firewire port. yes us tech savy folks here do, I know my college kids with macbooks don’t.
Normally when interfaces are transitioned bridge devices are used to allow old hardware to talk to new interfaces. There are USB to ethernet adapters, USB to bluetooth adapters, USB to PATA/SATA adapters, etc. There is no reason not to have USB to Firewire adapters, at least for DV/Firewire to USB applications. There’s at least one on the market for $120 that is not Mac compatible. These guys should provide a Mac driver, or Apple should just supply their own adapter.
Here’s the thing with FireWire: the average MacBook user isn’t using it. Why? Because the average MacBook user isn’t doing HD editing. In fact, I think you’d be pretty stupid to have tried it on an old-gen MacBook. Or, for that matter, to be doing any sort of graphic manipulation (or any serious work whatsoever) on a 13″ screen. Have any of you who are complaining about this ever tried to use a MacBook to do any sort of graphic manipulation? Tried to use Dreamweaver on one? Anything like that? I have. It sucks.
Catch on to this one folks. FireWire is a PRO input. Most consumers have no idea what that funny looking plug next to the USB is. Trust me, I’ve had several people looking at my MBP ask me what it was. They just don’t use it. The MacBook Pro keeps the FireWire input, because it’s a pro machine. the MacBook ditched it because it’s a consumer machine. If you’re trying to do pro work on a consumer laptop, well…you’re kind of stupid.
And don’t give me gripes about a regular MacBook being more portable. Oh no, 1 extra pound! And a couple inches bigger! Oh no, what ever will we do?!
I have no problem lugging around my 5.6 lb MacBook Pro. If you’re going for ultra portability, buy a freakin MacBook Air, not a consumer MacBook.
I’m not saying Apple can do no wrong. I think they were unwise to not provide an option of an anti-glare film on the displays. I’m not a glossy screen hater, but I think choice is key. But I don’t think Apple was wrong to eliminate FireWire from the consumer MacBook. It cuts down on space, it cuts down on confusion to most consumers. Smart move Apple.