“With the new 13-inch MacBook looking and feeling more like the more expensive 15-inch MacBook Pro line than ever, it’s harder to tell the difference between the two laptops,” Dan Ackerman reports for CNET.
“So aside from 2 inches of display space, what advantages does the MacBook Pro offer compared with the less expensive MacBook? For starters, FireWire. The Pro is now the only current Apple laptop with a FireWire port–that connection was unceremoniously dumped from the less expensive 13-inch model with the new redesign,” Ackerman reports.
“Conspiracy theorists may cry foul, but FireWire is becoming increasingly used only in professional applications (although it may not feel like that if you have a FireWire-only camera). One can’t help feeling this move was made to push you toward the more expensive systems,” Ackerman reports. “In addition to its FireWire 800 port, the MacBook Pro also boasts an ExpressCard slot, an expansion option not offered on the MacBook.”
“MacBooks generally score better on our tests than similarly configured windows laptops (such as the Dell Studio 15), thanks in part to the efficiency of the Mac operating system, and the fact that applications such as Quicktime, iTunes, and Photoshop run more quickly on Mac OS X,” Ackerman reports.
Full review here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dale E” for the heads up.]
Fsck, they just had to bring up FireWire again?
Their argument is Apple apologist bullshit and it’s not going to fly.
Was there any doubt that CNET would love it?
@msr
Hey, your loquacity is surpassed only by your profundity. Verily, seldom has so little been expressed by so little.
Without Firewire an Apple computer is like a hot dog without mustard.
Do you not like mustard Mr Jobs?
The entry level $999 MacBook still has a FireWire 400 port. Add more RAM and boom, there you go.
People are still selling DV cameras for $400 new, and HDV for $700. Tthese can only connect via firewire. That’s hardly “Pro”. (IF they have USB, it is only for stills.)
And I have about 50 tapes of home movies. I’ll never be without a DV camera.
Hot dog we have a weiner!
I still using firewire 400 for my SONY camcorder, But I really don’t like to edit video on a laptop, and I believe that it could be worse to edit it in a13 or 15 inch laptop. I use a 20″ Imac, and when ever I need to edit “on the way”, I still capturing on the iMac and pass the file to the macBook. I really don’t see the big deal with losing firewire in such a small screen (even that you can attach a secondary screen).
Besides that, there will be a Firewire to USB adapter very soon.
@rattymouse
I Suggest you s***w yourself,if that’s all you can say.
To initially introduce a feature in a Pro product and then gradually bring it in to the consumer line is logical, but to take away a feature that has been in consumer machines for years and then take it away and say it is only for “pros” is absolutely ridiculous..
The worst decision Apple has made in recent history..
“I really don’t see the big deal with losing firewire in such a small screen (even that you can attach a secondary screen).
—————–
There is much more to it that that..
Besides using firewire for video, how bout target disk mode?
Or
Firewire only audio interfaces like the “Apogee duet” which Apple so proudly advertises on their site that it “works great with GarageBand.”
I was staring at my Dell laptop at work right now and I just realized it doesn’t have Firewire. Amazing!
In fact, I have the same ports on my new work laptop as I do on my personal Titanium G5 laptop (pushing 6 years old now). Doubly amazing!
Wow, where were all these morons when Apple was the only vendor carrying Firewire ports? Were they shouting that everyone should only get Macs? People who complain about FW, about glossy, about every little hangnail need to get a life.
Please CORRECT the source:
the review is not by CNET, but by CNN.com/technology
@edgeknight
Never get rid of your G5 TiBook as it is worth a ton of money, in view of the fact that it is probably the only G5 laptop that Apple ever made. Everyone else including me only had a G4.