News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

October 15, 2008

hardware

Getting handsy with the new MacBooks

Posted Oct. 15, ’08, 1:28 PM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Hardware

newmacbookdm.jpgI have seen the new MacBooks and they are good. The Cambridgeside store had a single new MacBook and a single new MacBook Pro on display, and I snapped a bunch of pictures as I checked them out. “We only got them this morning,” one sales associate said. In fact, at least two or three of the employees came up next to me while I was looking at them and remarked on how they hadn’t even gotten a chance to play with them yet.

So, impressions. The MacBook and MacBook Pro are almost identical if you look at them head on, with the exception of the speakers on the sides of the Pro (on the MacBook, they’ve been moved to behind the hinge—not in the same place as the current MacBooks, but actually in the hinge). The aluminum finish is very slick: if you’ve seen the Air, you know what it’s like. Smooth, but not entirely scuff resistant; I definitely saw a couple faint marks on the machines already. The screen is definitely reflective, but one specialist was quick to point out that they weren’t glossy-finish screens, per se, but actual glass.

The beveling on the new MacBook definitely makes it feel thinner than the original MacBook. Much of the lost thickness is in the screen, as you can see in the side-by-side pictures I took. And the weight difference is noticeable: I hefted an old and a new MacBook side-by-side and was definitely able to lift the new one more easily with one hand (though, then again, maybe my left hand is just pathetic and weak).

Ah, the new trackpad. You know, they say it’s made out of glass, but I find it impossible to tell; it certainly looks like a normal trackpad in all respects. If you’ve used one of the old MacBook Pro’s trackpads, it feels virtually identical, but for the missing button. Honestly, using the new trackpad works great, as long as you don’t think about it: just click the way you always have and it’ll work fine. The four-finger Exposé gesture is awesome: swipe up and you’ll get the “Show Desktop” function; down, and you’ll get the “Show all windows.” So enamored was I with constantly trying those two gestures, I totally forgot to check out the horizontal swipe to activate the Application Switcher. Next time.

The specialist on hand also took a minute to demo how easy it is to remove the battery and the hard drive from the new MacBook. While the battery takes an extra step from the current MacBook (you have to remove a bottom panel with a simple latch before you can pull the battery out), the hard drive is substantially easier: pop off the cover, and it’s just there.

A couple other notes: the speaker grilles on the MacBook Pro are really fine. Running your hands over that versus over the old MacBook Pros, you can tell the difference. The MacBook speakers are a bit louder than the previous incarnations, which is nice. And because the iSight is now behind the glass part of the screen, the MacBook’s microphone has been relocated; it’s now just to the top left of the keyboard (I’m not positive, but I think the Pro’s is still hidden in among the speakers).

Overall, the only real gripe I have with the new models is the lack of FireWire on the new MacBook. Otherwise, these are pretty darn slick.

I also asked for questions via Twitter before I went over to the store, so let me address some of the queries after the jump.

WTF is up with the Firewire??

I asked the specialist about this and he told me—and realize that this is a retail employee, so take it with a grain of salt—that the FireWire was dropped for aesthetic reasons, namely that it was too large to fit in the new smaller case (presumably because of the beveling). This isn’t so far-fetched: remember that Apple gave the same reason for the terrible, awful, horrible, no good recessed headphone jack on the original iPhone. Does that mean we might see a FireWire port on the MacBook in the future? My gut says no; they’ve been excising FireWire from a lot of the consumer level products in favor of USB2.0. I think FireWire will be relegated to “pro” level equipment in the future.

I want to know how the 13” measures up (weight and size) to an old 12” PowerBook.

Well, obviously, I didn’t have a 12” PowerBook on hand. According to EveryMac, the PowerBook was 1.18” x 10.9” x 8.6” and on average about 4.6 lbs; by contrast, the MacBook is 0.95” x 12.78” x 8.94” and 4.5 lbs. So it’s about the same weight, wider, thinner, but slightly deeper. It’s not quite as svelte as the Air, but it’s pretty light (see above).

If you spill kool aid on the glass touch pad, does it stain?

Sadly, I decided not to risk the wrath of security guards. But I’m going to say only if it’s grape Kool-Aid.

What happens when one reaches the edge of the trackpad while one is dragging… can’t lift finger?

Honestly, it works the same as your existing track pad as long as you use it the same way. Which is to say, if you click with your thumb then drag with your forefinger, when you reach the edge of the trackpad, you can reposition your forefinger, as long as you keep your thumb clicked down. If you try to click with the forefinger and then drag, then yeah, you’ll lose the drag—but there’s no reason to do that, since it’s totally unergonomic and unintuitive.

Is the underside of the new macbook aluminum too? If yes how hot does it get compared to the previous version?

Yes, the underside is aluminum, which means that it will likely conduct heat better than the old MacBook. I didn’t have a chance to test it out, but I did crank up the MacBook Pro’s cores and check the bottom: it was warm, but not hot. However, I only got to try that for a couple minutes, so I’m not sure how good a test it is. I’m sure we’ll get more on that once our colleagues at Macworld run them through their paces.

Can you set a trackpad gesture to open Spaces?

Nope. The gestures are hard-wired, though there are a couple things you can change. I took a screenshot of the preference pane so you can see what options you have. I do appreciate the little movies, since I initially tried to use the pinch-zoom method to zoom the screen (despite the way that it works the same as it does on my MacBook). You can, however, set the trackpad to do a control-click in either the bottom right or bottom left corner which is pretty clever.

trackpad prefs.jpg


3 Comments

Donn Author Profile Page said:

Handsy? WWDT reference? Nice writeup. The wife even says, "Maybe next year," which is a remarkable thing.

October 15, 2008 2:52 PM
Neo said:

The lack of Firewire 400 is the biggest strike against this machine. As a long time Mac user, it seems as if Apple is gradually removing features, thus providing less and less incentive to upgrade to current products. :-(

October 16, 2008 10:31 AM
Cygnus X-1 said:

I hear there is no Target Disk Mode. I guess the primary use for that in the past was to allow diagnostics and quick data transfer. With an easier to remove hard drive and easy access to USB adapters I guess they have decided kill TDM and FireWire. I still think this was a mistake as USB 2.0 will never perform near FireWire 400. Say goodbye to booting off an external drive.

October 16, 2008 4:35 PM

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