On Friday I mentioned a purported email from Steve Jobs to a user, upset about the new MacBook's lack of a FireWire port, that downplayed the importance of FireWire with regards to consumer-level video editing. Jobso noted that most HD camcorders for sale over the past few years support USB 2.0.
I shrugged off the port's demise, saying we'll learn to live without it.
But you disagreed in a very prolific fashion, clogging the post with comments pointing out millions of bullet-list-worthy reasons why the MacBook needs FireWire and why you aren't dropping a dime on those aluminum (a-lu-min-um) atrocities.
Here's a quick roundup of the Good Points:
One of the best points, I think, was made by reader rickk, on my comparison between the removal of the FW port and Apple's slaughtering of the floppy disk:
no one had $2000 invested in floppy disks like i have invested in firewire hard ware
And so, the debate rages. The absence of the FireWire port hasn't deterred the legions of buyers at my local Apple Store, nor has it discouraged my collegiate friends from gobbling 'em up. But those who have noticed the port's disappearance are looking to other options.
I'm just opting to spend more money and buy the MacBook Pro.
Well played, Apple. Well played.
Intel made a slew of announcements last week, thanks to the Intel Developer Forum. We've already posted about their wireless power technology and their new hard drives--now the mad scientists at Intel want to give everyone a tiny CPU.
As you might recall, Intel created a custom built version of their Core 2 Duo processor to power the very svelte MacBook Air. Now Intel is making similar chips available to anyone who wants them (Lenovo is using them in the X301 and HP has them in the 2530p, which is pictured to the right). Chances are that these updated chips will find their way into MacBook Airs before too long, as well as a host of other tiny laptops over the coming months.
You know about Parallels, right? The run-Windows-on-your-Mac-without-having-to-reboot ("virtualization") thing? You better know about Parallels. We've written about it like 80 kajillion times since our inception in 2006. And if you know about Parallels (which you do), then you should know about VMWare Fusion-the other Windows virtualization software for the Mac we've also written about so much we've violated countless provisions of the Geneva Convention and will inevitably wind up at The Hague because of our callous indifference to the pains of-and the crimes against humanity inherent in-writing about stuff way too much.
But we'll hopefully get some leniency when they learn Parallels' and Fusion's monopolies on our virtualization coverage may slowly begin withering away, thanks to Sun's (free!) alternative, xVM VirtualBox. We've written about VirtualBox before, too, but only twice, a long time ago, back when it didn't quite work too well.
Things have apparently changed, as today both the Mothership and TUAW posted in-depth tours and analyses of Sun's Windows-in-a-window solution-the Mothersip has a great VirtualBox demo video by Rob "I'm gonna eat your brains and gain your knowledge" Griffiths, and TUAW has a detailed written-post with lots of pretty pictures. And yes, they liked it. TUAW's Steven Sande sums it up:
While vMX VirtualBox may not have all of the special features that you see in Parallels or VMWare Fusion (i.e., the ability to use Boot Camp partitions, Unity or Coherence modes, etc...), it has several great features -- it's free, it's stable, and it has a small footprint. How small? The application is only 55.6 MB in size, compared to 132.1 MB for VMWare Fusion and 77.9 MB for the Parallels Desktop folder...
So check it out! And act interested, will ya? Our freedom's at stake here.
Mmm, steak.
I don't need to sit here waxing obvious about the importance of battery life in mobile computing. I've actually boiled it down to a pair of simple equations: Long battery life = hella good; short battery life = hella bad. Feel free to use that math when studying battery specs for any gadget-it's pretty universal.
MacBook Pros have always sacrificed decent battery life for large, bright screens, wireless connectivity, and hella fast processors and hard drives. The typical MacBook Professional has to carry around an extra battery, for that inevitable moment when his crashes and burns in the middle of a hella important business meeting.
So good news: In its review of the new Penryn-based Pro, PC Mag noticed a 15% increase in overall battery life-not bad for historically-hella-miniscule battery boosts.
The batteries themselves didn't change, nor did the Leopard operating system. Apple didn't invent some great new power-management utility. The improved battery life is a direct result of the Penryn CPU's deeper sleep states and its more energy-efficient processor core. The new MacBook Pro produced 3 hours 56 minutes on MobileMark 2007 tests, which is a significant jump from the 3 hours 10 minutes of the previous-generation MacBook Pro.
It's not a giant bump, and most road warriors would still prefer to have an extra battery Just In Case-but it does demonstrate that Intel's hella fast road-runner approach to processor improvement is paying off, making the future seem pretty promising.
If only they could power notebooks with that glowy thing in Iron Man. Now that'd be hella sweet.
[via Daring Fireball]
If you answered "no" to that headline, there's a good chance you've experienced some kind of head trauma and are currently suffering from retrograde amnesia. Because let's be honest: At this point, years after the first Intel Macs were shipped to customers, everyone knows Macs can run Windows. It's actually MacUser policy to remind people of that, like, every day. It's also our policy to point you to every single article ever written that covers running Windows on your Mac-what to do, how to do it, and why to do it (still looking for a good answer on that one).
And today, we point you to Rob Griffith's Best of Both Worlds series at the Mothership, where he dives deep into the never-exhausted issue of Windows-on-the-Mac.
But you may not know the answers to a bunch of other related questions: Why would you want to put Windows on your Mac in the first place? Which Windows programs are compelling and unique enough to justify the hassle of putting Windows on your Mac? Can you really incorporate those programs smoothly into your Mac workflow, or will they always feel clunky? In other words, while putting Windows on your Mac might sound great in theory, how does it all work out in reality?
It's three pages long, and the first in a series of upcoming articles detailing how best to take advantage of the Two OS's. One Computer. tech.
I was going to turn this post into one big spoof of "The Best of Both Worlds" episode from Star Trek: The Next Generation-the Mothership as the Enterprise, Windows as the Borg, and, of course, Rob Griffiths as an assimilated Captain Picard. But somehow I don't think such a parody would've received the appreciation it so rightly would've deserved.
And I'm already writing for a Mac blog-there's only so much nerdiness I can demonstrate before I start rolling my eyes at myself, you know?
(You have no idea how long it took to make that freakin' graphic. Apparently Photoshop doesn't have 'shield' or 'tractor beam' shape designs. Totally worth it, though.)
The upgraded 20-inch and 24-inch iMacs launched by Apple last Monday have now been released from the Macworld labs after being subjected to an extensive battery of tests, and their cheery faces seem to indicate that the results are good. As expected, the new iMacs, with their better processor and memory configurations, top the previous generation models in pretty much every test they were put through.
Of particular interest is the fact that there is a significant performance gap between the 2.4GHz and 2.66GHz 20-inch configurations, more than enough to justify the $300 price difference between the two units. If you're opting for the 20-incher, the 2.66GHz will definitely offer more value for your money.
If graphics performance is important to you, however, you might want to set your sights on the built-to-order 3.06GHz configuration. Not only does it beat all the other iMacs in gaming performance by handsome margins, the beautiful 24-inch boasts a much better viewing angle than its 6-bit 20-inch counterparts.
If you're in the market for a desktop Mac, these new kids on the block just might be what you're looking for. They offer much better specifications and performance then they used to just a couple of weeks ago, while retaining the same sexy looks and prices--what else could one ask for!
Apple launched the upgraded range of iMacs today that feature no visual changes but have been bumped up to include faster processors and more memory as part of the standard configurations. The prices, for the most part, haven't seen any changes.
The three models now ship with 2.4GHz, 2.66GHz and 2.8GHz processors, all of which sport 6MB shared L2 caches. The base model still has only 1GB of RAM, while the other two have been bumped up to 2GB each. The bus speeds for RAM modules have been ramped up to 800MHz across the board.
The default storage configuration remains the same but you can optionally configure your iMac to include up to a 1TB hard disk spinning at 7200 rpm. Other optional configurations include a 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and the much needed option of the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS in the graphics department.
At $1,199, $1,499, and $1,799, the prices remain the same for the three basic configurations, but the 3.06GHz configuration can now be had for $2,199 (which is a $50 discount). If you'd been waiting for an iMac refresh, like me, it's time to break open that piggy bank you'd been hiding for the past few months.
In related news, with the launch of the updated iMacs today, Tuesday officially loses the exclusive rights to Apple product launches. It was seen wailing on the gates of the Apple Online Store, pleading to be let in on the fun again. We'll know whether it met with any success or not tomorrow.
My local public transit network, the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is currently beta testing its next train arrival prediction system. Many other transit systems, including San Francisco's MUNI tram/bus line have this feature as well.
But what's neat, is that some businesses near my local station (Rockridge) are putting iMacs in the window of their storefronts (Maison d'Etre, pictured), or on countertops so that you can determine how fast you need to gulp down your latte before hopping on the train.
If it's the youngest and most loved sibling in the MacBook family you're interested in, you'll be glad to know that Macworld has taken these new Penryn-powered beauties for a test ride and has now published the benchmark results.
As with the newly released MacBook Pros, these MacBooks also enjoy a performance boost, thanks to Intel's latest processors and more onboard memory. The upgraded notebooks now ship with 2.1GHz and 2.4GHz processors and, compared to the previous generation, are about 10-15% faster in various tests.
The mothership also notes that apart from the obvious advantage the MacBook Pros enjoy in graphics intensive tasks due to the significantly more capable dedicated graphics card, the higher-end MacBook comes pretty close to the lowest configured MacBook Pro in terms of overall performance.
So if you don't intend to run demanding games or other applications that require a dedicated graphics card and are willing to compromise on the screen size, you might find the MacBook to be a better fit for you, while being lighter on your wallet.
A full-fledged review for both the MacBooks and MacBook Pros will be published soon, along with the results of some hardcore battery life testing of all the upgraded notebooks. We're told that the ones that survive this test are then fully prepared to face all the challenges life throws at them.
