Apple MacBook is let loose | Comments (16)
Posted in Apple on 16th May 2006, 2:52 pm by Stuart
So the new MacBook Pro is out and it looks very good. The core spec is not that far off the MacBook Pro but is available at a much lower pricepoint. The main difference is that with the MacBook you only get an intel GMA950 card with shared memory rather than the ATi options supplied with the MacBook Pro. The only other items you miss out on are the light-up keyboard and the express card.
The MacBook costs significantly less than the MacBook Pro and the addition of a black version does give you the possibility of a departure from the previous white models. The only catch with the black model is that it’s a whole £128 more expensive and yet the only difference appears to be 20GB increase in hard drive capacity.
So which would you go for. The sexy MacBook Pro with it’s higher price tag but better graphics or the budget but better value MacBook? If you’re ready to lay some cash down for the MacBook which would it be, black or white?
I’d definitely go for the better value white MacBook, as there is no way I can justify the price of the Pro for what I need a machine to do.
Having seen that machine come out today I have decided not to buy Apple Care for my year old Powerbook. Apple Care for the Powerbook is still £279. That’s a third of the price of the NEW Macbook, and I would hope to have a new Mac in a year to 18 months time anyway.
There’s no way that is worth the money – so I’m just going to hang on to my Powerbook – and if it dies before I would otherwise upgrade, I’ll just buy the cheap MacBook and have a lovely, nippy, Intel based Mac sooner than I otherwise would have.
To be honest it’s got to be the smaller Macbook. Some dont like the white finish but I’ve had ibooks for years and no complaints, and personally I’d buy a new nano instead of getting a black macbook for the cost.
The reason I’ve circling my wagons though is the slightly smaller size. 13″ widescreen, decent 1280 resolution and 32.5 x 22.7 x 2.75 versus 35.7 x 24.3 x 2.59 for the 15″ pro.
How many of them will be on show at @media I wonder?
@Andy: I’m pretty sure your powerbook should keep you going for a year or two. Who knows by then the whole Macintel product line may have matured for the better.
@Gareth: Good point about @media it’ll be interesting to see just how many people will have splashed out by then.
More than 7?;)
The real question is will anyone have plumped for the black MacBook considering the additional cost?
I think we’ll see a few. The cheap white one seems very good value for money.
And Stuart, yeah. If my Powerbook doesn’t crap out on me (sans Apple Care) then I will be with it for another year at least I would say.
Yeah the black MacBook is sweet.
@Phu: It’s a cracker! (To anyone who didn’t get it morethanseven is the name of Gareth’s site)
@Andy: I’ll try not to drop coffee on it then
Having just seen the feed for Apple’s own news it would appear that the announcement of the MacBook means the 12″ Powerbook is gone for good:
I think both me and my 12″ Powerbook will shed a tear tonight as we work together into the small hours.
Black, definitely. I have never cared for the white ones, because they show wear and tear more than darker colors. Does anyone know how easy / difficult it is to add your own RAM to these new MacBook models?
I’d go for the Macbook over the pro version, as it looks like it does everything I need. Of course – if they manage to fix the damn thing – my current laptop (a non-apple one, just to be clear) should have enough life left in it.
A white MacBook will be replacing my soon to be six year old G4/550 Powerbook, either when the Powerbook dies or I get tired of gluing it back together.
Though the size difference between the MacBook and MacBook Pro is not that much. Previously I was looking at a 12″ iBook as the replacement, because they were just more portable. I tend to take my Powerbook everywhere and the smaller size just made it easier, and I don’t really need the extra grunt or better graphics, seeing I do far less graphics and a lot more coding than six years ago.
@Phu: Holds head in hand.
On the other hand, some people (http://benmetcalfe.com/blog/index.php/2006/05/17/macbook-keyboad-really-sucks/) seem to be having issues with the keyboard. Seems to be something you like or dont. It’s a trip to the apple store then for me, except their isn’t one for miles!
When I make the leap to MaIintel, it’ll definitely be the black MacBook, but out of habit I will wait till Rev B at least; in the meantime my Pismo soldiers on!
As regards the pricing, apart from the bigger HD I think a new case material will make costs are higher initially until they get a feel for demand and can ramp up production. In the meantime I agree it looks like an envy tax.
RAM upgrades look fairly easy, but whichever config you order, the memory is supplied on 2 sticks so you have to ditch one if you want to upgrade:
http://www.macworld.com/2006/05/firstlooks/macbookfirst/
ET
I’m gonna go for the pro.. Better resolution, bigger screen, better graphics and better build quality.. Worth it!
I think the black macbook is super-sexy, but I most likely would get the middle of the road white one. Personally, I liked the 14 inch size…but 13 is still ok. 12 was a little small for me. I’m still waiting for the software to catch up with the Intel Macs, but my next one will probably be a macbook pro 15. We’ll see what kind of updates happen the remainder of this year with Apple and Universal Binaries.
black is bad, just because of the color. as a person who’s owned black hardware for years, i’ve come to greatly appreciate apple’s white finish for imacs and alluminium for macpros.
Working for an Apple mac service provider myself i fix these two babies day in and out. There is no question in my mind that the mac book is by far the better deal, we ran benchtests on both machines to compare how much better the pro was. The results showed that the pro is only slightly better than the normal mac book. With regards to the color finish the black has a slightyly bigger hard drive so is probably best price wise to stick with the white, but my personal oppinion is the black mac book looks brillient. DO NOT, i repeat DO NOT get any mac book or pro which has a gloss screen youy will be very disappointed. I hope this has helped.