The new MacBook is out

[AmigaMan]

The new 13.3" MacBook is out. It's not a bad little machine and it starts at $1099. For $1499 you can get it in black, but IMO thats a little pricey for a new paint job and 20GB more HD.

 

[Eug]

Heh. I like that: "BlacBook"

Yeah, the BlacBook's price is stupid. I'm sure Apple will wring the extra coin out of a lot of people that want that colour though.

I ordered the white with the same sized hard drive and the SuperDrive, for quite a bit less than the BlacBook.

I'm not a fan of glossy screens though, and I'm disappointed by the integrated gfx. OTOH, the Core Duo 2.0 is way faster than I was expecting, so there's that.

 

[AmigaMan]

yeah, the Intel GMA 950 is a bit underpowered. Apple should be about differentiating itself from the PC's out there. IMO, it should do that by it's designs (pretty looks, etc), it's OS, and it's technical features. Integrated graphics is one feature that should have been dropped in favor of a discrete solution like an x300 or something along those lines. Maybe there just wasn't enough room in that case for anything that ATI has in stock.
Congrats on your purchase though, write up a mini review for us when you get it.

 

[Kaido]

Don't forget to snag some upgrades:

2gb ram: $226 (2 sticks of 1gb @ $113 each)
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/5300DDR2S1GB/

100gb 7200rpm Seagate hard drive: $220
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/ST910021AS/

Windows XP Pro (OEM): $142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837102062

 

[shrumpage]

I have the last generation of the G4 12" books - and i would upgrade in a heart beat. BUT the GPU really kills it for me. After looking at some game benchmarks (UT2k4 and WoW) it looks like it would be almost a step backwards.

I love the form factor, but need a little more power.

 

[Commodus]

It's not going to be a gaming machine (unless you primarily play games like Civilization 4, where GPU speed isn't critical). But it's a great system if it's either a second system or you plan to do most of your gaming on a console anyways. I could easily see someone getting a MacBook and a next-gen console. Heck, you can even colour-match - get a white MacBook and an X360, or a black MacBook and a PS3.

 

[shrumpage]

yeah i know it is not a gaming rig by any means - but from what i can tell it games slower the 12 g4 ibook.

 

[Stokes]

I agree with the above people, I would have loved to see this coming with a dedicated graphics, something decent too. Glad I jumped on the D620 route for now

 

[ubercaffeinated]

no vid card kills it. can't do 1080p h264 content. nice for ultra portability, but ridiculous you have to pay almost 200 more (~150ish) just to get a black case. factor in upgrade costs, and the 15 in mcp doesn't look too bad again.

 

[Ichigo]

Originally posted by: Kaido
Don't forget to snag some upgrades:

2gb ram: $226 (2 sticks of 1gb @ $113 each)
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/5300DDR2S1GB/

100gb 7200rpm Seagate hard drive: $220
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/ST910021AS/

Windows XP Pro (OEM): $142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837102062

XP? What?

 

[Commodus]

Originally posted by: makoto00
no vid card kills it. can't do 1080p h264 content. nice for ultra portability, but ridiculous you have to pay almost 200 more (~150ish) just to get a black case. factor in upgrade costs, and the 15 in mcp doesn't look too bad again.

Actually, the Mac mini Core Duo can play 1080p just fine, so long as the clip is cached. A MacBook will be even better - though you'll have to operate in lid-closed mode with an external display, so that you're not asking the system to handle more than 1920x1080.

 

[andrewbabcock]

Originally posted by: Ichigo

Originally posted by: Kaido
Don't forget to snag some upgrades:

2gb ram: $226 (2 sticks of 1gb @ $113 each)
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/5300DDR2S1GB/

100gb 7200rpm Seagate hard drive: $220
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/ST910021AS/

Windows XP Pro (OEM): $142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837102062

XP? What?

Yes macs run XP now out of Bootcamp. Its not 100% sound yet but there working on it. Where have you been?

 

[thatbox]

I think he was just balking at the idea of Windows XP being called an "upgrade".

 

[halfadder]

If you're Johnny Student or Joe Sixpack and spend 50% of your computer time surfing the web, writing email, and doing word processing tasks... and 50% of your time doing iLife-type apps (video editing with iMovie or Avid Xpress, photos with iPhoto, music with GarageBand and iTunes, burning DVD videos with iDVD, etc) then the MacBook will be more than enough computer for you.

But as soon as you want to run the latest wiz-bang 3D game, or as soon as you want to try out that warezed copy of Final Cut Pro or Maya, you're screwed by the Intel Integrated Graphics.

Integrated graphics work fine in the corporate office world and the grandpa's home computer world, and maybe even in the elementary school world, but they're very limiting for home use where you would expect to be able to play the latest games and experiment with professional software.

I love my MacBookPro and it's X1600 graphics. I would never buy or recommend a MacBook, the integrated graphics are simply too limiting. If you're interested in an Apple notebook, do yourself a favor and go for the "Pro" models with real GPUs and real graphics memory.

 

[Ichigo]

Right, because everyone needs to play the latest games and 3D rendering apps.

 

[imported_Questar]

Originally posted by: Ichigo
Right, because everyone needs to play the latest games and 3D rendering apps.

On a 13" laptop yet.

 

[WackyDan]

If you want black, buy a ThinkPad.

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

This looks pretty good. I would seriously consider it if it supports Windows Vista (with Aero Glass or maybe not which is fine). Pretty nice to have Mac OS X and Windows Vista on one laptop. Since I don't game at all, it's pretty much perfect. It would be even better if it was a pound lighter and 12" widescreen instead. How's the battery anyone? Does Apple even have 12" widescreen anymore? Need to get rid of my Dell 700m which has an even crappier graphics (855GME)

 

[halfadder]

Ars has a pretty good review of the (non-Pro) MacBook. They discuss battery life too.

No 12" Apples right now.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

just curious... what is the audio specs on the macbook and macbook pro? anything like 5.1 audio out or something?

 

[halfadder]

MacBook only has plain mini-jack stereo in/out (and the built-in mic and speakers). To do better than that, you need a USB audio dongle or mixer, such as the cool one made by TASCAM.

MacBookPro also has just a pair of mini-jacks, but they both double as optical in/out. These support more than just stereo. You can use a TOSLINK -> Optical Minijack cable (or an adapter) to connect the MacBook to mutlichannel stereo equipment. Applications like DVD Player pass along the DTS or Dolby Digital stream, for example.

For some reason the optical output is enable by default in Windows (if you install Windows using BootCamp) leaving a nice red glow coming out of the audio out minijack!

 

[Wonderful Pork]

Originally posted by: halfadder
MacBook only has plain mini-jack stereo in/out (and the built-in mic and speakers). To do better than that, you need a USB audio dongle or mixer, such as the cool one made by TASCAM.

MacBookPro also has just a pair of mini-jacks, but they both double as optical in/out. These support more than just stereo. You can use a TOSLINK -> Optical Minijack cable (or an adapter) to connect the MacBook to mutlichannel stereo equipment. Applications like DVD Player pass along the DTS or Dolby Digital stream, for example.

For some reason the optical output is enable by default in Windows (if you install Windows using BootCamp) leaving a nice red glow coming out of the audio out minijack!

Apples website says the MacBook has the same combo audio jacks like the Pro version

"Audio
Built-in stereo speakers
Built-in omnidirectional microphone
Combined optical digital audio input/audio line in (minijack)
Combined optical digital audio output/headphone out (minijack)"

 

[ubercaffeinated]

Originally posted by: Wonderful Pork

Originally posted by: halfadder
MacBook only has plain mini-jack stereo in/out (and the built-in mic and speakers). To do better than that, you need a USB audio dongle or mixer, such as the cool one made by TASCAM.

MacBookPro also has just a pair of mini-jacks, but they both double as optical in/out. These support more than just stereo. You can use a TOSLINK -> Optical Minijack cable (or an adapter) to connect the MacBook to mutlichannel stereo equipment. Applications like DVD Player pass along the DTS or Dolby Digital stream, for example.

For some reason the optical output is enable by default in Windows (if you install Windows using BootCamp) leaving a nice red glow coming out of the audio out minijack!

Apples website says the MacBook has the same combo audio jacks like the Pro version

"Audio
Built-in stereo speakers
Built-in omnidirectional microphone
Combined optical digital audio input/audio line in (minijack)
Combined optical digital audio output/headphone out (minijack)"

;O that's what i gathered too... does that mean the audio specs on the mbp and the macbook are the same?

 

[halfadder]

I stand corrected. The MacBook and MacBookPro indeed have the same audio.

 

[gus6464]

I got my macbook last sunday, just got the base 1.86ghz model as i dont care for dvd burner at all on a laptop. Also upgraded the ram to 2gigs with 2 sticks of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231066

So far this thing flies under osx and the only app i really use in winxp with bootcamp is minor autocad and its plenty fast. In total i payed $1200 for it including the ram upgrade and could not be happier. The only thing i would consider upgrading later would just be a bigger hdd but for now its a pretty perfect laptop.