Apple's MacBook refresh ... not so fresh
Apple refreshed its MacBook and MacBook Pro product lines last week. I was hoping for more significant improvements, but the changes were minimal.
Apple's MacBook Pro
(Credit: Courtesy of Apple)The updated models come with new Intel processors, larger hard disks, more main memory, and more graphics memory.
The new Penryn processor was expected to improve battery life, but I noticed something when I compared the specs for the old MacBook Pro to those of the new model. The new machine's stated battery life has dropped from six hours to just five. However, Apple now refers to five hours of "wireless productivity," whereas the old machine didn't use that qualifier. This suggests to me that Apple is now rating battery life with wireless networking enabled, and may have been doing the measurements with Wi-Fi off on the older machines. If that's what happened, Apple should explain it; without the explanation, the apparent drop in battery life is disappointing.
Well, these machines are just a midlife kicker. The real advance will show up later this year when Apple ships machines based on Intel's forthcoming Montevina platform, which includes the same Penryn processors but introduces a new family of chipsets code-named Cantiga.
Apple will presumably add other new features along with Montevina. I have no idea what Apple is working on, but we can look at other PC notebooks on the market today to see what technology Apple might consider adopting:
- Extreme Edition processors
- Support for more than 4GB of DRAM--Mac OS X "Leopard" is a full 64-bit OS and 4GB isn't really enough any more, especially if you use a virtualization environment such as Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion to run Windows apps within Mac OS X
- Integrated WWAN--I use an Option ExpressCard 3G adapter for the AT&T network, but I'd rather have this function built in to free up the slot
- Blu-ray optical drives--I expected to see this feature last year!
- A secondary solid-state hard disk--I suggested this feature in a blog post last June, and now Sony has it in its Vaio TZ92 notebook
- Intel HD audio
- Nvidia's GeForce 8800M GTS and GTX graphics chips
- Hybrid graphics--the ability to use a discrete graphics chip for high performance or the simpler graphics engine in the chipset for longer battery life; Sony offers this feature too
- A fingerprint reader--Apple's systems are already more secure than most Windows machines, but a fingerprint reader would be a useful complement to existing security measures
- Tablet mode--maybe not on all machines, but it'd sure be nice to see a tablet-capable MacBook
Apple has often been ahead of the competition. Earlier PowerBook and MacBook models were among the first notebooks to introduce super-thin cases, Gigabit Ethernet, motion sensors, LED backlights, DVI video outputs, FireWire, and other advanced features. Perhaps Apple is looking well beyond the features I've listed here, some of which have become almost routine in Windows notebooks.
Of course, even without these improvements, existing MacBook and MacBook Pro machines are still among the sleekest, fastest, and most capable notebook PCs on the market. But no tech company can afford to stand still, not even Apple.
And I need a reason to replace my own MacBook Pro. It's almost a year and a half old, and I'm getting itchy. C'mon, Apple, surprise me!
Peter N. Glaskowsky is a computer architect in Silicon Valley and a technology analyst for the Envisioneering Group. He has designed chip- and board-level products in the defense and computer industries, managed design teams, and served as editor in chief of the industry newsletter "Microprocessor Report." He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. 
"I need a reason to replace my own MacBook Pro."
Don't wait. Replace it with an HP. They offer most of the features on your Wish List.
http://gizmodo.com/361001/macbook-and-macbook-pro-17-battery-life-are-actually-improved
Maybe you didn't get the update on your Newton.
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/02/26/the-new-macbooks-battery-life-and-power-adapter
Yeah, that sure would be nice to see . . . oh wait . . . it's been out for a while now:
http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook
Get a clue, buddy.
by constraints from Intel.
- Apple isn't going to offer integrated WWAN. People want
choices, and Apple isn't likely to let consumers choose which
WWAN they individually want.
- Did you seriously expect a BD drive last year? Apple may have
supported Blu-Ray, but with Steve Jobs eliminating proprietary
technology from Apple machines, it's unlikely that he'd permit
something that could potentially cause Macs to have useless
optical drives.
- NVidia's 8800 GPUs are too thich for the MacBook Pro's case.
- A biometric scanner would create a sore point on the MacBook
Pro's aesthetic, don't you think?
- Apple's preferred hinge design is hardly conducive to a tablet
mode.
I'd expect to hear of such complaints from a whiny fanboy, but from an analyst? One would think that you would make more educated complaints.
But you do not do any comparison or even mention the others. Why not? When was the last time you wrote an article that encompassed other computer manufacturers other than apple? Their numbers are certainly relevant. The computer world does not revolve entirely around apple... only 8% of it. Keep that in mind when you write again.
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- by ThE_ThInG_2 June 13, 2008 2:48 PM PDT
- Camp88, anonms, and Seaspray0...dumb trolls. This was an article written under the title "Apple's MacBook refresh ... not so fresh". It was not necesarrily intended to refer to what other companies have already done, but what Apple needs to/ should do in the near future...and what people can look for in the future. It is just listing all possibilities/desires.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(15 Comments)Camp88... a tablet capable MACBOOK, not a different company...get a clue yourself and read what he wrote.
Anonms...you had some good points with the graphics card and BluRay and the RAM, don't get me wrong, but seriously, the tablet comment was uncalled for. It would be nice to see Apple make such things, even though this is highly unlikely since it was specifically stated by Steve Jobs that Apple would not go back into this market, in the Mac line, but regardless, Peter was just adding that to his list of what would be cool to see in the future. He isn't just some whiny fanboy..."Tablet mode--maybe not on all machines, but it'd sure be nice to see a tablet-capable MacBook".
Seaspray0...wow. As I said for Camp88, the title of this article is "Apple's MacBook refresh ... not so fresh", and thus the information is in reference to Apple; go read a review about the other companies you want to hear about so bad; not every bit of information is required to include comparisons of all parties at every given moment. Apple's notebooks are definitely among the sleekest and most capable in the notebook lines, and by simply looking at the competition, there is enough said.
Good article overall, ofcourse with parts that are a little over the top as these fine people I mentioned above decided to comment on in inappropriate ways, but it was an article made with the intention of just throwing everything out there, and you did just that.