Comments on: The new MacBooks: Beauty more than skin deep

Glaskowsky offers some first impressions on the new MacBook and MacBook Pro portables from Apple.

[CrashPad63]

Yeah they are ok. Much better choices out there though, The XPS lineup at Dell or Area51 at Alienware. Heck HP and Toshiba look better than these and cost less.

[hughmass]

Apple sells the new MacBooks with the option to buy Final Cut Express along with other options like iWork. But the MacBook has no firewire, and FCE really demands an external firewire harddrive. Isn't that a lawsuit waiting to happen? Video pros are appalled at what Apple is doing in eliminating firewire and selling FCE with the MacBooks.

[Peter N. Glaskowsky]

I think Apple's expectation is that MacBook customers are more likely to use USB-equipped camcorders and work with smaller, simpler video projects.

I know that people want more features on cheaper systems, but like any other company, Apple wants to offer a range of products at a range of prices so that customers with more to spend feel like they're getting their money's worth too.

But you're right, FireWire was on previous versions of these machines, and now there's basically no way to add high-performance external storage, so that's a loss of functionality. Thanks for pointing it out.

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[tech2art]

I was helping my sister yesterday set up her Dell laptop for Skype with an external camera/mic and was shocked again at just how stupid the whole PC experience is. You really can't compare Apple computers with PC's. Apple products are such a joy to work with! It is sort of like what the Japanese did with cars years ago that Detroit wasn't doing...they seriously thought about the driver/user. Finally, your not paying for the Apple name, your paying for the Apple experience, which is like nothing else on the market and worth every penny you spend.

[Rawnchie14]

Experience... yea experience of being a corporation's lap dog. You do whatever they say when you own one of their products, stripped of your freedom, and made to believe you benefit from it.

What an experience I say! And you pay a premium for it too!

[techonly]

Well, installing skype is a breeze, download and install, and call another person. the video and voice works automatically. No need to configure firewall. And thats what you called "smart". If you cant get it to work. Well too bad for you.

[dysonl]

Well, with PCs, you at least have the freedom to use external devices, if you choose to do so. There are thousands to choose from. Freedom of choice may be a bit to "complicated" to handle for some people. For tech-challenged users, a Mac might be a better fit indeed. And it comes with a price

[mjkphoto]

The glossy screen is a deal breaker. Matte finish displays are critical to creative professionals working on photos or design layouts all day. Adjusting the brightness to compensate for reflection runs counter to a photographers workflow, where color, highlight and contrast quality are important. It pains me to consider moving back to Windows, but the lack of a matte display on the notebook line gives me no choice. The 17 inch MacBook Pro is too large and heavy for my needs. Odds are it will get the new glossy display soon. What a terrible decision by Apple. They are clearly targeting consumers at the expense of creative professionals, especially photographers and graphic designers. It is a shame.

[Galaxy5]

I have to give you a second on this. It is incomprehensible that Apple would choose to eliminate matte displays entirely from the MacBook/Pro lineup, Matte finishes diffuse reflected light from the display, making it easier to use lower brightness levels in darkened rooms (which is the ideal for photo editing) without re-calibrating the display. In addition, the super contrast and high comparative saturation from these displays is going to make someone's library of photographs look much different than before.

We don't even know (not having an iMac or new notebook to test) whether these glass sandwiched displays can even be calibrated properly; if there are reflections between the LCD panel and the glass cover, then any calibration is going to be suspect - a problem made worse by the "vivid" color saturation, reflectance, and extreme contrast of these displays.

I've long suspected there's no one watching out for creative pros at Apple. Now I'm almost sure of it.

[FCBarca]

These are good comments, IMHO...I'd agree, as well.

Not crazy about the glossy screen finish, the lack of esata or firewire ports and the limit on RAM

The BluRay is a nonissue for me as this may too go the way of HD DVD

[RubenSande]

I can't get over the beauty of these machines. Sure they are priced high, like well made leather shoes, definitely worth it. I am a designer and am on the fence about the screen.
FYI, these guys are making custom cases for the MBP and MacBook~made in San Francisco to boot. I already ordered my sleeve .

[dysonl]

@tech2art: Well, with PCs, you at least have the freedom to use external devices, if you choose to do so. There are thousands to choose from. Freedom of choice may be a bit to "complicated" to handle for some people. For tech-challenged users, a Mac might be a better fit indeed. And it comes with a price.

[auramac]

it's been my professional experience over the last decade and a half that most "tech-challenged users" are sheep who wouldn't even consider trying a Mac.

[LunaticSX]

@dysonl

You may not have noticed it, but plenty of external devices are available for and work on Macs, too.

[Airplaneguy]

Beautiful on the surface - Ugly underneath.

I love Apple Computers - but what a let down! No CPU refreshes - Nothing really new - except for the form factor.

What about an Atom Net machine?
If we have to replace FW - why not eSATA ?
Where are the Quad Core CPU's ? I thought Apple was suppose to be in good with Intel.

Many of us have multiple machines and Firewire all for all of our external drives, FW DVI's - it is what makes Mac's FAST - so much for the so called Apple Standard.

Mr. Jobs has sold us down the river for a few extra penny's he makes by removing firewire.

I guess Mr. Steve got old and greedy. Very Very Sad. I miss the old Steve Jobs - the rebel.

[Peter N. Glaskowsky]

There aren't any better CPUs available. At least nothing that would fit into a 0.95"-thick laptop. Yeah, there are some quad-core laptops. But the machines they're in weigh like seven or eight pounds... and up.

I can't imagine Apple in the Atom netbook market. Those machines make just a few dollars of profit each. There's more fad than value there.

I did mention eSATA, and you can still get FireWire 800 on the new MacBook Pros. I expect Apple decided that if the low-end machines were getting the same aesthetics and expensive manufacturing techniques of the high-end machines, something else had to come out.

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