Comments on: New MacBook lineup vs. old MacBook lineup

Crave compares the two new MacBook models with the pair they replaced.

[ferretboy88]

Prices are silly. Way too much.

[Nodack]

"Prices are silly. Way too much."

That sounds familiar, where have I heard that before? Oh yea, now I remember. Every product that Apple has ever released has been called over priced. Thanks for sharing though.

[lk335]

no firewire makes me incredibly upset. I was about to spring for one of these.... so now I'll have to find a retailer that still has the old model in stock for my first mac laptop.

[aztec92154]

Just pick up a common firewire 400 to 800 adapter. They're cheap - this one is only $19 bucks. So now you have one less port to fill up with dust on your laptop, and an adapter that you have to throw in your camera bag on those rare occasions that you have to download video. (If you're a professional, you should be getting the pro laptop)
http://www.amazon.com/Sonnet-FireWire-400-Adapter-FAD-824/dp/B0000CDJPQ/ref=tag_stp_st_edpp_ttl

[tappy727]

Wow, no Firewire on the Macbook? USB beats out Firewire on the Mac.

[ewelch]

Well, get your MacBook into an Apple store before the end of the year and you won't pay anything to fix it. And while you're at it, don't be a cheapskate and get Applecare and extend the warranty (and free tech support) for two more years.

Unless you want to replace it?

I think the new MacBooks are great, but no Firewire just forces me to choose what I wanted to anyway - a new MacBook Pro. Once I buy my Nikon D700 and 24-70 2.8, that's next in line! :-D

[Skep]

Dropping firewire seems stupid given how macs are supposed to be great for multimeda and for people to create home videos with. Many camcorders still only connect to a computer via firewire. I can no longer recommend the current macbook to novices who wish to buy a computer they can use for photos and family videos--it just won't work for a large percentage of video camera owners.

[cmstratton]

Why would Apple put in a less powerful processor? Increased batter life? Heating issues? Doesn't make sense to me why they'd upgrade other aspects but downgrade the processor.

[Jmanmadness23]

In actuallity the prosessors are an upgrade. the foward bus speed has increased from 800MHz to 1066MHz which is a great improvement. So even though the speed is down by 0.1GHz, it is still a better processor.

[marktech101]

I'm pretty sure that the old MacBooks had 3MB of cache (not 4MB).

[kcotham]

That is correct. I have the black MacBook (the previously top model of MacBook) and it has 3MB of Level 2 cache.

[gocougz05]

I'm excited about the new macbook line... A little disappointed that we lost the firewire port because I to use the firewire for my video camera... But my roomie has the old mac so the transfer of files will be simple, just a pain... And a loss of a MB in Cache a lil disappointing as well, but I'm sure they made a great product. I was going to by the "blackbook" in September to receive the touch, but decided to hold out for the new one and am happy with my decision, at least i think, haven't got it yet. : ) But I was really happy to see the decrease in price for memory, because there is no sense in spending another 200 bucks on two 2gig sticks when you could buy them at newegg for $90. But goodbye DELL, hello macbook! :)

[sapporobaby]

Gently put an alcohol soaked swab or Q-Tip under or next to the button. The alcohol will dissipate and hopefully remove the gunk that is causing the sticking.

[twoplancker]

1066 BUS vs. 800MHZ Bus. The old macbook only had 3mb L2 cache not 4. Apples and Oranges. I can't believe they are paying you.

[BrujoSalazar]

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook3,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MB31.008E.B02
SMC Version: 1.24f2

[nintendoeats]

my BIGGEST problem with macbooks is the lack of a right click. now it has no mouse button. GREEEEEEEEEEAT. I wish my school gave us windows machines...

[open-mind]

The whole pad is the mouse button. Click with two fingers to "right-click" ... or click on the right side of the pad ... your choice.

[Galaxy5]

If you truly are too stupid to understand this mouse button thing....ah, hell. Go away, troll.

[rapier1]

This doesn't change the fact that they've taken away all hapatic feedback. Some people like to have the physical sensation of the press and click. Personally, I've never been a fan of tapping because its significantly changes the modality of the device. That coupled with the introduction of the chiclet keyboard and removal of firewire I believe that this macbook lineup is a step backwards in functionality and ergonomics.

[kcotham]

Simple, just control-click. Or hold down the mouse button for a second (works on a lot of features and apps). Or just plug in a multi-button mouse. The operating system can be configured to use multiple button mice.

[random truth]

The trackpad moves down and makes a click when you want to click. Its like the blackberry thunder.

[balderasaugusto]

I tougth that the black Macbook was the best selling of both, and now is the one that went away? I was planning on buying a black macbook, but now I may wait for a possible Netbook from Mac

[close5828]

You can still buy Black Macbooks on their website, under Clearance. $1199 is still a great price.

[close5828]

Matthew: Just take it to the store and have them fix it. I was at the Apple Store two weeks ago getting my powercord replaced (burn marks) and a girl who was waiting along side me was there to get her cracked topcase replaced. The Genius told her to come back in 1hr, so I imagine that won't be much of a hassle for you.

Cache is important, but it isn't everything. As far as the CPU difference (old 2.4, new 2.0) on the middle Macbook offering, isn't the new 2.0 a more efficient CPU build (Centrino Pro?) than the older 2.4? Just curious.. According to BareFeats, this was the case w/ the last gen Macbooks..

http://www.barefeats.com/mbpp01.html << Notice the older 2007 Macbook 2.4 (4MB Cache) vs. 2008 Macbook 2.4 (3MB Cache).

Well...Macbook w/out Firewire--there's part of me that agrees we should have Firewire, and there's part of me that says the devil is in the details. My guess is that far "fewer" people use Firewire on the Macbook than the Macbook Pro, and Apple has done the research to back that up. Plus, if you were Apple...why spend the extra $$$ on putting something like FireWire into a notebook that research suggests fewer than 20% of the people who buy them use, and put it towards something the other 80% will (like faster GPU, larger HDD, etc.)? This is probably where the GPU, and new DDR3 RAM comes in to play. Apple may do things we don't at first agree with, but historically they have been right (iPhone) more than they have been wrong (iPhone 2G price-drop?)

All around, an excellent upgrade and I'm sure it will only get better and better in revisions to come. I bought my BlackBook last April w/ AppleCare so I will probably not be buying a new portable for another 3-4 years. I guess that as I've gotten older, I am less likely to upgrade because of hypothetical uses (gaming, extra speed, etc.) as long as my current needs are met, and in turn keep my equipment a bit longer.

I totally expected the prices of the Macbooks to go up a little bit w/ the aluminum enclosures--still within the same price-point for the mid-range model, but definitely going to be higher on the top-end Macbook (12" Powerbook territory). I believe that the top-end 13" MB is going to be the hot-seller of all of them.

[cssmostdumbest]

new macbook has firewire 800

[kcotham]

No, it doesn't. The MacBook Pro does, but not the MacBook.

[hameiri]

Apple and Firewire used to be synonymous. It's very disappointing that they would get rid of it. Of course, they've never been shy about introducing incompatibilities.

Well, now the PC/Mac equation is tilting a little back to the Windows side.

[kcotham]

Only the MacBook is without FireWire. The MacBook Pro still has it. I too wish they had gone the other way and added FireWire 800 instead of doing away with it altogether.

[JohnBarbagallo]

The second "lineup" is spelled incorrectly in the title, "linup".

In other news, don't waste your money. Wait for a real reason to upgrade.

[Scenario1]

Posting this here because Apple removed it from their User Discussion forum:

It appears Apple still has not addressed the problem of severe pitting on the case where you normally rest your hands. I'm on my 3rd aluminum PowerBook/MacBook and have had to replace the top of the case twice ($200+) because it has pitted and eroded to the point where it becomes dangerously thin, not to mention ugly. Potential converts see this defect and ask, "what the hell?" AppleCare actually had the audacity to tell me my sweat must be more acidic than normal. I will not be buying another MacBook until this problem is fixed. And no, slapping a plastic shield on my case is not a solution.

go into system preferences, and reconfigure the trackpad to tap-to-click. that way you'll never have to use the silly mouse button again

[msilberg]

The button is really useful when you want to repeatedly click the same spot on the screen without having to worry about gradually moving the pointer off the spot you want to click. I would hate not having a separate button.

[Magicland]

Wow, soda-can sturdy aluminum case, lousy chicklet keyboard, and they've put the hard drive under the battery. Shouldn't cause any heat problems there. If you buy one, make sure you get the extended warranty, sounds like you'll need it.

[bigmc6000]

Umm, I'm not even sure where to start but I'll try.

1) Airplanes are made of aluminum and are very strong. Considering the insanely small thickness of aluminum cans it's quite remarkable they can stand up to all that they do. Before you ask, the Al in the MB is much thicker than a soda can
2) I'm not really a fan of the chicklet keyboard either but I haven't used it (and I'm betting neither have you). All the people I've heard from that have used it absolutely love it
3) the HD isn't UNDER the battery, it's beside it - same as in many other laptops. This also makes it very, very easy to replace the HD should it die or you choose to upgrade it.

[chomskywouldntapprove]

uh... you're a little misguided and/or dismissive with your comments.

"soda-can sturday aluminum case" - everything I've read so far has described the case as being incredibly strong, with no apparent flexing. You're just making a really bad analogy.

"lousy chicklet keyboard" - sounds like a personal problem to me ;) Seriously though, I don't even own a Macbook and I type on that thing just fine.

"they've put the hard drive under the battery" - afraid you're just dead wrong on that one, sport. The hard drive and the battery are both accessible via the same removable panel, and are situation next to each other, with a dividing wall in the middle. I'm not seeing a problem. Besides, 5400 rpm drives really don't get very hot anyway.

You're just bitter bc you can't afford one... as for me, I'm ordering one in the next couple days.

[BetterthanurX]

Yet an another ***? Apple update

[random truth]

Yet another *** person, who bashes things they have never tried and have never learned grammar.

[ceebee23]

the loss of firewire is deal killer for me... sorry Steve ... looks like i will stick with my trusty black macbook for a while yet!