Comments on: Apple's new MacBooks: Which one is right for you?

Apple released a slew of new portables, and the choices can be overwhelming. We break it down by which users each is aimed at to make things a little less painless.

[backslashtech]

Does anyone know if the new MacBook Pros open farther? My 15" MBP doesn't physically open nearly as far as my old PC laptop which presents a problem when using a notebook riser. I can't use anything angled as I can't open the notebook far enough to get lined up with the display properly.

[gefitz]

The Macbook that's right for me? The one that costs $800. I'd use the operating system if only they'd ditch the $400 style upgrade.

[jacksonwinn]

Any ideas why the 17" MacBook Pro was left untouched? I hope it will be updated with a quad core CPU, 8+ GB RAM and dual hard drives. I need a powerful desktop replacement. Apple should try to offer something that is comparable to other manufactures high end laptops, such as XPS.

[kemar7856]

quad core is just being introduced in desktops they would produce to much heat in note books.duel hards are not needed if you just get one large one and 8gbs is alot for a mac

[Dalmatian28]

noooop... just not good enough! This hardware would have been good if was shown a year or two ago! This is almost 2009 and for this day and age...it is way outdated. New MacBook with 2 GHz processor...you got to be kidding me! If you have old Mac Book you are wasting money upgrading! Thousand dollars for the outdated hardware and in this economy....wrong move!!!! It should have been at least lowered to $ 800. Does Steve Jobs live in bobble??? His competition is pushing quad-cores with top of the line GPU while he is intoducing 9400 GPU in MacBook at all that at almost the same price like Apples product! You will not only have to be true Apple fan but also you must have totally dysfunctional brain in order to buy into this one!

[lawgone]

I have to agree...although Apple likes to say that their operating system is so much more efficient than Windows that they faster processor and more RAM is not necessary. Fine, but the price point needs to come down a couple hundred dollars - especially when you consider there is still no multi-card reader.

[dreamworks21]

"Does Steve Jobs live in bobble???" - I think you meant Does Steve Jobs live in a bubble. But that's OK, I'm willing to look past the lack of an article and the misspelling of a simple word to tell you that no, he doesn't live in a bubble. The company's growth over the last five years is proof enough of this.

[joetwelvepack]

"There were rumors that Apple was preparing a sub-$1,000 MacBook, but instead it raised the entry price by $100..."

Not so. The entry level MacBook price is $999.00, which is actually hundred dollars LOWER.

duh.

[lawgone]

I think the poster was refering to the entry level of the new generation, in which case the entry level price has gone up. No duh ;)

[open-mind]

Lawgone, I thinkDalmation was replying to the article, not to a poster. And the article only said "Macbook", which includes the white model that is now $999. Apparently the author was not aware of this. Nor did the author even mention the removal of Firewire as a con. Apparently this article was not very well researched.

[mikefarren]

Reasonable upgrades all around, although they're still a bit too pricey for my taste. Quad-core? Not on any reasonably-priced notebook I know of, guys. Trashing Apple for not providing stuff that other people also mostly don't provide (at least, not for less than 2X the Apple price) isn't fair. And I'm rather the polar opposite of a Mac fan, considering that I've been using Thinkpads for years, PCs for even longer, and Macs only when I'm at someone's house who has one.

[lawgone]

With the popularity of digital cameras and other devices, why oh why has Apple yet again decided to leave out a multi-card reader??? It's not expensive to add to the laptop so what's the deal? Apple is supposed to be the best computer for creative purposes yet they make it the most difficult to get your content on their computers. Leaving out cheap yet essential features has become an Apple trademark (still no MMS on iPhone) that I am convinced is just done to tick people off. How hard would it be to add a memory card reader for pete's sake??? Reply if you agree with me.

[xxmjumpman23xx]

Obvious answer, apple is trying to jam high end parts into a laptop that is less than 1 inch thick. A card reader simply takes up too much space. Everything is already packed in as it is.

[dreamworks21]

can i reply if i don't agree? how about you take that USB cord that almost certainly came with your digital camera, hook it up, and stop complaining.

[lawgone]

Yeah, dreamworks, you can reply...many people prefer not to have to keep track of a myriad of cables, which is why the mutli-card reader become so popular. Say I want to upload my photos from my DSLR on to a friend or associates computer...you're saying I should bring the camera and cable with me??? Since you were rude I guess I will be too...in my opinion, if you pay a premium price for a premium computer and don't ask why they don't include what are considered minimum requirements for a budget computer, you're either an idiot or you work for Apple. Case closed.

[lawgone]

xxxjumpman...a multi card reader is quite thin. The MacBook Air is for people who want form over function. A MacBook or MacBook Pro should enable to perform all basic computing needs. If the form factor of .95 in makes the card reader impossible, make the thing .96 or .97. Again, for people finding that too thick that don't mind hooking up cables, see the MacBook Air.

dreamworks, yeah, you can reply...many people prefer not to have to keep track of a myriad of cables, which is why the mutli-card reader became so popular. Say I want to upload my photos from my DSLR on to a friends or associates computer...you're saying I should bring the camera and cable with me??? Since you were rude I guess I will be too...in my opinion, if you pay a premium price for a premium computer and don't ask why they don't include what are considered minimum requirements for a budget computer, you're either an idiot or you work for Apple. End of story.

[aaydogan]

CF and SD cards now the de facto standard (do yo know anyone who uses a memory stick?) Most everyone I know has a tiny portable USB reader for their particular card. Including readers for a variety of formats the laptop will never see is not a good design choice. It's included in low price PC laptops just to inflate the features list. Dreamwork21's suggestion (not particularly tactful) was spot on.

[applewiz360]

the cons for the macbook doesn't honestly affect me so i still feel good about getting the macbook so im excited for christmas

[schneb`]

This article should have included the Mac Book White, which is the one I just purchased. For one thing, it has Firewire 400 which the new versions lack. This is going to cut in to their Mac Book sales. I hope it stings them real bad, personally.

[schneb`]

This article should have included the Mac Book White, which is the one I just purchased. For one thing, it has Firewire 400 which the new versions lack. This is going to cut in to their Mac Book sales. I hope it stings them real bad, personally.

[mspartacus]

The loss of firewire on the new macbooks coupled with the increase in price on a feature for feature basis over the old macbooks has me looking at pc laptops for my next purchase.

[mspartacus]

The loss of firewire on the new macbooks coupled with the increase in price on a feature for feature basis over the old macbooks has me looking at pc laptops for my next purchase.

[connell83]

Good advice here. Nice quick rundown of the new line. I am very disappointed there isn't a sub $1000 offering here, but it seems Mac has pretty much abandoned that market -- and likely with good reason. People who are going to buy an $800 laptop are going to do so at WalMart and they're not going to care about a quality operating system, good design or any of the other qualities Apple is known for.

A sub-$800 would likely be a market loser for them.

[vicman08]

Just bought a MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (previous generation) @ Best buy for$1,800 no interest for 18 months. Is it worth returning the old one and get the most resent one for $2,499.00.

I appreciate any suggestions.

THX