The New Apple Macbooks Are Great But…
by
on October 15, 2008,
Even as a long-term PC user who contemplates buying a Mac every time I choose a new laptop - and still chooses something familiar (yet another PC, I mean), I was more than impressed by what I saw during Apple’s notebook presentation event yesterday. But as it usually is with any big announcement, there are people who are excited and those who are very disappointed about what they get. Yesterday I published a post describing 7 reasons that may push people to upgrade their existing laptops to new Macbook Pros (those very reasons why I myself will probably finally buy a Macbook next time) but after reading tons of negative comments today everywhere, I have decided to collect the most common complains about the newly-introduced laptops and publish them here as well to try and be objective.
The glossy screens as the only option with no matte screens available is probably the hugest disappointment as many users have complained screens of Macbooks to be too glossy to use outdoors (which is often a necessity for some people and with a nice claimed battery life of 4 to 5 hours I can certainly see why many owners will be very much willing to spend some of their working time outdoors now and then).
One of the most fascinating changes about the new Apple notebooks is availability of new graphics cards in Macbook Pros - one of them more powerful and more energy-hungry while the other one enables you to save some power when working on the battery. While this sounds very cool, there is a serious disadvantage to this innovative arrangement as well - every time you want to switch between the two graphics cards, you will need to log out. Of course Apple users accustomed to usability of everything produced by Apple are perplexed by this approach and question its reasons.
Another big issue is that we have been waiting for a rumored $800 laptop to be launched so some people were more than disappointed that Apple has not offered any significant price reductions for their up-market machines. As a result we now hear questions about Macbooks’ affordability during a recession everywhere.
There was another rumor that left some people disappointed: the one about Apple introducing the Blu-ray drive to play high-definition DVDs. This rumor has proven to be not true and Steve Jobs even called Blu-ray “a bag of hurt” because of the hardware licensing issues and explained that his company would wait for the market to adopt the technology first before supporting it.
Some users also grudge about absence of FireWire capabilities in the 13 inches models. And while these users often mention that having an excellent new graphics card is much more important than having that one port, there are still those unhappy users as well. It looks like some Macbooks owners really liked the direct connection between their laptops and digital camcorders - but chances are Apple’s surveys showed there were not many such fans of the functionality.
Some reviewers were unhappy even with the color scheme for the new laptops as the two-tone aptop manufactured by Apple must be something that should never even exist in their opinions. There are also voices unhappy about arrangement of all the power ports on the left side of the notebooks. But of course here happiness or unhappiness depends on personal home or office arrangement and where you have power and other devices to connect located.
I am sure that since the new laptops are already selling today and some consumers will be sure to start upgrading as soon as today, we will hear some further negative feedback from them - but that will probably take time. Unfortunately for any company you just can not launch a new product or change an existing one and leave everyone happy.
Photo courtesy of Engadget
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Another Croatian
John Jones
Svetlana Gladkova
Opensource 
Michael Fidler 
“One of the most fascinating changes about the new Apple notebooks is availability of new graphics cards in Macbook Pros”
What’s fascinating about it? There are other laptops with similar configurations. I’m not saying that the new Pros are bad (I do dislike the glossy screen, the short enter key and some other minor details) but I am saying that these are just laptops that offer nothing in any way revolutionary or even particularly interesting. Those that like them will buy them, those that don’t will choose something else.
I have a glossy screen and never think about it. They boosted the light by 30% to make it readable in these models. Very few people will switch the graphics cards, IMHO.
I’m very curious to see the integration of the glass touch sensitive pad. This could be very interesting in that we might finally start moving away from the mouse model.
Buy one and you’ll find out why the fanboys are so virulent. I could never go back to a windows machine. Never.
I like this writing. The author certainly achieve her goal as “objective” and the article is certainly showed much intelligence than most other dumb tech articles.
I think the main use for two graphic cards is user have the choice of choosing one card based on his need, set it, restart the machine, and forget about it. Cannot understand why there are complain about this. You are lucky to have this option.
Stan, thank you for the comment but I was actually thinking of the new Pros in terms of as compared to the older Pros. Of course if we start comparing Apple notebooks to other products, we may find better options here and there but the fact remains: people will still buy Apple for the brand often and enhancing the quality for these people to buy something worth buying is a good idea, I think.
Martin: Yes, you can always keep up with the minor disadvantages if you are happy about everything else. And I am seriously considering switching to a Mac after this particular announcement but I will probably take some time as my current Sony Vaio is still pretty new and I feel a little guilty about upgrading this soon.
@Eric C: Thank you very much, I am glad you have liked my writing here. As for the switching graphic cards, I think the problem is that people hoped they would be able to easily switch whenever they want to save some battery life and quickly switch back when they have power again. I don’t feel it’s too bad myself as I rarely need to work really long on the battery but before boarding a plane I would not mind switching the card and logging out to do just that.
Apple with the new MacBook and Macbook Pro has done very little to convince me to buy Apple notebooks. I have a newer iMac and find it very price wise. But the Apple notebooks are over priced for the features they offer. I can forgive Apple for the lack a ports on the MacBook Air. After all its a second computer for just those heavy travelers that need to keep things lite. But the Macbook has given up so much in terms of flexibility compared to a PC its just not worth it. Sure speed and graphics are in it. But what about USB ports? how about a SD card reader? Express Card slot?
Even if we shell out two grand we don’t get much more. Its obvious Mac fans don’t buy their MacBooks for flexibility. I bought a $400 Dell and got a 4 USB ports, card reader,and express slot which makes it much more flexible. Its unfortunate how badly Apple has made sleek design trump
functionality.
John, interesting comment, something reasonable and definitely not something you’d expect an Apple fan to say. Usually Apple is not purchased because of the functionality from what I’ve seen - it’s mostly about the favorite brand the fans want to own. Of course it’s a matter of taste and some people may be just fine with 2 USB ports (I myself usually do pretty well with one taken by my mouse) but of course when it comes to things like notebooks, I believe they should be functional first and beautiful second.
Simply put it.Apple Mac book and Mac book Pro are hugely overpriced.Not worth it.Is OSX Leopard better than vista SP1?No it is not.Latest Sony Vaio is far superior to any Apple notebook.Given the price difference.I have used Apple for 12 years.Original Vista was crap so was ma iMac and OS X Leopard.Along came Vista Sp1 and things are much much better.After 6 month on my Toshiba Satellite A300/600 vista home premium had zero problems.Remember.OS X Leopard started at 10.5.Now after fifth service pack 10.5.5 !!!! they still have a lot of problems.And since networking is all to important to me simply put it OS X Leopard is no match for Vista.Lastly it seems to me that Apple is going same way as Bang&Olufsen.Top design and little else.Apple is good OS but is not that much better than Vista if at all.For the money stick with Vaio.That is my choice when next week I’m going to buy new notebook.Ne FW series.Just compare specs.No comparison here.
jiri: Reasonable comment. In fact, this was exactly why I am still on my Vayo myself but I can’t be too sure about the decision when I have to buy a new laptop. I guess it will depend on available options for the same price but if something actually comparable can be bough for an even lower price, this will be the way to go for me possibly as well - after all, it is not the luxury time these days.
Dear Svetlana
there is absolutely nothing wrong with Vista despite all negative reporting by people who never most probably used it.Apple is darling at the moment and good like to them. As I mentioned before yes it was better than Windows.But it no longer is.That does not mean Vista is better.They are equal but compare new Sony Vaio and new macbook Pro.Sony is for half price.It comes with it own software like Apple has iLife appllication Sony has its own version just as good if not better.Inside any Apple PC is no longer premium hardware but mostly and yes it may surprise many just a cheap junk.Just open Macbook the latest one like I did.You get shock.
Well enough of criticism from someone who used Apple for 12 years and been happy most of the time.But most Toshiba’s and Sony Vaio will do excellent job for lot less.And both are most reliable notebooks out there.
@jiri: I have never said there was something particularly wrong with Vista. I’ve been working on it with my Vaio for almost a year now and am pretty satisfied - even though the range of applications I tend to install often damages the overall performance. I do have some problems but I am not sure who I should blame for them - Vista or the Chinese manufacturer of the laptop (I bought it in China when I was there on vacation as it is twice cheaper than here in Russia and same as in the US) so I’m trying not to jump to conclusions. But to me the most important factors are availability of all types of software for Windows where certain applications I rely on heavily are simply not available.
And yours is definitely a very unusual criticism from someone who used Apple for this long as I have always thought about Apple as a company that somehow manages to turn its users to zombies
I definitely recommend Apple to anybody who ask.But so I will Vista.When you consider that you are paying twice as much (laptops that is)ask is it really that good to pay double?The answer is no it is not.As for superior design and engineering I have side by side Toshiba and Macbook latest model.When converting movie Toshiba stays silent noise non existent macbook fan working so hard you actually think you own a power station.Lot of software is just crap for Windows that is why Vista my have some problems.I encountered none during heavy use last six month.OSX Leopard on the other hand has still few issues namely networking and fair share of crashes with Safari and Firefox.Media center in Vista is far superior to Front Row in Apple.But I guess each individual has to try it and see what they like.
jiri: I like your summary and thank you for sharing your experience in comparing noise parameters for Toshiba and Macbook, I have never heard this before. But of course it is both a matter of personal likes and dislikes along with your willingness to pay double - be it for real advantages or for virtual ones.
Svetlana some people will buy product without testing it themselves.Simply buying it because it is fashionable to owned it.(Apple is darling for now)and that is fine with me.Some people will not believe what they read or hear (that’s me)and go out and check everything for themselves.And that is fine too with me.I thru my job and hobby have opportunity to test various OS and Notebooks.I was very happy owner of Apple for twelve years.But that does not mean that I have to stay for another 12 or some years if i feel the company lost the touch become arrogant and offers nothing revolutionary as it once did.It is my opinion and next week going to pickup my Sony Vaio VGNFW26GB and as I compare specs with MacBook Pro and prices the choice is easy to make.
jiri: You definitely sound like a customer who is hard to win for a company so congrats to Sony on your purchase of their notebook. And also thank you for staying a reasonable Apple fan even after these long years and buying because of the value a product offers instead of the trend of loving Apple only.
Thank you Svetlana now I’m signing off as I have other maters to attend to.Thank you for sharing you own thoughts it was valuable to me.Best of luck
Jiri