Uh-oh.

Anyone else notice no FW 800 port, only 400? I guess the rumours about Apple dropping this turned out true. I hope this is only for the 'Books and not the Mac Pros (it seems that's what they'll be called). Or is this the thin wedge . . .

Huh. I mainly connect with Airport, but once in a while, I do need a modem!

I guess the "notebook family" concept didn't work as well as expected. The only avaiable size for the MacBook Pro ( doesn't sound as good a PowerBook, if you ask me ) is 15 inches. No more 17 inch and 12 inch. Quite a shame, really. As for the modem, it was quite clear that Apple has been phasing them out of the line for quite some time already.

While I agree the MacBook doesn't sound as sexy as Powerbook, I don't think there's anything that indicates there will be no 17" or 12". I think the 15" is the right size to hit the sweet spot and we'll see larger and smaller 'books in the coming year. So, I don't think it's a shame. We just have to wait.

Yes, I really like a 12". It's more portable. My wife is in the market for a new powerbook, and I'm not sure she will want something that big.

I'd guess they were mainly focused on getting the 15" version out immediately as it's the most popular size. I wouldn't be surprised if a larger and smaller edition followed in the months to come.

Remember the PowerBook G4? it too was 15" only.

12 & 17" versions shipped later.

Patience Grasshopper....

A shame that there is no FireWire 800 on this new MacBook. With only an 80 GB internal drive, FW800 external is very useful.

Anyone have a read as to whether we can set these up to dual boot Mac/Windows? I would love to be able to stop using two computers to get my job done.

Okay, I was well excited about the possiblity of Apples new intel powerbooks as I have been a fan and owner for few years now but after seeing what they have come out with I am only left feeling cheated. I bought my recent powerbook about 9 months ago and have been happy with it, although since announcing the switch I always new I would buy one of the newer machines - until I saw the price. I am sure there will be other intel notebook producers offering similar (windows) hardware for a much cheaper price within weeks. And its not as if I could get a decent price for selling my existing hardware. Will Apple see sense and offer an upgrade path I wonder or am I just dreaming?

if they want the name 'mac' so badly in the product, why not call it 'Powerbook Mac' which makes slightly more sense.. oh well. my 2 cents

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macinnerd wrote:
I guess the "notebook family" concept didn't work as well as expected. The only avaiable size for the MacBook Pro ( doesn't sound as good a PowerBook, if you ask me ) is 15 inches. No more 17 inch and 12 inch.

It's sad. After all, it's not *possible* that Apple might announce other MacBook models in the coming months.

*snif* The end to an era....

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Guest wrote:
if they want the name 'mac' so badly in the product, why not call it 'Powerbook Mac' which makes slightly more sense.. oh well. my 2 cents

People would just shorten it to PowerBook.

They have never, in my knowledge, have offered an upgrade for sales more than a few days prior. I too had recently bought a 20" iMac and now have chip envy. Well the good news for me is that I didn't recently purchase a PowerBook/iBook and was planning on replacing my 5 year old one this year

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Guest wrote:
Okay, I was well excited about the possiblity of Apples new intel powerbooks as I have been a fan and owner for few years now but after seeing what they have come out with I am only left feeling cheated. I bought my recent powerbook about 9 months ago and have been happy with it, although since announcing the switch I always new I would buy one of the newer machines - until I saw the price. I am sure there will be other intel notebook producers offering similar (windows) hardware for a much cheaper price within weeks. And its not as if I could get a decent price for selling my existing hardware. Will Apple see sense and offer an upgrade path I wonder or am I just dreaming?

Well. It would just be logical that Apple follows the same procedure as they did with the original PowerBook G4: 15" model first, then the others. I suppose we may even expect a 20" model or something like that in the coming months... . The only problem with the 20-incher would be that it would't be as portable as most would like (even the 17 inch is rather bulky). It would serve more as a desktop computer that could be taken on the road if the need arises. On the upgrade side, I'm still very happy with my beige G3.

Guest wrote

"If they want the name 'mac' so badly in the product, why not call it 'Powerbook Mac' which makes slightly more sense.. oh well. my 2 cents"

I was thinking proMac Notebook. The desktops can later be proMac Tower. The consumer machines can remain iMac and iMac Notebook.

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Anonymous wrote:

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macinnerd wrote:
I guess the "notebook family" concept didn't work as well as expected. The only avaiable size for the MacBook Pro ( doesn't sound as good a PowerBook, if you ask me ) is 15 inches. No more 17 inch and 12 inch.

It's sad. After all, it's not *possible* that Apple might announce other MacBook models in the coming months.

*snif* The end to an era....

Ha. Sarcasm. Well, my quoted comment was besed on immediate observations. Of course it would be possible for Apple to release smaller and larger sizes over time.

Just received order confirmation for the MacPro w/1Gig Ram, 100 GB 7200 RPM storage. I can't wait to get my hands on that new baby!

With some of the bitching and moaning going on by some so-called Mac lovers, one would think Apple has gone backwards.

If you don't like what Apple is doing, go someplace else. Just think about where you have to go?

Except for FW400, anyway. I was hoping to get a PowerBook in a few months; looks like I'll be getting one of these. If I'm lucky, there will be a bumped version with FW800 before I buy it.

They dropped power because the new notebook has an intel chip not a POWERPC chip...

Well, the Power name came way before the PowerPC chips were used in macs. The first PowerBook was the 100, introduced in 1991, running off a Motorola 68000 processor. So the processor change would not really be an excuse for dropping the Power name. Maybe it was just getting too old...

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Guest wrote:
They dropped power because the new notebook has an intel chip not a POWERPC chip...

This is a popular myth. The original PowerBooks did not have PowerPC chips.

Anyway, I haven't seen anything about battery life on the new MacDaddyProBook. Anyone have the scoop?

"This is a popular myth. The original PowerBooks did not have PowerPC chips."

True. All the same. They dropped Power because there is an association with PowerPC.

As Jobs said "We're done with power"

Thanks

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Tomas1119 wrote:
Just received order confirmation for the MacPro w/1Gig Ram, 100 GB 7200 RPM storage. I can't wait to get my hands on that new baby!

Good luck with that. Being a member of the "buy anything Steve introduces 15 minutes after he introduces it" club gets expensive though doesn't it?

If I were in the market for a new PB today I'm not sure I'd jump on the MacBook so readily. I don't see the price as worth it with the loss of FW800 and a $500 uplift for 160Mhz of CPU. As for the name, onboard iSight and IR remote...just lame.

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Tomas1119 wrote:
With some of the bitching and moaning going on by some so-called Mac lovers, one would think Apple has gone backwards.

Not backwards. Sideways. Not exactly forwards.

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Tomas1119 wrote:
If you don't like what Apple is doing, go someplace else. Just think about where you have to go?

Linux? FreeBSD? Perhaps an Acer laptop running OpenDarwin, X and KDE or Gnome? The only thing I'd lose is Office and for that there is VMWare. And now that the first MacIntel is released I could just wait until OS X is hacked...again...and run that.

I'm disappointed but that's probably what I deserve for letting the rumor sites set my expectations.

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Anonymous wrote:
If I were in the market for a new PB today I'm not sure I'd jump on the MacBook so readily. I don't see the price as worth it with the loss of FW800 and a $500 uplift for 160Mhz of CPU. As for the name, onboard iSight and IR remote...just lame.

Don't forget that the new PowerBook will be running a dual-core chip, which should significantly boost performances. Though maybe not quite as much as the "four times faster than the PowerBook G4" that Apple claims. Apple tends to exagerate things a bit sometimes. Like the 5.5 hours promised for the PowerBook G4. 2.5 was closer to the count. But you're right about the name, it is lame.

While the MacBook Pro has "pro" in the name, I wonder if Apple designed it with the professional in mindl? If the iBook is gone, then are we stuck with an iBook/PowerBook hybrid? If so, that may mean compromises in the design/quality.

Why include iSight? Is this something that a professional will use often? Perhaps, if he/she is using iChat with other professionals in the creative process. Still, including the iSight seems to appeal to the "consumer" user rather than the "pro."

Ditto for Front Row. Perhaps it may be useful for the designer/photographer who wishes to present a slide show to a client. But then again, how many professionals use iPhoto? Not me. Front Row is another "consumer" feature.

What is this Express Card/34? I use a PC Card Adapter to download photos from my Microdrives and Compact Flash Cards. Now what? Is the Express Card/34 compatible, or am I going to have to use a card reader with the MacBook Pro?

No FireWire 800? That is a major disappointment. Again, Apple is abandoning the professional user here. Thankfully, most storage devices that have FW800 also have FW400 and USB 2.0 ports. Still, it makes no sense to abandon FW800! Come on, Apple? Stop thinking like Microsoft!

No modem? Not a deal-breaker, but once in a while I have to fax something (today as a matter of fact). I guess the new modem will plug into the Express Card/34 slot??

Is a 67% brighter LCD screen such a good thing? Print production houses don't recommend using LCD screens because image files displayed on LCDs typically print darker than they appear on screen. Apple is "promising blacker black, whiter whites, and many more colors in between" with the new screens. The question remains, how will they work for the design/photography professional who needs precise color matching?

Finally, will the new Intel Macs be compatible with the software I have or must I either get upgrades to my old software or purchase new? Remember, we've got another new OS coming soon, so how many times will we be forced to purchase all new software? Rosetta is supposed to handle this?

It will be interesting to hear how the new MacBook Pro (what a dumb name) will be received by the professional community. So far, I'm not impressed.

Actually, I was lucky enough to not need my PowerBook for the next few months and unloaded my al PB 15" just a couple of weeks ago on eBay. I imagine that I got a couple more C-notes then than today. I can wait for the first rev to pass before looking to pick up a MacBook to use in a dual boot situation.

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Al Swearengen wrote:
They have never, in my knowledge, have offered an upgrade for sales more than a few days prior. I too had recently bought a 20" iMac and now have chip envy. Well the good news for me is that I didn't recently purchase a PowerBook/iBook and was planning on replacing my 5 year old one this year

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Guest wrote:
Okay, I was well excited about the possiblity of Apples new intel powerbooks as I have been a fan and owner for few years now but after seeing what they have come out with I am only left feeling cheated. I bought my recent powerbook about 9 months ago and have been happy with it, although since announcing the switch I always new I would buy one of the newer machines - until I saw the price. I am sure there will be other intel notebook producers offering similar (windows) hardware for a much cheaper price within weeks. And its not as if I could get a decent price for selling my existing hardware. Will Apple see sense and offer an upgrade path I wonder or am I just dreaming?

I bet most everyone will still call them powerbooks for years to come.

I'm with the first answer here, they're making a marketing point (new concept from Apple, I know...something else new we'll have to get used to </sarcasm>) by getting rid of the "Power" as they get rid of the "Power" chip.

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Guest wrote:
They dropped power because the new notebook has an intel chip not a POWERPC chip...

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Guest wrote:
So the processor change would not really be an excuse for dropping the Power name.

[quote="Guest"]

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Tomas1119 wrote:
Good luck with that. Being a member of the "buy anything Steve introduces 15 minutes after he introduces it" club gets expensive though doesn't it?

If I were in the market for a new PB today I'm not sure I'd jump on the MacBook so readily. I don't see the price as worth it with the loss of FW800 and a $500 uplift for 160Mhz of CPU. As for the name, onboard iSight and IR remote...just lame.

Considering that you don't know Tomas1119's situation, why do you make fun of him (assuming that Tomas1119 is male)? Perhaps he needed a new laptop and was waiting to see what would happen. Maybe he hasn't bought a new one in several years.

The $500 extra buys a bit more than 160 mHz in the CPU. It includes another 512 MB RAM, 100 GB vs 80 GB HD, and double (256 MB vs 128 MB) VRAM. It sometimes helps to actually read the specs before commenting on them. I know several people who use an iSight with their PowerBooks to connect to business colleagues and, as one said, MUCH more important, to talk with his kids while she's travelling. She takes digital photos of her trip and sends small versions with iChat AV. Best of all, with a hotel broadband connection, it costs NOTHNG. The point is, don't make fun of what some other people will find useful. Remember that they might consider some things you really want/like as "double-super lame."

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davebarnes wrote:
A shame that there is no FireWire 800 on this new MacBook. With only an 80 GB internal drive, FW800 external is very useful.

It would be nice, but not many devices have been made for FW800, especially portable devices. Question: which camcorder(s) can use FW800? Transferring video from a camcorder to iMovie might be the single biggest impact of FW800, but you're limited by the camcorder. Right now, you can drive the fastest CD-RW and DVD-R drives with FW400 without slowing them down. Consider that Windows laptops often don't have ANY FireWire ability at all.

MJK, it sounds like maybe the Macbook won't meet your needs as a pro. However, it certainly looks like it will meet mine. I use videoconferencing at work on my Mac fairly regularly, so the built-in camera would be very useful. I do presentations with my Mac at work all the time, so the infra-red remote and Front Row will be very helpful. (I use DVDs during some presentations.) If you don't like the nice, new LCD screen, use the video out to hook to the monitor of your choice. (Are you suggesting that Apple use CRTs rather than LCDs for their portables, or that Apple try to develop an LCD screen more suited to pre-press? The former is silly, of course, and as to the latter, I'd suggest looking at the screen before complaining.) I would love a brighter screen for my poor ol' fifty-year-old eyes. At work.

Firewire 800 didn't catch on. It's dead. Life moves on.

All things considered, it does indeed look "pro" to me. Bundling in consumer functionality on top of it just makes it that much more appealing to people who use their computers in both places (funny, being a portable and all, that would seem kind of obvious) or for pro-sumers that want the convenience of a portable home computer with lots of oomph.

I think 15" is too big for people to bring alone with them~~~ I hope Jobs will introduce some smaller macbook~~~~

Calm down. Jeesh, only in the Apple world could a company deliver 5 months early and have so many complainers. This is just the beginning. It's just that you got part of tomorrow today.

1 Apple dropped the "power" in powerbook as the Power PC chip from Motorola and IBM is no longer inside this notebook computer so Powerbook would not be appropriate.

2 When Apple introed the G4 Powerbook there was only the 15" size. Then the 17" and 12" came later. It will happen again count on it.

I wonder if they will keep the iBook name. I guess since they still use iMac..

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griffon wrote:
I wonder if they will keep the iBook name. I guess since they still use iMac..

I doubt they'll stick with iBook. Steve mentioned two reasons for dropping the PowerBook name: To get rid of "Power" and to include "Mac". iMac already includes "Mac," so it didn't need to be changed. iBook does not, so I expect it to be MacBook (sans "Pro").

Still, MacBook Pro is a lame name. PowerBook is a strong brand, and most people probably don't think about "PowerPC" when they hear the name. But, perhaps this will do something to increase the awareness of the Mac brand. We shall see.

You may have to wait a good few years but I suspect that if they can't (and one presumes they have tried) to think up a better name, powerbook may make a re appearance.

"Battery life depends on configuration and use," reads the tiny footnote...

This is puzzling - I can't find any numerical battery life estimates for the MacBook (interesting name) Pro. The current revision of the PowerBook G4 is touted as having 5.5 hours of battery life (www.apple.com/powerbook/). In the real world, I get about 4 hours with my old Titanium/800 (which is also lighter and smaller than the current models, I note) and a "high capacity" battery. But what about this great intel power-saving technology that we've heard so much about?

Well, this is one question to ask Apple at MacWorld!!

The original 68K-based PowerBooks (e.g. Macintosh Powerbook 100, 160, 170) were labeled "Macintosh PowerBook".

Over time, the "Macintosh" label was dropped, although the numbers were kept through the PowerBook 5300. [There was also the PowerBook Duo series, a slight variation in naming.]

For the G3/G4 series, every PowerBook was called PowerBook G3 or G4, making differentiation by name a bit challenging.

Now, it looks like the Mac label is part of the name, for better or for worse.

Only time will tell if the iBook will remain an iBook, or if it will be come the MacBook (non-pro), the iMacBook, the iBook Pro, or some other creation yet to be revealed. PodBook, iSlim, etc..

I vote for "iBook Duo."

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Al Swearengen wrote:

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Guest wrote:
if they want the name 'mac' so badly in the product, why not call it 'Powerbook Mac' which makes slightly more sense.. oh well. my 2 cents

People would just shorten it to PowerBook.

.... PowerMacBook?

Express/34 is a bad sign. It means that if you want to use a 1.8-inch Microdrive or a CompactFlash card then you'll need an external USB interface-thingy, which is something else to drop/forget when you're out in the field.

Given the number of photographers who use Microdrives or CF cards in their cameras, I see the failure to include full-size [Express/54] capability as a big downer in the new Macbooks.

Maybe I'm partially blind but I have scourered the appl website and found no estimate on battery life, now if I buy a Macbook pro I want it to last more than 2 hours, can anyone help me out here?

The reason that Apple has not included battery life as of yet may be due to them trying to still work the kinks out. I'm sure Apple is optimizing OS X to take full advantage of this new processor from Intel.

Software to run Windows on top of Linux has been available for several years, should be a no-brainer to do that with OSX. I had a software engineer colleague who ran Windows NT on an Intel-based pc as a Linux task 4 years ago. Don't recall the name of the software.

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macinnerd wrote:
I guess the "notebook family" concept didn't work as well as expected. The only avaiable size for the MacBook Pro ( doesn't sound as good a PowerBook, if you ask me ) is 15 inches. No more 17 inch and 12 inch. Quite a shame, really. As for the modem, it was quite clear that Apple has been phasing them out of the line for quite some time already.

You know, it does take *some* time and resources to develop new products. We've got 11 months to go in 2006, which is how long Mr. Jobs stated would be needed to finish the complete changeover to Intel.

Back in July 2005 some folks began to say that Apple should retire the PowerBook brand name. I thought they were wrong them and I'm SURE
you're wrong now. They wanted to retire the "PowerBook" brand
because the name was "tired". Please!! There is no laptop on
the market with the kind of strong brand identity that
PowerBook has. PowerBook as a brand worked BEFORE the
PowerPC and it would work long AFTER. What possible
advantage can Apple achieve by retiring the strongest brand in the marke in favor of an uncomfortable brand name like Mac Book Pro? Already
people are abreviating it "MPB" because Mac Book Pro does not,
by any means, roll easily off the tongue. The whole point of
branding is to create memorable, positive name recognition in
the market. I WANT to own a PowerBook. I'm not even sure how
to SAY Mac Book Pro.

Apple seems to have forgotten about the importance of
branding. Other people haven't. As I type this, I'm looking at a
banner ad for ThinkPad. I may not be sure who actually makes
the thing now, but I know ThinkPad and I associate it with the
thought of a high performance, well built, Windows laptop.

You don't see Chevrolet retiring the "Corvette" brand because it's
tired (though it arguably was VERY tired in the early 90's). You
don't see Coke deciding to change their name to "Cola Drink
Red". Porsche KNOWS better than to do away with the "911".
THAT brand has been around since 1963. And believe me, when
you think Porsche 911, you think "performance sportscar". You
DON'T think "boy this thing has been around for 43 years,
maybe I'll buy one of those spiffy new Scions." (To be honest I
could not, for the life of me remember Scion. It isn't on the
Toyota site. Had to look it up on KBB).

In addition to which, "Mac Book Pro" as a brand name is HORRIBLE!!! The creators of "Macintosh" "iMac", "iPod" and "PowerBook" came up with THAT? A name chosen by commitee if ever there was one. BRING BACK POWERBOOK!!!!!!!!!

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griffon wrote:
1 Apple dropped the "power" in powerbook as the Power PC chip from Motorola and IBM is no longer inside this notebook computer so Powerbook would not be appropriate.

That would be incorrect.

The Powerbook actually used 68K chips, not Power PC chips. The first Powerbooks came out three years before the PowerPC chip did.

But hey, thanks for playing. Maybe next time you'll do some research before calling others 'clueless'.

Should read "The Powerbook, when launched, used 68K chips".

Too bad such a nice laptop is saddled with such a lame name.

Powerbook was fine, really. As a name it really wasn't tied at the hip to the PowerPC processor, as there were Powerbooks that did not use the PPC processor at all (early P-books used 68K chips).

Also, I don't think that customers really associate a laptop name with a processor line, at least not from the word "Power", which simply connotes a very capable laptop.

If Powerbook still does have to go, for whatever arbitrary reason, there were still many other better choices than 'MacBook', which is a truly lame name. Maybe I'll put one next to my 'SonyBook', which is on top of my 'DellBook', but across from my 'GatewayBook'. Just absolutely lame.

I'm really suprised Jobs went along with it... he usually has much better insticts when it comes to naming things.