RSS'Screaming' Intel Mac Laptop Debuts
By Ed Oswald | Published January 10, 2006, 1:56 PM
FROM MACWORLD Steve Jobs is fond of saving the best for last, and Macworld 2006 was no exception. In true Jobsonian fashion, he announced "One more thing:" an Intel based replacement for the PowerBook called the MacBook Pro, initially available in a 15.4-inch configuration.
Jobs explained that Apple did everything possible to cram a G5 processor into a PowerBook, but failed as heat dissipation issues have plagued the G5 chips and prevented their use in laptop systems. The broken promises to consumers of a G5 notebook have been cited as one of the primary reasons for the Intel switch.
Running on Intel's Core Duo processor, the MacBook Pro systems will operate at four to five times the speed of today's models. "These things are screamers," Jobs said, adding these are the fastest notebooks available on the market.
The model demoed includes a 15.4-inch LCD screen that Apple says is as bright as its Cinema Displays. Two speeds will be offered, a 1.67GHz Core Duo chip version with built-in iSight camera, Front Row, 667MHz DDR bus, 80GB hard drive, and 512MB of RAM for $1,999 USD.
A higher-end model with a 1.83GHz Core Duo chip, 1GB of RAM and a 100GB hard drive would be made available for $2,499 USD Other features include a FireWire 400 port, two USB 2.0 ports, built in Wireless-G and Bluetooth, and the Apple Remote with Front Row software.
In order to help prevent tripping over power cables and throwing laptops to the floor, Apple has developed a new feature for the MacBook Pro called "MagSafe." In the new laptops, the power cable connects using magnets and will smoothly disconnect with minimal pressure.
The MacBook Pro will begin shipping in February, but Apple is taking orders starting today through its online store. "If you want one I suggest you get your order in early," Jobs quipped.
Windows is bad, OSX is good. Now go away.
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|Some people that hate macs don’t realize that the main reason people love them is because they are stylish and easy to use. You can compare it to a car The mac will be a Mercedes-Benz and Windows a KIA. Both get you from A to B, but it is how you get there that matters. I personally used both and I prefer the Mac because it has never given me any problems. Windows on the other hand is like maintaining an old car it is always breaking down.
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|I would imagine that Apple will have this thing running a special version of OSX or maybe they will call it OS-I.
Let's see how long it is until we have one ported to linux...not that there is much point in that mind you...it must just be the challenge that drives people.
Give me my Alienware 17" widescreen, dual hard drive Pentium M and I will be happy.
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|I've never been an Apple fan, but boy does this new machine look great! I'm gonna order one just to have it!
I love the MagSafe feature - I would sure feel safer knowing the accident waiting to happen won't damage this notebook..... Oh yeah! My Panasonic electric kettle/thermoflask has this feature already!
For a 1-inch thick notebook it's on the heavy side, but I'm sure it's for a good reason :)
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|remember people !! with macs you don't pay for the PC, you actually pay for the name
most mac users dont have a clue of what the inside components are .... they just buy them because they look pretty....
specially graphic designers ... (being one of them, but former mac user) most, if not all have no clue of what the computer has, specially when it breaks down and they just sit there watching amazed the insides of the case.
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|With Apples, you don't have to "have a clue" what's inside the damned thing. It just works. It's called "user friendly" for a good reason. I DJ and do graphics on a PC and I need to know my hardware and software very well to do so. MOST PEOPLE DO NOT. They just want E-mail, Internet, and a place to download their movies and MP3s. I've been looking forward to an intel mac. I hope to have Windows and MAC OS dual boot one day ony my system (legally anyway :) ) Look out for Tiger x86.
I'd buy the MAC OS so I don't have to worry about my stuff while just surfing and what not. I'll use my Windows boot for advanced stuff...for now. :)
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|They certainly look good, but not for the money. For example, a similarly equipped Dell (using the Core Duo 1.83), but with a higher resolution 17" screen), can be had for a few hundred dollars cheaper. Now, it doesn't have built-in iSight or Front Row, but it does have the more functional Windows Media Center. Also, I can even upgrade to a 2.0 GHz processor and still stay under the MacBook price!
Now, that said, these new Intel-powered Macs will greatly enhanced the computing, and also make it easier for developers to make software for both PCs and Macs, which is certainly a good thing for Apple and its users.
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|Off Topic, but I love my Windows Media Center 2005 PC. Someone hold me.
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|you still cant play most games with that nice graphics card cuz its still a mac. I would switch over if software companies would make everything for both pc and mac. But until then i will stick with win xp and mandrake 10.
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|Soon enough....soon enough... It won't be nearly as hard now as it was when they used different processors...
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|you can install Windows XP and run it beside MAC OSX, so you can play games.
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|If the games support the hardware.
Still not exactly sure if the inntel macs are going to be using commodity parts or not.
Anyone?
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|""These things are screamers," Jobs said, adding these are the fastest notebooks available on the market."
I'm not sure AlienWare would agree with him on that.
Now...if he was referring to Apple notebooks only, thier should have been from the crowd, a resounding, 'Duh...'
I'd love to see a pic though, to get an idea of what they look like. Too bad the site linked in the story is down. (Proof you can't run a decent web-server from a Mac?)
[edit]Site looks sh1t in Firefox. [/edit]
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|"core duo"....dual core?
Yeah, the laptop might be the fastest, but I can guarentee in typical Apple fashion that the videocard is a piece of crap. :P
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|"ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with up to 256MB memory on 16-lane PCI Express" ... According to the website.
Doesn't sound like crap to me...
On a humorous side-note: (also from the site)
"Power Up With MagSafe
The new power adapter with MagSafe connector is designed to magnetically guide your cord into place and disconnect smoothly if someone (else) trips over it."
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|Nice!
Yeah, the site finally loaded, so I guess the videocard isn't a piece of crap. Still, I'd prefer an nVidia card to an ATI card.
Is it just me, or does it sound better as "an nVidia" rather than "a nVidia"?
Edit: Xbitlabs says my 6600 overclocked gets close to that Radeon.
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|Sounds better, but I don't really know where the grammer rules fall on that. I always thought it was "a" in front of a consonant, and "an" in front of a vowel. (an vowel...since it's in front of the word vowel?)
Don't make me go all english teacher on yo' punk azz.
:P
[edit] You suck. After my 5500 died a horrible half-in half-out of it's slot death (Damn Dell screwless-case piece of sh1t!) all I had left was my 128MB 9600AIW. Yuk!
[/edit]
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|It's "an" nVidia, and not "a" nVidia, because the letter "n" is spelled as "en", weird as that may sound...
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|"an" is used in front of a vowel sound, not an actual vowel. So "an nVidia", "an RSX", etc. This obviously applies mostly to acronyms.
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|Dammit....out crawl all the english teachers. :P
Thanks for the lesson. :) At least I was close.
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|spelled nVidia....Pronounced envidia...hence the use of an instead of a. Apparently it's vowel sounds, not vowels themselves.
See I learned something today...and I will spread it to the world!
Muahahahaaaa1!111oneoneone1
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|Alienware? lol. Those things are freakin' portable stovetops.
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|Gamers laptops. When you get fragged, flip it and fry some eggs.
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|I would have to completely agree. Any you actually own a 7700m? Well I did! its a piece of crap. Unplug it from AC, and bam glitches in the screen, sound, reading a cd while its unplugged ohh its skipping it can't read the cd now. oh what the processor went from 3.8ghz to 2.8 ghz during each of its episodes. The thing is only decent if you leave it plugged in and never install anything. Oh wait thats a lie mine got sent back for mobo problems 3 times. Yes Three times!!!! I had owned it for 7 months. Took 2 months each time to get it back! Besides alienware's fastest laptop is made by sager! not alienware. Just rebranded. its a pos. I wish I would have waited for this like all my friends suggested!.
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|Ever had an Alienware?
I'd take a slower machine if it meant better quality control. They have a huge problem with QA. Look at the reviews of their systems on the web.
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|"Vanna, I'd like to buy a vowel."
nVidia is a lot like most cab drivers I've encountered in that way.
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|According to Plato's Theory of Recollection you already knew this.
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|Anyone in this little side tread notice grammer was spelled wrong? This isn't a Cheers or Frazier episode!!! Said, oops upside your head, said oops upside your head.
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|I did not actually notice, but yesterday I did infact correct several other people that said "gramar".
Maybe it's going around? :P
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|That's kinda what one might expect buying a system with bleeding edge parts in it...well, at least if one was *thinking* prior to purchase and not just going by flash and marketing. Especially at those prices.
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|Wow.. that's obscure. Chalk that up as a phrase I never thought I'd see on BN.
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|Yeah, the e is just *Way* to damn close to the a on my keyboard. One of these days I'll have to put the keys back on in the right order. :P
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|Yup...you had anamnesia and didn't even know it. Well, actually you did, you just forgot that you did.
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|Nice reference!!!
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|Ain't it great, the variety oif education provided here at BNU?
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|Now, let the direct Windows vs OSX competition begin!
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|Wouldnt it be brill if someone developed an OS that would run both Windows and X (and Unix family), at the same time on the same desktop? - or at least all the applications.
That day comes closer now that both leading OSs run on the same hardware. Think of the size of the userbase (protential customers).
A software based layer between hardware and applications!
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|I am sure it won't be long before this exact configuration is running under some ill-gotten copy of VMware ESX Server.
*grin*
Did I say that?
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