Apple MacBook aluminum and glass super-shiny hands-on
By Ryan Block 
posted October 14th 2008 2:14PM
posted October 14th 2008 2:14PM
posted October 14th 2008 2:14PM
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ahhh no edit button !! why ?
Correction above:
I meant to say i "can not understand" US people complaining :)
Check this out for you FW users:
http://www.firewiretousb.com/
I just bought a MBP last sunday...is there anything I can do to get the new one or am I stuck with the last generation?
Take it back to apple mate, I did the exact same thing! I had my MacBook White for 2weeks and they let me upgrade to the new one with no restocking fee or anything. I did have to pay the difference though as the price for the 2.4ghz which is what i already have was more... About £300 more actually.
No matte screen? What the %*&%^& are they thinking? How many creatives use Apple? A ton. So why Apple would you do such a thing? This is where Apple fails.
MY REVIEW ON THE NEW MACBOOK
I bought one yesterday, I already had a Macbook 2.4ghz White version then BAM a week after they release this! Let me just say this though, Apple are an amazingly customer friendly company. I rang my local store to have a winge and they told me to bring it in, and i could replace it, I just had to pay the difference as obviously there's a slight price increase for these aluminium babies.. No restocking charge or anything!!! The guy in the Apple store was fantastic, very helpful, it was all done in about half an hour, and it was very very busy.
So yeah, i took it home and I'm loving my fist day with it. The packaging itself is beautiful - let alone the macbook!
The GLASS TRACKPAD IS INDEED A FULL CLICKABLE BUTTON. It's very easy to use though, and you can even enable "Tap clicking" in system prefs so you dont actually have to press the button at all. Best thing is, if it tap with 2 fingers simultaneously it acts as a CTRL+Click. And its not just a gimmick that doesnt work half the time, it actually does, pretty much flawlessly. In fact all of the multi-touch gestures work well. I especially like the 4 finger motion which activates exposé - it gives you a very visceral sensation of "throwing" the windows off the screen to reveal the desktop.
The GLASS SCREEN doesn't bother me, I actually prefer it. The LED backlit screen can go VERY BRIGHT! When i first turned it on, I was reaching for the sunglasses whilst waiting for the brightness controlls to become available! Ok, slight exaggeration, but yeah, very bright screen, and its true what they say, the colours seem richer than my previous white macbook.
The ALUMINIUM CASING is undeniably gorgeous. Very rigid, feels top quality. Small details like the battery indicator (previously on the battery itself) on the side of the unit are great. Press the button and a small array of pinpoint green dots appear. I found myself admiring that for at least 3minutes before i even switched it on! (then again i was dreading that laborious 'welcome' video...)
BACKLIT KEYBOARD is very useful, its paired with the screen brightness via the ambient light detector, so like ipod touch/iPhone, the screen and keyboard dims according the the ambient light - great on battery. These things are still, of course manually changeable by the keyboard buttons - now with added keyboard light up and down keys on F5 and F6. My only small qualm is that the light floods out from under the keyboard keys as well as through the letters. Perhaps just through the letters would have looked neater. I'm not sure, this may annoy you or you might not be bothered, personally its no biggy for me.
The SUPERDRIVE seems quieter when you put a disk in. if you've ever used a macbook, you'll remember the time you first heard that clucking/cracking sound as you put your first disk in - Scared the hell out of me!!!
The NVIDIA VIDEO CARD sure does make a difference. I've never had a Macbook pro, so i was used to the non-video-card macbook and although it served me just fine, I've noticed a difference when, say for example, my Arabesque screen saver loads, its much smoother and doesn't judder slightly when it launches. The live preview in iDVD of the animated menus is much smoother and more representative of the final result. I'm not a big gamer so wont use it for 3D games, but I'm sure it'll perform well there to.
Photo Booth used to crash all the time on my white macbook, when switching from watching a freshly recorded video back to the live mode. This new macbook doesn't do that, probably down to the video card perhaps? I don't know I'm not a techie.
In closing, you can probably tell, I love it. Yes it's pricey (i did get a student discount) but that all seems to fade away when you hold it in your hand!
I've just checked them out at the Apple Store in London and when pointing the keyboard towards the door on a not so sunny day the reflection was bad. I really want one of these but the reflection makes it impossible and I dont want to go out and buy anti glare filters as for a brand new laptop I shouldnt have to. Oh Apple, how could you break my heart :-(
Forget the glare, forget the no mouse button. Where the hell did the FIREWIRE port go? This is a major screw-up on apple's part.
I'm in the market for a new laptop for months now. My two choices now are the new MacBook Pro (2.4Ghz) and the HP HDX18t (2.53Ghz). The main features that I want is something that can play Blu-Ray, burn DVD and CD's, handle Photoshop CS3, Illustrator CS3, video editing softwares, has HDMi connection, high-res display, and can handle games at moderate or more frame rates. I waited for the new MacBook Pro for four months because there were "rumors" that it will include a Blu-Ray drive. Obviously that never happen - or will happen anytime soon. (My own opinion according to Steve Jobs comment on Blu-Ray.) The MacBook Pro looks nice when I saw it at the Apple store. I'm not that picky with the operating systems right now. I've used both OSX and Vista, and so far I have not run into any problems. Which is of my two choices is recommended? Thanks!
I need get sunglasses before I get shiny MacBook.
my screen is really crappy. i've tried many heights and anglaes and i can't find a right viewing angle :(
Some issues addressed:1. The Glare. It's only an issue if you compute with lights BEHIND you. Normal overhead lighting produces no more glare or reflections than on the previous model, which also had a glossy screen. The LED is brighter, and as long as you screen is on, there's no reflection. If you need matte, there are still plenty of matte MacBook Pros in the refurb section at the Apple Store. . . Or for $20 you can get a film that goes over the glass and dulls the screen.2. Lack of firewire. I know. I know. "I'm a musician. I need it." or "I have an older video camera. I need it." or what-have-you. First of all, I'm a musician, too. I don't use firewire for anything and still managed to publish four albums, but to play devil's advocate-- If you consider your music, art, or photography a serious pursuit, then you'll pick up a refurbished MacBook Pro. What part of "consumer laptop" don't you get? The MacBook is meant for people who AREN'T producing albums, doing professional photo work, or making semi-pro videos; It's for people who want to check their email, surf the web, play a couple games, and maybe burn a DVD of their family photos. You're confusing your desire for your pro-level notebook to be cheaper with the reality that cheaper means compromises. If you want firewire, grab a $999 White MacBook, or check out Apple's refurbished MacBook Pro selection. You probably won't pay much more than you would for the new MacBook, and you'll have your precious firewire. 3. RAM limit right now is 6GB, not 4GB. Of course, the cost of a 4GB SODIMM is pretty high right now (around $500) so most people will be happy with 4GB for a little while longer. It's entirely possible that Snow Leopard will enable an 8GB limit. Look, most of the complaints here seem to be "I wanted XXX but I didn't get it in this model." but you know what? Apple makes two different kinds of MacBook, as well as the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro in this generation alone. The refurb Pros are still as powerful (or slightly moreso) than the new MacBooks, and they cost about the same as the high-end MacBook. You have options. If the MacBook lacks a feature you wanted, then guess what? You're not in the target audience, and Apple makes a different product for you. Does that mean your prosumer needs require you to spend more? Yep. It would if you were using a PC, too. You need advanced features that most MacBook users won't need. That puts you in a unique, different bracket.The average MacBook user will never need firewire, won't need true colors or a matte screen, and won't need an HDMI port. You think Apple just arbitrarily makes these decisions without doing extensive market research? Do you really think they don't keep track of how many MacBook Pros sold in the past few years with glossy screens versus matte screens? Do you really think they don't know how often the average MacBook user utilized the firewire port?You guys on Engadget, and elsewhere on the Net don't think about the fact that you're geeks who use features that normal, everyday users possibly never even think about. (I include myself in the "geek" description, BTW). The kind of guys who hang out in a gadget blog represent about 5% of the MacBook demogaphics. For most college students, soccer moms, grandmas, doctors, lawyers, retail workers, and average non-geek folks, the MacBook is more than they'll ever need, and had features (firewire) they never required. CALM DOWN. Pop over to Apple and check out the refurbs. Pick up a refurb Pro, and you can still afford your other gear, gadgets, and toys. You'll get what you need, and you'll spend less doing it. This MacBook wasn't made with you in mind. Sorry. Not everything is made for every user.
And this is where I learn that typing on the PS3 and posting to Engadget results in a complete loss of formatting. Sorry guys.
Think you can tell they thought the release was a non event by the fact that the launch event was so low key and only announced it a week before and the fact that 70% of the keynote was about how they made the thing out of a block of aluminium and even wheeled out the Ives to give it some credibility. Seriously I love the mac software and have always own a mac laptop , but Im totally mystified as to how these very expensive ( + $300 more than the last versions in the UK ) models can compete in the market against all the cute net-books flooding the market.for just $500 I know the mac heads will grit their teeth and stick plastic film on a $1500 product to make it useable but I can't see any PC laptop users changing .
Bought my new macbook and I love it. Everyone's complaint seems to be one of the following three things.
1. Glossy screen, Turning up the brightness takes care of it 80% of the time. I have seen some aftermarket films that make the screen surface matte. I for one will not be messing with it. Other complaints w/respect to the screen have to do with viewing it at off angles etc. C'mon people it is a notebook! I have never had a notebook that I could view from a 170 deg angle and have the picture be as clear as when I was looking at it straight on.
2. No firewire. For me not a problem. USB is a better technology anyway and I think that Apple is realizing that. I realize that there are people who are dependant on firewire. If that is you, you may have to buy an adapter, buy a new macbook pro, or keep your old one. But let's be perfectly honest...how many of the people who are pissing about no firewire actually use it.
3. Only two USB ports. Right because you have to plug in your printer and your scanner and your...oh wait, it is a notebook. Take a look at the notebooks that have 50 different ports. They are the size of a brick! I for one prefer a computer that cuts out the unessentials. My last notebook had 6 usb ports. I used one of them.
A comment on the trackpad. It is a joy to use. Dragging is easy because there are multiple settings. If you are not sure go to system preferences and there is embedded video that explains everything.
Does anyone have the new macbook? I have heard that the new glossy screen is quite annoying.
i charged the battery of macbook aluminum for 4hours..and when i use it it last only for 1-1 1/2 hrs or so...and then i have to charge it again..is that really the case??