Apple's "spotlight turns to notebooks" event roundup
By Paul Miller 
posted October 15th 2008 5:26PM
posted October 15th 2008 5:26PM
The liveblog
Live from Apple's "spotlight turns to notebooks" event
First impressions
New MacBook / MacBook Pro unboxing and first impressions
Hands-on coverage
MacBook Pro first hands-on!
Apple MacBook aluminum and glass super-shiny hands-on
Apple 24-inch Cinema Display hands-on
Product announcements
Apple finally refreshes Cinema Display: 24-inch, LED backlit, $899
MacBook Air gets NVIDIA graphics, storage bump
Apple's MacBook gets a fresh face, NVIDIA graphics, original drops to $999
Apple's all-new MacBook Pro packs new NVIDIA GPUs, glass trackpad
In-depth / details
NVIDIA GeForce 9400 M, 9600M GT get official in new MacBooks
Apple's Steve Jobs calls Blu-ray "a bag of hurt"
MacBook Pro requires logout to switch graphics modes
Intel: MacBook Air sheds custom CPU for 45-nm Penryn "S"
Multi-finger MacBook trackpad gestures demonstrated on video
New MacBook Pro running HybridSLI?
all i can say is price rises in Australia has killed it all.
Thanks for stuffing us around........Again.
@ Ben
Dover
Weak US dollar == lose for all y'all.
How long will the spotlight be on the fruit because of their mediocre update of their notebooks? Indefinitely?
Too bad the updates leave me very very dissatisfied. That glass surface, not enough connectors, MB is still very heavy. A lot heavier than my over three years old 13,3 inch Sony Vaio...
What is Australia?
To oZ
The Australian dollar has tanked. Down 23% against the US dollar in the last 2 weeks
Apple asked you guys to "think different":
http://9gag.com/home/funnyrabbit
STUPID!!
"Apple 23-inch Cinema Display hands-on"
dont you mean 24?
No, Engadget got their hands on the newly released iKnife and cut off an inch of the screen.
can i have the leftover piece then?
Perhaps they're being sarcastic about the size of the GIGANTIC black bezel which swallows the display in a sea of expensive glossy blackness...
How many of these did they sell in opening day?
The server was whimpering quietly in the corner when i tried to have a look, 30 mins or so after the end of the presentation!
Apple- make loads of money from these,
- redo the macmini
- send me one for free please.
Cheers Steve
Unless it was an artificial slow down to make people think they're going to run out of merchandise.. The same thing some clubs will do with lineups - make a huge lineup outside even though there's only 3 people standing in the corner of the dance floor.
For the record.. I'm a Mac user, but I wasn't overly impressed with these new laptops. Sure, the cases are very slick and nice, however the gloss, extra bezel (on the Pros), having to log out to change graphics (likely change in software updates), no DVI (HAVE to use an adapter again..), etc. I have a MBP 2 gens before this one and still really enjoy it.
I just got back from a 45 minute drive to the Apple store in Gilbert, AZ a was told "No Laptop for You" not even a DEMO setup to look at! Called the store over at Chandler Fashion Center and got the same answer. What the heck I thought this a.m. was the in store release date? Oh well so much for impulse buy Steve, maybe I'll get a Sony.
I don't understand the thing about the cinema screens. Are they still selling the older, larger ones? Because they said the newest one was made especially for macbooks (obviously you can use it for other stuff), surely it can't be replacing the older ones if there's nothing to replace it with?
http://store.apple.com/us/product/M9178LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA5OQ&mco=MTI1Njg
http://store.apple.com/us/product/M9177LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA5OQ&mco=MTI1NzI
http://store.apple.com/us/product/M9179LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA5OQ&mco=MTI1NzM
They're still in the online store.
I say Engadget should give away one in a contest.
(and automatically give the guy who thought of the idea of the contest one as well)
I second that. All in favor say aye.
Apple definitely won't be getting any of my money now. The uberglossy screen is a big problem for me. Also, they are now ridiculously expensive in the UK.
Same here in Australia as mentioned..... Apple are going to loose sales.
HEY GUYS listeennn up aryt, this goes to all apple haters and lovers.
Here at apple we made a major leap in technology this year...our laptop case!!! woohoo!!!!!
more money for us baby!
No they're not going to lose sales, Take for example a Dell XPS and give it a LED screen, 802.11n & a 256mb Nvidia graphics card and same amount of Ram, i'll bet you it will cost you $100 more than the Macbook, the Dell also doesn't have the 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM as the Macbook, it has something like 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, and at the end of the day can a dell run OSX & Windows? i don't think so, the dell is also a huge piece of plastic
yeah but at least you can get a dell doing 80% of that for 499$.. its all about compromise. And there is excellent laptop out there less pricy. Apple product dont have a good money/performance ratio.
Boards of Canada fucking rule.
I'm typing this on a brand new macbook and while it's just what I needed - I'd have to say that a bit more wouldn't have gone amiss. It's also my first Mac so I'm trying to get my head around it all. I am getting a strange amount of freezing though.
It would cool if they offered these in some different anodised aluminum colors, at least black.
Keep dropping those prices, Apple...MAYBE another $300 price drop and I'll reconsider making the switch. Why would I spend twice as much money on a laptop that I only need for checking email/web and managing itunes? I doubt the average user is using their laptop for much more than this...
Get a iphone. Or an iPod. For such simple features.
Ever need to use MS Office? For that you need an actual $1000 computer. Sorry.
So you're saying you want it both ways: You want Apple to make a laptop as cheap as everybody else's, and you also want the laptop to have everything that Apple puts into them like the new mutitouch glass trackpad, the solid aluminum construction. Because that stuff doesn't cost money, right? Apple is just overcharging for no reason, right?
Yeah.
Did I miss something? What did BJ say about the trackpad and all aluminium body?
decoy - er, were you just not paying attention or something? BJ is asking for a product that costs more to make to be as cheap as products that cost less to make. The way the Macbook is built and things like the glass trackpad definitely factor into the cost, so it's entirely relevant.
So many people just want things to be cheaper without taking anything else into consideration. Hey I wish I could buy a new Ferrari for $12,000 too, but it's not going to happen. I don't think Ferrari wants to sell their cars at a loss, and Apple doesn't want to sell their computers at a loss either.
Well, I expect anytime now Apple to announce the next leap in home computing: A method of transferring data between two machines at a distance. Perhaps over wires, or maybe over the air, or some combination of both. and this 'network' of 'interconnected' computers could be used to share data at incredible speeds. And they could call it....iSomething. Man, i can wait for that.
I get it, you're making fun of Apple because you think they didn't do anything new.
Because, you know, everybody has those no-button, glass surface 4-finger multitouch trackpads these days, don't they?
@Zak... Yeah, multitouch trackpad... I don't think I've seen one of those since CES in January from a company called Synaptics (you may've heard of them). OOOPS, I forgot, Apple just developed those. My bad!
And as far as "no buttons", the whole thing's a button and is just a touch-pad version of their "glass" Apple Pro Mouse. Two crappy ideas, no buttons, and lots of glass? I wonder if it's the same special-needs engineer.
Well gosh scabby. If a glass surfaced 4-finger multitouch trackpad with no button has been around for so long I'm sure you can provide a link to one. Right? Yeah, you go ahead and do that, I'll wait.
And yes, there are no external buttons. No, it has nothing to do with the mouse. The mouse does have an actual button, the sensors are what determine if it's a right or left click. And it doesn't have glass anywhere on it. You're batting 1000 here. And yes, I'm sure that because it's a new idea it must be crappy because it comes from Apple. CHANGE IS SCARY.
Steve's blood pressure is 110/70
Can't wait for the upcoming "Engadget Asks: What do you think of the new MacBook Pro?" Poll, and pick "It sucks" without even using a MacBook before!
A better option would be 'it costs too much'
Another Engadget post about the Apple event? Were the other stories not enough?
so, the Apple notebooks still look pretty similar to the Powerbook of yesteryear. Thinner, even less ports, but still pretty much the same.
Opening it up, and voila! looks like a Sony F series. Totally underwhelming.
Dual graphics? pretty late to the wagon. Lenovo has had it for a few months now with the T-series, and Sony has had it for at least two years now.
So it's not cheap, hasn't changed its outlooks, and inside looks like a Sony, fewer ports, no card-reader. It's particularly sad when a major selling point is "user-replaceable battery!"
and just in case anyone wants to accuse me of being a Sony-fan, the last two laptops I bought were pretty standard HP's, before that were two Toshiba Porteges, a Sharp ultraportable, and some other machines. So in fact, I've never bought a Sony laptop before, nor would I, given the performance/price ratio.
It's got a fancy trackpad and is made of a block of metal, both these thing are awesome... but are they awesome enough to upgrade for?
OK guys, here is my all important verdict:
- I don't like it. -
The day I decide to be ripped off, I ll'be ripped off by SONY corp. and bring home a new shiny Vaio branded toy.
If El Jobo wants my cash he's gotta turn out some better tricks.
I like the solid aluminum construction, but I think they are getting away from the Apple that pushes the style boundary. They still make a good product (and if they put silver colored keys made out of aluminum, I might have splurged and bought one along with a few other small changes (DVI))
I would have like to have seen a graphical ipod touch style mouse pad. Or a tablet/eBook reader. Even a small 9" netbook would have been great. Maybe something that has an iPod dock built in. Or a touchscreen. Maybe next time.
too bad the spotlight is barf colored. Seriously I've seen more impressive notebooks by even Dell over the last 6 months. Where's the quad core Apple? Oh that's right. You are more concerned about having the thing be under 1" thick then performance. Losers.
Let me start things off *downranks himself*
what apple should have done if they were going to make the 13 inch the same as the 15" models is just call them both macbooks... thennnn make the 17" model the macbook pro and offer it with a matte or glossy screen.
I'm still trying to figure out the advantages of a glossy screen.. I'm not sure if being able to use the laptop better outdoors will outweigh the disadvantage of glare indoors. I'm thinking it won't
Have you ever tried to carry a 17" MBP around for day-to-day? There is a 15" MBP for a reason, it's the machine most people buy.
If cost is the souring factor, consider that most people that buy MBP's aren't just using them to check their email.
Wow he is really thin, I bet he has cancer.
OK, is this all new apple stuff for the moment rightnow? i'm happy when it's over. thank you engadget.
there is a lot more and BETTER stuff then some new notebooks and PLEASE, who cares about UNBOXING??!!
Glossy screens suck. I'll never understand the marketing for these ... fooling stupid people into thinking that glossy is better.