Unibody MacBooks get first firmware updates

New unibody MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air users might want to fire up Software Update -- Apple's got some updated firmware for you. As usual, notes on what problems the new code might fix are pretty light, but let's hope they address the plethora of problems plaguing Apple's latest laptops. Give it a shot, and be sure to let us know how it goes in the comments.

[Thanks, Chris]

[James @ Dec 10th 2008 5:51PM]

Any fix on the touchpad issues?

[Travis @ Dec 10th 2008 5:53PM]

there was an update for that a few weeks ago...

[RoboDan @ Dec 10th 2008 6:58PM]

BUY NOW!!!

(fix later)

[axemt @ Dec 11th 2008 9:21AM]

@ Thats What He Said

Good for you to hold your ground. Don't be another Apple beta tester with their first gen hardware. 300 for bigger hd and a fancy touch surface is not worth it when you don't need it. It's like the 100 bucks they wanted you to pay for having a black one (plus some hard space) years ago.

[QuarkieQuark @ Dec 14th 2008 6:14PM]

My touchpad still has issues, but its just when running in Bootcamp.
VMWare Fusion works fine, but windows is unusable when running under bootcamp.

So I wouldn't call those issues totally fixed.

[Thats What He Said @ Dec 10th 2008 5:52PM]

my friend is getting his Unibody MB tonight, i wanna see if it was a good decision to go with the old White one, even with the firmware

[Eli @ Dec 10th 2008 5:55PM]

Why would you ever do that?

[Thats What He Said @ Dec 10th 2008 5:58PM]

because i dont need a special trackpad or fancy graphics

[CraigJ @ Dec 10th 2008 6:07PM]

yeah, but that $300 gets you twice as much memory (ddr3), a faster bus, a bigger HD and the most rigid body I've ever seen. I think the uni-body Mac Book would be a much better choice for the extra $300, you'll probably get another year of life out of it compared to the white one...

[Thats What He Said @ Dec 10th 2008 6:14PM]

again, i dont need all of that stuff
and i dont plan on throwing my computer, so the plastic is just fine
just wasnt neccesary

[spam_free @ Dec 10th 2008 6:58PM]

I remember when I bought my first car back in the early 80s, my uncle, who claimed to be a car fanatic, went along to the dealer. He insisted that I do NOT get air conditioning and instead get a sunroof, which was $200 cheaper than AC. He claimed the wind coming in from the sunroof will cool me down. Mind you, we're in the NE region and summers can be brutal especially in stop-n-go traffic. I was young and stupid enough to believe him. Two years later, I paid $300 MORE than the factory option price to have an outside shop put AC into the car, and a worse system than factory of course.

Moral of the story is, if you plan on keeping something long term, spend a little extra and get the quality-of-life options. I have the plastic Macbook and I played w/ the unibody MB at the store. Except for the lack of Firewire, I would get it in a heartbeat. Everything about it is simply far far better. If you still want the plastic MB, get the unibody and I'd gladly trade you mine + $300. See, everybody wins!

[Thats What He Said @ Dec 10th 2008 7:06PM]

ok, and......
im pretty sure i got A/C and a sunroof, cause i love this thing
and if money is tight, then, well, ill pass the heated seats and built in nav system

[balls @ Dec 10th 2008 7:28PM]

Thats What He Said!!

[CraigJ @ Dec 10th 2008 10:23PM]

Two words: Snow Leopard.

To each his own, but I think of the additional $300 as insurance that the OS that comes after Snow Leopard will run just fine. Then again, 10.3 runs just fine on my 400Mhz G3 iMac too, if a little slowly.

I was all set to get the $1300 MB, but at the last minute I decided that the 2.4 with the bigger hard drive, faster processor and the backlit keyboard was worth the extra $300. It was. I can run my full dev LAMP server, a copy of Windows XP and run CS4 in Mac OS with no lag. I have no fears that 10.7 will run just fine some time in 2011 or 2012, and I expect to use this as my primary laptop until at least the end of 2012 or well into 2013. The last laptop I had that had that kind of life span was my Thinkpad T21, which lasted me for almost 4 years. Every Dell I've has has basically been disposable.

[Thats What He Said @ Dec 10th 2008 10:34PM]

i understand that, but i would never in my life run Photoshop CS4, XP, and a LAMP server on my computer, none the less all at once. I usually have (well always finder, technically), iTunes, Firefox, iChat, Mail.app, and then either TextWrangler or NeoOffice. This new beast runs it all without a hickup. And im sure it will run 10.6 cause its supposed to be lighter than Leopard, and i have confidence that it will be able to run most of what i will be able to throw at it. Now, the Hard Drive is a little small, but a 500GB external can slve that problem very easily. again, im not a hardcore user, just casual media and multitasking, which this is very good at doing without any problems whatsoever

[axemt @ Dec 11th 2008 9:23AM]

@ Thats What He Said

Good for you to hold your ground. Don't be another Apple beta tester with their first gen hardware. 300 for bigger hd and a fancy touch surface is not worth it when you don't need it. It's like the 100 bucks they wanted you to pay for having a black one (plus some hard space) years ago.

[john @ Dec 10th 2008 5:53PM]

but i thought they were perfect? hmmm guess all them fan boy's were wrong

[huh @ Dec 10th 2008 6:02PM]

"Perfect" in 2008 means they release updates to fix problems, unlike some other companies.

[Mark Anderson @ Dec 10th 2008 6:03PM]

Like whom, huh?

[Thats What He Said @ Dec 10th 2008 7:02PM]

if you were trying to burn Blackberry and the Storm, you did a fantastically horrible job

[janl @ Dec 10th 2008 5:54PM]

Still no 4 finger swipe on the MacBook Air late 2008.

[Dan @ Dec 10th 2008 5:57PM]

Dunno what you're talking about, mine works fine.

[TREX6662k5 @ Dec 10th 2008 10:14PM]

Have you tried turning it on and off again?

[Samboini @ Dec 11th 2008 5:07AM]

Four finger discounts all around though...

[Precurse @ Dec 11th 2008 9:56AM]

"Is your computer turned ON sir?"

[barry99705 @ Dec 10th 2008 6:04PM]

Yea, I've had no problems with mine either.

[Charliek @ Dec 10th 2008 11:13PM]

Yeah same here - my MBP hasn't skipped a beat in the month I've had it. Every manufacturer puts out some duds... I can't say I'd like to make laptops.

I even sat on the keyboard accidentally - not even a slight warp in the unibody.

* MBP keyboard tested to 100Kg *

[Daryl Shields @ Dec 10th 2008 6:21PM]

Nothing's blown up yet.....ahhh success! (Right?)

[ethana2 @ Dec 10th 2008 6:25PM]

"As usual, notes on what problems the new code might fix are pretty light"

So you don't get complete changelogs through your update manager on OSX? I'll have to keep that in mind..

[Zorque @ Dec 10th 2008 6:50PM]

You weren't considering switching anyway, shut up.

[ethana2 @ Dec 10th 2008 7:19PM]

Your claim is inaccurate. I would be doing a disservice to myself to not familiarize myself with all the best OSes out there, however much I may despise their vendors.

I would consider myself more or less in the market for a mac mini over the course of the next year.

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Dec 10th 2008 7:20PM]

I love the opinions of people who started using Linux 2 years ago and still think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread and suits the needs of every person!

... I say as I burn an ISO so I can finally dual-boot my work Thinkpad...

[eric @ Dec 10th 2008 6:30PM]

Unibody MacBooks get first firewire updates.

[loocas @ Dec 10th 2008 6:34PM]

I doubt the firmware addresses the mirror factor...

[Kooty @ Dec 10th 2008 7:49PM]

I don't see what the issue with the whole Glossy screen is. I've got a Unibody MacBook Pro (just switched actually), and I find I can see the screen perfectly fine wherever I go to. I work in an brightly lit all-fluorescent lighted office, and also use my laptop outside quite a bit. I've never had a problem seeing the screen. The ultra-bright LED backlit screen probably has something to do with it - but I can see my laptop screen in places where my old glossy-screened laptops were barely readable.

[loocas @ Dec 10th 2008 7:53PM]

Then I wish you good sight for long years as that amount of light travelling to your eyes certainly isn't healthy...

[TREX6662k5 @ Dec 10th 2008 10:11PM]

I have a problem with it.

At work, my desk is near the window. In the morning when the sun shines though, I can hear my retinas scream.

[Grant H @ Dec 10th 2008 6:36PM]

This update improves the stability of MacBook Pro computers and addresses issues with sleep-wake, USB and device compatibility.

After the firmware is successfully applied to your Mac, your Boot ROM Version will be:
MBP51.0074.B01

You can confirm the version of the Boot ROM installed on your computer using System Profiler.

For further information on this Update, please visit this website: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303364

[loocas @ Dec 10th 2008 6:41PM]

Are you implying that Engadget didn't do their research on an Apple product right?

No way!

[Nate @ Dec 10th 2008 6:36PM]

The major issues addressed via this update are quirks that I've come to live with--mostly are software/hardware cooperation issues. What I'm still furious about are the touchpad issues that STILL exist (the recent firmware update helped only slightly)--basic input and hardware controls should work flawlessly; it's the software issues that we should expect patches for! I'll give Apple credit for getting right on it, but for $2,000, I expect a little more from the get-go.

[Jackson @ Dec 10th 2008 6:39PM]

I have a 2.8ghz macbook pro. I was a little worried before buying it because of all the issues I had been hearing about from numerous tech sites: glossy-glare screen, freezes, loud trackpad click, etc. After buying it I will say that I have not experienced or noticed any of these issues. I feel like these sites that review apple products spin news like any other news company. The stories about "Glossy-glare" and the "loud trackpad click" are quite ridiculous and overplayed. The screen is so bright that glare unnoticeable. It is only when the screen is black that it becomes somewhat mirror-like (but I have a good looking face so its no problem for me). I won't even go into the stories about the trackpad. It's just good. The single button trackpad design was instantly familiar when I first opened the MBP. Don't listen to the critics, be your own. Go test one out and see what the hype is about.

[balls @ Dec 10th 2008 7:32PM]

The stupidest factor on the unibody mbp's is the MiniDisplay Port instead of Full DVI.

I know apple wants to make Microsoft type money, but god damn, do you have to act like them?

[VerbCat @ Dec 10th 2008 7:42PM]

"...I have a good looking face..."

Macs make people more beautiful.

Did they not tell you that when you bought it? The guy at my local Genius bar wouldn't shut up about it...

[Ruben @ Dec 10th 2008 8:42PM]

1. Have you ever used it outside? Its nearly unusable.

To allow you to even see anything on screen, you have to turn the brightness up fully, but then you lose battery life.

Its perfectly fine indoors. Outside, its horrible.

2. The pad has always had a loud click. Thats nothing new. Most people double-tap anyways.

[tiuk @ Dec 13th 2008 1:45PM]

The new trackpad is one of the best features, and I absolutely love the size/multitouch. I miss it every time I'm forced to use another computer. If people are having clicking issues I'm sorry to hear that, I set mine to tap-to-click right away and never looked back. It's an excellent trackpad IMO.

[zack @ Dec 10th 2008 6:42PM]

I downloaded the firmware and was told that I don't need it.
Have a unibody MacBook 2.4, etc that I got last week.

[Teddy @ Dec 10th 2008 7:29PM]

I'll wait for hardware revision B before I get a MBP. Probably in Jan. or Feb.

[georgel @ Dec 10th 2008 7:40PM]

Problems plaguing the laptops?? I have one now for a while and havent had one problem whatsoever. Best laptop and computer i have owned, well built and wont crash.

[giyad @ Dec 10th 2008 8:57PM]

dude, we know... we know! it doesn't happen to everyone, but there have been a lot of reports of these problems. They aren't saying "don't buy them because you'r computer is going to have all these problems," they are saying "if your going to buy one, just keep in mind that people have been reporting some problems" thats all

[Wormbolt @ Dec 10th 2008 8:09PM]

Just curious, what makes you say it won't crash? Do you see the future or do you plan on never powering it up?