Apple about to unveil refreshed plastic MacBooks?
By Nilay Patel 
posted Sep 27th 2009 3:58PM
posted Sep 27th 2009 3:58PM
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below $999 uh, maybe but if not people will still buy it guys , I think .
I sure hope so... It'd be nice to have a cheap laptop for students like us so we dont have to go spend more than we need, just for a basic. PC's suck the energy out of us trying to go through all the virus protection software, and hunting down issues. Im SO glad I found a used PowerBook g4 for 200$. Saved my butt.
They'll only go sub-999 at 949 or 899, otherwise they'll lose out on the psychological pricing advantage. Personally I can't see a price drop, though I may be wrong of course.
You know I always hear that argument, but in my years working IT I can say with a lot of certainty that any time a user has gotten infected with something or crashed their system it's because of something they were doing that they shouldn't have been. Mac's aren't any different in this reguard. They are just safer at the moment because of their still relativly low market share (in the eyes of virus coders). But one day all the people who go on and on about how much more secure OSX is over Windows are going to be in for a nasty surprise.
Wasn't OSX the first to fall in the pwn to own contest this year?
My teacher has an all black mac, and it looks gorgeous do they still make those, if not its a shame.
@Absolute No, sadly enough they don't make the black macbooks anymore :(
I would love for their to be a price drop, I may actually pick one up if it's "significant" enough. But, knowing apple, this probably isn't going to happen.
to the people that love complaining about pc's and viruses and whatnot ... do you even know how to use the internet?
i cant wait to find out what ports they will remove from this one, apple obviously thinks that people who dont buy a regular macbook and not the pro only use it for facebook and itunes, thus the removed firewire (at least hey put that back... eventually) and the removal of an express slot which was crucial.
the problem with the sub $1000 argument is that folks believe that Apple wants to be the end all and be all company. that their goal is to be the new Microsoft, holding 95% market share etc.
but perhaps, crazy thought, they don't. Perhaps they are fine with being Mr 5% or whatever. perhaps they are fine with being the BMW and not the Yugo.
Keep in mind that much of what Apple can do right now, like tying hardware and software and telling those that want to clone to kiss the F off is because of a lack of market power. they drop prices way down to go after big numbers and that power goes way up and suddenly they have to play by the same rules as Microsoft, they have to allow clones etc. and given Apple's love of 'the complete package' that will drive them totally insane. Steve Jobs would probably sell his stock and retire before he willingly did anything to force the company in that direction.
so I think that it is safe to say that any sub $1000 laptop will never go under $899, $849 will the paltry discount students get. they will just back to upping the specs as components come down, perhaps tossing in their iwork package pre-installed and so on
at hawaiirox,
either you're a not a student, or at least not a very smart one
or computers are a new idea to hawaii citizens.
PC's don't have 90% market share for nothing.
@ LAGal, So why the huge ad campaign? Why ask MS to change there add campaign because apple now has a sub $1000 laptop? Why do we keep getting emails everytime they have a new product?
Seems to me they would love to increase their marketshare.
*nix based and 'just works' without having to dedicate 1 core to virus protection... I'll buy it.
@adml_shake: You're high. I am the IT administrator at Westwood College. The first week I started (when someone else set up the network), the PCs ALL got a virus. If it weren't for the Macs, I wouldn't have been able to download the fixes to repair all the PCs.
@ Aaron - sounds like your IT department is crap. Every PC infected with a virus. What the heck were your admins doing? Where is the firewall/AV?
@hawaiirox357 - you are aware that all your home assignments can be completed on computers made by companies other than Apple. I have it on good authority that a $350 Best Buy laptop can work for typing reports, performing calculations on spreadsheets, and for making presentations. You DO NOT need a MacBook for that.
@adml_shake you obviously haven't done programming on both systems. Windows got its poor reputation for a good reason: early on they gave developers too much freedom where MS Office macros could perform malicious operations and later (still currently) ActiveX controls that run within the browser that people are installing viruses through. These are not possible on the Mac, ActiveX controls running at administrator level, the concept is foreign to a Mac and Linux because there is nothing that is allowed these permissions.
Netbook cheapsters need not apply. But then again, this isn't going to be a netbook. It's just a low-end notebook and it darn sure won't have an Atom processor in it.
@Aaron
are you actually trying to make us believe that you are an IT Administrator at Westwood College and the fact that you had to use a Mac (because the PCs were too darn broke) to download fixes for the Massive virus attack?
It's interesting how gullible bitches come out and tell stories of terror about how PCs are vulnerable and insecure.
When I saw apple adverts I used to wonder "who do these people think they'll convince with this shit?"
but now i know; it's people like you!
@LAgal They are in fact going for being the big dog. I don't want to potentially jeopardize myself, but I know that that's what they're going for because I was told so by people who know. I won't say who or when because I don't know if I can, but that's definitely what they're going for. You can call foul on me if you like, but it's still true.
agreed dude, you know i was an absolute windows pc fan, started to find that I would theme the s#^t out of windows to make it look like
a mac. The first mac I ever bought, I remember thinking.. WOW look at the box!, Then wow look at that macbook, what a piece of art!
I look at my macbook now and am so bloody happy I bought it (5 years old now). They are objects of desire whichever way you look at it.
So agreed absolute, people will by them because they are simply stunning pieces of engineering..
And when you open the lid, the fun goes on with what runs inside it, Great looking hardware coupled with great software is worth every cent.
What is up with all this Virus for PC mess?! go spend $50 bucks on some decent virus pretection. It's not that hard. No one complains about cars cause you have to change the damn oil every 3000 miles. Its not rocket science. I can remember the last time I ever had to worry about a virus infecting my PC. I can't stand these virus crybabies - or maybe all you Macs will understand me better if I said "Virus? There's an app for that." There's plenty of freakin apps. Go find one and use it damnit.
Ewwww!!!!!... Talk about fugly....
"Wasn't OSX the first to fall in the pwn to own contest this year?"
the reason why they always pwn Mac devices (iPhone, MB Air etc) first is because they then can own that shiny Apple gadget! They don't wanna go for that Vaio Vista Laptop unless the Macs are out...
CRAPIFY THE MACBOOK!!!!!!
1)Throw and ATOM in there
2) Stamp the apple logo on and
3) Rip ppl off for $550.
4) Take money and run.
J/K, I'm hopin for a quad core IMAC with card slot, pretty please apple?
-e
Their whole company image is based on the illusion that they are somehow more secure and that's worth the extra money they cost, when in reality the price barrier keeping them from becoming mainstream is all that's keeping them relatively so secure.
They're kind of in a bind right now because no one wants expensive computers, but if they drop prices to acceptable levels they lose out on their image... margins will drop and they'll need to be more popular in order to keep investors happy.. once again there goes the security and trouble free pitch. Iphones and iPods aren't going to do anything but keep the Apple brand popular, so I think this is the future for Apple unless the economy really makes a quick turn around.
slowly, Apple computers become more and more mainstream.
Is that a bad thing? As long as they continue to work well and look good I don't care how mainstream they get.
Mainstream = more products sold = more money. Not necessarily a bad thing.
Mainstream = more products sold = worthwhile target for Viruses. Not necessarily a bad thing.
Profit is good but the reputation,quality and prestige of a product is worth much more. The IPod is still selling well but I think the tide of public perception with this device is slowly turning simply because there are so many of them out there.
"Profit is good but the reputation,quality and prestige of a product is worth much more."
According to whom?? I thought the purpose of a business was to make money not have a bunch of friends on facebook.
I don't remember saying anybody that buys an Apple product has to be friends with the company and what the hell has facebook got to do with anything, I don't even like that website.
"According to whom??"
It's pretty basic marketing.
Let's say you have the choice between a Sony HDMI cable and a Monster HDMI cable. Price is no option. Which would you choose?
There's your "whom".
Autopsy, I'd probably pick the cheap-ass Monoprice cable over Monster or Sony anyday, even if money were no object.
@Autopsy
I'd take the Monster, because Sony invented memory sticks.
The only thing that made me not like it before was the ddr2 ram. DDR3 and 9400m work somuch better together.
Uhhhh...
RAM "talks" more to the CPU than the GPU, so how does having DD3 in conjunction to a rather lowly 9400M make your experience a more enjoyable one?
9400m ofloads memory duties to system ram when it runs out...ddr3 would be way better
Not having a 9400M would be *EVEN* better.
Resorting to system RAM would be much worse than just having the RAM on the card itself.
This is akin to using virtual RAM (via your HDD) when you run out of system RAM, albeit not as bad.
Ultimately, the point being, that speed gains attributed to DDR3 over DDR2 have shown to be NOMINAL at best, and at the same frequency, rarely approaching anything beyond a handful of percentage points. The price/performance ratio is usually stacked against DDR3 in most cases, and the buyer would be wise to just invest in a better graphics card than usually paying a prime premium for DDR3 instead.
The 9400M is actually a pretty nice chip considering that it's integrated. It doesn't get too hot and it doesn't suck a lot of batter life, yet you're still able to play a game like CoD4 well on it.
Apple doing a budget range?
Who'd have though it?
Budget is a relative term for Apple.
On the PC side of things, one could find comparable specs Im sure for half the price...but I guess anything that costs less than a grand would be considered "budget" pricing for Apple.
I believe it's pronounced "Who'd a thunk it?"
Better yet,
Who woulda bought it?
$1,000 for this? Seriously?
+1
Oh that's budget laptop, I thought it was a high end netbook.
WindowsFTW
Except Windows PCs doesn't come with much in terms of bundled software. Are you comparing a $300 Netbook to a $1300 MacBook Pro? You get what you pay for.
Do I want to, after I get a new Dell, buy a bunch of software and install it to match the Mac functionality? Meh.
The Mac experience means you pay for stuff up front and your experience, out of box, and getting to work, is great. Windows users want the Mac look and feel with half the built-in software. And then they have to buy (read; bittorrent) the rest of the software. For a mac, you need to DL Adium, and get the TVshows app, get Chrome, and you're good.
(Note: Obviously, MS is not allowed to bundle those great iLife-esque apps, even if they did exist. The DOJ has prompted MS to put that stuff on the Web, so they can try to 'bundle' it that way.)
@Mike:
Math. Half of $1300 is not $300. This would be $650. Nobody is comparing a netbook to a Macbook Pro here.
And really, why make a big deal out of bundled software? Apple's bundled software is quite dumbed down and overhyped, while Microsoft's bundled software simply isn't all that good. A resolution to both of these companies' issues would be for the consumer to use open source software/freeware, which is free and generally of high quality if from a reputable manufacturer. No money shelled out, so cash and "added value" is a moot point. You mentioned that a Mac user has to download some free something something and some free new browser, so why should the Windows user be left out of that software acquiring process when comparing the two?
@mike
You might have a point there if everything that they bundle except iMovie wasn't crap.
You heard it here first: they're bringing back the "clamshell" (or "toilet seat") design from the first iBooks.
Well, actually, probably not.
Gosh, I loved that Clamshell design, I still look up those laptops on ebay from time to time to see if I can grab one at a reasonable price.
exciting...!