Macbook
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Which screen to choose: glossy or matte?
Long time TUAW commenter Arkowi, tracked down my personal blog, shot me an email and said: "I see you are picking up a Macbook for your wife. I am ordering a 15" MBP either today or tomorrow. Still not sure about which way to lean on the glossy screen. At first it seemed like a no brainer...but some of these reviews seem pretty high on the gloss. . . . It seems the glossy screen might give more a TV appearance which I find appealing (I will be using my MBP as a portable HDTV). However, I will be primarily using it for design work (mostly web based, a few print situations). Just wondered what your take on the gloss was?? Feel free to answer on TUAW if you so desire." Well, Arkowi (and all the others amongst you wrestling with this decision), having both a matte-finish MacBook Pro and a glossy-screened MacBook in the house, I can sum up my observations of the glossy screen in one short sentence: It ain't too shabby. The glossy finish is not that horrible super-shine that I've seen on oh so many HP laptops in the local Comp USA or Best Buy. My good friend Randall has a glossy-screened HP laptop that I've been forced to use from time to time, and although he loves it, I've gotten a nasty headache any time I've sat down and used it for any length of time. I've used my wife's MacBook quite a bit so far, especially when I was setting it up, and I've enjoyed it. the screen is slightly brighter than the matte screen on my MacBook Pro and bright enough that the reflections are not distracting in consistent lighting. However, I'd still pick matte for myself. It's all a matter of taste. Try both out in an Apple Store before you buy, if you can, and make sure you read through Scott's take on this topic.
Macworld delves into gaming on the MacBook
While the performance line between Apple's high and low end mid-range portable notebooks has lost some serious girth with the introduction of the MacBook, anyone hoping to snag a portable Mac for gaming has some tough decisions to make. The Pro machine packs a a high-end dedicated 3D card that can chomp through today's most demanding games without breaking a sweat, but the MacBook has an integrated Intel graphics chipset, borrowing RAM from your main system stash and dragging down performance. But how much of a drag is that Intel GMA 950 graphics chip, really? What games can it run, and where is the line actually drawn?If you've been searching for answers to questions like these, I think Rob Griffiths over at Macworld might have cut your googling short with MacBook gaming: A graphics concern? Rob investigated this whole 'integrated graphics card' issue and found that the MacBook can perform surprisingly well, as long as you max it out with as much RAM as you can afford. Testing an unofficial Universal version of Quake 3 (while old, it is fairly 3D-intensive), the MacBook cranked out 52 fps with 512 MB of RAM (which is already a great stat), but once he maxed the machine to 2 GB, Quake 3 offered up 98 fps.Rob explores gaming performance on the MacBook with a wide variety of other games, both in and out of Rosetta, and even lays out two separate 'what can/can't you play' sections to get down to specifics. Check out the full story if you're still biting your nails on deciding just how much you'll need to pony up to get your mobile Mac game on (also: stop biting your nails. It's a nasty habit).
Thurrott likes the MacBook...that's good, right?
Keeping up with his recent tradition of destroying the status quo and confusing the Mac world by praising Apple products, Paul "Closet Fanboy" Thurrott recently bought himself one of those slick new white MacBooks and put it through its paces...primarily by installing Windows and seeing if it behaves well as a standard PC. His conclusion? Yes, yes it does. In fact, Thurrott writes, "I've thrown my entire collection of always-installed applications at the MacBook, and the performance has been incredible, quite a bit better than any of the low-end Windows notebooks I've tried over the years.... Overall, I'm quite satisfied... Apple has a winner on its hands." Thurrott also discusses some roadblocks (right-click, anyone?) and how he got around them.So, let's mark that off on our Impending Apacolypse checklist: Apple Makes iTunes Available on Windows - Check Apple Switches to Intel - Check Apple Enables Windows to Run on Macs - Check Paul Thurrott Buys a Mac to Run Windows - Check All that's left is "Apple Switches OS X to Windows Kernel" and "Bill Gates Becomes CEO of Apple" and we'll have a full-blown Revelation-esque Judgement Day ahead of us. Stock up on canned goods, folks.On a slightly related note: On his blog, Thurrott wonders how well Vista will run on the MacBooks, considering they don't have a dedicated video card. I also wonder this -- so let's hear it: have you installed Vista on a MacBook? How does it work?[via MacDailyNews]
Ask TUAW: Where do you put your Apple remote?
"Where's the zapper?!"A time old phrase uttered countless times in countless living rooms across the world, usually accompanied by an expletive or two. Now that Apple has standardized Front Row and bundled a remote with nearly its whole range, Mac mini, MacBook and MacBook Pro owners are also screaming out for their lost "thingy", "zapper" and "remote control". iMac owners are in the clear: they've got a nice little magnetic section on the side of their machine that the Apple remote will elegantly stick to. Mac mini, MacBook and MacBook Pro owners aren't so fortunate. Apple's forgot to give us non-iMac owners a place to stash our remote! The MacBook, with its magnetic lid, offers a semi-viable solution. The remote will happily stick to the left and right corners at the top of the screen where the lid magnets are. It looks pretty stupid though.One solution that Apple could use, for the MacBook Pro at least, is to adapt the Apple remote so that it will fit inside the laptop's ExpressCard slot. That would allow users to store the remote out of the way while the machine was closed (our less than elegant solution shown above doesn't tackle that problem). Have any TUAW readers come up with a way to keep the Apple remote with their Mac when they're not using it? Guides for Velcro mods, tractor beam construction manuals and levitation how-tos are welcome!
Up close and personal with the MacBook
Now that I've had a few days to play with my latest splurge here's a short photo and video review of some of the small design touches that other reviews of the MacBook may have missed. Please forgive me if this article reads like a poor student trying to justify yet another computer purchase. I've found that the new MacBook is no exception to the company's great design reputation, although, as you'll see in a second, it ain't quite perfect.I was surprised to find that the MacBook is roughly the same depth as the 12" iBook and the same width as the 14" iBook. It's noticeably thinner than both models too. Of that I wasn't surprised -- the iBook is quite a chunky laptop by Apple's standards.
That unique "new Mac" smell
You all know what I'm talking about: the moment you tear open your new Mac and are greeted by that complex combination of a "little bit of plastic bag with a hint of lindenberry followed by a rush of Styrofoam." We all love it. Just like every other Apple product I've purchased new, my MacBook features that same unique scent.I'd forgotten how much I missed it. I purchased my last Mac (a 15" Titanium PowerBook) second hand, from a smoker. Then I spilt a glass of wine on the keyboard which made it pong of cheap rosé. Needless to say, my MacBook smells significantly better than my old Mac. Its scent is amongst my most favorite smells and in my opinion it is second only to the smell of napalm in the morning.Knowing this, you'll understand my disappointment after I Googled "that new Mac smell" and found that research suggests that the smell emanating from new gadgets is very unhealthy. Wikipedia's entry on a similar feature found in cars, "that new car smell", links to research that likens the odor to sniffing glue. There's also an article from 2004 on Geek.com that recounts evidence that toxic fire retardant chemicals found in computers can be transferred to dust. Although the article says that "two of the chemicals in question (penta and octa-brominated diphenyl) have already been banned and will no longer be used in production by the end of this year," I'm forced to reconsider my love of the smell of new Macs.Does anyone have any information that would restore my confidence in my new Mac's smell?
MacBooks packin' heat due to covered up vent?
Anyone who's given a PowerBook, MacBook, or MacBook Pro a good look probably knows how the ventilation system works: two inlets near the front of the computer draw the air in, a big vent grid underneath the screen hinge lets it all out. Ideally. Except Gert Stahl apparently discovered a thin layer of plastic film in his MacBook that prevented airflow, and was causing his machine to overheat; removal promptly caused his fans to shut off and the machine's heat to return to a level more manageable. What's more, apparently there was never any mention made in the manual about the removal of any such film, leading one to believe that this might be unintentional (read: manufacturing error). So, if you've got a MacBook and it's a little toasty, check that gap out for the thin plastic strip -- if you've got the film (or if you don't) then you let us know!Update: Well, it looks like the court of public opinion has ruled on this one... doesn't appear to be the real deal. If you've got a blocked vent, well, you obviously didn't speak up. So for now we're gonna close this case and move on with our damn selves.
Get your own SmackBook Pro
Remember Scott's 'Smack your MacBook Pro' post from yesterday? It looks like Scott got his wish: now you can go a step further and get your own SmackBook Pro. That's right boys and girls, for the low low price of nothing (all code is released under the GPL), you too can have your very own smackable MacBook Pro. If you don't want to deal with the instructions, some commenters have compiled new versions; scroll down for the links.It sounds like this might work on any Apple notebooks with a motion sensor, as I also noticed some commenters were tinkering with getting this to work on a recent 12" PowerBook. Either way, Erling Ellingsen has ushered in a brave new world of computing - a world where you can literally smack your computer to make it do something productive.[via UNEASYsilence]
SmackBook and MacSaber -- best two reasons to buy a MacBook?
If you've already grown tired of impressing your friends and family with that iAlertU car alarm app for your MacBook or MacBook Pro, you might be interested in a couple new apps that should make you even prouder to be a MacBook owner. They're both based on the MacBook's sudden motion sensor, and both have the honorable distinction of not really doing much at all to improve your quality of life. The SmackBook, as demonstrated in the video, allows you to switch desktops by smacking the side of your precious MacBook. If you don't think that's enough potential endangerment of your MacBook, you might be interested in MacSaber, which makes light saber noises when you swing your computer around, and light saber clashes when you swing it really hard (peep the video by Metafilter founder Matthew Haughey). We just can't wait for reports to start flooding in of far flung laptops. Now if you'll excuse us, we're going to head down to an Apple Store and try this stuff out.[Thanks to everyone who sent these in]Read - SmackBookRead - MacSaber
Mac Pro: the replacement for the Power Mac G5?
Now that Apple has rolled out the MacBook, speculation has turned to the sole remaining PowerPC-based computer in the company's lineup: the Power Mac G5. And, as of today, there seems to be at least one thing that can be confirmed about the new computer: it will be called the Mac Pro. At least that's the assumption that can be made based on a recent Apple trademark filing, in which the company claimed the Mac Pro name for, among other things, "computers, computer hardware, computer software, computer peripherals, notebook computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, computer servers, handheld computers and mobile computers." Which means, of course, that this really doesn't confirm anything, except that Apple likes products with the words "Mac" and "Pro" in them -- which we kind of already knew. And this also raises at least one new question: if the Power Mac becomes the Mac Pro, will the iMac become -- a la MacBook/ MacBook Pro -- just the Mac?Update: Thanks to Jeff for pointing out that there is still one other PowerPC-based computer in Apple's lineup: the Xserve. We'll have to wait a bit to see whether they decide to rename that one.
Star Wars Kid revisited with MacBook
I'm finally done being in pain from laughter to post this hilarious revisit of the Star Wars Kid using that MacSaber app we found over the weekend. Great work, YouTube user mathowie.[via Waxy.org]
Apple considered small chip startup over Intel?
Steve Jobs' announcement -- almost a year ago, now -- that Apple was transitioning to x86 processors was one of the most shocking bits of news that the industry had ever heard, and yet there were a group of employees at a startup chip manufacturer called PA Semi who were even more shocked than most, according to reports, because right up until that keynote, they were sure that their company, and not Intel, would be chosen to supply the brains for what's now known as the MacBook family of laptops. The Register is reporting that PA Semi had a close relationship with Apple in the months prior to the switch, and that the two companies were working together to gauge the feasibility of running native PowerPC-coded software on 2GHz dual-core chips that PA Semi claims run at only a third of the 21 to 25 watts consumed by Intel's Core Duo models. Sources who spoke to El Reg say that executives were virtually positive that they'd win the contract, and that CEO Dan Dobberpuhl was understandably "furious" when he found out PA Semi had been passed over. The company still has a bright future developing chips for the embedded market and storage devices, but they'll probably never again have the opportunity to become an instantly-recognized name like Intel, AMD, or IBM.
"Undercover" software helps recover your stolen MacBook
So you coughed up some dough for that iAlertU program to protect your MacBook, but wouldn't you know it, your laptop got jacked anyway by a clever thief who simply removed the battery before taking off. Luckily for you, all is not lost, at least not if you'd installed another program called Undercover on your machine, which not only sends out an IP-address-containing SOS if it's reported stolen, but actually uses your machine's built-in iSight to snap a photo of the perp before simulating a screen failure that makes the Mac unusable. Every six minutes, Undercover pings a database maintained by developer Orbicule to check if the machine it's installed on has been stolen; a positive reply from the server initiates a sequence of events that hopefully ends with law enforcement officials breaking down the door of the nefarious Macjacker's pad and recovering your beloved notebook. In case the crook was smart enough to never reconnect to the Internet after the heist, however, you'll still need to file an insurance claim and head down to the old Apple store -- looks like they still haven't found a software solution that beats the trusty Kensington Lock.
The Pipeline: Pundits dish on MacBooks, XM Inno and Treo 700p
Welcome back to The Pipeline, a weekly feature where we dig through the mainstream media and see what the pundits, prognosticators and and pencil pushers have been discussing over the past week. Unlike some recent weeks, there was no single tech story that dominated the mainstream media this week. Yes, most journos dutifully covered Apple's two big events -- the launch of the MacBook and the opening of the company's New York store -- but Apple didn't get the same sort of monolithic coverage that, say, the Samsung Q1 garnered a couple of weeks ago. In fact, one of the few mainstream media MacBook reviews we came across this week was written not by The New York Times' David Pogue or The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, but by blogger Glenn Fleishman, slumming it in his day job at the Seattle Times. Fleishman praised the new non-laptop for its upgradability, iSight camera and ability to add a second display, but pointed out that its integrated graphics make it a less-than-ideal choice for anyone doing video-intensive work -- which we assume is part of Apple's plan to find a way to get at least some consumers to pay $2,000 and up for the MacBook Pro, with its ATI Radeon X1600 GPU.
Apple MacBook reviewed
Alright, after a week of everyone going crazy-go-nuts (or not) over those new MacBooks from Apple, we've got our first review from the boy at Ars Technica. They're rather glowing in their praise, but that might just be due to the high amounts of heat this things puts out. That's right, for all their laptop innovations Apple doesn't seem to have managed to figure out how to keep these Dual Cores cool, and it looks like you might have to resort to thermal paste shenanigans to keeps this thing cool enough to sit on your lap. Also, in Notebook Review's first impressions writeup of the MacBook they encountered serious instability from heat, making the laptop almost unusable. The only other serious problems Ars had with the MacBook were the relatively slow integrated graphics -- even though they were able to run more casual gaming titles just fine in OS X and Windows XP -- and the love it or hate it glossy screen. Otherwise, the laptop looks like quite the deal and a decent performer. Along with that redesigned keyboard, the MacBook has a wider trackpad (how big are these things going to get?) and has an ability to do a "right click" by placing two fingers on the pad and clicking. The iSight, MagSafe and Front Row aren't anything different from the MacBook Pro, which is to their credit. In benchmarks the MacBook performs much closer to the MacBook Pro than its iBook predecessor, and its easy expandability and multitude of pro-ish features make it fairly easy to recommend -- if you can stand the heat.Read - Ars Technica reviewRead - Notebook Review impressionsRead - Macworld
Warning from Apple: don't put our laptops on your lap
We've heard the stories about overheating MacBook Pros, and have even heard that Apple has quietly updated the line's firmware to resolve the problem. However, the company apparently still doesn't want to take any chances on users getting a little overheated while using the new MacBooks, so they've included a warning in the computer's manual (which also appears in the manual for the MBP), advising customers not to use their laptops on their laps: "Do not leave the bottom of your MacBook Pro in contact with your lap or any surface of your body for extended periods. Prolonged contact with your body could cause discomfort and potentially a burn" Apple's solution to this is to recommend that customers put the computer on a desk or other flat surface. And, not surprisingly, the word "laptop" does not appear once in the MacBook's manual. Now, if you'll excuse us, we're off to chew on an iPod shuffle for a bit.
PSA: read your MacBook user manual
Given all the recent MacBook Pro drama of late, what with overheating issues and all, it might be a good idea to peruse your MacBook/MacBookPro owner's manual one of these days to make sure you've covered the basics, even if most of Apple's care recommendations are obvious these days. Gearlog found a couple of interesting snippets in a MacBook Pro owner's manual that, again, might be obvious to some, but are still good for a refresher. The first is a warning about the use of magnets in the MagSafe power adapter. Apple warns that the end of the MagSafe power adapter and the port on the MacBook could be powerful enough to erase information from magnetic media such as credit cards and iPods, so it would be a good idea to keep these things away from each other.The second blurb from the owner's manual warns against using a MacBook Pro directly on any part of your uncovered body; these things can get pretty hot (obviously), but this is the first time I've heard of a laptop owner's manual directly warning: "Prolonged contact with your body could cause discomfort and potentially a burn". I wonder if there are any other obvious or possibly interesting snippets in these manuals that most of us have been passing over.This concludes the end of this public service announcement, thank you for your time.
Rig of the Day: How many Macs
Some guys (or girls) have all the luck. While it's true that I own many Macs, the vast majority of them (ok, all but two) weren't manufactured in this decade...and most of those don't really work. So you can understand why I'm jealous envious of prunejuice's (great name) snapshot featuring a Powerbook G4, 2GHz BlackBook, 23" Cinema Display, G4 Mac mini, DP G5 Powermac and bevy if iPods. Sheesh."prunejuice" posted by (who else) prunejuice.If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We'll select an image every day to highlight.
Not all Macs meet Vista requirements
Julio Ojeda-Zapata of the Pioneer Press points out the system requirements for Microsoft's latest piece of vaporware soon-to-be-released update to Windows, Vista. According to Microsoft, Vista may run on machines that don't meet their "Premium Ready PC" requirements (which referees to machines that can handle all of the eye candy...if you can call it that), but those users won't be able to experience all the ways Vista rips off Aqua and Mac OS X many of the innovative UI features of the OS. The "Premium Ready PC" requirements for Vista are: 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor 1GB of system memory (!) A graphics processor that runs Windows Aero 128MB of graphics memory 40GB of hard drive space with 15GB free DVD-ROM Drive Audio output capability Internet access capability Hmm. Seems the MacBook and Mac mini fail to meet the video RAM requirements. Not to mention that you're going to need at least a 60GB hard drive. Also note, as Julio points out, that the mini and MacBook share system and video memory, so Vista may be a drag on those machines. So, if you plan on running a dual-boot machine once Vista is released, you may want to look towards a MacBook Pro or iMac.
Apple shows 24x7x365 NYC flagship store
New York City nightlife used to mean hanging out in smoke-filled nightclubs at the edge of town and stumbling home as the sun came up. But, from what we hear, you can't smoke in the clubs anymore (not that we're really too upset about that), the real estate boom has squeezed a lot of them out of town, and there's even been talk of more aggressively enforcing the city's decades-old anti-nightclub statute. So, what's a denizen of the night to do? Well, it looks like Apple's come up with the answer. As previously rumored, the company's new midtown store, which opens tomorrow, will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The store, which has gotten a lot of buzz for its five-story, glass encased, Jobs-designed, cube-shaped entryway, will feature 4,000 square feet of retail space, most of it underground, and will be able to satisfy those musical and computing urges, day or night. Word is that the store will also be giving away one MacBook an hour to lucky visitors over the next couple of days (starting with tomorrow's 6pm opening), so we expect some pretty sizable crowds to show up. Yo, Steve: Add a dance floor and teach your Geniuses to really tend bar, and we may just drop by one night and pick up one of those pods of yours. [Thanks, Jake]Photo courtesy Dave Thorup.
