Apple rolls out new MacBooks, drops prices | Hacker News Reader

Apple rolls out new MacBooks, drops prices

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The addition of an SD slot is awesome. Much more useful than the current expansion flap thing which I don't even know what you plug in there :/

Of course the SD slot is not a very welcome change to people who have stuff that plugs in that "flap thing", because now the MacBook Pro apparently doesn't have any means of internal expansion. (Why is it called Pro again?)

The top of the line 17" still has the ExpressCard slot. Apparently, SD's the new floppy after all, instead of USB thumb drives.

I wonder how long we'll still have CD/DVD drives. I've used mine maybe twice :/ Would much rather just have a bigger battery there TBH.

My current laptop (Fujitsu T2010 tablet) doesn't have one. The only time I missed it was for installing Linux - I had to borrow a USB drive from a friend.

Next time I'll probably just figure out how to put the installer on a USB key.

Yeah, I used my cdrom drive on my macbook pro about 3 times. Now I need it and it's broken. But I have .ISO's and I can just mount those as a drive, so really the drives are obsolete already.

I'd rather see that space dedicated to horsepower.

Then gripe to Steve Jobs (or whomever), he was the one who convinced Apple engineers to remove the dual hotswap bays that used to be standard on the PowerBook line around the time of the marketing transition to "MacBook." A user used to be able to forgo a optical drive to have a second battery installed...

I've always gotten the flip up SD cards for this reason-- it works works every place an SD card works, then you flip it and it works like a USB stick.

Of course the proliferation of mini and micro SD cards has lessened the effectiveness of this plan...

> Of course the proliferation of mini and micro SD cards has lessened the effectiveness of this plan...

Not really, it might be hastening it. You can get housings for mini and micro cards that work with full size SD slots, and USB housings that convert the smaller cards into a plug-in drive. I wouldn't be surprised if there's one out there that does both.

According to the keynote, Apple found that only 1% of users were using the ExpressCard slot.

According to market share statistics, less than 1% of computer users have a MacBook Pro.

Which would make it even less of a big deal, applying to less than .01% of computer users.

Like when with the C64 no one uses the "Expansion Slot" or the Rastport or the PCMIA-Card Slots for the Amiga. The only successfull 'flap thing' was the MIDI on the Ataris.

It costs only $25 to add an SD card reader into your express card slot: http://www.xpcgear.com/proexp7.html Apple probably did it so save costs and save space for the bigger battery.

These look like fine machines for someone who is buying a new mac, but offer hardly a reason to upgrade from any recent model.

In fact, it looks worse. Previously, Apple had high end portable machines for the true power users among us. I've had two generations of Apple Intel laptops because I wanted an easy to maintain Unix system. This announcement makes me very disappointed as it appears that Apple is unifying the two sectors in order to cut costs. The hardware quality is still probably superior to most competitors, but this isn't the bleeding edge kind of stuff I expect from top of the line Apple hardware.

I don't know about that... it looks like they are bringing the older non-metal macbook back to prominence. And they are moving the metal 13" to the macbook pro line, which is where it always belonged anyway. The 13" model straddled the line ever since they went unibody with it. Now they are firmly picking a side.

I understand why people want the card slot, but the number of people who actually used it must be miniscule (which was apparently confirmed in the keynote). Hell, I've been using powerbooks and macbook pros for a decade for video, audio and programming, and I have been working mobile full time for years, and I still have never used the slot. I know musicians and video guys who have, but that was years ago, before widespread decent quality usb/firewire audio and video devices. Sure some people want it, but this isn't a big deal for the vast majority of users.

Honestly, I find it incredibly strange that people still make the pro/consumer distinction. It's been a while now that even low end computers have been more than enough for most people, even most "pro" users. There are plenty of people out there working full time on low-end macbooks (though, in that case, often hooked up to a larger display). At this point, the ONLY reason I've been buying macbook pros rather than low-end macbooks is the screen size.

I've been working fulltime on a 12" Powerbook G4 (and I've written and released an entire album on the same machine, for that matter). And the G4 Powerbook wasn't especially fast when it came out! Computers have been by and large fast enough for most things for years.

I'll be going for the 13" MBP for my next machine, I suspect.

"At this point, the ONLY reason I've been buying macbook pros rather than low-end macbooks is the screen size."

Some of the higher-end Pro models have better video cards, which yields better 3D performance, and sometimes better output on larger displays (e.g., running 1080p video on a 1920x1200 monitor). I'd imagine Photoshop CS4 runs quicker with a better video card (assuming Open GL is enabled in PS).

A few extra USB ports on the big guys too, and semi-faster CPU's (which doesn't make a heck of a difference unless you're doing something intense).

Other than a few people who care about the above, you're right. You're mostly picking for screen-size/native-resolution, and weight/form-factor.

Define "true power users".

Well, people who use a dedicated graphics card are a good start. For audio editing I used the express card slot for an external audio processing card.

I'm not sure I understand. Do you need both a dedicated graphics card and an to use ExpressCard to qualify? Is someone that uses a FireWire audio interface not a "true power user"? What about programmers that don't need either?

8 gb of RAM! 8!

This, after 6 years of waiting since I started disregarding any laptop that cannot accommodate an internal SD slot, finally gives me a reason to look at the 13"! What took them so long?

Big drop in price for the MacBook Air too, especially for SSD: $1,799 with 128GB SSD which was the previous price with a regular hard-drive.

There was a rumor about new Air models at lower prices. Does anyone know if there are actually new models planned, or if this is what they should've said - same model, lower prices?

Aren't the processor speeds different now?

Yes, so I guess this is all they meant, not a major revision or addition.

"Does anyone know if there are actually new models planned"

Aren't we talking about Apple? :)

Slightly OT, but new iPhone (as mentioned in the OP article) as well.

For those who feel like following the liveblog, http://live.gizmodo.com/

"Apple also introduced a handy new feature called "Find My iPhone," designed to help iPhone owners who have misplaced their device. Lose the device under the sofa, and users will now be able to send the phone a message ordering it to make a sound. If the device has been stolen, it will now be possible to send an iPhone a command to erase its memory, so that sensitive information is not compromised. "

I smell a security risk.

Which is the bigger risk? To have somebody else steal your information without you being able to stop them? Or to have somebody destroy information on your own device, which you've likely had to load onto that device via a machine under your control anyways?

Apple also introduced a handy new feature called "Find My iPhone," designed to help iPhone owners who have misplaced their device. Lose the device under the sofa, and users will now be able to send the phone a message ordering it to make a sound.

What? Is this a parody?

It is a tie-in to Apple's $99/yr. MobileMe service. You can locate the phone on a map and remotely display a message or play a sound.

http://www.apple.com/mobileme/whats-new/

Ah, alright; that makes more sense. Journalism fail.

The key missing element is that it will make noise even if in silent mode. Obviously just ringing a lost phone has been a standard "feature" since the first mobile was released.

Now that the online store is back up, I see what they've done with the MacBooks. I thought they were going to discontinue the old white MacBook soon, but instead they've renamed the new one to make it a Pro. And now there's a 15" Pro with integrated graphics only, like the regular MacBooks.

The Apple site hasn't been updated with these and the online store is down. Doesn't Apple usually make sure the site has all of the new products right when they're announced?

No. This is Apple's standard operating procedure; the site goes down for a few hours while the presentation is being done. (So that the site doesn't "scoop" the presenters.) The site should be back up soon after the show's over.

Thanks for the info.

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