After a 1 week delay (according to the rumors) the new intel MacBook is out. Very impressive! Apple killed the 12” and 14” iBooks and instead opted of a 13.3 ” widescreen size for it’s new consumer oriented MacBook. The bright wide screen along with Apple’s bundled remote and its Front Row media viewing application makes this a nice machine to watch movies on.
Apple is selling the MacBook (US price $1099) as a “super fast blogging, podcasting, do-everything-out-of-the-box MacBook”. It’s clearly trying to ride the wave of user created media which just shows you that blogging, podcasting and video podcasting are moving into the mainstream.
Another great thing about all new Apple laptops is the built in Eyesight camera, which can be used with Apple’s iChat video/audio communication client.
I bought a USB camera for my Mac ages ago but hardly ever used it. Sticking a USB camera on your laptop is always a clunky experience. So having a built-in camera will surely popularize video chatting in the coming few years.
Interesting fact: the MacBooks have no built in modem anymore. Just like Apple killed the floppy in its firs iMac in 1998, it’s now announcing the death of the modem. Every MacBook is equipped with wireless capabilities of course, and you can still purchase and optional USB external modem if you still want to dial-in.
Now that Apple has a full line of laptops (MacBook Pro in 15” and 17” and the MacBook) and its Intel-based iMac, we just have to wait for Apple’s pro desktops to come out (to replace the G5’s). Exciting time in Mac land!
Comments
3 responses to “The intel-based MacBook is out in BLACK (O, and in white too)”
I’m waiting until Adobe ships their CS3 suite before I dive into the new Mac Book Pro. Adobe products currently draaaaaag on the new Intel Macs.
I just got me a 20” iMac (Intel). It’s marvelous. The massive harddisk space, huuuge screen and blazing fast everything is a joy (just need to up the RAM). However, it’s not portable.
This tiny little MacBook seems to have hit just the spot. My boss and I spent part of the afternoon measuring out its dimensions against our HP and IBM laptops. In my opinion, it won out.
Apple made a very smart move by finally giving the lower end laptops proecssor power in line with its Pro line and removing the 12” Pro machines all together. This is just right for my office use (i.e. powerful enough for an eLearning Consultant such as myself but throw in an LCD and voila! I’m working perfectly fine) whilst being portable too.
It’s beauty. 13.3” across.
I had a 12” PB some years ago and I really loved the design. The one thing I wanted was more pixels on the screen. I think Apple should make an ultra-portable MacBook Pro, with external optical drive and at least the same resolution as the MB.