Not Convinced about New Powerbook

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I really want the new powerbook but just seems to me like a glorified Ipad or a better version of the airbook, I guess im just like my Superdrive lol and ultiple UBS ports I dont know
 

pigoo3

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I really want the new powerbook but just seems to me like a glorified Ipad or a better version of the airbook, I guess im just like my Superdrive lol and ultiple UBS ports I dont know

Well...it's a good thing that your not convinced about the "New Powerbook"...since Apple stopped selling Powerbooks back in 2006!;)

Now if you were talking about the new MacBook Pro (the one with the Retina Display & no optical drive)...then that's a very different story!:)

- Nick
 
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Thats OK I'm very not convinced about the not expandable MBPR..

If you combine that with the lack of an update to the MP I'm a bit uhhh displeased right now with Apple..

They've demonstrated the Apple Inc. vs Apple Computer Company.
 
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While the form factor of the MBP gets slimmer, it's still a far cry from a glorified iPad. iOS simply cannot do what OS X does... not even close. I'd MUCH rather have a MBP than an iPad!
 
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While the form factor of the MBP gets slimmer, it's still a far cry from a glorified iPad. iOS simply cannot do what OS X does... not even close. I'd MUCH rather have a MBP than an iPad!

In many ways it is...

The big difference being one is x86_64 and the other not.

The MBPR lost all expandability and the optical..
 
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chas_m

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The optical was not even a noticeable loss for me and I suspect most users. There's this thing called thumb drives you should look into ... oh and this cloud thing ...

I think I've used the built-in optical on my MacBooks (covering the last five years) about three times. I have a FW external burner at home for the rare occasions I'm asked to duplicate a DVD I've made or something, and even that has dropped off to nil over the past four years.

As for people who decry the "lack of USB ports," um it has two -- same number it did before IIRC (perhaps one less, I can't recall). Both of them are USB 3 ports, meaning you now have (basically) unlimited numbers of USB 2 ports via a tiny hub. Get over it, to be blunt.
 

chscag

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The MBPR lost all expandability and the optical..

How do you figure that? The only thing that's not expandable is the memory. The hard drive can be removed and replaced - when substitute drives are available. The battery likewise can be removed and replaced - yes, it's glued in but that can be overcome. How else do you think Apple would replace it otherwise?

And I agree with chas. Optical drives are seeing less and less use. I don't believe I've used the optical drive on my 2011 iMac but perhaps once or twice since I've owned it.
 

RavingMac

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Still not keen on the glued in battery but agree on the Optical Drive.

FWIW I went ahead and ordered an external optical drive for my wife's MBA and for any future Macs I may own that lack an Optical Drive. For the few times I expect to need to use it I don't see using an external as a problem.
 
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How do you figure that? The only thing that's not expandable is the memory. The hard drive can be removed and replaced - when substitute drives are available. The battery likewise can be removed and replaced - yes, it's glued in but that can be overcome. How else do you think Apple would replace it otherwise?

And I agree with chas. Optical drives are seeing less and less use. I don't believe I've used the optical drive on my 2011 iMac but perhaps once or twice since I've owned it.

If suitable drives become available..

Was there an issue withe the 2.5" form factor, or the mSATA form factor?
 

chscag

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If suitable drives become available..

Not "if". When. You can bet OWC will have a drive ready within a short time. Everyone said the same thing about the MBA. It wasn't long before OWC had a plug in substitute which was better than the original.
 
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chas_m

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chscag took the words right out of my mouth (well, keyboard). Somewhere at OWC there is a guy who's ONLY job it is is to reverse-engineer the special connector that the MBPR uses for its optical drives. I have great confidence on that front.

As for the rest of the MBPR, yes a lot of it is less "tinkerable" than previous models. This is because:

a. The batteries have reached a point (at least on Apple's machines) where they won't need to be replaced in the normal lifecycle (five years). We've had this battery tech around for a while now, and Apple has the stats on how often they've had to replace a battery. Evidently they feel good about that figure.

b. User habits are really changing (something us older "power users" may not be noticing). I often use this example but it's the truth -- my wife (who is younger than I am) has almost NOTHING other than some songs and photos to back up. Everything she does with her computer (admittedly not as extensive a range of uses as I have, but much more typical of normal users) is on Facebook or the cloud or Flickr or something like that. So for those younger users, SSDs are preferred for the boot drive, with external media libraries and everyday stuff mostly stored in the cloud. Very different to me, but also very typical of younger users I've observed.

c. Current LED LCD technology has a MUCH lower point of failure, and again should reasonably be expected to last the life of the machine generally. I'm not bothered by this at all, particularly not with AppleCare. The laptop screen has always been the single most expensive part to replace, and it continues to be the part I've never had to replace (part of that may be due to my tendency to really baby my notebooks, remembering how expensive they are to fix). So it continues to be from my POV a non-issue, since the later technology is demonstrably more reliable than the fluorescent technology we used to use. There will be some exceptions, but broadly speaking these parts are getting better in every way.

d. I'll happily agree with anyone who wants to moan about it that the un-upgradable RAM was a bad idea. Sign me up for that. You can be sure I'll let Apple know that I thought it was a bad idea, too. Hopefully if everyone does that, they'll reconsider that aspect. Sixty-four bit computing works best with HUGE amounts of RAM, so deliberately limiting people to a (five years from now) very paltry 8GB (oops -- my bad -- 16GB not as paltry, but again who knows where we'll be in five years?) is just not cool.

Luckily, Apple has a fix for almost all of this: the regular MacBook Pro line.
 
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Not "if". When. You can bet OWC will have a drive ready within a short time. Everyone said the same thing about the MBA. It wasn't long before OWC had a plug in substitute which was better than the original.

It is if they do.

And my recollection which may not be accurate, but it was over a year after MBA with the "better" SSD's before OWC had them for sale.

Another concern of mine on these drives is the long thin shape. How much NAND can fit before they run out of space? in a standard drive you could just add another and retain 2.5".

I know no one here can answer but why not mSATA?

============================

I agree the idea of tinkering with the computer is going the way of the dodo and there isn't much you can tinker with on a notebook anyway but I can't think of a valid reason to prevent it either.

This is like gatekeeper is it really progress or profit center?
 

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OWC is right now working on a drive solution so it's not IF but when.

Why not mSATA? Because Steve Jobs would not want it! :D That is as probably as good an answer as you will get because no one knows why Apple does certain things but the top brass at Apple. In this case maybe it's Tim Cooks decision! Who knows!

Anand of Anandtech (who I have TOTAL respect for) gave the new MBP a RAVE review and the first Apple computer to get their Gold Award, so it can't be that bad.

You are going to find that Windows systems are going to go the same way. Look at Windows 8 which is OBVIOUSLY a Touch OS for small tablets and devices. Look at the Surface. That is the way Microsoft is headed.
 
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OWC is right now working on a drive solution so it's not IF but when.

Why not mSATA? Because Steve Jobs would not want it! :D That is as probably as good an answer as you will get because no one knows why Apple does certain things but the top brass at Apple. In this case maybe it's Tim Cooks decision! Who knows!

Anand of Anandtech (who I have TOTAL respect for) gave the new MBP a RAVE review and the first Apple computer to get their Gold Award, so it can't be that bad.

You are going to find that Windows systems are going to go the same way. Look at Windows 8 which is OBVIOUSLY a Touch OS for small tablets and devices. Look at the Surface. That is the way Microsoft is headed.

Until they're for sale it's "if"

Because something gets great review by a great and well respected reviewer doesn't make it a great product. (1971 Chevrolet Vega was the car of the year)

In life we all have different desires, if you desire thin sleek and cool then the MBPR is the computer for you. If you prefer industry standards SODIMM's, 2.5" drives, and Opticals it's not.

When you go onto PC forums you're going to find about zero love for Windows 8. If the resentment is true it will not be a long standing OS or SP1 will bring back desktop functionality as it has been in the past.

I don't so much mind Apples dallience with the unworthy, I just hope it's not the future. the rest of 2012 (iMac) and 2013 will let us know. Apples competitors are closing in.

Who wins Woz or Jobs?
 

dtravis7


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Whatever. Just sit back and watch.
 
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chas_m

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In the question of "Woz or Jobs" the answer has ALWAYS been Woz (with rare exceptions) with occasional victories by Jobs.

Apple has had a few stumbles along the path, but if machine reliability were graphed out over the past, let's say, five years -- it would be a steady uphill march (much like the stock price!).

The iPad is a MARVEL of engineering. The new battery tech is (yes again) a MARVEL of engineering. The Retina Display? Not really invented by Apple per se but a MARVEL of engineering. Magsafe? Thunderbolt? The 30-pin dock connector? Unibody construction? The iSight camera? The iPhone? MARVELS. Not just "well done," they are each on their own scale *revolutionary.*

I could go on (and on!), but the point is clear: Apple's done some of the best work they've EVER done engineering wise just lately. And the design work has generally been pretty strong as well -- the day they gave up plastic for the body construction was a high point for me personally, and that wasn't all that long ago! There will always be some designs that are held in higher regard than others. Personally I think the G4 Cube (as a design) is utterly AMAZING, but that doesn't translate into sales. Apple's new Airport Express is probably the most boring LOOKING thing they've come out with in years, but the thing is AWESOME and represents (imo) a perfected form of the 802.11n router. Seriously, put it next to any other 802.11n router and have yourself a good laugh.

Woz has little to do with Apple these days and occasionally says some crazy ... er, stuff ... but to whatever extent he inspired current engineers and instilled an engineering culture into Apple (and into Jobs for that matter -- I think there's a great argument to be made that Woz is the real author of Jobs' obsession with simplicity and efficiency), Woz has a lot to be proud of.
 
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In the question of "Woz or Jobs" the answer has ALWAYS been Woz (with rare exceptions) with occasional victories by Jobs.

Apple has had a few stumbles along the path, but if machine reliability were graphed out over the past, let's say, five years -- it would be a steady uphill march (much like the stock price!).

The iPad is a MARVEL of engineering. The new battery tech is (yes again) a MARVEL of engineering. The Retina Display? Not really invented by Apple per se but a MARVEL of engineering. Magsafe? Thunderbolt? The 30-pin dock connector? Unibody construction? The iSight camera? The iPhone? MARVELS. Not just "well done," they are each on their own scale *revolutionary.*I could go on (and on!), but the point is clear: Apple's done some of the best work they've EVER done engineering wise just lately. And the design work has generally been pretty strong as well -- the day they gave up plastic for the body construction was a high point for me personally, and that wasn't all that long ago! There will always be some designs that are held in higher regard than others. Personally I think the G4 Cube (as a design) is utterly AMAZING, but that doesn't translate into sales. Apple's new Airport Express is probably the most boring LOOKING thing they've come out with in years, but the thing is AWESOME and represents (imo) a perfected form of the 802.11n router. Seriously, put it next to any other 802.11n router and have yourself a good laugh.

Woz has little to do with Apple these days and occasionally says some crazy ... er, stuff ... but to whatever extent he inspired current engineers and instilled an engineering culture into Apple (and into Jobs for that matter -- I think there's a great argument to be made that Woz is the real author of Jobs' obsession with simplicity and efficiency), Woz has a lot to be proud of.

Woz always favored openness and expandability not Jobs.

Apple in the last few years has gotten less expandable intentionally.

As far as the bolded I just don't consider them marvels, the neat but not marvels and Apple has little to do with each piece of technology they just package it well.

The design work is what Apple does well now not the engineering. When Mac was PowerPC apple played a big role in the engineering. Now apple buys things from manfacturers or the manfacturers themselves. This isn't bad but Apple Inc. is not the same company that Apple Computer Company was. I liked the old way much better.
 

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