[Superdeft]

Not as exciting as new bikes, but mac geeks sure know how to get the word out fast, fresh from the macworld expo in SF.

Ok 's, here's the dirt:

• Announcing a new accessory for the iPod. a remote control with FM Tuner. Works with current models. New radio screen on the iPod to tune radio through the iPod screen. $49
• Mac OS X 10.4.4 today, new widgets along with that update.
• iPhoto update with many new features, subscribeable photocasts. iPhoto not needed, RSS-based.
• iMovie update with new stuff, more than one project at once, realtime effects in titles, export to iPod and create Video Podcasts.
• iDVD updated, 3rd party DVD burners supported, better ease of use.
• GarageBand updated, new podcast studio, Podcast artwork track, over 200 free jingles and effects, speech enhancer, use iChat for remote interviews.
• iWeb introduced. New App to share photos, movies, music, blogs, content. RSS subscriptions. 1 click publishing with iLife media browser. $79, same as before.
• iWork 2006 released. 3d charts, advanced image editing, image reflections, free form and masking, tables with calculations, new themes and templates. $79, also available today.
• First Mac with Intel processor today. iMac. Built in isight camera. Dual core intel processor 2-3x faster than previous iMac G5.
• All included apps native to intel architecture. Pro apps will be universal in March. Final Cut, Aperture, Pro. If you have the latest version, you can trade in your disc for a universal disc for $49.
• All products will be transitioning through the end of the year.
• more updates pending...
• New MacBook Pro
• No more Powerbook. Intel duo Core. 2 processors in every Macbook pro, 4-5x faster.
• Fastest notebook ever. Hair thinner than the 17". Built in iSight Camera.
• New Power Adapter is magnetically held in. If yanked, comes right out.
• 5.6lbs. iSight, Front Row; $1999 1.67 Core Duo; 667 DDR bus, x1600; $2499 1.83GHz. Ships Feb.

Related pics:

 

[I Are Baboon]

That is cool, but I use my iPod so I don't have to listen to FM radio.

 

[Tenchiro]

I like the FM transmitter that you can get for it. There are numerous hacks for increasing it's power and starting a pirate radio station.

 

[Echo]

Either that's a really small dude or a really big ipod.

 

[stinkyboy]

Either that's a really small dude or a really big ipod.

It's the new 800 Terabyte model.

 

[Slugman]

Either that's a really small dude or a really big ipod.

damn that'll take a lot of batteries....

 

[Transcend]

Woo woo, new stuff day! I hope the intel lappies are announced. 10.4.4 is coming out today then?

 

[DNA]

Hey SuperD. Are you sitting in the Keynote right now? I skipped it to check e-mail and the Monkey. I am camped out in the wifi hotspot

 

[stinkyboy]

I skipped it to check e-mail and the Monkey.

 

[DNA]

Did you mean "why did I skip the keynote?" I am sick as a dog right now . I have another 6 hours of Photoshop stuff to make it through today and I wasn't about to get up early and stand in line to see SJ.

 

[stinkyboy]

Did you mean "why did I skip the keynote?" I am sick as a dog right now . have another 6 hours of Photoshop stuff to make it through today and I wasn't about to get up early and stand in line to SJ.

Yea, you're right. All of those fat, goateed guys can get unnerving...



Edit: Sorry if you're one of them...

 

[Barbaton]

Woo woo, new stuff day! I hope the intel lappies are announced. 10.4.4 is coming out today then?

10.4.4 was announced today. Hasn't shown up on the d/l site yet, tho.

 

[stinkyboy]

Mac Book Pro's are on the site and QT 7.0.4 is available...

 

[Barbaton]

One thing that would keep me personally from ordering the new MacBook (among others) is that they replaced the PC Card slot with ExpressCard. Has anyone heard of any card out that's ExpressCard? I use the PC card slot in my PB all the time, for importing stuff off of cameras, and in particular, Verizon EVDO.

I understand that they always want to be cutting edge, but would it have killed them to put a PC Card slot in it and move to ExpressCard when some products exist to use with it? :mumble:

 

[stinkyboy]

Do you still miss your floppy drive too?

 

[Barbaton]

Do you still miss your floppy drive too?

no because there is better stuff out there. Not so yet with PCCard. The ExpressCard spec exists but no one's making cards for it because PCCard is still adequate for most things, so it's pretty useless.

I'm due a new laptop in July (work buys me one every 3 years), so hopefully someone will be making an ExpressCard EVDO or HSPDA card by then.

 

[Superdeft]

Well, now that I have a chance to talk about it, I was pretty impressed to see a new pro laptop come out. This was one of the things many people were hoping for. Also, the applications updates seem to have some real potential. I am a bit scared, however, to see what will come about when blogging and podcasting goes from easy to stupidly easy with iWeb.

 

[stinkyboy]

10.4.4 is up and an iTunes update as well.

 

[Transcend]

Powerbook update was up last night btw - extended battery life.

The new lappies make me smile, too bad i just got a 15" powerbook 3 months ago.

I'd miss the modem port, I actually use it to send faxes quite often.

 

[Toshi]

i think a macbook pro is in my future (to replace my 800 MHz G4 tower...)

 

[Thrillkil]

I'm interested to see what the Intel PowerMac towers are going to be like.

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

Does anyone know apple's plans to go intel on the g5 desktop machines? I really need a new desktop machine and think that might be the ticket...

 

[syadasti]

Does anyone know apple's plans to go intel on the g5 desktop machines? I really need a new desktop machine and think that might be the ticket...

I would think sometime after the Intel Merom Conroe Deskop CPUs come out (adds 64-bit extensions, XD(DEP - ie overflow exploit protection), etc..) - the Core Duo(Yonah) in the current Mactels are mobile CPUs and even the top-end 2.2 GHz is slower than desktop offerings from almost a year ago - IE an AMD Athlon 64 X2) and not to mention only a few professional apps will be Intel optimized soon according to Jobs:

"1:17 PM - "Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.2 is running entirely natively - not just the operating system but all the applications." He's been using it for the entire demo all morning.

1:17 PM - Pro applications (Final Cut, Aperture, Logic Pro) will be available in March. If you've got a current version you can upgrade for $49."

My guess is late Summer or Fall.

Intel Roadmap:

July 2006

Intel Conroe desktop CPU is expected to be released in July. Conroe is a dual core CPU based around the Merom architecture but optimised for the desktop market by removing some of the power constraints from Merom in order to increase performance. Like Merom, Conroe will feature a 14-stage pipeline and will be a 4-issue core. Conroe will additionally feature virtualization capabilities, LaGrande technology and 64-bit capability in addition to EDB, EIST and iAMT2. Conroe will be available in two forms - with 4MB of shared L2 cache and with 8MB of L2 cache (an 'Extreme Edition' perhaps) and is expected to run at a clock speed of 2.4Ghz or higher.

Intel i965 (Broadwater) chipset series is expected to be released in July alongside Conroe. Broadwater is part of the Averill platform and is expected to replace all desktop chipsets from the i955X down. All chipsets will feature support for a 533/800/1066MHz FSB and Dual Channel DDR2-800. Additionally Broadwater chipsets are expected to introduce Intel's Active Management Technology 2 (IAMT2), ICH8 and the LaGrande security system. Broadwater is expected to comprise the following chipsets:

P965 - No integrated graphics
G965 - Integrated graphics
Q965 - Intel GMA, iAMT, SIPP
Q963 - DDR2-533/667, Intel GMA, iAMT, SIPP

Intel ICH8 South Bridge is expected to be released in Q2 alongside the Broadwater chipset. ICH8 is expected to have the same featureset as ICH7 with the inclusion of an additional 2 SATA ports (for 6 in total) and 2 USB2 ports (for 10 in total) alongside USB port disable technology, Intel AMT, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, advanced fan speed control and enhanced SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface). Support for the legacy Parallel ATA and AC97 audio technologies will be dropped.

Intel i946 chipset is expected to be released in Q2 alongside Broadwater. This chipset is expected to replace the i945 chipset in low end systems and feature the ICH7 South Bridge.

 

[syadasti]

Does anyone know apple's plans to go intel on the g5 desktop machines? I really need a new desktop machine and think that might be the ticket...

Definately wait. The G5 cooling system is a nightmare.

I would not want to own an overpriced slow (a dual core AMD X2 4400 system is as fast as a quad core G5 in the touted Photoshop Multiprocessor benchmarks and cost about 1/2 as much and was available over 6 months earlier) power hungry, obsolete platform like that a few years down the road especially one that requires a liquid cooling system that probably cost over $500 and also works on small engines (Delphi Automotive makes the cooling system) The performance per watt/cooling requirements is one of the reasons for the switch, KISS.

G5 Quad Core Cooling System

G5 Dual Core Cooling System

Intel Dual Core Cooling System (for older/hotter Intel CPU with lower performance per watt than New Mactels)

An Intel CPU cooling system fails, you smell the thermal paste/pad burning and you go out and buy a $10 heatsink/fan (the new Mactel CPUs might not even need fans in which case, a heatsink cannot fail unless its knocked off the CPU). A G5's liquid cooling system fails and you are instantly incinerated and you need a new computer

 

[syadasti]

One thing that would keep me personally from ordering the new MacBook (among others) is that they replaced the PC Card slot with ExpressCard. Has anyone heard of any card out that's ExpressCard? I use the PC card slot in my PB all the time, for importing stuff off of cameras, and in particular, Verizon EVDO.

I understand that they always want to be cutting edge, but would it have killed them to put a PC Card slot in it and move to ExpressCard when some products exist to use with it? :mumble:

Not a problem, there are already a few ExpressCards (not EVDO though) for PCs but Verizon will have an EVDO card by the time the MacBook is released. From Gizmodo:

Live at Macworld: EVDO to Upgrade for MacBook Pro
READ MORE: MacBook, Macworld, Verizon, Wireless, evdo

Many people, when they heard that the MacBook Pro won’t come with a PCMCIA slot, cried “What about my EVDO?” A Verizon representative at Macworld says EVDO cards for the MacBook’s ExpressCard slot should hit the market by the time the MacBook does.

Verizon’s man advised checking EVDOinfo’s MacBook Pro page, which will be updated as news comes in. The EVDOinfo forum reports a USB 2.0 dongle sold by Elan Digital Systems. EVDOinfo’s ExpressCard page will list ExpressCard format EVDO cards as they’re released.

Then again, “heimerwisen” says on the EVDOinfo forum:

Maybe the new ExpressCard port ties into that new MNVO HSDPA wireless service Apple will soon be rolling out to allow Mac users to connect to all the .Mac services (and the Internet) from any point in the USA. Or maybe not.

MacBook Pro and EVDO [EVDO info]
ExpressCard for EVDO [EVDO info]

 

[DRB]

A G5's liquid cooling system fails and you are instantly incinerated and you need a new computer

Well think of this way, since you are incinerated its doubtful that you'll need a new computer.

 

[kinghami3]

One thing that would keep me personally from ordering the new MacBook (among others) is that they replaced the PC Card slot with ExpressCard. Has anyone heard of any card out that's ExpressCard? I use the PC card slot in my PB all the time, for importing stuff off of cameras, and in particular, Verizon EVDO.

I understand that they always want to be cutting edge, but would it have killed them to put a PC Card slot in it and move to ExpressCard when some products exist to use with it? :mumble:

I take it then that PCI Express is not backwards compatible?

 

[kinghami3]

I'm interested to see what the Intel PowerMac towers are going to be like.

PowerBook is now the MacBook Pro, so what will the PowerMac be? The MacMac Pro?

 

[Transcend]

PowerBook is now the MacBook Pro, so what will the PowerMac be? The MacMac Pro?

The McTower pro. Want fries with that?

 

[bballe336]

Macbook is a horrible name. Everyone I have talked to has stumbled over their words when saying "macbook pro". And like Transcend said it sounds like its from McDonalds.

I think that having the pro apps available in windows will be great though. Now all the windows guys can use FinalCut.

 

[kinghami3]

I think that having the pro apps available in windows will be great though. Now all the windows guys can use FinalCut.

Yeah, that won't ever happen.

 

[syadasti]

In case it wasn't clear before, Macs are a total ripoff:

Macbook Pro
Al Chassis
Intel 1.83 GHz Core Duo (slower)
AirPort Extreme Card & Bluetooth (no 802.11a support, no free Bluetooth headset)
2GB 667 DDR2 - 2x1GB SO-DIMMs
SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW) (no Dual Layer)
100GB Serial ATA HDD (20GB less capacity)
Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
VGA Webcam (only 640x480)
15.4-inch 1440 x 900 (inferior spec)
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 - 256MB GDDR3
60 watt hour battery (shorter battery life)
HDD shock protection
$2,899.00
(Advantages - magsafe, built in keyboard lighting, 1 lbs lighter, runs OSX or Windows
Disadvantages - Inferior screen, weaker warranty (90 day phone 1 year country specific warranty), Slower CPU, does not include DL drive, does not have built in 5-in-1 memorycard reader, does not have modem built-in, shorter battery life, weaker Al instead of carbon fiber, no 802.11a support, no free bluetooth headset, and lower quality built-in camera)

Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi (PCMag's Editor Choice Dual Core Laptop, Jan 2006)
Carbon Fiber Chassis
Intel Core Duo 2 GHz
2GB DDR2 667 SDRAM
120GB SATA Hard Drive
Modular Super-Multi DVDRWDL Drive
5-In-1 Card Reader
15.4" WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050)
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 256MB
Built-in 1.3 megapixel digicam/webcam
802.11a/b/g WLAN
Bluetooth
Bluetooth Headset (for VoIP, etc...)
Gigabit LAN
V.92 Modem
87 Whr Battery
HDD Shock Protection
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
1 year international valid warranty (important for travelers)

Chumbo .com for 2,389.99

 

[golgiaparatus]

Well moment of truth...

Any word on software? Can software for the standard Apple run on the Intel machines? This will be the deciding factor for when I will have that new Macbook. Several K for the new book, fine... several mosre k for all the software I need to do my job because my current software isnt compatable... not fine at all.

 

[Transcend]

bla bla - I'll pay for quality, thanks.

When are you going to give it up?

golgi: yes it runs standard mac software through an emulator (rosetta). You need a universal app to run natively on the new processors. It will be shipping about when the macbooks hit the street in a month.

 

[syadasti]

Well moment of truth...

Any word on software? Can software for the standard Apple run on the Intel machines? This will be the deciding factor for when I will have that new Macbook. Several K for the new book, fine... several mosre k for all the software I need to do my job because my current software isnt compatable... not fine at all.

Pro applications (Final Cut, Aperture, Logic Pro) will be available in March. If you've got a current version you can upgrade for $49.

Other PPC apps can run on Rosetta until they are ported and should have 60-80 percent of native performance. Graphical tasks should run faster compared more computationally intense tasks. Considering how much faster a Core Duo is than a G5, it should be equal or faster even though it isn't native.

 

[syadasti]

bla bla - I'll pay for quality, thanks.

When are you going to give it up?

golgi: yes it runs standard mac software through an emulator (rosetta). You need a universal app to run natively on the new processors. It will be shipping about when the macbooks hit the street in a month.

That notebook has higher specs and isn't a generic notebook but the editor's choice. The Macbook is the clearly the lower quality Intel notebook...

 

[Transcend]

That notebook has high specs and isn't a generic notebook but the editor's choice. The Macbook is the clearly the lower quality Intel notebook...

Lower quality huh? Sure - it's the only model, with a 15" screen, superdrive etc. Must be lower quality.

Edit: Let me just make it clear, some of us are willing to pay not to have to deal with the pile os sh1tty code that is windows.

 

[syadasti]

Lower quality huh? Sure - it's the only model, with a 15" screen, superdrive etc. Must be lower quality.

I layed out the specs above - key areas its weaker than comparable feature set intel platform PC notebook:

-Slower CPU - 2 vs. 1.83 GHz
-No free bluetooth VoIP headset
-No 802.11a support
-No Dual Layer support
-20GB less storage capacity
-Lower resolution webcam (.3MP vs 1.3 MP)
-Lower resolution screen 1440 x 900 vs. 1680x1050
-Shorter battery life 60 vs 87 Whr battery
-Weaker Chassis material (al vs. carbon fiber)
-No Built modem, memorycard reader
-Cost $500 more
-Acer Available sooner
-Apple has weaker warranty (country specific, only 90 days of phone support vs. 1 year international)

 

[syadasti]

Edit: Let me just make it clear, some of us are willing to pay not to have to deal with the pile os sh1tty code that is windows.

The ****ty code in OSX needs just as much patching. My brand new Mac Mini Tiger machine needed 150-200MB of patching right out of the box - more MB of updates than a new WinXPSP2 machine out of the box.

Right now if you buy a brand new Tiger machine the least you'd have to update is 120MB with the 10.4.4 Combo update. That does not include updates for iTunes, Quicktime, etc either that will come up afterwards when you use the software update tool in OSX.

Plus most of the world uses Windows (and only 3-6% uses OSX) so you have more hardware, software, and support options. Some applications simply have no OSX equal or are limited...

 

[kinghami3]

I layed out the specs above - key areas its weaker than comparable feature set intel platform PC notebook:

-Slower CPU - 2 vs. 1.83 GHz
-No free bluetooth VoIP headset
-No 802.11a support
-No Dual Layer support
-20GB less storage capacity
-Lower resolution webcam (.3MP vs 1.3 MP)
-Lower resolution screen 1440 x 900 vs. 1680x1050
-Shorter battery life 60 vs 87 Whr battery
-Weaker Chassis material (al vs. carbon fiber)
-No Built modem, memorycard reader
-Cost $500 more
-Available sooner
-Weaker warranty (country specific, only 90 days of phone support vs. 1 year international)

You're confusing quantity with quality. For real world usability, I would go with the Mac hands down. Anyhow, for Apple's first shot at an Intel laptop, this is a hell of a machine.