Just a few additional comments and corrections to my post earlier today about the MacBook Pro now that I've seen the full Stevenote.
Steve explained the new name. Since Apple is moving away from the PowerPC platform, he wanted to drop Power. And, he wanted to include the word Mac in the product name. I'm guessing they were thinking since these products are Intel-based, Apple wants to emphasize that they are still Macs.
If we have MacBook Pro now. I'm thinking, we might have MacBook in April (education buying season) which may be a new finally redesigned iBook. And then I think we should all have a MacBook mini. Don't you?
The processor really is 4 to 5 times faster than before. The integer spec is 4.5x faster and the floating point processor spec is 5.2x faster. That's going to be great. Steve said about the MacBook: “This is Heaven.” He's an enthusiast for sure, but heaven is a new one.
That massive speed boost is going to come in really handy these next few months while some applications like Microsoft Word will need to run under Rosetta (in a sort of emulation) pending being reprogrammed to run on Intel natively.
With 4 to 5 times the speed, I'm guessing that few will complain about speed even if their most frequently used applications are running under Rosetta. The entirety of OS X is already Intel native, and that's an important component of total performance. iLife 06 is native. iWork is due to be native in March. Steve demonstrated both Photoshop and Word to everyone's satisfaction.
The screen is a lot brighter, as bright as the cinema display which is really bright. The screen is the delivery point for your computer, so it is key.
Has an iSight camera built-in. I'm loving that. I can't wait until all Mac users have an iSight and we can use video conferencing whenever the feeling moves us. I'm hoping for cross-platform next.
Comes with Front Row software, an IR sensor and a remote control. Now this is only a little deal if you are using the MacBook by itself. But what if you have it hooked up to a 30“ Cinema Display? That's home entertainment folks!
Finally, a solution to damaged Powerbook power adapters. I've burned through several of these. Magsafe, which removes easily even when yanked by an errant foot, solves that problem.
Why did the iMac and the Powerbook come first in the Intel replacement schedule? Steve didn't say, but I'm guessing that Apple couldn't afford a disruption to the flow of iMac sales. And, they couldn't afford to not update the slow-for-too-long Powerbook which really is the flagship Mac at this point in the computer industry. Not only was it time, but also, big sales of Powerbooks add healthy margins to Apple's bottom line.
By the way, I liked the looks of the new features in iPhoto and iMovie. Podcasting in Garage Band looks ultra clean. And I'm glad Apple has finally released a replacement for Claris Home Page in iWeb. Steve said the iLife upgrade was really big and so far I'm taking a wait and see attitude on it. The big news today is the Intel Mac. The new Intel iMac is shipping today and the MacBook ships in February. That's huge and they are way ahead of schedule.
Our Jedi king, Steve Jobs, and his hard-working warriors, have done it again. Once more applications go native, your Intel Mac gets faster and faster. I'll give you a hands on report later this week.
Technorati Tags: Intel, Intel Macs, MacBook, Macintosh, PowerBook