My feelings about the Intel Macs aren't what they used to be. Probably like a lot of people in the know, I'm disappointed that the claims of 2-5x faster speeds were far from true when applied to real world performance.
Technically, Apple didn't lie. Those specific benchmarks were as claimed. But, when other tests are run on the typical things we do with Macs, performance is only a little better than before in most cases and a lot worse if you aren't running universal applications. That doesn't work for me. Here's why I'm disappointed:
MacBook Pro. Better performance was needed most here and is best of the lot when compared to the prior model. If you have a gigaherz or lower Powerbook, you'll like this new machine's performance. But, I don't think you will if you have a 1.5 gigahertz PowerBook now like I do and you need to run non-Universal applications on a regular basis. Universal apps will run faster but you certainly won't be blown away. You'll get a built-in iSight which I would like.
You'll get a really bright screen which will be nice when you are plugged in. And you will usually be plugged in because battery life isn't better on these new MacBooks. The screen brightness, at close to 70% brighter, seems to use up all the extra juice you save with the power-saving Intel chip. It's sexier, but that's a high price to pay for brightness.
Apple finally fixed the power cord problems that have plagued all Mac iBooks and PowerBooks for years. I've run through 5 adapters per machine easy. And let's not forget that the name is still lame.
iMac. Same as the G5 iMac except a notch faster on Universal apps and only 1/2-speed if you aren't. The one big improvement is that you can add up to a 23" monitor as a 2nd monitor. That does rock. However, I think you could do that before if you were willing to apply a hack to the graphics card firmware.
Mac mini. These are extremely compact, close-to-full-featured machines now with more USB ports, gigabit ethernet, wi-fi, bluetooth and infrared remote. The $100 extra tacked on is well worth it. But raising the price $100 is a drag. There's no bare bones machine anymore. At the low end, that $100 increase is a 20% increase.
I love the small size. But, the way this is positioned, you are very tempted to just get an iMac. The graphics on the motherboard are a step down. The problem here is that the Intel chips cost Apple a lot more than PowerPC. So Apple had to cut corners to keep the price from increasing even more than $100.
Insanely Great They are Not. OK. I'm complaining because Apple's claims are overblown. The new Intel Macs are good but not great. And certainly not insanely great. You don't get the revolutionary leap in performance Apple is hyping. I'm a power user and that's what I wanted and waited for.
No PC Compatibility - yet. If you could run PC apps at native speeds on one of these Intel Macs, I would think the whole switch to Intel was worth it. Think about it. No more being marginalized. You would have access to all the web sites and applications that you've been locked out of all these years. PC users could switch with impunity. These would truly be the uber Macs. It would be risky because a lot of software companies would probably just stop making Mac versions to save money knowing that Mac users could run their PC versions. That's the one hitch that probably makes my dream a fantasy.
We Haven't Seen the Good Stuff Yet. Apple has a really good track record with me, so I'm guessing that just as soon as I complain, I'll be amazed by something new. That something that I want to see is the rumored MacBook mini in the 3.5 lb range. Last summer Steve Jobs said Apple was going Intel to allow them to allow them to deliver high performance in small devices. It was all about powerful portable devices that would run cool. The G5 was not that CPU. The new Intel processors would allow apple to make smaller machines that could do amazing things. That's what I'm waiting for. Everything will be forgiven in a heartbeat if we get fast PC compatability and MacBook minis.
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