Read this NYT stroy. It is well written and balanced.
Apple Laptop Has Looks and Brains REMEMBER the famous five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance? If you're a fan of the Macintosh computer, meet the five stages of switching to Apple's new laptop: lust, anticipation, delight, dismay and waiting.Ordinarily, it's not really news when a computer company introduces a new laptop model. You don't see newspaper headlines blaring, "Gateway's New P32-XC5 Adds Faster Processor, Third U.S.B. Port." But the new Apple MacBook Pro ($2,000 and up) is a different story. Although it looks nearly identical to the company's existing 15-inch PowerBook, something radical is going on under the hood.Apple's high-end laptops are beautiful, thin and light, clad in scuff-hiding aluminum and crammed with features: Wi-Fi wireless networking, Bluetooth wireless, DVD burning, light-up keys for typing in the dark, stereo speakers, batteries with illuminated "fuel gauges" and much more. But the speed of Apple's laptops has only inched forward in recent years, no thanks to the suppliers of its processor chips ( I.B.M. and Freescale).Apple made the eyebrow-raising decision, therefore, to replace that chip family with chips from another company you may have heard of: Intel.Now, changing chip families in a computer isn't as simple as changing a CD in your stereo. The entire operating system and every single software program must be rewritten — recompiled, the geeks would say — to speak the new chip's language. That process can take weeks or months.But Apple deemed the big transition to be worth the effort. In return, it gets the state of the art in laptop horsepower: Intel's new Core Duo chip, which bears two electronic brains instead of one. By the end of this year, every Macintosh model will receive an Intel brain transplant. (The same Core Duo chip, running at the same speeds, is also showing up in new Windows laptops. And no, the Intel chip does not make a Mac vulnerable to Windows viruses. It does, however, mean that in theory, with the help of a conversion kit that someone will surely write, a Mac could run Windows.)Last month, Apple put an Intel chip into the iMac; on Tuesday, it put one into the Mac Mini. And this week, the first Mac laptop containing the Intel processor is reaching customers — a 15-inch PowerBook that's been inexplicably renamed the MacBook Pro. (Why do Mac fans despise the new name so much? Partly because all those harsh consonants — K, K, P — make the name uglier and harder to say.)APPLE calls the MacBook "the finest laptop in the world." In truth, a more accurate description would be "the finest laptop in the world, with a small serving of disappointment on the side."You can see why Apple might be fond of its latest machine. The one-inch-thick MacBook is only 0.1 inch thinner than the PowerBook, but somehow feels worlds sleeker and more futuristic. Fit, finish and quality are spectacular. The wireless antenna has been moved, so Wi-Fi reception is much improved. The guts, from the bus (circuitry) to the graphics card, have been substantially accelerated. Battery life is pretty much the same as on the PowerBooks: 3 to 3.5 hours. The MacBook trumps its predecessor in five substantial areas. First, the gorgeous, 1,440-by-900-pixel screen is much whiter and brighter. It's very, very bright. At half brightness, it matches the brightest setting of other laptops; at full brightness, it could illuminate a runway. It's really bright.Second, a tiny video camera is tucked inconspicuously above the screen. It's ideal for taking Web pictures (640 by 480 pixels), capturing video or creating video blogs to post online. (The laptop's bounteous software collection includes programs for making blogs, Web sites, videos and podcasts.)Better yet, the camera makes the MacBook a perfect companion to the iChat program, which lets you hold smooth, full-screen video conferences with up to three other people over the Internet — free. Other Mac laptops can join such virtual meetings (using an external camera), but the MacBook is the first laptop with the horsepower to start one. (One high-speed Mac must be the "host" of an iChat conference; slower machines connect afterward.)The third enhancement is a slim finger-length remote control. You can use it to operate the MacBook from across the room, summoning slide shows of your photos, concerts of your music collection, playbacks of your movies or playback of a DVD you've inserted.In addition, there's a new power cord. Now, most people probably wouldn't consider a laptop's power cord worth writing home about, let alone taking up precious newspaper space. But this one's a breakthrough. It attaches to the laptop magnetically. If someone trips on the cord — which, in the real world of laptops, is practically an inevitability — your $2,000 computer doesn't crash to the floor. Instead, the cord politely detaches and drops, leaving the laptop sitting exactly where it was, grinning away on battery power. This new connector still lights up helpfully to indicate that it's plugged into a working outlet. On the other hand, the white plastic power brick — in the middle of the cord — is much bigger and bulkier than before. And, of course, the new connector means that you can no longer interchange the cord with that of any other Mac laptop, as Apple fans have been able to do for years. The biggest change of all, though, is in the MacBook's speed. It's nothing like the 4X or 5X speedup measured by Apple's benchmarks. Even so, this machine flies. It starts up fast, programs open fast, iTunes imports CD's fast, iMovie processes high-definition video fast and Web pages blink onto the screen, fully formed. This laptop makes you aware of how many little pauses you've been tolerating on your old computer. Note, though, that all of that speed is available only when you're using programs that have been revised to work with the Intel chip — so-called Universal programs. In that category, you'll find Mac OS X itself; all of the programs that come with the MacBook (iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, Web browser, e-mail program, calendar and address book, and so on); over 900 programs from other companies (they're listed at http://www.apple.com/universal/applications); and, later this month, Apple's professional programs (Final Cut, Aperture and so on).Unfortunately, most of the big-name programs, like Microsoft Office and Adobe everything, won't be released in Universal format for quite some time. These older programs still run acceptably on the MacBook, thanks to the magic of Apple's smooth, invisible translation software. But they run slowly, with pauses here and there. Even Photoshop runs all right, although photo editors won't want MacBooks as their primary Photoshop machines.Now, Apple always giveth and taketh away. This time around, though, Apple hath taken away quite a few PowerBook features. The S-video connector, for high-quality TV playback of movies, is gone — a weird omission, considering the multimedia emphasis implied by the new remote control. (You can restore the S-video jack with a $20 accessory cable.) The FireWire 800 connector, for high-speed hard drives, is also missing. The DVD burner is only half as fast as the previous model (4X instead of 8X) and can no longer burn dual-layer DVD discs. Current PC expansion cards (including high-speed cellular Internet cards) don't work or fit in the new narrow-format ExpressCard slot. Most mystifying of all, Apple has removed the laptop's dial-up modem, so you can no longer send or receive faxes. You can't go online in hotels that don't offer high-speed connections (or that charge way too much for them), either. Apple points out that you can buy its tiny external modem for $50, but that's another piece to pack, track and lose.It's also worth noting that a few programs, here and there, will require updates to iron out problems on the Intel Macs. They include the Now Up-to-Date calendar (the menu-bar list of today's appointments doesn't appear), Microsoft Virtual PC (doesn't run at all) and, at least on my test system, Microsoft Word (jitters like mad when you use the MacBook's "drag on the trackpad with two fingers to scroll" trick). And programs designed for pre-Mac OS X machines, now called Classic programs, don't run on any Intel Macs and never will. Over all, the MacBook Pro is a beautifully engineered machine. If it's not the world's finest, it's darned close. (Apple hints that its 12-inch and 17-inch siblings are on the way.) But in so many ways, it's a forward-thinking laptop. It won't achieve true greatness until the important programs have been rewritten for the Core Duo chip's blazing speed, expansion cards for the new slot are available, and wireless Internet is offered by every hotel, bed-and-breakfast and friend's house. Until then, call it the MacBook Po — for Potential.E-mail: Pogue@nytimes.com
Edited by DeVizardof OZ
Apple Laptop Has Looks and Brains REMEMBER the famous five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance? If you're a fan of the Macintosh computer, meet the five stages of switching to Apple's new laptop: lust, anticipation, delight, dismay and waiting.Ordinarily, it's not really news when a computer company introduces a new laptop model. You don't see newspaper headlines blaring, "Gateway's New P32-XC5 Adds Faster Processor, Third U.S.B. Port." But the new Apple MacBook Pro ($2,000 and up) is a different story. Although it looks nearly identical to the company's existing 15-inch PowerBook, something radical is going on under the hood.Apple's high-end laptops are beautiful, thin and light, clad in scuff-hiding aluminum and crammed with features: Wi-Fi wireless networking, Bluetooth wireless, DVD burning, light-up keys for typing in the dark, stereo speakers, batteries with illuminated "fuel gauges" and much more. But the speed of Apple's laptops has only inched forward in recent years, no thanks to the suppliers of its processor chips ( I.B.M. and Freescale).Apple made the eyebrow-raising decision, therefore, to replace that chip family with chips from another company you may have heard of: Intel.Now, changing chip families in a computer isn't as simple as changing a CD in your stereo. The entire operating system and every single software program must be rewritten — recompiled, the geeks would say — to speak the new chip's language. That process can take weeks or months.But Apple deemed the big transition to be worth the effort. In return, it gets the state of the art in laptop horsepower: Intel's new Core Duo chip, which bears two electronic brains instead of one. By the end of this year, every Macintosh model will receive an Intel brain transplant. (The same Core Duo chip, running at the same speeds, is also showing up in new Windows laptops. And no, the Intel chip does not make a Mac vulnerable to Windows viruses. It does, however, mean that in theory, with the help of a conversion kit that someone will surely write, a Mac could run Windows.)Last month, Apple put an Intel chip into the iMac; on Tuesday, it put one into the Mac Mini. And this week, the first Mac laptop containing the Intel processor is reaching customers — a 15-inch PowerBook that's been inexplicably renamed the MacBook Pro. (Why do Mac fans despise the new name so much? Partly because all those harsh consonants — K, K, P — make the name uglier and harder to say.)APPLE calls the MacBook "the finest laptop in the world." In truth, a more accurate description would be "the finest laptop in the world, with a small serving of disappointment on the side."You can see why Apple might be fond of its latest machine. The one-inch-thick MacBook is only 0.1 inch thinner than the PowerBook, but somehow feels worlds sleeker and more futuristic. Fit, finish and quality are spectacular. The wireless antenna has been moved, so Wi-Fi reception is much improved. The guts, from the bus (circuitry) to the graphics card, have been substantially accelerated. Battery life is pretty much the same as on the PowerBooks: 3 to 3.5 hours. The MacBook trumps its predecessor in five substantial areas. First, the gorgeous, 1,440-by-900-pixel screen is much whiter and brighter. It's very, very bright. At half brightness, it matches the brightest setting of other laptops; at full brightness, it could illuminate a runway. It's really bright.Second, a tiny video camera is tucked inconspicuously above the screen. It's ideal for taking Web pictures (640 by 480 pixels), capturing video or creating video blogs to post online. (The laptop's bounteous software collection includes programs for making blogs, Web sites, videos and podcasts.)Better yet, the camera makes the MacBook a perfect companion to the iChat program, which lets you hold smooth, full-screen video conferences with up to three other people over the Internet — free. Other Mac laptops can join such virtual meetings (using an external camera), but the MacBook is the first laptop with the horsepower to start one. (One high-speed Mac must be the "host" of an iChat conference; slower machines connect afterward.)The third enhancement is a slim finger-length remote control. You can use it to operate the MacBook from across the room, summoning slide shows of your photos, concerts of your music collection, playbacks of your movies or playback of a DVD you've inserted.In addition, there's a new power cord. Now, most people probably wouldn't consider a laptop's power cord worth writing home about, let alone taking up precious newspaper space. But this one's a breakthrough. It attaches to the laptop magnetically. If someone trips on the cord — which, in the real world of laptops, is practically an inevitability — your $2,000 computer doesn't crash to the floor. Instead, the cord politely detaches and drops, leaving the laptop sitting exactly where it was, grinning away on battery power. This new connector still lights up helpfully to indicate that it's plugged into a working outlet. On the other hand, the white plastic power brick — in the middle of the cord — is much bigger and bulkier than before. And, of course, the new connector means that you can no longer interchange the cord with that of any other Mac laptop, as Apple fans have been able to do for years. The biggest change of all, though, is in the MacBook's speed. It's nothing like the 4X or 5X speedup measured by Apple's benchmarks. Even so, this machine flies. It starts up fast, programs open fast, iTunes imports CD's fast, iMovie processes high-definition video fast and Web pages blink onto the screen, fully formed. This laptop makes you aware of how many little pauses you've been tolerating on your old computer. Note, though, that all of that speed is available only when you're using programs that have been revised to work with the Intel chip — so-called Universal programs. In that category, you'll find Mac OS X itself; all of the programs that come with the MacBook (iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, Web browser, e-mail program, calendar and address book, and so on); over 900 programs from other companies (they're listed at http://www.apple.com/universal/applications); and, later this month, Apple's professional programs (Final Cut, Aperture and so on).Unfortunately, most of the big-name programs, like Microsoft Office and Adobe everything, won't be released in Universal format for quite some time. These older programs still run acceptably on the MacBook, thanks to the magic of Apple's smooth, invisible translation software. But they run slowly, with pauses here and there. Even Photoshop runs all right, although photo editors won't want MacBooks as their primary Photoshop machines.Now, Apple always giveth and taketh away. This time around, though, Apple hath taken away quite a few PowerBook features. The S-video connector, for high-quality TV playback of movies, is gone — a weird omission, considering the multimedia emphasis implied by the new remote control. (You can restore the S-video jack with a $20 accessory cable.) The FireWire 800 connector, for high-speed hard drives, is also missing. The DVD burner is only half as fast as the previous model (4X instead of 8X) and can no longer burn dual-layer DVD discs. Current PC expansion cards (including high-speed cellular Internet cards) don't work or fit in the new narrow-format ExpressCard slot. Most mystifying of all, Apple has removed the laptop's dial-up modem, so you can no longer send or receive faxes. You can't go online in hotels that don't offer high-speed connections (or that charge way too much for them), either. Apple points out that you can buy its tiny external modem for $50, but that's another piece to pack, track and lose.It's also worth noting that a few programs, here and there, will require updates to iron out problems on the Intel Macs. They include the Now Up-to-Date calendar (the menu-bar list of today's appointments doesn't appear), Microsoft Virtual PC (doesn't run at all) and, at least on my test system, Microsoft Word (jitters like mad when you use the MacBook's "drag on the trackpad with two fingers to scroll" trick). And programs designed for pre-Mac OS X machines, now called Classic programs, don't run on any Intel Macs and never will. Over all, the MacBook Pro is a beautifully engineered machine. If it's not the world's finest, it's darned close. (Apple hints that its 12-inch and 17-inch siblings are on the way.) But in so many ways, it's a forward-thinking laptop. It won't achieve true greatness until the important programs have been rewritten for the Core Duo chip's blazing speed, expansion cards for the new slot are available, and wireless Internet is offered by every hotel, bed-and-breakfast and friend's house. Until then, call it the MacBook Po — for Potential.E-mail: Pogue@nytimes.com
Edited by DeVizardof OZ
