Apple unveils 17in MacBook, iLife tweaks, Tony Bennett In one of the least eventful keynote speeches in recent memory, Apple's SVP Phil Schiller, filling in for the ailing Steve Jobs, announced upgrades to iLife and iWork, an upgraded 17-inch MacBook, and iTunes Store pricing-structure changes and DRM-removal plans. Phil Schiller at Macworld Expo 2009 A performer is only as good …
how can the event be called a letdown when the only thing that lets it down is that you believed all of the rumours that were circling over the past month
this happens EVERY year, you'd think people would have learnt by now that rumours, no matter even if they are reported by journalists, are just rumours and are not fact.
it's not really a letdown, you are just embarissed and gutted that some kid made something up and suckered you into believing it was true
also - i'd have thought the updates to iPhoto and iMovie would constitute more than just 'tweaks'
iMovie looked seriously powerful now
Wow, the iMovie update impressed you? You've got some low standards jai.
Until I can edit AVCHD natively without the lengthy and hard disk eating conversion process to the Apple Intermediate Codec I will rue what Windows users have been able to do easily over the past year.
iMovie 09? More like iMovie 06.5.
I was at least hoping for a few killer shiny technological lust objects with ludicrously svelte industrial design.. Ah well. Now is probably not the time to be risking new products, if you're at the "built like a very sleek tank" end of the market- people are busy belt-tightening anyway, so it's probably just as well.
Yes, ok, so all these Dells look a little dull and plastic, and the Suns are just ugly- send me a wheelbarrow of cash for some lovely Apple toys pl0x.
WTF Apple? Do you know how many times I've had to pop the battery out of a PowerBook, or MacBook (of both varieties) after they've hard locked? More than a few, I can tell you that. So now I have to disconnect the mains and wait 8 God Damned hours? F@ck you and your non-removable batteries!
And while you're at it, only put a 90day warranty on that battery so when the thing explodes in 2 years I'm out the full $3000.
Good lord I'm entirely too pissed off for my own good right now...
as "...17-inch MacBook, iLife, tweaks Tony Bennett." Now that would have been an interesting keynote.
I'm pretty happy. It's as though they worked through my iLife wishlist and implemented every feature, even better than I'd imagined it... and then some. Best upgrade yet.
I guess it depends what you want, huh?
...needs more work. I tried out Pages a while back, having never really used any iWork app before, and found it remarkably pleasant to use (much more so than, say, Word 2008 - though admittedly with less functionality, although that isn't a big issue for me most/all of the time). However, it still doesn't have any auto-save or auto-recover functionality...what? What is this, 1995? Come on, Apple, get the basic stuff down! I can't possibly consider paying for a word processor which, if it crashes (and it did), doesn't bring back the file I was working on in a pretty up-to-date state. It's just not feasible.
"To be fair, iLife '09, iWork '09, and the new 17-inch MacBook Pro are solid - if not earth-shattering - upgrades"
Sorry, have you got ahold of some brand-spanking-new non-publically released versions of those softwares that were just shown (vis a vis video) at the expo? No? Then kindly retire to the peanut gallery and wait until they come out before exploding in an iGasm and showering us with iSplooge.
Christ. What IS it with Mac fans and taking everything as gospel truth even though it isn't always true?
I've seen Apple arguments suggesting that an easily "replacable" battery is unnecessary because the one built in should last 5 years, etc.
"Replacable" isn't the issue. When I am on a long trip (e.g. New York - Tokyo) what I need is a "swappable" battery. Isn't this incredibly obvious? When you can't recharge your current battery, a pre-charged spare is essential.
I use a Sharp MP-30 (which isn't made anymore, because it didn't look cool enough I suppose) with batteries that click out and click in in 10 seconds. Apple's legendary industrial design couldn't facilitate this?
So glad I am no longer a victim of Steve Jobs's design fascism, and not subsidizing his health care anymore.
As for iMovie, first they dumbed it down, and now they market a new version which corrects their error.
What a farce.
I love Apple, I think their hardware and software are top-notch. I've had ibooks, powerbooks, macbooks, iphones, I have a mac mini under my tv and have hacked osx onto my main pc, which works fantastically.
Having a non-replaceable battery on a laptop is a bad, bad move. With the build quality of their top-end hardware it could last 10 years! But if you can't replace the battery this laptop will soon become as portable as the length of the extension lead you have it plugged into! I am gutted about this cock up.
If Apple offer to replace the battery for the cost of a current new 17" battery (~£100) then fair enough, but if they charge for installing it I can see a lot of other mac fans being outraged by this as well!
You mean sticking a pin into a Google Map by reading some EXIF data. Kinda like just about every other photo manager and sharing website has been able to do for years now. Nah, I'm sure Apple has somehow found a way to make it "so unbelievably cool" that the fanboys will wet their pants over it
The MacBook battery thing should be the final nail in the coffin for the remaining few people who still think Apple give a shit about their customers as opposed to trying to lock them in and screw them for every penny they have at every carefully manufactured opportunity.
The $1200 price tag is probably because 8GB of DDR2/3 SODIM in two 4GB sticks are not mainstream (yet?).
I'm pretty sure that you would have to tke out the existing RAM and install completely new ones to get the density needed.
even so, you may soon be able to get this amount of RAM cheaper from places like Crucial. With the changes they are making to the Macbook Pro, they might make installing the new ram far more difficult that it is with existing devices.
Mines the one with a 2007 17in MBP in the backpack (far too big to put in the pocket....)
While I believe that with the advent of high speed broadband (& larger capacity USB drives) other removeable media (in particular CD sized media) should die, if the 17" MacBook Pro is built to last a long time, it is puzzling that Apple have not done what they did so well with what was probably their best ever laptop, the black plastic Lombard / Wallstreet series. They featured twin removeable bays where you could choose between two batteries, or one battery and your choice of media drive, such as CD, DVD etc. These machines were stylish, had great keyboards, LED battery level indicators (like the current series) and in a way, a more natural shape. Thick and heavy by today's standards, but just more thoughtful in design. During tough times, I do not understand why Apple are turning out laptops whose Windows based equivalents from HP, Dell, Tosh, Asus and others sometimes do more for a lot less money - most including Blue Ray drives too, whose large capacity will appeal to the very customers Apple target with the 17" - content producers who need large capacity media to hand to their clients.
And where was the new Mac Mini? Next week maybe.
Go and buy another product then that does support it (cheapest is Adobe Premier Elements 7 I think). Dick.
@ Everyone complaining...
Boys, nobody is forcing you to buy Apple products. It's not some hairbrain conspiracy to take over the world. They are a business, just like Sun, Microsoft and IBM. Of course they want your "hard" earned cash, so does everyone else! It isn't as if any of you Winblows/Linsux fanboys were planning on buying any of it anyway!!! Trolls...
"The reasons not to have a removable battery are simply laughable, not to mention that Apple has a long history of defective batteries... "
Errm.. defective batteries are not the preserve of Apple alone, plus, these are usually outsourced items from the likes of Sony.
250,000 battery recall by Fujitsu
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/06/15/fujitsu_recall_batteries/
4.1 million battery recall by Dell
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/08/14/dell_laptop_recall/
28,000 battery recall by Sharp
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/16/sharp_battery_recall/
Acer to recall 27,000 batteries
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/04/26/acer_recalls_27k_batteries/
Sony to pay out $432m to recall nearly 10 million batteries
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/26/sony_q2_fy2007_earnings/
I guess you can see where this is going...
Flame on?
Taking the announcement about the new Macbook Pro having an integrated battery with the specific wording concerning the RAM ("upgradeable to 8GB by Apple for $1,200"), I wonder whether the new design provide easy access to the RAM? That wording, combined with the existing design whereby the RAM can be physically accessed in a MacBook/MacBook Pro by removing the battery, makes me wonder...
The Mac Mini is now an embarassment and badly needs an upgrade. I'm not keen on integrated shite of any flavour. The Mac Pro is too expensive for most people even if, for what it is, it's not over priced. Perhaps in another year, or hello hackintosh!
Lacking a removable battery is simply pathetic. It's easily possible to make a battery unusable in under two years, never mind 5..
I was really considering a Mac Mini at one point but ended up buying a new laptop (to replace my exisiting one) and then just totally forgot about getting a new desktop and threw the old one out.
Shame they never bothered to upgrade, if you want something of a similar size i'd go with the Dell Studio Hybrid. They aren't that powerful (just as the Mac Mini isn't) but you can still spec them a lot higher.
I agree with you that the Mac Mini is a second-rate machine: I always thought it was very much the red-headed step-child of the Mac family. Personally I don't think we'll see any more updates to it and it will be allowed to wither on the vine. Caveat emptor.
As to the non-removable battery I think you're wrong to describe it as "pathetic". It might not meet your, possibly theoretical, need to swap batteries but Apple isn't in business to provide solutions tailored solely to your requirements. It's a trade-off. On both the Air and the 17" it's a trade-off between size plus battery capacity plus design versus being able to remove the battery.
I think it's a no-brainer. I'd take size+capacity+design over the ability (in fact I have, I own an Air), which I have never needed, to swap the battery. I have a 1st gen Macbook Pro whose battery is still working, despite the fact that I abuse it horribly (I don't do the ideal regular charge-discharge cycle).
In any case, Apple will replace the battery in the 17", for free under AppleCare if it fails prematurely, or for a reasonable fee ($200 I think) otherwise. Failing that, you could always pull out your screw-drivers yourself.
As to the Mac Pro. From what you say I don't think "expensive" is the right word: costing a lot is not the same thing. A base model Ford Focus costs more than a Mac Pro but I don't think many people would describe it as "expensive". Have you considered an iMac? The current iMacs are pretty good machines and would appear to meet your needs.
As to your "threat" to get a Hackintosh. Why? Insteading of all the hassle of maintaining one and the dubious morality of installing OSX on it (the retail boxes are upgrades to the copy that comes with a Mac, not licensed full installs) why not buy a standard PC and install GNU/Linux? At least that would be both legitimate and widely supported by everyone from lone enthusiasts to commercial companies. In any case if you're scared of getting the screwdrivers out to replace a battery in the 17" MBP then maintaining a Hackintosh probably isn't for you.
Paris: because she does have brains.
True it's not just apple... but that just adds weight to the argument. You never know when a batch of batteries is gonna be flagged up faulty, but at least with the other companies (and other mac laptops of course - excluding the air!), you only have to return the battery, not the entire unit. And I imagine it takes a fair while longer to open a mac and replace the battery than it does to just check the serial number on a returned battery and authorise a replacement.
Personally I hope they don't "get off their collective arses" the state (national and European) nannies us far too much as it is.
If I want to buy a machine with a built in battery, because I prefer the trade-off (I own an Air so I do) then I should be able to. If a fool spends that sort of money buying a machine like that without checking it meets their needs that's their fault and problem. It's not as if Apple is secretly changing it's laptops to use non-replacable batterys and selling them to an unsuspecting public.
Paris: because I wouldn't object to being nannied by her.
Ok, thanks for the explanation, but still 1200 dollars for the upgrade seems extremely pricey, a 17" laptop should have space for an extra RAM slot or two. I guess this is Apple looking forward.
My better half swears by and adores her ~2007 15 inch MBP, I don't see a compelling reason to upgrade her in the foreseeable future.
/Ballmer, coz he's a twat.
... so I guess this is yet another example of Apple limiting their target audience. As well as the usual stuff, i.e. not offering an upgradeable consumer desktop, etc, they're now limiting 17" models to people who don't need a swappable battery (or, at least, don't need one even with double the battery life).
It'll be interesting to find out exactly how complicated the shape of the battery is once some of those weird internet people who buy new technology on launch day just to take it apart get their hands on it.
Beyond all that, I think I agree with the main part of the article: not really an inspiring product launch. I want a new Mac Mini - I don't care in the slightest about the integrated graphics but I am a bit concerned by the small hard disk, slow CPU, etc. I appreciate a new model will be small and slow in relative terms, but the current Mini is relatively small and slow in, at a guess, late-2006 terms.
To work around the internal battery limitation, I would expect 3rd party manufacturers to bring out a battery that plugs into the power input of the MacBookPro to work as it if was running off the mains. A kind of portable UPS, Un-interrupted Power Supply.
So problem solved, but not as elegant as just being able to swap the battery.
This kind of product has been available for mobile phones to charge them from.
Just a thought: to use a 17" laptop for >8 hours on a plane you probably need to be in a cabin that provides good seat spacing (e.g. business class) where you are also likely to find at-seat power! However, if you are in the cheap seats you most likely can't open a laptop bigger than 15". In the cheap seats you are less likely to have at-seat power and so might need a spare battery.
Its just possible that someone thought very hard about this.
Hands up who has had to buy a new battery for their laptop? Anyone? Now when you do this, would you rather go to the shop and buy a new one, or send it off to an authorized apple repairer?
I'm constantly depeleting and recharging my batteries and get quite good life out of them, but one of the other guys at work here leaves his plugged in constantly. Result? Battery lasted almost exactly 1 year in a 13.3' Macbook. This is a very short-sighted decision.
Yayy PISMO, probably the best Apple laptop ever, IMHO, loved the design, even if the batteries would fall out when the machine got old, my best was just over 10 hours use on two batteries.
for the fixed/removable battery argument may I suggest: -
http://www.quickertek.com/products/macbook_air_charger.php
coming soon to a MacBook near you. Expensive yes, but still a good solution as no one walks around whilst using a 17" laptop
Mines the one with the spare remote battery, mini displayport adapter, soft cleaning cloth, empty wallet etc, etc.
"And I imagine it takes a fair while longer to open a mac and replace the battery than it does to just check the serial number on a returned battery and authorise a replacement."
And wait days for said replacement to arrive with a gaping hole in your machine. Probably longer than going to the Apple store and having the battery replaced on the day.
Also, if there were a recall of batteries, they KNOW what batch goes into what number series, making recall simpler, rather than the job lot batteries that go into your Dull, Sony, Sumsang or whatever brand of Wintel laptop you own.
Yep i found myself all excited expecting some great things........so what do we have 1 hardware release with a battery you cannot swap out if it goes belly up. The further catch is that you will have to pay those at apple to have the battery removed and replaced (££) or if your in the US($$).
When they think of these ideas they obviously think of ways of making more money out of the punters. Have Apple fallen into the same hole as Microsoft where they say you will have this and you will like it or lump it....Or are they so confident that they have so much money in the bank that they can treat anyone as dirt.
I for one had a nasty taste in my mouth when i saw what they had presented.... we better wait and see what Willy Wonker (Apple) will produce next.
It's already a 17" machine - i.e. bloody huge. Seriously, is a removable battery going to make that much difference? I expect their thinking is that no-one is actually going to travel with it (which I can understand : I've got a laptop with a 12" screen because it's portable), but it's nice to have the option.
Also, if you're regularly using a laptop on mains it's a good idea to be able to remove the battery, as I believe leaving the battery in usually initiates a continual slight discharge/charge cycle..
$200 is hideously expensive for a replacement battery especially if you believe the comments above about batteries only being covered for 90 days (IBM warranty for a year. I'm sure others will too).
I would also be prepared to bet that replacing the battery yourself invalidates the laptop warranty - it's not a matter of being scared to wield a screwdriver, it's a matter of maintaining your investment in a piece of kit (laptops) which tends to be less reliable and more expensive to fix than other kit (desktops). The target market can undoubtedly afford it but it still feels like a rip off of a captive market.
A Mac Pro is a high price regardless of the value for money it offers (which considering the workstation chipset, FBDIMMs, water cooling and 5 OS X licenses is not unreasonable). I'm not denying its value, but the expense will deter people. Without wishing to be offensive 'expensive' is entirely appropriate if you use the dictionary definition.
I'm not interested in integrated products from any supplier. Not Apple, Dell, HP, IBM etc. I already have excellent display devices and input devices. I don't want another, especially when most of them contain laptop grade components. I also don't particularly care about appearance - it's a box, and it sits under the desk.
I already run several Unixes; they're not OS X - which is practically the only reason to buy a mac.
I must admit I was a bit suspicious at first about the lack of a replaceable battery but on further reflection it really doesn't seem like so much of an issue after all:
- It's not as if the battery is soldered in, it's only not easily user-swappable. If the battery fails (and remember, the new battery has a much longer lifespan in terms of recharge cycles than normal batteries) it will be only be a 5 minute job to take the laptop to an Apple Store or get out screwdrivers and replace it yourself.
- Even though I do have a spare battery for my 15" MBP, in practice I never actually take it with me and swap it out. Years and years ago I used to carry spare batteries for my mobile phone but I've long since stopped bothering to do so. Laptops are going the same way.
- Inevitably, having a swappable battery involves design compromises for bother the laptop and the battery. If having a fixed battery reduces costs, makes the computer lighter, more robust and more reliable, and increases battery life then 99% of users are better off as a result.
- I'm not sure about the poster who claims he needs to remove the battery to reset his computer. I've never had a situation where pressing and holding the power button failed to shut down a frozen machine. Traditionally you had to remove the battery and hold the power button to reset the power management unit but presumably the new 17" MBP has a different mechanism to do the same thing.
- An 8 hour battery life is pretty impressive and should be more than adequate for most people. Even when I've taken my laptop (with my spare battery!) on long flights I've never actually bothered to use it for more than a couple of hours as I usually watch at least one film and try to get some rest as well.
- As others have pointed out, for those who really really need an extra battery, there will be 3rd party external charging solutions just like there are for things like mobile phones and iPods.
So, in the event of a battery recall notification, consumer choices would be:
(A) Drive to Apple store. Wait in line. Be told to come back later because they are out of replacement batteries.
(B) Ship unit back. Wait longer. Be told to pay extra for the unit's return in order to cover the royalties on the unlicensed audio files that were found on the hard drive.
(C) Open the unit themselves and void the warranty.
I wish it wasn't, but that really is the kind of customer service you see everyday, isn't it?
I used to have one of those for my PB 170 - called a 'powerplate' or some such, at least it let me work for an entire Manchester - London train trip, quite something in those days.
I read that the new Macbook will have 'intelligent' batteries controlled by dedicated chips - something that caused endless hassles in the days of the Blackbird PB 540.
Whichever way they try to justify it, a non-replaceable battery is a stupid decision that both Apple and its customers will come to regret.
Theres probably some reason why the battery is not removable but Im sure there will be a way around it, or theres a good reason for it & despite some major recalls by Sony & others battery technology has improved significantly.
Chances are, if you can afford to buy a 17" Macbook Pro you can also afford to take it to an Apple store & say "replace the battery" when the time comes that it dosnt hold charge.
"Errm.. defective batteries are not the preserve of Apple alone, plus, these are usually outsourced items from the likes of Sony".
Defective as in "Oh, the damn thing just died after 93 days and doesn't charge anymore", not linke in "it may explode, let's replace them just to be sure".
Not to mention that these batteries seems to be custom made and untested, we don't know if they are going to deform inside the MBP.
Apple says that being non-removable they have more room for it, like if you need half of the chassis for a retention mechanism...
Silly...
With regard to the RAM chat above, it makes sense not to let Joe Average swap the RAM himself as most of you reading this will remember that to swap RAM one should remove the battery and press the power button to ensure the kit is fully discharged.
A few of you may also remember the fleeting panic when one forgot to do this, found a stick of the stuff was a bit stuck and one's fingers were too fat or nails too short to get it out so grabbed a pair of tweezers and then filled one's pants when the sparks began...
Non-removable battery means the RAM should definitely should be non-removable! (easily)
Is it just me, or does it not seem that if making the battery removable would take up precious chassis space, it would make more sense to have non-removable batteries on the MB and MBP15, than on the MBP17 where there is far more chassis space available?
If they can fit the same spec of the MBP17 (i.e. Core2Duo, dual graphics cards, HDD/SSD, optical drive and RAM) into a 15 inch chassis, would that not leave them with loads of space to spare, to fit in an even bigger battery AND a release mechanism for it? The only component that might take up more space is the inverter for the larger LCD.... oh, and that generous extra 1 USB port.
I don't care about either argument.
If I'm paying £2k+ for a laptop, I want the bloody CHOICE.
Not only are Apple expos getting boring, but the products just defy logic.
I don't know about Steve's physical health, but all indications are he definitely needs a head doctor.
Paris, cause even she has use for removable batteries occasionally.
I just finished watching the key note. I commend Phil for doing as good a job as could be expected, after all he doesn't have the gift for gab that Steve has. Over all I was pleased with the tweaks to the iLife and iWorks apps and the new bundle with OS X is good deal. While there were no "wow" moments as there have been in the past it was at least a pleasant and respectable close to MacWorld.
The none swappable battery thing I admit confuses me, I hear their reasoning but at the end of the day swappable batteries in a laptop computer should be a no brainer. After all for a great many people carrying a fully charged spare is standard operating procedure as they often will be some time/distance between a suitable power outlet to charge up. Now if they are going to deliver the battery life promised it might not be as huge an issue, but as everyone who has used a portable computer regardless of the manufacturer can attest to. The stated battery life is rarely if ever equal to what is actually delivered. I foresee a roll back on Apples part fairly soon on this issue as a matter of fact I'd be surprised if their engineers weren't already working on a different design to accommodate what is going to be peoples biggest complaint regarding the new MacBooks.
I did like the tweaks to the various apps though and the new version of iMovie looks great. It wont fit everyone's video editing needs to be sure. But it's now what 90%+ of the home video editing market will want/need. Over all nothing that stands out but as I said a nice low key end to an era. Hopefully Apple will take the money saved not doing MacWorld and pony up that extra cash to their engineers to develop a proper netbook or some good upgrades to the mini.
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