Maybe it is because I am a recent switcher that I notice details long-time Mac owners may take for granted, details that are so minute yet so useful and so quintessentially ‘human’. The level of attention painstakingly paid to the many small details found on every Apple product is a testament to Apple’s design philosophy, and is what sets the experience of using an Apple product a head above its competitors. Here are some thoughts I have about The Apple Experience.

Apple’s One-Two Punch

To take at face value alone Apple’s own statement, that it is first and foremost a software company, is to be merely skimming the surface. The Apple experience, be it with a Mac, iPod or iPhone, has no equal only because of the way Apple marries software seamlessly to the hardware that serves it. In an Apple product, software and hardware are inseparable: the success of that product weighs equally heavy on the shoulders of both its software and hardware components.

Take, for example, the iPod. The two main factors that make the iPod the success story it is are the Wheel (hardware) and the user interface (software). Would the iPod have reigned if it had sported a four-way D-pad instead, as was the norm for devices of that era, with the UI probably taking an entirely different direction as a result? Probably not. Would the Wheel have worked if it served an alternate user interface? Again, probably not. Another software factor that can be considered as equally important is iTunes and its ease of use.

On the Mac side of things, a good example is the keyboard backlight on the MacBook Pro. You may not have noticed this, but when you fire up your MacBook Pro in a dimly-lit environment, the keyboard lights up when OS X boots into the login screen.

Now, this is not some technical feat. But, clearly, in the process of designing the MacBook Pro, Apple designers thought far enough to consider the various scenarios a user might be in and included this nice little engineering touch. Maybe the idea began in the development of OS X. Maybe it was added to OS X at the request of the hardware folks. Regardless, the result is elegant, understated and unobstrusive, the way good design should be. This is what absolute control over both software and hardware gets you. The iPhone is another showcase of this combination.

When You’re Not In Control…

In stark contrast, the Windows-PC software/hardware relationship, where the hardware is often nothing more that a shell for the software, makes it difficult for Microsoft and its partners to achieve the seamlessness and elegance of Apple’s software/hardware implementations.

I suspect life must be difficult for the PC designer who has great ideas to enhance user experience but is hampered simply because the OS was never designed to support those ideas. Sony, Fujitsu and Lenovo are, in my opinion, the three manufacturers who consistently produce remarkable design, whose industrial design I admire as much as that of Apple’s. Yet, the only way they can enhance software/hardware user experience is through the custom applications that serve their respective hardware.

Sony, for example, has a complete suite of custom applications from media management to custom control panels to complement its hardware features. While these applications add value to what a user can get out of the computer, and succeed in adding to what the OS lacks, the fact that these applications have a custom user interface so different to that of Windows is where the irony lies. A few snatches of brilliance ultimately defeated by the very thing they strive to enhance…parts that do not add up to the final sum.

This trend is apparent not only in PCs; HTC, Sony Ericsson, HP, Nokia and Samsung are doing the same with smartphones powered by Windows Mobile, Palm OS or UIQ. But how much can front-end applications mask the shortcomings of an underlying host OS that already has its own user interface? The first manufacturer who has an answer to that question will change the landscape forever.

Some manufacturers — Google, HP, Gigabyte and ASUS, to name a few — are thinking exactly that: Google already has an alternative smartphone OS in place, HP is toying with the idea of developing its own Linux-based OS, and ASUS is developing its own front-end to Windows Mobile, close on the heels of HTC and Samsung, both of whom have touchscreen front-ends for their Windows Mobile smartphones.

The Apple Way

Short of reading the minds of the powers-that-be at the helms of Apple, and not mentioning how Mac clones in the ’90s were eating away at Apple’s own sales, I suspect the lack of unity mentioned above is, to some extent, why Steve Jobs will never license OS X to other manufacturers. Sure, it would increase marketshare and sales. But Apple products were never meant to be mere commodity items, at least not under Job’s stewardship.

The Apple experience is a combination of form, function and intangible user emotional responses earned from its masterful blend of software and hardware (though not necessarily in that order; Apple does get naughty once in a while). This positive user experience further leads to strong emotional branding. The risk of disparities arising from the separation of software and hardware, with user experience as the casualty, is a risk neither he nor any one else at Apple will take, now and in the foreseeable future.

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So solid, in fact, you might almost wonder why it makes sense not to take advantage of the especially good deals that can be had as soon as a new model comes out. Well, I thought I’d look at it from the other side — or, at least my side — and describe why I took a different path and ordered a brand new MacBook. 

Keep in mind that a lot of my reasoning stems from the improvement I believe the MacBook experienced with the new model. 

A key difference in logic between Charles’ article and mine is that his was limited mostly by price while mine is mostly by size (which, to some extent, also limits price). For me, a move up to the MBP wasn’t so easily done because I’ve had machines with that footprint (though heavier) and the fact is I just didn’t take them around much. It’s amazing how much quicker I’ll grab a MacBook-size machine and take it out than one the size of a MBP.

The problem with the plastic MacBook, however, is that as nice a machine as it is (I’m writing this on the family’s white 2.2GHz model), the integrated graphics are a hindrance when I try to use Aperture (my daughter uses iPhoto and it’s a bit less of an issue), and the screen, though quite nice, has a very limited viewing range. 

What I really wanted was a MBP in a MacBook size, and I think that’s just what Apple has provided. I’m not so sure that the LED screen and NVIDIA graphics alone wouldn’t have been enough to make me at least consider a MacBook. Those changes certainly make it a much better Aperture machine (no, I’m not a pro photographer).

All the other new MacBook features, the solid aluminum case, lighter weight, thinner, backlit keyboard, and extra battery life were delicious icing on the cake. The new MacBook even shares the same chipset, architecture, front-size bus speed, fast memory, etc. as the new MBP line. No FireWire? Yes, that’s one differentiator between them, but not an issue with me because I have an iMac for that, and my 2001 video camcorder is going to be replaced with an AVHCD model (with USB) when the time comes. My one external FW HDD also sports a USB interface. I won’t need FireWire at all within the next year or so anyway. 

Based on the above, it’s easy to see that even the excellent refurb deals on the older MacBook models simply don’t appeal to me. The machines are not quite adequate for my purposes. And, despite the great deals on the older MBP’s which make them a perfect deal for some, they bring little to the table over the new MacBook but a larger, heavier form factor. I’d have the larger screen, but otherwise nothing much to show for it. The larger screen is nice, but not enough. 

So I’m getting a loaded, high-end new MacBook. As configured it’s still $150 less than the new entry MBP, but has twice the memory and a bigger hard disk. Performance is identical unless I fire up the discrete graphics on the Pro, but then I lose battery life. And since the new MacBook graphics are already five times the speed of the older models, the extra boost of the MBP just isn’t worth the extra size I’d lug around. I’d rather have more memory and drive space with less weight, and save a few bucks in the process. 

Getting a refurb MBP would save some cash, but doesn’t address the size issue and brings no other appreciable benefits. If you must have FireWire, or don’t mind the larger machine, than a refurb MBP is a great value, as Charles described. But if you want a MBP “mini”, then you want a new MacBook model. The early positive reviews of the MacBook help to make the decision as well.  

I didn’t think I was in the market for a notebook. I have a 24” iMac and borrow/sync with my own account on the family’s MacBook on occasion. But I didn’t expect Apple to bring so much of what’s appealing in the pro line to the MacBook level. I’m sold. The machine was ordered, it’s scheduled to arrive later this week, and I’ll write about it when it gets here.

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In January, 2001, I was initially blown away by the just-introduced Titanium PowerBook G4, titling my initial commentary on Steve Jobs’ Macworld keynote’s “one more thing….” – “Simply The Coolest Piece Of Hardware Apple Has Ever Built.” Then, after some sober second thought I ordered a leftover PowerBook G3 Pismo.

Two years later, Mr. Jobs unveiled the 17″ aluminum PowerBook (whose form factor essentially lives on nearly six years later in the 17″ MacBook Pro) and the jewel-like 12″ PowerBook; then later that year at Macworld Expo Paris Jobs followed suit with the 15″ aluminum PowerBook. I looked on admiringly, commenting: “Apple’s fantastic G4  PowerBook laptops have essentially eliminated any rationale other than lower cost for owning a desktop computer for most of Mac-users,” then went out and ordered a G3 dual-USB iBook.

At Macworld Expo 2006′s, Steve rolled out the first-ever Intel-based Mac laptop – the 15″ MacBook Pro. That time my enthusiasm was less effusive. I grumbled a bit about the form factor being nearly identical to the outgoing 15″ PowerBook, but did observe that: “Fortunately, when you peer beneath the MacBook Pro’s familiar-looking aluminum skin, things get more exciting.” However, not exciting enough for me. A month later I bought the Apple Certified Refurbished 17″ PowerBook G4 than is still my production workhorse.

There definitely seems to be a pattern established here.

Fast-forward to October, 2008 and another milestone Apple notebook release. I really like the new “unibody” 13″ MacBook and 15″ MacBook Pro Steve Jobs announced Tuesday, and I’m due for another system upgrade. Actually, when I bought this PowerBook as a tide-me-over “last Power PC until I see how the dust settles” machine nearly three years ago, I didn’t imagine that I would not have upgraded to a MacIntel inside of two years, but the PowerBook has been a rock, never giving a moment’s trouble, and thus dampening incentive to move on.

But it’s time, so as much as I admire so many things about them, will I go for a new unibody machine, or revert to pattern and opt for more mature technology? My current thinking inclines me toward the latter, and here’s why.

It’s not entirely my longstanding policy about not buying “revision A” computer hardware, although that factor certainly enters into the equation. With my budgeted price range topping out at about Can$1,500 before taxes, the logical choices seem to be among the recycled white MacBook 2.1 GHz at $999, the new MacBook 2.0 GHz at $1,299, and the Apple Certified Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.4GHz at $1,349/. The 2.4 GHz MacBook is out of my budget target range, selling in Canada for $1,599 CAN and the new 2.4 GHz MacBook Pro in a whole different dimension at $2,149 CAN.

Here’s how I’m currently leaning: The 2.1″ price-leader MacBook is a bit like warmed-over lasagna from the night before – delicious the first time around, but now a leftover. The new MacBooks are nice pieces of work, except I don’t think I can live happily without FireWire at this point. That leaves the refurb. last-gen. MacBook Pro, which is substantially faster than the MacBooks in my price envelope, has a real graphics processor unit, is mature technology and generally better-equipped, at 50 bucks below my price cutoff, and only about $85 above the nominal U.S. dollar price. Seems like the value sweet spot to me. What do you think?

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