Apple Updates MacBook Pro Line, Introduces New iPhone 3G S
The Apple WWDC keynote has just ended, and we can share the highlights of the event with you now. The MacBook Pro line is being refreshed already, and the biggest change is the addition of the 13-inch model. The 13-inch unibody MacBook that Kevin and I both own will go away and become a MacBook Pro model going forward. Apple also introduced the new iPhone model, the iPhone 3G S, which will sell for $199 (16 GB) and $299 (32 GB).
Image courtesy Engadget
The new 13-inch MacBook Pro will get faster processors and, like the rest of the new Pro line, SD card slots. Oh yes, Apple is putting the Firewire port back — guess it got tired of listening to people grousing about the removal. The 13-inch MacBook Pro will start at $1,199.
The new 15-inch MacBook Pro will get the fixed seven-hour battery on the current 17-inch model, and the low-end configuration will go with just the integrated graphics for $1,699.
The MacBook Air is updated and gets a cheaper starting price of $1,499.
The iPhone 3.0 software was shown, and one of the new features was the Find My iPhone — if your phone is lost, you can go to MobileMe and find it via GPS. You can also remotely wipe it if someone bad has it.
Image courtesy of TheAppleBlog
The new iPhone 3G S looks just like the current iPhone 3G. The existing iPhone 3G will continue to be sold for $99. New features in the iPhone 3G S, besides the memory increase:
- 3.2 MP camera- autofocus, macro mode, low light improvements, video recording, edit video on the phone
- Voice control — music playing and phone calls via voice
- Digital compass
- Improved battery life — 9 hours web surfing, 5 hours talk time
- Available June 19
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The battle is joined, Pre vs iPhone. JK needs a 3Gs so we can see how the browsers compare for speed both on a network and WiFi (by the way, it would be interesting to see how the Pre does on MiFi as compared to a current generation iPhone). It looks like Synergy is a winner, but apps might be the difference. That, and a real distinction in philosophy and by reference, security. The Pre is almost entirely dependent on the cloud and, for better or worse, much if not all of the user’s data resides there.. An iPhone allows the user to determine what goes where. Its a good time to be a geek!
Thumbs up for the camera and video. Not before time mind you! As a big Evernote user the camera will be better for my pics of business cards, whiteboards etc. 30fps VGA Video I really missed from my Nokia N95 so I reckon I’ll be spending some coin on a 32Gb one.
Multitasking though!?!?
Could a new high end Macbook Air and iPhone 3Gs with tethering be the perfect highly mobile power user config?
I’ve got a current gen Macbook Air and love it, tethering to a 32GB iPhone 3GS will be the icing on the cake.
Snow Leopard is looking good, faster OS on existing hardware, lets hope so, and only $29 to upgrade, not bad, even better the $49 for a family pack, goodbye to non Intel Macs though.
Shame Steve didn’t make an appearance, hope he’s getting better. Tablet Mac in September anyone?
So does voice dialing work with a bluetooth headset? I already have Melodis Dialer which seems to do the same thing as the voice dialing software. I want to be able to tap my BT headset and voice dial like I was able to with Microsoft’s voice dialing software for Windows Mobile.
Generally nice feature tweaks for both the iPhone and the MacBooks, but the whole presentation still drove home the main reason why I still don’t have a strong desire to jump on the Apple bandwagon for either platform. Specifically, I refer to the very limited choices when it comes to specs and form factor.
Over the weekend, I bought a new HP tx2-1025dx laptop. Configuring the closest equivalent MacBook comes out to about $300 more and the HP is a convertible tablet with a dual-mode multi-touch screen, a form-factor and key feature that simply isn’t available from Apple at all. I do think that there are some aspects of Snow Leopard that appear to be better than what Windows 7 has to offer, and I expect that the out-of-the-box experience is probably way better than the generally hellish one I’ve had trying to get the HP to a useful configuration, but I don’t see any of that as enough of an advantage to justify spending around 1/3 again as much on a system that ultimately falls short in its feature set.
I see a similar issue when it comes to the iPhone as well. Quite frankly, the new added features sound pretty great. When added to the previous feature set and the strong 3rd party application support, I do find the iPhone platform to be quite appealing. What keeps me from jumping to it, though, is their stubborn refusal to expand it to other form factors. If I could get an iPhone with a somewhat smaller size and physical keyboard (preferably slide-out), I’d almost certainly rush out to get one. Even better yet would be if I would have a choice of carriers as well.
Compared to the Palm Pre (which I think really is the closest competitor), I do think Apple’s update did a lot to widen their advantage in some areas while closing the gap in a few of the key areas where the Pre is ahead. Where I see Palm still having a huge advantage, though, is that the Pre has a form factor that Apple doesn’t offer. I also pretty strongly suspect that within the next year we will see Palm offering the Web OS on phones with other form factors as well. We already know that a smaller, more budget-minded phone is almost certainly coming out this year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them eventually go head-to-head with Apple by offering a keyboardless model as well. It seems pretty clear that Sprint’s exclusivity for Web OS also isn’t going to persist anywhere near as long as AT&T’s monopoly on iPhones.
I get the impression that Apple doesn’t see any of these things as big impedements to them, but I do think they are probably the main thing that contribute to something of a ceiling on Apple’s market share.
Am trying to decide between a Blackberry Bold and the new 3GS (already an AT&T subscriber). I gather that the Bold will not support the new, faster HSPDA that AT&T rolls out. Is that going to be a big deal if I’m not going to tether? I’ve heard that the mobile devices can’t keep up with that speed anyway.
Though I must admit the upgraded camera looks nice, I’m also having concerns about not having a physical keyboard. But then I’m not sure the Bold’s keyboard is that helpful either. I timed how long it took me to type two sentences using my PC, my T-Mobile Dash (about to be retired) and my iPod Touch. The PC was about 15 seconds, while the other two were both about 40 seconds. I presume the 3Gs would be similar to the Touch. Would the Bold be similar to the Dash?
Is the iPhone 3GS going to be available without a contract (so mere mortals like me can buy it directly from Apple)? I have not seen this discussed anywhere.
Oops, I just caught the fine print on the Apple site: $699 for the 32GB for non-new-contractors, whoaaaa!!! $499 for the 8GB and $599 for the 16GB…
I guess I’m the only one a little upset at Apple. I just picked up a new unibody Macbook four months ago. Now they drop the price and make it better. The one I have hasn’t even been out a year. I love Apple but I’ll never early adopt again.
Well, I got my MBP less than two months ago. While I would have liked the SD card slot (what took you so long, Apple?), I knew that sooner or later there would be an updated version. That’s life on the technology treadmill. I am not complaining.
hmmm, just wondering wether the 3gs will work on 3 uk network (best mobile broadband packages in UK) im chuffed that the iphone 3gs gets tom tom navigator , im a bit dissapointed in the camera though. Looks like im leaning towards the pre or idou atm (pre for the compatibility and business use for the network i want and the idou for the camera and full flash browser. decisions decisions!)
Im dissapointed in the macbook upgrades, im not sure what i was expecting, maybe its because the past couple of years the apple keynotes have blown us away, and now i feel tired of apple bigging more features again that have been available on even real cheap mobile phones, and because of their clever marketing people think apple invented those features. couple of things i noted:
1. Multitasking on iphone, i thought it was announced to be in 3.0 something like 3 apps open at once?
2. how come the number of windows mobile apps were not included in the presentation?
3. I think Apple are getting a bit too cocky now slating/mocking other companies and people are starting to notice.
I wonder about multi-tasking too. Meanwhile I think the new prices and features (SD slot, FireWire, speed) bringthe MBP more in line with current realities (tech and economic). Your point on gratuitous criticsms is well taken. A strong company with superior products should be wary of throwing too much mud. Some of it inevitably gets tossed back. I’m a Mac/PC campaign (with humor and compelling characters) is right at the line. Execs slamming competition at a company event with a world-wide audience is weak. Reminds me of Enron. BTW, were location based services confirmed? If so that suggests multi-tasking.