Comments on: Thoughts on the new MacBooks

By: chris b

chris b — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:27:42 +0000

The big news is really Apple dropping Firewire support from the Macbooks.

Judging by the fury over at Apple’s own forum and on the mac blogs everywhere the issue is becoming a firestorm Steve will need to sort out with more than his one line and very terse response that everything is USB now….

By: James Kendrick

James Kendrick — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:03:04 +0000

Brian, you’re correct, it shares 256 MB of system memory but uses the same graphics processor as the lesser GPU in the Pros.

By: Brian E

Brian E — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:28:23 +0000

James, that chipset is an integrated graphics chipset which is built into the system bridge and uses system memory. The MacBook Pros allow you to switch to a dedicated chip with dedicated GDDR3 for better performance; the new 13″ MacBooks do not.

By: Jonathan Balkind

Jonathan Balkind — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:59:50 +0000

While America received a price drop on the white Macbook of $100, the price in Britain actually increased by £20. Odd, huh?

By: James Kendrick

James Kendrick — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:55:19 +0000

No, the new 13-inch MacBook uses the same NVidia 9400M as the new Pros use. The $999 white MacBook still uses integrated graphics.

By: Brian E

Brian E — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:51:51 +0000

I don’t think the graphics in the MacBook can really be called “discrete”, though it’s pretty beefy for integrated graphics. It’s still built into the unified north/south bridge and still uses system memory instead of dedicated graphics memory.

By: James Kendrick

James Kendrick — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:53:49 +0000

The new MacBook does have discrete graphics which is a big change from previous models. It doesn’t have the dual GPUs of the new Pros.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:39:02 +0000

The $999 white MacBook, in addition to the price drop, got the addition of the SuperDrive.

I agree that the MacBook is now kind of a MacBook Pro “lite”, and believe that’s how customers will perceive it. Still, the lack of FireWire and the discreet video of the Pro models (along with the larger screens) offer some level of differentiation.

By: instanton

instanton — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:14:49 +0000

As a tech enthusiast you could call the 13 inch Macbook somewhat underwhelming but lets face it what a cool device. To the young Ipod target market it is the PC to have. Get em young with cool stuff sounds like a great way to take over the world to me.

By: instanton

instanton — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:14:18 +0000