Apple’s 45nm Refresh: New MacBook & MacBook Pro
by Anand Lal Shimpi on February 29, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Mac
Glossy or Not?
With the exception of the MacBook Pro, all of Apple’s notebooks are available exclusively with a glossy display. The benefit of a glossy display is an improved contrast ratio but the downside is it reflects more ambient light, particularly when you have an unusually strong light source (e.g. sitting in front of a window or being outside with the Sun).
With the MacBook Pro you have the option of either a glossy or anti-glare display, the question that remains is: which should you choose?
As you’d expect, the decision really falls upon your intended use for the notebook. Indoors, the glossy display was much nicer in my opinion. Blacks appeared blacker and the screen was much more pleasant to look at:
Matte screen (left) vs. Glossy (right)
Matte screen (left) vs. Glossy (right)
Unfortunately the glossy screen can get pretty annoying when there's glare on it:
Glossy, see the window reflection on the left?
The matte anti-reflective screen just gets a little washed out but doesn't reflect its environment when presented with glare:
I still end up preferring the glossy screen but I don't use these things outside that often. If I were still using them outside on campus I might have to opt for the matte screen instead.
Cases, we need Cases
I can’t stress how important it is for Apple to start building good cases for its notebooks. Apple has done a tremendous job on styling its notebooks yet they are confined to the same cases that even the most generically designed PC notebooks are destined for. Many of Apple’s notebook peripherals are also not of standard shapes or sizes (e.g. the power brick), paving the way for even more synergy through a well designed custom case.
The MacBook Air needs a custom case to avoid losing the point of one of its biggest features. Who cares if you can stick the Air in a manilla folder if you have to carry it around in a standard laptop bag?
The MacBook and MacBook Pro are no different, although not as extreme of examples as the Air. These notebooks feature a very well proportioned shape and are as attractive as you can get in a computer (I’ll refrain from using the word sexy since, well, they don’t incite any sexual desire despite being well styled computers), yet they are carried in ugly, not well designed bags.
Apple seems to have the design sense to tackle such a thing, although I’m not sure if it really wants to get into the notebook case business. I figure that it spends so much time and effort on making sure its packaging is among the most stylish on the planet, why not create some packaging that you can actually take with you?
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tayhimself - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
I really like the chicklet keyboards. I like the Vaios that have the chicklets too. Different strokes and all that....LoneWolf15 - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
Ward...Wash the Beaver's mouth out with soap, would you?mmntech - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
Lol. Only morons need to swear to get their point across. I do partially agree though. I didn't like the MacBooks keyboard compared to my old iBook G4's.Looks like the Penryn offers a small but decent improvement in battery life. When you're on the go, every little increase counts. These are very respectable numbers. With DVD playback, you can actually watch movies like the Godfather and Lord of the Rings on a single charge and still have some to spare. Apple has always been good with battery life, which is the primary reason I bough my iBook. Looks like there are also some small performance increases too. I suppose the iMac line will be receiving an update soon to include these processors. It will be curious to see if the add DDR3 as an option for them.
Phlargo - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
What a horrible thing to say. He is certainly permitted his preference. I think you might be the tool for blankly assuming that his opinion is unjust.A good article, Anand. I'm not a Mac guy, but I know they lead the way in design and feature integration. I really agree with the comment below about it being more of an impression than a review. I always like your articles for that reason!
Kitsune - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
MacBooks have a very limited multitouch capability. They can do some of the tricks that the Pros and Air can do (right-click by putting two fingers on the pad, scroll around by rubbing two fingers in the desired direction, zoom the screen in and out by holding the control key while moving fingers on the pad) and can't do some of the other things (rotate and zoom selected objects). Or if they can, Anand found some trick that I'm not aware of, as I have the new 2.1 gHz MacBook sitting next to me now and can't get it to perform the latter functions.Devo2007 - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
That is correct (I was just about to update my comment stating this). I believe the two-finger scroll feature and such aren't new though -- I believe my friend's Merom-based Macbook has that feature as well.tayhimself - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
This is the case yes.Devo2007 - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
You caught the one later in the article, but currently page 3 still shows this:2) Multi-touch Track Pads: Both the MacBook and MacBook Pro now get the same multi-touch functionality as the MacBook Air.
Gary Key - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
That is corrected now.Devo2007 - Friday, February 29, 2008 - link
On Page 3, you indicate that both the Macbook and Macbook Pro have the multi-touch trackpad. Isn't it just the Pro model that has multi-touch? (all the news articles I read about the launch of these portables indicated it was just the Pro model).