Apple's MacBook/MacBook Pro Redesign: A Discussion of Specifications
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Manveer Wasson on October 14, 2008 6:40 PM EST- Posted in
- Mac
The New MacBook Air: Have your Cake and Eat it Too
There are no tradeoffs with the new MacBook Air, you get a 45nm Penryn based processor this time around, the GeForce 9400M and DDR3 memory - all of which should give you more battery life. Unlike the other two configurations however, the new MacBook Air retains its old battery - unchanged. So the new MBA should actually see longer battery life, I'd expect it on the order of 20% longer.
| New MacBook Air | MacBook Air | |
| Dimensions | H: 0.16-076" W: 12.8" D: 8.94" | H: 0.16-076" W: 12.8" D: 8.94" |
| Weight | 3.0 lbs | 3.0 lbs |
| Screen Size/Resolution | 13.3" / 1280 x 800 (LED backlit) | 13.3" / 1280 x 800 (LED backlit) |
| CPU | Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz - 1.86GHz (45nm Penryn, 1066MHz FSB) | Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6 - 1.8GHz (65nm Merom, 800MHz FSB) |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce 9400M (256MB UMA) | Intel GMA X3100 (144MB UMA) |
| Memory | 2GB DDR3-1066 (fixed) | 2GB DDR2-667 (fixed) |
| HDD | 120GB 1.8" HDD or 128GB 1.8" SSD | 80GB 1.8" HDD or 64GB 1.8" SSD |
| Optical Drive | Optional External USB SuperDrive | Optional External USB SuperDrive |
| Networking | 802.11a/b/g/n | 802.11a/b/g/n |
| Built in iSight | Yes | Yes |
| Inputs | 1 x USB 2.0 1 x Integrated mic | 1 x USB 2.0 1 x Integrated mic |
| Outputs | 1 x Audio 1 x Mini DisplayPort | 1 x Audio 1 x Micro-DVI |
| Battery | 37WHr | 37WHr |
| Price | $1799 | $1799 |
Final Words
I'll be up early and at the Apple store tomorrow morning to snag some of these new notebooks, but hopefully the analysis today should help put things in perspective. Stay tuned for more coverage.
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Griswold - Friday, October 17, 2008 - link
"Unless you'll always be using your laptop with a light or window right behind you, you never really notice it. "You make no sense at all. A notebook is a portable device I want to use everywhere - also and especially outside my own house. Glossy screens are a failure there. Glossy screens can work just fine on a desktop system if the environment is right, but its as dumb as it can get for a notebook, because not everyone, like you, will use it on the same table in the same position every day. Period.
code65536 - Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - link
> Unless you'll always be using your laptop with a light> or window right behind you, you never really notice it.
>
That's like saying, "unless you find yourself using your laptop far away from a power supply for very long periods of time, 5 hours of battery life ought to be enough for anyone." Sure, that might apply in many cases, but I still want the flexibility and robustness of a matte screen so that when I do encounter adverse lighting, things still work fine.
And I'm surprised at how many defenders of glossy use the "you must have never seen one before" line. Well, I used to have a glossy screen. And it was so unbearable that I actually went through the trouble (and it was a LOT of trouble) to get the screen replaced with a matte screen.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - link
Honestly, there's a lot more to an LCD than the glossy vs. matte discussion. In fact, I know Anand is happy to see the new specs, but I'm not convinced the new MacBook will actually have a display that's on par with the Pro - we'll see when he gets a chance to actually test it in person.One of my major complaints with laptop LCDs is contrast ratio and color gamut. I have yet to test anything that comes anywhere near the ASUS G2P I tested over two years ago, which still falls behind pretty much every single desktop LCD I've tested.
I've got an LED backlit LCD right now that one might expect to perform well... but it doesn't. The contrast ratio is about 200:1, because the black level is about 1.0 nits. Sitting next to it is a non-LED laptop with a black level of around .25 nits, and let me tell you it makes a huge difference. I've tested LED lit laptops that do much better, and I've tested non-LED backlit laptops that do worse. Bottom line is that LCD panel technology still has a lot of variation.
Maybe if I'm lucky, I can get Anand to send me a few Apple MacBooks for some quick LCD testing. I've always heard they're "better" than other models, but have never had a chance to sit down and run some objective tests to prove that. I think they even used to use S-IPS panels on some notebooks, but I'd be very surprised if they still do that - which is really a shame.
marsbound2024 - Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - link
This is a new glass screen... and Engadget is a pretty respectable site. http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2008...">http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com...8/10/app...And this is from Gizmodo: "The glossy screen is what it is, and is bright, fast to light up and a bit too reflective if you position it with the sun behind you (no matte option anymore)."
But of course I'd be absolutely pleased if the glare isn't so bad. I just know that I'll be using my laptop for what laptops are intended for: mobility. I want to go anywhere... a cafe, a park, the deck, who knows. I am not afraid of the sunlight like many geeks are sometimes stereotypically portrayed, but I certainly don't want my laptop's glare to instill that fear.