Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

CaptainHaddock · Jan 12, 2006, 01:56 AM

Unsanity has posted a fairly pessimistic review of the MacBook as shown at Macworld. Several important hardware features are missing.

It also sounds like the speed boost isn't so great as Steve would have us believe, and the loss of Altivec makes some tasks slower than the current G4. For example, the reviewer said that H.264 trailers experienced noticeable skipping and frame dropping during playback on the MacBook, but the same trailers play smoothly on his G4 Powerbook.

mduell · Jan 12, 2006, 02:14 AM

Originally Posted by CaptainHaddock

Unsanity has posted a fairly pessimistic review of the MacBook as shown at Macworld. Several important hardware features are missing.

It also sounds like the speed boost isn't so great as Steve would have us believe, and the loss of Altivec makes some tasks slower than the current G4. For example, the reviewer said that H.264 trailers experienced noticeable skipping and frame dropping during playback on the MacBook, but the same trailers play smoothly on his G4 Powerbook.

Taking his points one by one:

1) Could be for faster recharges and future headroom (since this new power plug should last a while); my Centrino system usually ranges from about 10 to 35W depending on load, but witih a 65W power adaper I can charge the battery at about 40W while using it.

2) I think S-video will be available through a pin converter from the DVI port, and there is a USB modem available for the dozen people who want one. The lack of FW800 without adding e.SATA is puzzling.

3) 1440x960 was a non-standard resolution that only Apple used (1.5 aspect ratio). With the new enclosure they're at the very comment aspect ratio of 1.6, so we have a better chance of HD screens in the future. The higher DPI final-rev PowerBooks were plagued with screen problems (horizontal light/dark lines), and the new screen still has higher DPI than the 1280x854 that Apple used for so long.

4) The DVD burner is clearly an older model since it's only 4x (instead of 8x) and lacks DL support. They have the 8x version with DL support in the Intel iMac.

5) I think the non-optional built-in iSight will hurt corportate sales (many companies ban cameras) and the inclusion of an infrared remote is odd (this is 2005, it should be Bluetooth).

6) The Pentium M also beats the G4 by a large margin in the single threaded version of the benchmark (effectively with one hand tied behind its back). I have an older Pentium M chip, and it plays 720p video flawlessly at ~60-80% CPU usage and 1000-1866Mhz CPU clockrate; the new dualcores should have no problem with 1080p. On the other hand I've heard a lot of complaints regarding 720p skipping on the G4 PowerBooks.

baw · Jan 12, 2006, 05:24 AM

The MacBook Pro is an excellent upgrade to the iBook line. So I guess the replacement PowerBooks will be called MacBook Pro Extreme?

schalliol · Jan 12, 2006, 05:30 AM

Huh? MacBook Pro is to replace the PowerBooks. iBooks will have a different name, perhaps just MacBook.

harrisjamieh · Jan 12, 2006, 06:09 AM

I think hes trying to say the Macbook pro is good enough to be an iBook replacement, but as it stands, not as a powerbook replacement

aman · Jan 12, 2006, 06:36 AM

MacBook Pro does not sound like a product from Apple. Does anyone else think that Intel had something to do with the name choice?

albook · Jan 12, 2006, 07:05 AM

First I was really exited of the new MacBook Pro, so I ordered a fully loaded 1.83GHz model.

But two days later I cancelled my order. I have been reading and thinking and decided I cant accept that Apple remove some of the features on the current PowerBook series. Especially the 8x Dual Layer DVD burner and FireWire 800!

So I'll keep my money in my pocket, and hope for a better release later on!
My rev. b 15" PowerBook G4 will last me some more months...

CaptainHaddock · Jan 12, 2006, 07:16 AM

Originally Posted by harrisjamieh

I think hes trying to say the Macbook pro is good enough to be an iBook replacement, but as it stands, not as a powerbook replacement

That unfortunately seems to be the case. Instead of adding new features that pro users need, they removed a few. I agree that the change in screen dimensions is no big deal, and few pros use dial-up Internet. But for this to be a pro machine, Apple should have at least kept FW800 and a dual-layer DVD writer. External SATA would have been a nice professional addition. So would the rumoured Flash boot cache.

Maybe the inevitable 17" will have some of these things, but the 15" MacBook Pro is indeed just an iBook upgrade.

Eriamjh · Jan 12, 2006, 08:10 AM

One report is that there is no DL DVD burner that will fit into the MacBook's case. So it doesn't come with one because it can't. Not yet.

Evinyatar · Jan 12, 2006, 08:14 AM

Originally Posted by CaptainHaddock

the loss of Altivec makes some tasks slower than the current G4. For example, the reviewer said that H.264 trailers experienced noticeable skipping and frame dropping during playback on the MacBook, but the same trailers play smoothly on his G4 Powerbook.

That's because Apple's x86 implementation of the H.264 decoder is seriously lacking. On my Windows PC (Athlon 2500xp), VLC plays the 720p trailers on Apple's site flawlessly, whereas QuickTime struggles to show half a frame per second. AltiVec may be missing, but we're getting a lot in return as well. It will just take some time for all software to fully take advantage of it.

Edit: forgot to mention; my PowerBook G4 1.25GHz struggles with the same 720p trailers as well, although not as bad as QT on the PC.

:XI: · Jan 12, 2006, 08:26 AM

Originally Posted by mduell

Taking his points one by one:

5) I think the non-optional built-in iSight will hurt corportate sales (many companies ban cameras) and the inclusion of an infrared remote is odd (this is 2005, it should be Bluetooth).

It's a remote control, bluetooth would be overkill. Also, bluetooth EATS battery.

MAC-ALEX · Jan 12, 2006, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by Evinyatar

That's because Apple's x86 implementation of the H.264 decoder is seriously lacking. On my Windows PC (Athlon 2500xp), VLC plays the 720p trailers on Apple's site flawlessly, whereas QuickTime struggles to show half a frame per second. AltiVec may be missing, but we're getting a lot in return as well. It will just take some time for all software to fully take advantage of it.

Edit: forgot to mention; my PowerBook G4 1.25GHz struggles with the same 720p trailers as well, although not as bad as QT on the PC.

Just wanted to test my PB G4 1.25Ghz FW800 and have got a Ice Age 2 D tralier 720p and it shows 25 fps without skip a frame, so not that bad. :-)

albook · Jan 12, 2006, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by Eriamjh

One report is that there is no DL DVD burner that will fit into the MacBook's case. So it doesn't come with one because it can't. Not yet.

But Apple managed to put a 8x Dual Layer burner inside the 17" PowerBook G4.
From what I read at the Apple site the 17" PB is thinner than the MacBook Pro as well...
* MacBook Pro - Height: 1.0 inch (2.59 cm)
* 17" PowerBook G4 - Thickness: 1.0 inch (2,54 cm)

But if thats really the case I hope Matshita, or others, come up with a DL burner that fit the PowerBook G4 successor later on.

albook · Jan 12, 2006, 09:17 AM

Double post. Please delete!

TheMosco · Jan 12, 2006, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by albook

But Apple managed to put a 8x Dual Layer burner inside the 17" PowerBook G4.
From what I read at the Apple site the 17" PB is thinner than the MacBook Pro as well...
* MacBook Pro - Height: 1.0 inch (2.59 cm)
* 17" PowerBook G4 - Thickness: 1.0 inch (2,54 cm)

But if thats really the case I hope Matshita, or others, come up with a DL burner that fit the PowerBook G4 successor later on.

It could be a depth issue though. The 17 inch powerbook is deeper than the Macbook pro.