Jeff Campbell
06-09-2009, 06:10 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://smokingapples.com/hardware/apple-updates-notebooks-better-battery-life-lower-price/' target='_blank'>http://smokingapples.com/hardware/a...fe-lower-price/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Phil Schiller kicked off today's keynote with a light update to the MacBook Pro family. All the models now include the new lithium polymer battery introduced with the 17 inch MacBook Pro earlier this year. They also have an SD-card slot in exchange for the Expresscard slot, a weird move by Apple. The Expresscard slot remains only on the 17-inch MacBook Pro. And lastly, the 13-inch MacBooks now have a Firewire 800 slot, officially making them part of the MacBook Pro family."</em></p><p><em><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1244565003.usr105634.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></em></p><p>So there you have it, no netbook but they sure made improvements in specifications as well as pricing. The unibody MacBook is turned into a MacBook pro with the addition of the FireWire 800 port, and they drop the price down to $1,199.00 USD. The only MacBook you can purchase now is the white one, which is probably the best value of all the laptops when you compare performance. The big change is the sealed battery unit in all of them, giving the battery life a boost to 7 hours, but you lose the ability to swap out your batteries or replace them without going to an Apple Genius. Apple feels the trade off in the battery life increase is worth it, what do you think? <MORE /></p><p>The screens on the unibody laptops are an improved LCD with 60% increase in the color gamut, RAM is increased to 8GB, the Core 2 Duo processors get a bump in the speed and they all come with increased hard drive and backlit keyboards. </p><p>I don't like the fact that the express card slot was replaced with an SD card reader on all but the 17-inch Macbook Pros, but I guess Apple thinks more people will find that useful for photos and such. Personally, I use an express card to connect to the internet when I'm not near a Wi-Fi connection, and I think having that built in is much more useful than an SD reader. Yes, I know I can get a USB modem, but I hate having something like that sticking out, just asking for it to be broken off! </p><p>Pricing reductions across the entire line, such as the 13-inch MBP as mentioned above, starting at $1,199.00 USD. The 15-inch MBP will cost you $1,699.00 and the 17-inch MBP starts at $2,499.00 USD, both getting a $300.00 USD price cut. But the big change is in the MacBook Air. The entry machine will go for $1,499.00 USD, a drop of $300.00 USD, and the SSD version gets a $700.00 USD price cut, setting you back $1,799.00 USD. </p><p>Some nice changes to the lineup, is it enough to get you into the Apple Store with wallet in hand?</p><p> </p>