Well, the event has come and gone, and let me say… I’m quite pleased. The new MacBooks and MacBook Pros look great, and they pack-in a lot of new features. On top of that, Apple announced a new 24″ cinema display that I’ll touch on in the post… As a graphics guy I’m pleased about […]
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Apple October 2008 MacBook Event Roundup

Oct 14th 2008 by

Well, the event has come and gone, and let me say… I’m quite pleased. The new MacBooks and MacBook Pros look great, and they pack-in a lot of new features. On top of that, Apple announced a new 24″ cinema display that I’ll touch on in the post… As a graphics guy I’m pleased about that. I’m looking at my 23″ cinema display a little differently now… 🙂

The New MacBook Pro

  • Features a full-glass screen
  • All connectors are on one side of the laptop
  • Slot-load superdrive on other side
  • Aluminum unibody enclosure (made from 1 piece of aluminum)
  • LED Backlit display
  • NVIDIA GeForce 9400M and GeForce 9600M GT
  • Multitouch glass trackpad
  • Mini display port connector
  • Full access to battery and drives via lid on bottom

Is now available in 2 models…

  • $1999 gets you the 15.4″ LED-backlit display, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo/3MB L2, 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 memory, both NVIDIA chips, 250GB hard drive, and slot-loading superdrive.
  • $2499 will get you the 15.4″ with 2.53GHz, 6MB L2… and you can upgrade any model to the 2.8GHz processor.

17″ MacBook Pro?

Someone asked a question at the event about the 17″ MBP. The answer given was that this model is still currently being ‘refreshed’… So if you’re waiting for the 17″ model you’ll have to wait a bit longer!

MacBook Air Updates

  • A second model at $2499 gets you a faster processor and solid state drive. Should be available by early November.
  • For $1799 a 128GB solid state drive now available in the MBA, and a mini display port is available too.

New 24″ Cinema Display

  • Ultra-thin design. Corner to corner glass.
  • 1920×1200 resolution, with built-in iSight camera, speakers, MagSafe, Mini display Port, three-port USB 2.0 hub.
  • Get it for $899 in early November.

The New MacBook

  • Entry level MacBook price-reduced to $999.
  • 5 hours of battery life
  • Environmentally friendly
  • Slot-loading superdrive
  • Glass multitouch trackpad
  • Unibody construction
  • 5x the graphics performance
  • A second model adds faster processor, larger hard drive, backlit keyboard for $1599

One of the things I’m most pleased about actually is the attention to environmental concerns, not only in the new products themselves, but in the packaging. Apple have done themselves proud here. Eliminating toxic and harmful chemicals and toxins from the products, and even reducing the size of their packaging all goes towards limiting their carbon footprint… Which, in the end is better for all of us and our environment. I sincerely hope they continue to work to this end on all future product launches, and I’m sure they will. Looks to be a mandate by the looks of things.

So, with that roundup off my chest, what do you folks think? Are you going to run out and buy a new MacBook or MacBook Pro? For me… I think I’m more likely to pick up one of the new 24″ displays more than anything else. Great price point, great new design and features… and it looks so nice. I’m a sucker for simple design.

What do you think of the new products? Winners or losers?

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