MacSwitching.com > Intel-based Mac

First-hand experience on the new MacBook this morning!
Along with several Mac-fans / switchers / users / pros, I’ve been testing, touchin’ and weighin’ the brand new MacBook.
Click on pictures to see them enlarged.
First impressions.
Great screen: a glossy screen it’s a first-time-ever on a Mac, but it’s welcome. The black MacBook really shines (!) when it comes to show off a Keynote presentation and the backlit Apple logo on the cover it’s really cool.
Weight: I’d expect a lighter MacBook but it’s ok after all, and the size allows to slip it in the backpack comfortably.
Keyboard: reminding of the early 80’s and Sinclair keyboard I was quite worried about this new keyboard. No problem at all: both layout and key placement are pretty good and get you up and running/typing really easily. The keyboard seems to be more protected than before from dust.
Huge touchpad: you have to see how large it is…
Heating & battery life: during presentation, all MacBooks had both Airport and Bluetooth turned on. Battery usage, although I saw brand new MacBooks, holds good promises.
As for heating, the upper-left part was quite hot, but my G4 Powerbook it’s much er… better when cooking… I’m unable to tell if the different material between black & white model makes any difference about heating.
What about performance?

Safari browsing, task & dashboard switching, Front Row switching were all pretty good.
It did indeed performed well when playing Mission Impossible 3 trailer on Quicktime, and I mean the HD 720p version!
All standard Mac apps perform very well and the i950 graphics card does a good job even when several apps (iDvd and iMovie) are working together taking the Core Duo to the limit.

Finally, a complete lineup of consumer/small portable Macs.
Here in a row: an iBook G4 12″, a MacBook 13.3″ and a (venerable) Powerbook G4 12″.
(some top-secret screen content removed…)
The complete history in a row!

A pretty example of ‘total switching’.
From the author’s note:Installed the Mac OS X beta from Parallels and demonstrated the speed of XP by reinstalling Firefox, surfing, and rebooting. Running on Intel iMac 2.0 Ghz (256 MB VRAM, 1.5 GB RAM, 512 MB given to XP)

As the author says: Fast OS Switching that used Parallels beta 6 and Virtue.

More on this topic…

MacWorld has posted a video where it’s easy to see how (easy is) to upgrade both RAM and hard disk in the new MacBook.
Beneath the battery lie the two SO-DIMM slots with a curious leveraging system to get them out.
The hard disk comes out thanks to a plastic strap and it’s a common 2,5″ unit…

MacBook owners may upgrade at will: for the first time much more than PC owners…

BTW, MacWorld says this won’t void Apple’s warranty…

Apple has announced today the brand new MacBook.
It’s the long-awaited replacement for iBook, now sporting Intel Core Duo processor.

So long iBook, it’s been a good workhorse for a lot of people since its introduction back in July 1999 [check here the old G3 specs].

A first look at the new MacBook tech specs (much like what the rumors predicted):
– a brilliant (Vaio-style) glossy 13.3″ display, a must to compete with PCs and the first time ever on a Mac,
– 1.83 and 2.0 GHz processor speed,
– DDR2 RAM up to 2 GB,
– a dual-layer SuperDrive,
– 2 USB 2.0 and a (!) a FireWire 400 port,
– up to 120 GB hard disk drive,
– a not-so-amazing Intel GMA 950 graphics card with 64 MB of shared memory, but still capable of extended desktop on external monitor, through the mini-DVI output and with some optional VGA/DVI/S-VHS adaptors.

Just like the bigger MacBook Pros, the new MacBook sports:
– the MagSafe power adapter,
– a built-in iSight for iChat AV (and some other videophone apps),
– FrontRow remote.

All software bundled with MacBook, as well as iLife ’06, is Universal Binary, that is Intel-CPU compatible: right now.

All this in a white or black (just the big BTO model) case, just like iPod nano…

Prices starting at just US$ 1099 or EU 1119.
Availability: now.

A strange point: the black model, color apart, will get you a 80 GB (up from 60 GB on the White model) for US$ 200 more… the same drive on the White will cost just US$ 50 more…

Check hi-res pictures of the new MacBook from Apple PR right here.

It’s a neat move on Win-PCs and, by the way, it’s quite competitive (in price & specs) on similar PCs with lower-clocked CPUs, no iSight etc. etc.

The announcement today.
Just as expected, you can now run Windows XP on the newest Intel-based Macs.
The question is: should you?
😉

Check here Apple’s Boot Camp press release.

As always, great rumors and many fakes.
The truth about today’s Apple announcement is: Mac mini shifts to Intel and iPod HiFi, a three-way speaker box.

The new Mac mini with Intel processors, both Core Duo running @ 1,66 GHz or Core Solo running @ 1,5 GHz.
This is the first time ever for a Intel Core Solo processor, as far as we know.

Featuring Front Row and its remote, up to 120 GB hard drive and an Intel GMA950 GPU, the new Mac mini is the second Intel-based move in less than 60 days: quite a fast shift, even for Steve’s company.

Good job!

Looking at the box, there’s almost nothing different from the previous model, apart from the back sporting different ports and connectors.

The only ‘dark’ spot is the GMA950-based graphics card and its performance, opposed to ATI and nVidia chipsets, but in the next days plenty of benchmarks will be published about this topic.
The iPod HiFi is a speaker-boombox featuring the universal dock connector and three big speakers with a design that may be so trendy and so 70’s; remote command included.

Want to read more? Here’s a list of places you may like, just a few:

Mac OS X 10.4.5 update is now available: it looks like there are some minor enhancements that require major attention and care when updating.

Read Apple’s note before installing.

Check here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303179-it

Dare you?

ATI graphics card are quite widespread on Mac these days and overclocking fans are always trying to squeeze more and more power from their ATI chips.

It’s not clear how much, but a 12% speed increase should be reached without melting your beloved Mac board.

Looks like the download link for the accelerator software is dead, this is the working one.

The full story is available here.

Read carefully everything before trying it! I decline every responsibility about hardware damage, war or any other bad thing that may happen to you or your Mac…

When it comes to style, no one is more careful than a Mac User!

MacStyles says:
Style and protection. It’s these two basic ideas that drive the MacStyles team.
With our high quality custom vinyl applications your Mac becomes a canvas for
expressing your creativity and individuality. So give your Mac a voice

Check here: http://www.macstyles.com/

It’s a rising question and it’s getting more and more weird answers…

This time News.com tries to put things in the right perspective.

That simple question deserves a simple answer.
But there isn’t one–at least not right now. Reaching the nirvana of running the two most popular desktop operating systems on one machine is a lot harder than you might expect.

I’ll seek for more hints at this issue.

Check here

Astonishing.
The new MacBook Pro redefines the Powerbook line and portable computing as well, the new iMac just gets the iMac even better.

Of course the MacBook Pro gets more flashlights since it’s the very star of the show.
Super CPU with dual core, super graphics with ATI Radeon X1600, built-in iSight and Front Row.

More info to write on in the next days.
More good reasons to switch.