Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 21st Jan 2009 19:27 UTC
If you thought that Apple kept the white MacBook around only temporarily, you thought wrong. The white MacBook remained on Apple's product listing, despite the introduction of the newer and faster unibody MacBooks. The newer MacBooks were more expensive than the white model, so Apple kept it around to serve the budget market. To confirm that the low-end MacBook will be around for a while, the company updated the machine today.
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Member since:2005-07-06
Exactly. Audio interfaces over USB still suck as they're prone to latency and dropout issues. From a space perspective, there was no need to do away with the port. Basically Apple just saved a buck or two and seems to be hoping to eventually (once the WhiteBook is no more) force all musicians to buy a Pro.
I was recently confronted with the choice of whether to buy a new unibody MacBook or a used MacBook Pro (for around the same price). Honestly, if the MacBook had had FireWire I would have bought it, but since it didn't I didn't. And the old WhiteBook was out of the question due to the crappy graphics.
Perhaps if this new model had been out I might have gone with it... But no matter 
.
Edited 2009-01-21 20:14 UTC
Member since:2006-11-12
Basically Apple just saved a buck or two and seems to be hoping to eventually (once the WhiteBook is no more) force all musicians to buy a Pro.
Apple (and its fans) can hope.
Fortunately, a lot of musicians/producers/engineers don't use Apple. In addition, such "coercion" tactics might backfire, as the open-source (and proprietary) audio alternatives are really good.
Member since:2005-08-29
Member since:2005-06-29
Exactly. Audio interfaces over USB still suck as they're prone to latency and dropout issues. From a space perspective, there was no need to do away with the port. Basically Apple just saved a buck or two and seems to be hoping to eventually (once the WhiteBook is no more) force all musicians to buy a Pro.
I agree, USB is fine for amateur musicians like me who have time and patience to deal with latency issues and such, but if I were to get serious with my music I'd prefer a FireWire based setup.
Not to mention, Target Disk Mode is a lifesaver that dies with FireWire, unless Apple were to do a software update allowing its use over USB.
Member since:
2006-10-28
"the processor speed of the laptop is actually reduced, from 2.1 GHz to 2.0 GHz" - yes, but the FSB has also been bumped up from 800 MHz to 1066 MHz, so even the processor may actually perform better.
The improved whitebook looks nice, but I'm still drawn to the nice looks and low weight of the aluminum macbook to replace my aging G4. I'll probably get one once it's available with the mobile core i7 (drools... next year?). I don't mind the price premium.
P.S. I personally don't care about firewire on notebooks, but I think they should still have a model with it because it's still needed for a lot of audio and older video equipment.
Edited 2009-01-21 19:43 UTC