Strange & Charmed

For my Weekly Tech Roundup I decided to give a review of Apple’s new White Macbook and discuss the rest of the updates that were announced on Tuesday. In the video I discuss some of the things I like about the new Macbook and some of the things it lacks.

To begin, I really love the new shape of the machine. I am a big fan of the unibody and I am very glad they were able to bring it to the polycarbonate Macbook with such style. If you have ever used one of Apple’s unibody Macbooks/Pros before, you know that they are so solid and lightweight at the same time- a feeling one wouldn’t normally get with any other notebook computer. The unibody gives the computer a sleek silhouette with very few visible screws and now with the non-removable 7-hour battery the notebook looks so flush with just a few breaks for ports and the superdrive. I also like the fact that the unibody allows the high gloss polycarbonate to cover the hand rest as well, so there should be no issues with yellow or oily hand rests from now on. In that same area, the Macbook now has a full glass trackpad with all the multi touch functionality of the Pros and a bright LED backlit display comparable to the Pros as well. One final touch I am obsessed with is the full rubber bottom of the Macbook, which to me is an amazing incorporation into the design, as we all know the polycarbonate is prone to scratches and nothing attracts them more then the bottom of the notebook.

Now, a few things missing from this machine that really draw it apart from the Macbook Pro line are the lack of an SD slot, lack of Firewire, and lack of a battery indicator light. Perhaps the first two are not big surprises as it looks as though Apple was trying to remove Firewire from their low end consumer driven Macbook, setting it apart from the high performance Macbook Pros. Again the SD slot missing from the design isn’t a big surprise as it seems as though Apple is drawing a clear line in the sand between the Macbooks and the Pros. However, I am shocked that there is no battery indicator light on these new Macbooks, especially since they also use the new 7-hour built in battery. I am not sure if it was a conflict with the design or the materials, but there certainly is plenty of white space on the sides of the machine where Apple could have put an indicator. My guess is that the polycarbonate might be difficult to work with and a series of pin-sized holes may have been difficult to achieve without compromising the solidity of the unibody enclosure. Again, just a guess that has no real basis in any sort of knowledge of polycarbonate!

There was one final thing I wanted to touch on in regard to not just the new Macbooks, but the new updates as a whole. I was quite surprised that Apple did not hold an official press and media event around the announcement of the new products. I guess we can speculate the reason for the lack of an official announcement, like the health of Steve Jobs, but I think that this level of secrecy around announcements might become more of a trend for Apple. Usually, when they make small adjustments to specs or pricing, we don’t hear anything big directly from Apple, but this recent update did bring some pretty new changes to their computer and accessory lineup that you would assume they would want to celebrate. So why not yell it from the rooftops? Well, I think for one, the ever spinning rumor mill of suspected and impending Apple products puts a dark cloud over the Apple events that usually leaves people feeling cheated or underwhelmed. Even with this update, we knew something was coming, and although many rumors of an updated Macbook, iMac and Mac Mini did come true, some fans are still waiting out that Apple Tablet that may never arrive. The pressure of an event also inevitably causes Apple stock to fall- I assume because of the build up leading to the event and the broken hearts that are left when every desire or rumor isn’t fulfilled. It is most likely our fault as obsessive consumers that demand so much from Apple and their products, that we end up ruining it for ourselves. But then again, if it weren’t for the obsessive consumers Apple would have no one to try to impress!