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Hello: Macs Are About to Get Interesting Again

cultofmac.com — On the future of macs, starting with all new technologies in 10.6, new GPUs that help with general purpose processing, iPhone/iPod halo effect etc. Looking forward to what the future will bring.

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  • BlueStarr, on 07/03/2008, -40/+27Good article. Can't wait to see what happens in the coming months and years.
    • kalkin, on 07/04/2008, -15/+71good article? it's an article based on speculation - there's nothing concrete. and the author is so far up his own apple-ass it's offensive (even to an apple fan like me).

      "...I, and most Mac people, are not like that..."

      WTF!
      • spdorsey, on 07/04/2008, -14/+16WTF is wrong with speculation?

        Is it suddenly only OK to post hard facts on Digg?

        Give it a rest. Let a few people be excited about the potential of the Mac platform for christ sake.
      • yabos, on 07/04/2008, -10/+10WTF are you talking about. OpenCL and Grand Central Dispatch are both coming to Snow Leopard.
      • unreg, on 07/04/2008, -12/+13Speculation doesn't equal results.

        The article was "Gosh I really hope Apple makes something wonderful". Nothing concrete.

        His assertion about the iPod and iPhone were laughable.

        Apple is no longer a computer manufacturer, thats become a niche business for them. It's about consumer electronics.
    • spdorsey, on 07/04/2008, -20/+9Geez - don't digg the guy down just because he wrote a comment first.

      I'm sure this comment will be dugg down also - heh.
    • clockdist, on 07/04/2008, -7/+5I Digg you up BlueStar.
      This speculation is highly likely to come to fruition, taking Snow Leopard's roadmap into consideration.
      I, too, can't wait to see what happens by this time next year.
  • kitsua, on 07/03/2008, -7/+76While I don't like the idea of changing something that works just for the sake of it, I am intrigued as to what Cupertino's going to roll out for the next generation of Macs.

    A new MacBook would be nice right about now to kick things off.
    • spdorsey, on 07/04/2008, -6/+30I do not want new macs (necessarily).

      The new processor design and latest hardware upgrades are ALWAYS welcome. I cannot wait until I'm using a 256-core Mac Pro with 3TB RAM. But that's not where I'm going with this. . .

      I agree with kitsua in that I do not think that Apple needs to redesign the enclosures of its computers just for the sake of doing so. I feel that a main reason these machines have not changed in recent years is because they have reached a "perfection" in design. The entire product line (more or less) is durable, attractive, functional, and smart.

      Why should they upgrade the designs just for the sake of new designs? They would be introducing all sorts of new hardware bugs that they don't need to.

      Stick with what works.

      (this is a repost)
      • AchaIemoipas, on 07/04/2008, -43/+8"Why should they upgrade the designs just for the sake of new designs?"

        That's what macs are about. Otherwise, they'd be selling PC's.

        The entire appeal of Mac is the design.
      • mtappenden, on 07/04/2008, -8/+29"The entire appeal of the Mac is the design"

        Coming from some lunatic ***** who knows nothing about the Mac.
      • norman619, on 07/04/2008, -20/+11AchaIemoipas:

        News flash. Macs are friggen PC's you moron. Mac's are computers not fashion statements nor are they status symbols. It's people like you who help perpetuate the image of Mac users being clueless tards.
      • AchaIemoipas, on 07/04/2008, -22/+8HAHAHA. I sold the damn things for 10 years.

        Come on, it's not as if you couldn't build a better machine yourself for less.

        My sales pitch was entirely about how cool they looked, how small they were, how thin they were, how big the screen was, even how they collected little dust.

        Maybe one client out of 100 would ask me little bit about specs, but they usually didn't even know what they were talking about.
      • blorc, on 07/04/2008, -4/+17It sounds to me like you just didn't know much about Apple computers, so you ***** with people just so you could sell them.
      • AchaIemoipas, on 07/04/2008, -19/+8"so you ***** with people just so you could sell them."

        Well duh. I'm selling a 2 to 3 grand piece of hardware to people who want to "surf the internet", watch videos online and receive emails.

        If I didn't ***** them I wouldn't have a job. I'd just tell them they can do that for 500 bucks by ordering from any PC store.

        The people who knew what they were doing (engineers and designers) didn't need a sales pitch.
      • clockdist, on 07/04/2008, -2/+13@Achalemoipas
        While I wouldn't use the word "entire," a large part of purchasing decisions *are* based on design.
        Fact is, Apple is intelligent enough to make a technically sound and advanced system while giving it a bleeding edge design. They excel at both and it works.
      • AchaIemoipas, on 07/04/2008, -11/+3Oh sure, it's a good machine. Just as good as the ones they sell for one thousand dollars less.

        It's like the MacBook Air. The people come in claiming they want "portability" so they pay a fortune for that piece of crap (we have about one third return rate because they always break).

        So they pay. Then they pay for a large and heavy external HDD. Then they come back and pay for a large and heavy external DVD drive.

        So they're walking around with tons of wires and a bunch of loose parts because they want portability.

        It's ridiculous.

        And if it weren't for their design, nobody would choose the a lot more expensive product that can do less but slightly faster. It's Mac's only advantage. And that's why they invest so much in it.
      • senatorpjt, on 07/04/2008, -1/+3They change the appearance so people can tell your computer is older than theirs, meaning of course that you have to buy a newer one than them. They did it with iPods for a while anyway.
    • chicofaraby, on 07/04/2008, -0/+37The one thing I want is a built in Blu-Ray optical. I want to burn HD out of Final Cut without leaving the box. I would love to be able to take a XDCAM disc out of the Sony camera, put it in the Mac, copy the media to my drives and get busy. Then reverse that process at the end.

      Isn't Apple a member of the Blu-Ray consortium? WTF is the holdup?
      • spdorsey, on 07/04/2008, -0/+17I agree. Blu-Ray support is overdue. There isn't even a Blu-Ray player built into DVD player!

        We use a LaCie Blu-Ray burner at work. It's GREAT being able to put 50GB on a disc!!! It has greatly helped our project archiving.

        But I have not ventured into Blu-Ray authoring yet. Should be nice.
      • HolyChimp, on 07/04/2008, -1/+6As far as I'm aware OSX doesn't contain the same DRM that other HD players and Vista come with, so you wouldn't be able to watch any HDCP Blu-Ray movies.
        Of course, it would work fine for what you want to do without HDCP, but I don't see Blu-Ray drives coming to Macs until they can market them as Blu-Ray players. Otherwise you'd have lots of pissed off customers wondering why their movies won't play.
      • Kflo, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4My only thought is that they might be leaning towards doing away with physical media all together instead of upgrading to the next level of it. With platforms like Apple TV and itunes as their centers of distribution and their increasing slant towards fully wireless home media setups, they may just ignore blu-ray until non-physical media takes over.
      • Aidje, on 07/04/2008, -1/+6@ Kflo
        That would be a very sad day. I still buy CDs, and I don't want to stop. I also don't want to have a separate piece of hardware just to rip albums. Being a college student, I also watch DVDs on my computer fairly regularly.
      • kjlowe, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1It was rumored that sony cannot make super-drives yet, so Apple says pshhhh.

        http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/03/rumor_apple_want ...

    • GJBlizzard, on 07/04/2008, -1/+22What they really need is a new MacBook Air that Kanye West won't break from typing so hard when he's angry.
    • Urkel, on 07/04/2008, -0/+5Many people are interested in what Apple will do next, but "When is the right time to buy a Mac" is a question that potential customers should never have to dwell on. That mystery may keep Apple enthusiasts interested but for everyone else then if you fail to provide an answer then the customer will move on.
    • InorganicMatter, on 07/04/2008, -7/+6Yes, a new Macbook please...WITH A DOCKING STATION!!!!!

      I refuse to buy desktops anymore, and I refuse to buy laptops without docking stations. There is no reason to run any other way: one laptop, a docking station everywhere you need one, and just take your computer everywhere you go. Unless Apple can put out a Macbook with docking, I'll be keeping this Dell Latitude for a few more years, and either getting another Latitude or a Thinkpad when the time comes.
      • EtherGnat, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4I used to have a laptop with a docking station. I didn't find it particularly more convenient than plugging in a monitor and a single USB plug (use a hub so you don't have multiple connections).
      • Amiga501, on 07/05/2008, -8/+0Well, laptops are for fagits and women. Would you like it if Steve Jobs docked his ***** right in your *****? I'm sure he would do that.
      • MacParrot, on 07/05/2008, -0/+4@Amiga501
        Let me know how well computing on a desktop goes on your next flight.
      • clockdist, on 07/06/2008, -0/+2I don't know why you're getting Dugg down.
        Docking stations are very convenient, but they're largely used in businesses only. Until Apple takes a serious attempt at trying to grad the business market, they will not consider docking stations.
      • Twee, on 07/07/2008, -0/+1Apple tried the docking station idea years ago, it was called the Powerbook Duo. I own one along with the duo dock, which we constantly made fun of for looking like a gigantic floppy drive. I also have the duo mini-dock as well. The duo was very small for its time and lacked an internal floppy drive. Go take a look at how the Powerbook Duo was received and you'll have your answer to why Apple doesn't have a docking solution with its current lineup of laptops.
    • hotpuck6, on 07/04/2008, -7/+14"While I don't like the idea of changing something that works just for the sake of it"

      I do.
      That's how innovation happens.
      • persept, on 07/04/2008, -0/+16If the new product has new innovations then you wouldn't be changing it for the sake of it, you'd be changing it because of the innovation.
      • Angostura, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3No. That's how a translucent menu bar happens.
    • Elranzer, on 07/04/2008, -0/+9Rather than a new MacBook, I'd love for them to put out a consumer-grade desktop model (not the iMac). It's been a long time since we've had a Mac, an actual Mac. We have the MacPro and the iMac, but they're specialized Macs (Pro-level or non-upgradeable).

      Bring on the mid-tower Mac and maybe consumers (and even businesses) will start buying them in droves.
      • MacParrot, on 07/05/2008, -0/+4I agree 100%. I'd buy a C2D Mac desktop tomorrow over another iMac
    • sfelton, on 07/04/2008, -7/+2Maybe add a right click to the mouse? Then they can work on the rest.
      • Aidje, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2I can't believe I'm actually humoring you, but here you go: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2000 ...

        For a laptop, by the way, I'd far rather have one button + ctrl clicking. I hope Apple never adds a second mouse button to their laptops. Wrist-twisting is no fun. Makes me feel like I'm getting carpal tunnel syndrome.
      • MacParrot, on 07/05/2008, -0/+4If only Apple would come out with some method of using multiple fingers on the trackpad to do just what you're asking for. They could call it MultiTouch or something...if only
      • sfelton, on 07/05/2008, -1/+0Oh really? But does the Mac desktop have a MultiTouch? No, you have to crtl+ click. Even the MultiTouch (two fingers +click or tap) is complicated for users who are above the age of 40. I have tried to teach some people in my neighborhood who recently switched from Windows XP laptops to Mac books, and it takes me hours to just tell explain to them that what they did on there old computer wont work anymore. Theres no reasoning with fan-boys.
      • MacParrot, on 07/05/2008, -0/+2Well they could use the Mighty Mouse that comes with their Mac (which I despise as I think it's really a crappy mouse) or use ANY other USB mouse that has right-click capability. If they can't understand how to do it after that, maybe the teacher is the problem.
  • philodygmn, on 07/04/2008, -23/+13If the new wave of Mac design isn't touch computers, I'll be pissed :-)
    • reformation, on 07/04/2008, -3/+12drunk?
    • Asidic, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4There are plenty of 'touch computers' out already. In fact, I am on one currently. It's called the HP Pavilion tx2000, and it rocks.
    • solistus, on 07/04/2008, -1/+5Why? Touch input is great for some things - handheld devices, some types of graphics work, etc. - but annoying at best for other things. For example, the iPhone software keyboard is great for a mobile device, but would anyone honestly want to replace their hardware keyboard with a bigger version of it, let alone pay a premium for the right to do so?

      Don't get me wrong; I'd love to see a MacBook Touch. What I can't imagine working well is making touch computers "the new wave of Mac design."
  • SeizeNeuf, on 07/04/2008, -12/+28I agree with this article, it's been a while since we've seen new designs. Who knows what kind of features the next era of apple computers will have
  • ryanbates80, on 07/04/2008, -37/+5I haven't really bin able to play around with macs at all, but if i see one that performs better then what i have now, runs games faster and uses hardware acceleration to make internet game play better without stupidly high pings like 500 then I'm sure to change soon.
    • waydee, on 07/04/2008, -2/+50... Hardware acceleration to lower your gaming latency?

      try changing ISPs.
      • Ramble, on 07/04/2008, -2/+1A slow processor or graphics card can increase latency.
    • Kingoftherings, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3You use that one $300 NIC?
      • t0x2c, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1One of my old BBY customers came in and wanted us to install one. It actually helps an insane amount.
    • solistus, on 07/04/2008, -2/+3...What?

      1. I GUARANTEE you that there is a Mac that performs better than whatever you're using. Not because high-end Macs are unbeatable (although they're pretty damn high end)

      2. Every Mac has hardware acceleration. Hell, any computer you've bought in the past decade probably does. The low-end Macs use integrated hardware acceleration, but it's still hardware acceleration. All the non-low end models have dedicated graphics cards.

      3. Ping has very little to do with hardware. It's a measure of connection speed. A high ping means a ***** internet connection to the server, not slow hardware. Hardware will primarily affect visual quality of the graphics and the framerate.

      So I guess you're sure to change now? Buy one of each; I promise it'll make your pings better. The fact that I'm a shareholder has nothing to do with that advice ;)
  • baconz, on 07/04/2008, -20/+130I would like a Macbook Pro that doesn't cause 3rd degree burns. Until then, I'll have to do with one charred stump of a hand and a well-done wrist. I even have an iLap and it doesn't help!
    • TallestSkil, on 07/04/2008, -13/+0It's best to not eat the glitzy flaming shish-kabobs while on the computer, thanks.
    • jcblitz, on 07/04/2008, -0/+17Bummer about the iLap, I almost bought one too but because of my legs lighting on fire.
    • HolyChimp, on 07/04/2008, -1/+13It's a sad reality of putting that much power into such a small space. My MacBook gets bloody hot too when I'm doing something intensive, or watching flash movies.
      If you can find a Laptop sold these days that doesn't get hot then I'd like to hear about it.
      • nevermind13, on 07/04/2008, -24/+8To be honest, no it isn't. Its simply that apple puts how it looks over internal design. My thinkpad is more powerful than any Macbook Pro you can buy, and with little load it typically sits at around 20 degrees C. I've heard of Macbook Pros getting to above 70 degrees. Granted my Thinkpad can't run OSX but it does seem clear the internals of the Macbook Pro are not all that functionally well designed.
      • tidu, on 07/04/2008, -0/+9I use smcFanControl... it doesn't work wonders, but sometimes the fans don't trigger and you start to feel that you're at 70C with 2000rpm fans. Manually setting the fan can keep it at "a cool" 50C which is still mildly untolerable.
      • KMartSheriff, on 07/04/2008, -5/+6I highly doubt that nevermind13.
      • Magicmasta, on 07/04/2008, -2/+11Do you live in the antartic? 20C is impossible for CPU temperature if your room is room temperature!
      • DaffyDuck, on 07/04/2008, -0/+11The problem isn't design, it's manufacturing. I have a 1st gen MBP and when I first got it, it was scalding hot. I did something most people would be too scared to do but I have had a cool running MBP for a couple of years because of it. I opened it up, took it apart, and reapplied the thermal paste on the processor. It turns out they use way too much of it. The manufacturer in China seems to think more is better. In reality the best heat transfer comes with a superthin layer. Too much of it causes it to act as a barrier. Doing this allowed the heat to be effectively pulled into the heat pumps and exit through the vents along the hinge. My MBP is no hotter than my mother's Dell which is now on my lap.
      • diggimator, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3I have a MacBook (never owned a MBP) but it's actually cooler than my older iBook in the palm-rest area. I'm sure the MB is hotter in other places, though.
      • GreatDrok, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1I have a first gen MacBook Pro 2.0Ghz. When I first got it the heat off the thing was unbearable. Then some nice soul wrote Fan Control which gives you complete control over the fan speeds so you can set the speed at a particular temp. This is brilliant as my CPUs never exceed 50C and it is perfectly comfortable to have it sat on my lap now. I didn't have to open it up and do the thermal paste thing. Apple has tuned the fans a bit since mine came out but I still run Fan Control. My MBP is the coolest machine I have ever owned. In both senses.
    • Anzat, on 07/04/2008, -2/+49Try wearing pants.
      • baconz, on 07/04/2008, -0/+25Computer and pants... sounds crazy. But I'll try anything once.
      • diggimator, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1His hands are being cooked, though.
    • Alexrrr, on 07/04/2008, -1/+7Penryn based MacBook Pros are not as hot... that's a start, right?
    • TheKarmaPolice, on 07/04/2008, -11/+5it's not often you see the mac crowd saying something negative about their beautiful laptops like this. it's a little sad that people need to buy another product (iLap? you know you can buy products that don't start with a lowercase "i," right?)

      well thanks for being honest.
      • solistus, on 07/04/2008, -3/+4It's sad that people would buy a laptop stand? It must be TRAGIC when people buy other accessories for their laptops, like bags or mice, right? ***** troll.
      • TheKarmaPolice, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1i'm not saying that there's anything wrong with protecting your laptop, or using a more efficient mouse rather than a track-pad. i'm just saying it's a shame that people have to buy a product to make up for a flawed design.

        i have nothing against macs, i'm just pointing out that i find that a little weird. and there was no reason for you to think i was a troll. until now, at least.
    • firemaker103, on 07/04/2008, -5/+3My Xplorer X7-7700 is more powerful, but less hot and less noisy than my Macbook when they're both doing something intensive.
      • solistus, on 07/04/2008, -2/+4The Xplorer is also about a third thicker than the MacBook. Add 30% of its size in extra space to dissipate heat and the MacBook would be pretty cool, too.

        Also, do you really mean MacBook or MacBook Pro? Pros are indeed pretty hot; they run similar GPUs and faster CPUs than the Xplorer in a smaller chassis. MacBooks run pretty cool, in my experience.
    • nextse7en, on 07/04/2008, -1/+15When playing Crysis on my MBP, it gets warm, but not hot. I've got a peryn model.

      It DOES get warmer than my thinkpad though. Aluminum, go figure.


    • BiIlyMays, on 07/04/2008, -0/+5Its funny that you should mention that because I actually HAVE burns on my legs from my macbook pro. On my left leg, there is a large burn about 3 inches by 1 inch.
      • lintmonkey, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4Try Oxi-Clean, it might take it right off.
      • BiIlyMays, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1Oxi-Clean did not work well..... In fact....














        IT WORKED AMAZING
    • solistus, on 07/04/2008, -2/+8Apple actually stopped using the term 'laptop' in its marketing a long time ago for precisely this reason; they're not supposed to go on your lap, officially. Apple portables tend to be very compact (about 1" thick compared to 1.3-1.5" minimum for many manufacturers' laptops), and the pros have been made of aluminum for a while now. Both of these design decisions have their advantages, as well as the common disadvantage of making the outside of the machine hotter with regular use. Apple's been known to do some crazy heat management in its desktops (the Power Mac G5 debuted Apple's use of special heatsinks with mini liquid cooling systems built in), but that sort of thing isn't so practical for a portable.

      I have a pre-Penryn 15" MBP. After heavy use, the strip of metal behind the keyboard, as well as the same area on the bottom gets hot enough not to want to leave on bare skin. It seems a lot worse when booted to Windows; I think the power management features may not work as well as under OSX, so the hardware is running at full power when it doesn't need to, but I'm not positive about that.

      One trick that works well for extended use is to use a cookie cooling rack as a stand. In addition to acting as a sort of external heat sink to pull heat away from the computer, it allows air circulation under the chassis, which helps a LOT.
      • diggimator, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2That's the beauty of it, though. Sort of. It gets hottest near the monitor and underneath the PC. At least it's designed to be away from your palms where it could give you burns.
      • CCmachined, on 07/04/2008, -2/+1diggimator: but its closer to your Penis, where it _could_ give you burns.
      • solistus, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1CCmachined: Unless your penis is a couple feet long, I'm not sure how that would work. You'd have to be holding the laptop vertically against your stomach, wouldn't you? Kinkeh.
    • Cuffer, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1Three words: SMC Fan Control!
    • 1nhuman, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1My Macbook Pro 17" (Penhryn) is fine. Never gets too hot.
    • BossKey, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1How old is your MacBook Pro? I have the very newest generation (Penryn CPU), and I am surprised at how it isn't running hot at all, even when pushed. It seems cooler than my old PowerBook.
  • ahhell, on 07/04/2008, -32/+168Well that was pointless.
    • BrendanSheehan, on 07/04/2008, -8/+2Yeah, not one mention of multi-touch. That's where the real Mac innovation is going to come from.
      • ShellShock11, on 07/04/2008, -0/+4Read the article closely you ***** moron.
    • dn11, on 07/04/2008, -5/+3message I took away: "Apple needs to change the design of their computers more often so that uncool people that don't upgrade twice a year can't continue to pass as cool".
    • gcman94, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1true dat
    • MasterLevi, on 07/05/2008, -1/+1What I gleaned from this was that macs need to have a facelift from time to time. It wasn't the macs that brought Apple back from the grave (or what was nearly the grave). It was the iPod and the iPhone. The iPod mainly. But that was the thing. Apple made computers (using OS X) that were as easy to use as an iPod or iPhone. Easy means wider market. But even a nice market needs to change appearance sometimes. Changes in the line, not necessarily appearance so much as contents, are needed. They have to be up to date, but what does it really matter that the mac book pros look so similar to the Powerbooks? It doesn't. It's a sleek design and Apple has stuck with it because it sexy.
  • waydee, on 07/04/2008, -74/+27Buried as applespam.
    • rossbrown, on 07/04/2008, -7/+51...posted in the Apple section.
      The audacity!
    • supersteve, on 07/04/2008, -8/+3your an idiot
    • solistus, on 07/04/2008, -5/+3zomg people talk about Apple! It's almost like they're one of the largest and most influential tech companies!

      You don't need to inform us that you don't find a story's subject matter interesting. If you think all stories about Apple are "spam," turn off the ***** section in your Digg options or STFU. You know you actually do like these stories, not because you read them and then have intelligent things to add to a discussion, but because it gives you another chance to bitch.
      • InfamousGuZ, on 07/05/2008, -2/+4Fanboy
      • solistus, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1Dude, he posted a sentence fragment post bitching about the mere fact that the story was related to a certain topic. I told him to turn the ***** topic off or STFU. How does that make me a fanboy?

        Or am I a fanboy for pointing out that Apple is large and influential? That's objectively true; they're one of the top selling computer manufacturers and they have had huge influences on other companies in the field (e.g., virtually every cell phone maker has an iPhone copycat now). Finding any comment that even _looks_ pro-Apple (nothing I said was really pro or against anything but stupid spam comments on Digg) and calling the poster a fanboy is about as helpful as commenting with crap like "Buried as applespam."
      • InfamousGuZ, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1Replying to comments that are like that does nothing but encourage them to do it again, you realize that don't you?
      • solistus, on 07/10/2008, -0/+1You need to use less pronouns. There is no antecedent in your post to "that," "them," "it" or "you." WTF?
    • pradaaddict, on 07/04/2008, -3/+6If anything you are the spammer. A quick look at your profile and all you do is say "buried as applespam" If you have a problem with Apple stories then just turn off Apple in your Digg feed.

      Unless you enjoy being a tosser.
    • Brad324, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3I agree. Kevin should modify digg to keep the apple section off the front page.
  • DeFex, on 07/04/2008, -28/+16In other words other companies are busy working on cool stuff, Some of which apple will use once incomparability has been added. nothing really different than usual then.
    • sdotbailey, on 07/04/2008, -3/+1are you high? you do know that apple is the one that always cleans up ad design awards shows right? no one ever thought, "ooh, sexy' when looking a ***** up thinkpad.

      dummy.
  • racco, on 07/04/2008, -21/+4yup
  • mwaleed86, on 07/04/2008, -43/+7Are you guyz talking about the Mc Donald BIG MAC??





    i'm lovin it!
    • digitalpencil, on 07/04/2008, -3/+4and the award for worst comment on digg today goes to... mwaleed86!
      come on down, take a bow.
    • solistus, on 07/04/2008, -1/+4Just because there's an "Add a Comment" option doesn't mean you have to use it when you have nothing intelligent to say.
    • lazersailer, on 07/04/2008, -2/+1I actually kinda liked that!
      • solistus, on 07/05/2008, -0/+2These are the kind of embarrassing admissions that you should keep to yourself, for those dark nights alone drinking the shame away.
  • jmtest2, on 07/04/2008, -25/+4woo hoo

    macs are fascinating
  • xatx2, on 07/04/2008, -29/+11lame...wait wait wait - that pic is pretty accurate as there's nothing inside jobs' brain
  • AzzX, on 07/04/2008, -50/+26Typical Mac article which alludes to absolutely nothing substantial.


    A lot like OSX. - DIGG me down lads - You know you want too.
    • spdorsey, on 07/04/2008, -7/+12OK - since you asked.
    • solistus, on 07/04/2008, -2/+1Absolutely nothing susbtantial? Speculation about thousand-core CPU/GPU hybrids, changing market trends, specific new technologies that Apple has begun using, specific new features planned for 10.6... What the hell WOULD qualify as substantial to you?
      • AzzX, on 07/05/2008, -1/+1you said it - speculation.
      • solistus, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1The thousand-core CPU bit was speculation, but the list of features already being built into Snow Leopard wasn't. Besides, speculation can still be substantial; for example, when it's backed up extensively with examples, known trends and solid analysis. An article about what is going to happen in the future of the tech sector is always going to be at least partially speculative, but that hardly means "absolutely nothing substantial." Or were you expecting high res photos of some super secret unreleased products? ;)
  • bobangitanov2, on 07/04/2008, -35/+20Hello: Macs have been interesting since the "invention" of the 1 button mouse with no scroll wheel.
    • miguelandres, on 07/04/2008, -4/+13You realise that the first commercially available mouse came from apple and it was 1 button, way before someone thought of putting a wheel on a pointing device?
      • MrMax182, on 07/04/2008, -9/+6Yeah, they stole it from Xerox, and they teke too much time to finally use a mouse with right click and scroll.
      • boobsbr, on 07/04/2008, -6/+4xerox came up with the mouse.
      • punkcat, on 07/04/2008, -1/+6he said commercially available.

        if you want to make snide comment on a mouse choose the godawful puck.

  • reformation, on 07/04/2008, -25/+18Ludicrous speculation.
    • solistus, on 07/04/2008, -1/+1Ludicrous? One of the most substantial sections of the article was a list of specific features planned for Snow Leopard. Several of the technologies listed (e.g., SSDs) have already found their way onto Apple's product line, and the others are known major developments in the field. You clearly don't have a damn clue what you're talking about. Troll.
  • sarixe, on 07/04/2008, -23/+10these comments suck!
  • macmangb, on 07/04/2008, -28/+10Apple is revolutionizing computing as we now it. Redmond start your photocopiers!
    • Elranzer, on 07/04/2008, -2/+5Leopard copied Vista more than Vista copied Leopard. But thanks for playing.
      • sdotbailey, on 07/04/2008, -5/+1hahahahahahahahaa

        you mean with all the bloated code, a simple facelift on a system that's pretty much the same as the previous version, nothing worth upgrading for, and massive dismissal by business and even hardcore fans? oh, no, wait, that is Vista!

        dude, they haven't come up with anything interesting other than figuring out a way to lock people into a proprietary software loop and paying for overpriced, mediocre OS'.

        give it up, the computer world looks at apple and then copies....and that's been proven.

        oh, btw, leopard was released with about 5 major new features in 18 months, vista took 6 years and amounted to some bad plastic surgery since they ripped out each of the fancy elements they said they'd add...
      • Ramble, on 07/04/2008, -1/+4Prove it bailey?
  • sarixe, on 07/04/2008, -19/+6these comments suck!
  • JasonCox, on 07/04/2008, -15/+205Macs have been interesting since they switched to Intel and you could dual boot between two quality OS's.
    • nblsavage, on 07/04/2008, -41/+192OS X and Linux?
      • pookkake, on 07/04/2008, -1/+31you could do that on ppc macs too
      • solistus, on 07/04/2008, -0/+5pookkake: yeah, but you couldn't use any x86-specific code. If you thought the lackluster commercial support for Linux is bad, wait till you try not having most of the commonly used code available thanks to your hardware platform.
      • zulfy26, on 07/04/2008, -13/+2He said OS X and Linux because Windows XP/Vista isn't considered "quality".
      • vault, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3Thanks for clarifying that, zulfy. We weren't sure.
      • rolf, on 07/05/2008, -1/+2Psst, zulfy26 -- do you also go by the name "Captain Obvious"? Just want to make sure.
    • OpCzar, on 07/04/2008, -23/+11In before MS bashing.
    • Kosher1947, on 07/04/2008, -6/+23Oh, now you could dual boot between OSX and Linux back in the PPC days.
      • HolyChimp, on 07/04/2008, -20/+5Between the UNIX of OSX and the mainstream 'everything is made for me' Windows, why would you need Linux?
      • boobsbr, on 07/04/2008, -5/+11@HolyChimp

        i don't know, maybe beucase there's a ton of stuff available for free on linux, which doesn't run on mac os x, and costs money on windows...
      • HolyChimp, on 07/04/2008, -14/+6@boobsbr: If money is a problem you wouldn't be buying a Mac anyway.
      • solistus, on 07/04/2008, -1/+6HolyChimp: I call your bluff. Name mainstream manufacturers' computers with comparable specs and a substantially lower price than the MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac Pro. I'll spot you the MacBook Air, but that's about it.

        Vista costs like $400. You can almost get a Mac Mini (along with a better OS) for that. Apple has never charged more than $129 for an OS upgrade, and they don't do the ***** multi-tiered pricing where you have to pay twice as much to get a bootable install disc to install on a freshly formatted drive or to get all the features. There's just the regular edition and a Server edition (but the regular edition can serve content just fine with Apache or whatever).
    • heanshi, on 07/04/2008, -11/+4pain to get the driver to work tho
      • freqk, on 07/04/2008, -2/+17No. They're included with the Leopard install DVD. Just pop that in.
      • KMartSheriff, on 07/04/2008, -2/+12Yeah, if you're an idiot or don't know how to put a DVD into a computer.
      • shank2001, on 07/04/2008, -0/+5What are you talking about? I run Vista 64 as my primary OS on my Mac Pro Tower. I cannot tell you how smooth it has been, best computer I have ever owned. Never have had driver issues, or any compatiblity issues whatsoever. Plus having dual boot is great!! The more I use OS X the more I like it.
    • dashdingo, on 07/04/2008, -8/+11Windows and Linux were possible of doing this how long ago?
    • umbrellainabin, on 07/04/2008, -4/+5im curious which other were you thinking of?
    • 5plic3r, on 07/04/2008, -0/+5The transition from PPC to Intel was boring compared to the switch from OS 9 to OS X.
    • zephyr42, on 07/04/2008, -2/+12 different flavors of linux?
    • CCmachined, on 07/04/2008, -5/+2Linux and BSD?
      come on, an OS even more restrictive than Windows (OSX) can't be considered "quality".
    • shank2001, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3Yep, that is why I bought my Mac Pro Tower. Best workstation PC for the money out there. I run Vista on it, but OS X is impressing me a lot!
    • tomis, on 07/05/2008, -1/+1Points to you sir, best troll on this thread.
  • mamee, on 07/04/2008, -16/+6No it's not.
  • BFREEXXX, on 07/04/2008, -24/+11Wake me up when Apple puts a BIG in front of the MAC. Then it will be interesting. Give me special sauce!
    • spoonchucks, on 07/04/2008, -1/+2I'll put special sauce in your big mac...
  • dilbert, on 07/04/2008, -17/+3Although Jonathan Ivy knows how to design stuff, regarding computers i like function before fashion and don't want to pay a lot for a computer.
    • NeuroticLymbo, on 07/04/2008, -3/+6fyi: it's Jonathan Ive... not Ivy.
      Function is nice, but damn, he does know how to make a piece of kit sexy... and please stop perpetuating the price myth.
    • Kelmon, on 07/04/2008, -4/+2I've got news for you, form is directly related to function. I'm happy to spend money on something that delivers both. Function without form is almost as useless as form without function. The exception to this is useless stuff like silly paint job.
    • Ramble, on 07/04/2008, -1/+1Get a thinkpad then.
  • antechinus, on 07/04/2008, -21/+5The only interesting Macintosh was the 1984 model.
  • esquire360, on 07/04/2008, -15/+5I must say the "Grand Central" concept is going to help high end computer huge... It very innovative I feel, Hopefully snow leopard will keep my mac from freezing. It freezes every 3 days
  • sickb13, on 07/04/2008, -23/+7Macs suck - pre-designed to be obsolete.

    Yeah I said it.
    • Kosher1947, on 07/04/2008, -2/+3And no one cares.
    • Alegoo92, on 07/04/2008, -2/+5I guess all of us mac users are giving up our boxes now since someone FINALLY said something negative about them, thank you so much for "saying it" and opening our eyes: before that I thought that I was having no problems doing everything I want to do on my three year old iMac G5.

      Now, I see it's obsolete... better move to Dell.
      • sickb13, on 07/04/2008, -3/+3Yeah, you're right, Mac's are totally great and you're not being cornered into buying another one at all.

        Let's see, I've got my new MacBook Air, and I'm going to play a CD, or maybe my battery is dead after a year (like most are designed to be), and I want to replace it. Or, maybe for some crazy reason I'd like to plug in a USB device without sanding down the connector. Ohhhhh, snap, that's right, I can't do any of that with my $3,000+ computer.

        But it fits in an ENVELOPE! That probably saved a ton of people shipping costs to mail it back to Mac.

        And, besides the comically useful Macbook Air, you're basically paying for a shiny case. A Mac is an OS and white shiny plastic. You can build a "Mac" yourself and avoid being cornered into their no-upgrades-possible-beause-our-design-is-so-awesome philosophy that they try to slang to everyone. Do you not realize they do the same thing with the iPod? It's a business model, not a coincidence.

      • CCmachined, on 07/04/2008, -1/+1sickb13: dugg for truth.
        although the MacBook Air is a bit of an extreme example, it certianly shows apple's "form over function" philosophy.
    • xrispy, on 07/04/2008, -1/+2Obsolete? Maybe, if want the latest hardware specs and features. If your referring to the compatibility of the latest OS with older hardware compare upgrading as I have on a regular basis, a 7 year old PowerBook with a completely different processor architecture (G4) running OSX and a 2 year old Dell Box running Windows. If you've tried "upgrading" to Vista I'm sure you can guess which I found easy and which I found painful beyond belief.

      Backward compatibility is doubtlessly part of the reason Macs generally hold there value better than Windows PCs.
  • felch, on 07/04/2008, -4/+85This article doesn't include any new information. They don't even get the name of the Core Quad right...and dismiss with with a 'whatever'. This is just blogspam designed to get more ad clicks.
  • mrheyguy, on 07/04/2008, -16/+8cultofmac.com eh?
  • frosted, on 07/04/2008, -20/+8Shut up and buy a new Mac every 2 years like Steve Jobs wants you to.
    Throw away your old one, because if you can't afford a new computer every 2 years then you belong left behind.
    • maexus, on 07/04/2008, -1/+6Macs are known for last a long time and retaining their resale value. I know some musicians who still use powerbooks and ibooks.
    • digiguy, on 07/04/2008, -1/+2How is he forcing me?
  • JEH6421, on 07/04/2008, -17/+3Apple....hahahahahhahahhaha
  • freakgd, on 07/04/2008, -31/+36How about lowering prices, there good computers but not worth it at there current price tags.
    • verevi, on 07/04/2008, -9/+13"there good computers" ?? Nice command of the English language there, buddy.
    • Anzat, on 07/04/2008, -2/+34Points for misusing "there" to mean both "they're" and "their" in the same sentence.
    • Halokhan, on 07/04/2008, -2/+11Dugg to show his stupidity.
    • Braxo, on 07/04/2008, -9/+8Knowing and working on a Mac without the worry of viruses is worth the extra cash for them. When my work gets hit with a virus all the windows people have to take 2 entire days cleaning out their computers while my department keeps working like nothing happened.

      How much is your time worth?
      • iizh, on 07/04/2008, -5/+5You're a ***** idiot if you actually manage to get your computer infected. It doesn't happen on its own.
      • Ravatar, on 07/04/2008, -1/+32 days? Your company needs a real IT staff.

        Re-image, and reconnect, done.
      • Tyrghast, on 07/04/2008, -3/+6My PC wants a word with you. It runs Windows, has never had a single malfunction, virus, spyware program, anything. It doesn't run any firewall. Once a year I run Spybot on the off-chance I caught something. For the same price as a new Mac, I can put Mac specs to shame. Macs are a fad, they are only purchased for their looks and lies (like 'Macs are better for multimedia editing').
      • ZellD, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2Really Tyrghast? That's what I used to think until I started shopping for a server.

        The base macpro is 2800. The processors alone bought from newegg.com cost 1440. When I add in the rest of the components I get around 2400. I don't think 400 is an outrageous surcharge for a manufacturer. Try and buy the same computer from dell and see where you land.
      • clockdist, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1@Tyrghast: Are you trying to say that you run Windows without virus protection? That's nuts. If you haven't gotten a virus again, you're just lucky. If you're running Vista, then you have a better chance.
    • DarkDx, on 07/04/2008, -3/+1Let's just ignore him.
    • KMartSheriff, on 07/04/2008, -8/+9"How about lowering the prices"

      No one's forcing you to buy it. Enjoy your ***** HP laptop.
      • CCmachined, on 07/04/2008, -3/+2nope. the base MacBook is £700. Guess what, i can get a dell laptop with Ubuntu for £330. And for that, i get an old celeron. and Guess what else? it still boots in under a minute. How long does it take your MacBook to boot with the bloated OSX, buddy? is it the absolute base model?
      • teamtom, on 07/06/2008, -0/+0First, why you booting up so much windows boy? Second, I boot up about every software update, that's it, and mine boots in a 1.5 minutes, and to top it off, when I open the lid, it doesn't ask me to update spyware, adware, virus protection,or whatever other crap is on the machine, it actually realizes that I want to use my laptop. I have an upper end windows notebook and it is ridiculous the amount of time it takes to get going after sleep mode.
    • clockdist, on 07/04/2008, -4/+2Prices always lower...you just have to wait.
      Get a 2006 model if you want lower prices.
    • RobotLeAwesome, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3Macs retain value waaaaaaay better.

      I sold a 4 year old broken powerbook for 500 dollars – try selling a 4 year old broken laptop that's not a mac for that much.
      • angusware, on 07/05/2008, -0/+2I sold a 7 year old Powerbook for $700. Stupid old people on eBay: Fail.
    • shank2001, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2I challenge you to find a computer with equivalent components as what the Xeon Mac Pro Tower has inside for less money. Come on, try it! Go to New Egg and try to build your own, even! Seriously, you will not find a cheaper equivalent Xeon workstation than the Mac Pro (dont add extra ram or hds or anything from apple though, that is where Apple gouges you).

      Come on, someone step up to the challenge here. My claim: the Mac Pro tower is the best deal on a Xeon workstation around! Price to beat: $2,800 for equivalent components. Dual E5426 processors, 1600Mhz bus, 2 gigs of fully buffered RAM DDR2 800 DIMM ECC, 320GB hd, etc. etc. I CHALLENGE YOU!
      • RobotLeAwesome, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1Squirtle go!

        quick, squirtle – use water gun!

        it's super effective!



        I win.
    • domomike, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3Considering I don't have to spend man-hours problem solving the OS, I don't have to buy antivirus software, and I don't have to buy antispyware software... My Macs were pretty darn cheap to me.
    • teamtom, on 07/05/2008, -1/+1First, look up homonyms...second, I love how everyone tells Apple that THEIR prices are too high. Do people continually post on car message boards and complain that Porsche or Ferrari have good cars but they really need to just lower THEIR price? Dude, go build YOUR own computer if you want a cheap PC. YOU'RE barking up the wrong tree THERE if you think THEY'RE going to do that.
  • Kelmon, on 07/04/2008, -11/+17This article is both uninteresting and, frankly, unsubstantiated. There's definitely good things going on for Snow Leopard, but the suggestion that Apple suddenly has spare resources to dedicate to the Mac is unfounded. I highly doubt that the iPhone/iPod groups are sat around doing nothing on their respective products, not least because both are at least as important as the Mac business. I also see no reason why new Mac designs are coming - heck, I've not seen a new PowerBook/MacBook Pro design for the past 5-years, so what makes anyone think a new one is just around the corner now?
    • lintmonkey, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2It's the same logic as: "My flying car hasn't been invented in the last sixty years, so it must be coming any day now!"
  • Zippo, on 07/04/2008, -0/+22With the constant improvement of hardware and software, there's never a dull day in the tech industry...
    That's why I love being a geek.
    • NeelxSarkar, on 07/04/2008, -1/+1Yeah, but I hope they don't upgrade the macbooks for a WHILLEEEE, I just bought a macbook about 3 months ago...
      If they upgrade soon I'm going to be pissed.
    • Zippo, on 07/04/2008, -1/+1As a Mac fanboy, I hate to break you the bad news... but Apple does not sit around and let products get dated... they're very quick to bring in the new and throw out the old.
      In fact, you shouldn't have even purchased that Macbook three months ago... any Apple geek will tell you it's a bad idea to buy Apple stuff that close to a keynote...

      I imagine new or upgraded Macbooks will be released this fall. Sorry.
  • Betrayer, on 07/04/2008, -30/+25Its amzing how APPLE FANBOYS can take the exact same hardware as a PC, and worship it like a god.
    • fLUx1337, on 07/04/2008, -12/+11By worshipping it like a god, do you mean not torturing it with Windows?
    • wacomwacoff, on 07/04/2008, -13/+23Apple takes the same basic hardware, thinks about three years into the future features-wise, puts it into an attractive, thoughtfully-designed case, and makes it all work with the best OS on the market. The result is a better product. It's not hard to figure this stuff out.
    • maexus, on 07/04/2008, -4/+18It's the OS. Which is weird that you talking only about Apple fanboys considering all the attempts to get OS X on non Apple hardware. OS X is a solid and quality OS and is one of the core assets that move Apple hardware.
    • kaiquan, on 07/04/2008, -5/+8dude, it's the software, not the hardware that counts

      • clockdist, on 07/04/2008, -2/+3I Digg you up kaiquan.
        The phrase is "killer app" not "killer hardware"
      • Amiga501, on 07/05/2008, -3/+0My how time reveals your ignorance. Take a trip down Apples propaganda spin in years past. They did much to play up the difficulty in upgrading PC machines.
  • HubbertWins, on 07/04/2008, -19/+7You dare speak ill of Apple on this site! Fanboys gonna digg you all the way down...and now me too.
  • Urkel, on 07/04/2008, -3/+24You know what would make Macs interesting again? Apple actually refreshing their products in unison rather than delaying one portion of their product line (Macbook, Mac Pro, iMac, Mac Mini, iPod etc) in order to increase attention to another (iPhone, iPhone, iPhone)?

    Apple die-hards may get be okay with relying on rumors and hype to keep them interested in Apple, but those that simply want to buy the latest Apple product do not like being treated like suckers who are supposed to sit patiently and guess what's coming next.
    • Alegoo92, on 07/04/2008, -2/+1Sure that would make it interesting: but how much does the current line need refreshing?
      "If it aint broke, don't fix it" is the saying, even though I'd still like to see some new case designs.
    • thickdrummer, on 07/04/2008, -3/+2would you like some cheese to go with that? :)
    • jazzbeaux, on 07/04/2008, -1/+1Or to have Apple slash the price after the first wave of suckers jumps in the pool....
    • agitpropre, on 07/04/2008, -1/+2Sorry, but as long as Apple is trying to make money on their products they will never "refresh in unison". That is directly counter to any notion of marketing; they don't want to bury the announcement of new features of one device under another - Apple wants you to buy both! And I think it is fair to observe that Apple is wise in the ways of marketing...
      • johnpaul191, on 07/04/2008, -1/+1By refresh do you mean the case or the guts? I'm not a design freak, but i think the current enclosures look a-ok. If that's why you upgrade your computer.... well, i don't have anything to say.
        As for innards, Apple upgrades them as soon as possible, unless there is some hang up. Why would *any* company not use the best components they can for the price bracket? Obviously there is a whole business aspect to building computers, but if Apple/Dell/Sony is not using the "best" processors, HDDs, RAM there has to be some reason, and it's not to "screw" the customer.
  • Zaggynl, on 07/04/2008, -19/+10Macs will be interesting when they drop the hip attitude and ridiculous high prices.
    • shank2001, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2I challenge you to find a computer with equivalent components as what the Xeon Mac Pro Tower has inside for less money. Come on, try it! Go to New Egg and try to build your own, even! Seriously, you will not find a cheaper equivalent Xeon workstation than the Mac Pro (dont add extra ram or hds or anything from apple though, that is where Apple gouges you).

      Come on, someone step up to the challenge here. My claim: the Mac Pro tower is the best deal on a Xeon workstation around! Price to beat: $2,800 for equivalent components. Dual E5426 processors, 1600Mhz bus, 2 gigs of fully buffered RAM DDR2 800 DIMM ECC, 320GB hd, etc. etc. I CHALLENGE YOU!
  • yosserhughes, on 07/04/2008, -17/+8Sorry boys and girls, 'Mac' and 'interesting" do not belong in the same sentence.
  • jmo666, on 07/04/2008, -18/+6The title of this article is quite misleading. When were Macs ever "interesting" to anyone that doesn't wear a helmet and arm floaties?
  • jicon, on 07/04/2008, -4/+41Couple counter arguments to the article -

    1. Will Snow Leopard truly be 64 bit? I remember reading an Ars Technica article pinpointing much of Leopard is still 32 bit, even though the OS can address 64 bits of memory... Lots of bottlenecks.

    2. Will it matter? Aside from heavy duty scientific or data crunching tasks (Which other variations of UNIX are better at handling), who needs 64 bit?

    3. The computer line aside from the iMac has not changed drastically since the iPod was introduced. I think the biggest shocker of all was the Mac Mini - for both price point and design. Might be a bit difficult to have lightning strike twice on that one.

    4. How does this guy know how many resources Apple has on the computer hardware design? Didn't we read there was a scramble to pour resources on the iPhone and later Leopard to finish those projects?

    Additionally, if you want greater performance out of the Mac, drop HFS.

    Not that I'm advocating moving to NTFS, but it would be wonderful if write access was available to Windows NTFS shares from a Mac.
    • boobsbr, on 07/04/2008, -2/+7i don't like HFS at all, my brother's macbook pro gets EXTREMELY slow when his HD is almost full. seems pathetic to me that FAT32, NTFS, ext2, ext3, reiserFS don't have this problem and HFS does.
      • Jexie, on 07/04/2008, -3/+7Fat and NTFS both also have this issue, I can't speak for the others. That problem does suck but at least I can buy more space, I don't miss having to defrag once a week thats for damn sure.
      • R031E5, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2I recall a rumor back when Leopard was going to be introduced, that ZFS was going to be the standard file system. Please make it the default file system on Snow Leopard. I have an 80 gig MBP (1st gen) and my system gets freaking slow when I'm running out of space. Please Steve, make that happen
      • boobsbr, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1@Jexie
        i'm sorry to tell you this but I have a 60gb hd from 2002 with 4 partitions, 2 ntfs and 2 fat32. my computer does not slow down because all the partitions are full. and my brothers mac with hfs slows down to the point of not being usable.

        i must also say that i only used to defrag in the 1st year of use, never had any problems with fragmentation after that.

        using linux at work with reiserfs and it never had problems with fragmentation either.


        @R031E5
        yes, i also heard that, and that zfs would be a big breakthrough, some linux distros would adopt it too. never heard anything after that rumour either ...
    • davidlitts, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1VFS for the win.
    • adairnic, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3I found a solution that works fairly well for a Mac to read/write NTFS volumes

      http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/how-to-r ...

      • johnpaul191, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3I am guessing they assumed the iPhone sucked up a lot of engineers? The iPhone will constantly be refined, but when it was secret and compartmentalized there had to be a lot of extra bodies on the project. Not sure how that still matters since Apple first unveiled it 18 months ago.
    • robrohan, on 07/04/2008, -1/+5Hi jicon,

      I am not an expert on any of these, but I do know a bit about what you are asking. I hope some of these help.

      1. I can't answer that without breaking an NDA, but if you look around on the net you can find the answer (or by joining the Apple Developer connection).

      2. Yes. I'll answer your question with a question from the past - who needs more than 64k RAM? Aside from games, it will enable not only way faster and crazier applications, things like encryption, live video editing, anything that requires computation to be faster (which is mostly everything aside from Word). What would you do with a super computer in your backpack?

      3. I am not sure what you mean there, but I think most of apple's product line has been a hit. If you look at old apple laptops they are quite different than the newer generation ones. The only one I can of that isn't quite a hit is Macbook Air (and only because it's not really a product designed for "the masses" (like me)).

      4. I don't know how he knows - good question. I do remember reading they pulled resources from OS X to iPhone, but I think that the pulling of people was to get OS X on the iphone which appears to have been done with the iphone 1.0 release. I obviously have no idea if the OS X resources are still working on the iPhone, but it would seem like they would need less resources on it now that it's on the device and they are "just" making changes to it.

      Re: HFS - I encourage you to join the Apple Developer connection to learn a lot more about that...

      You can connect to NTFS via network share - I am curious why read / write natively would been a boon


      • shank2001, on 07/04/2008, -1/+1"You can connect to NTFS via network share - I am curious why read / write natively would been a boon"

        Well for starters, those who use windows as the same time as OS X on the same machine. I come from the PC world, and I have tons of NTFS volumes. One thing holding me back to starting to swtich over to OSX more and more is the lack of NTFS support. I still need to run windows all the time, so without NTFS, OS X is on the backburner for me. I am impressed with OSX and want to switch, for myself personally, but at this time, without NTFS support, it is not going to happen for a while.
      • stmiller, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2There is a native OS X NTFS driver available here:

        http://www.ntfs-3g.org/

        It's been out for quite some time and works fine.
      • tian2992, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1"What would you do with a super computer in your backpack?"
        I the actual computers were considered supercomputers in the past, yet most of their uses remain the same. We need a new paradigm on Computer-Human Relations. Not the same thing as years before, just more bloated.
    • stmiller, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1Leopard has to have lots of 32bit compatibility built in. The big apps (Logic Pro, Final Cut, etc) are still purely 32bit apps. So right now OS X is 64bit with a 32bit compatibility layer. It will probably be this way for 10.6.
  • dood, on 07/04/2008, -10/+4The Macbook Pro design could use some love from the quality control department. The audio that it puts out on the headphone jack is pretty awful -- full of blips and beeps and other noises. You can lessen the effect by using high impedance headphones or having poor hearing but neither is a truly acceptable option for a $2K system.

    So before we push on for 64-bit, new case designs, and over 9000 cores, I think we should push for some QC.
    • mfearby, on 07/04/2008, -0/+1A docking station would be nice, too, so that commuters don't have to attach a half dozen cables in the morning and detach the lot when going home (and heaven forbid doing the same several times a day if you take it to a meeting and come back to your desk).

      Perhaps there are no docking stations for Apple laptops because the time it takes to reattach all those cables gives you time to contemplate the godliness of Steve Jobs????
    • dood, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1By the way, there is a third party add-on that lessens the effect of the bleeping, but doesn't fix it entirely:

      http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/22091

      I've tested it, and it works fine on the Penryn MacBook Pro (that is, not just the 1st-generation). It has reduced my battery life, but I still get 3-4 hours while using wi-fi (but nothing too intensive like Flash).
  • mogebier, on 07/04/2008, -16/+5The future will bring this: A lighter wallet for all you Apple Kool-Aid drinkers that have to buy the newest thing even though you have one that works just fine. Apple is good at making you do that.
    • datek2517, on 07/04/2008, -3/+6The stupidity in these comments is astounding. Thanks for keeping it up.
      • mogebier, on 07/05/2008, -1/+1How many ipods do you own?? More than 1 I bet. Have you bought a new Apple computer even though the one you are using is perfectly good?? I bet you have. You are probably one of those elitist ass holes that insist on sitting with their laptop open at the coffee house and the ipod next to it so people can see how cool you are.
        Am I right?? I bet I am :P
    • pyrates, on 07/04/2008, -0/+2That explains those who bought the macbook air then.
  • afallucco, on 07/04/2008, -22/+15No apple for me. To me they are completely overpriced and not that different from PCs. If I really wanted to I could make linux look exactly like a mac.
    • freqk, on 07/04/2008, -8/+14It's not about looks. I used Windows all my life, then switched to linux 5 years ago and earier ths year, I got a mac.

      The OS is simply so much better then anything else I've used. Apps are consistent and quality built. None of the Music applications I need are available for linux. open source software is great, and the philosophy is amazing. But I realized the more users something gets (Gnome(desktop), Linux(kernel), Compiz(Composite effects), etc. the better it is. Thing is, once you get down to actual applications, there's a deep lack of quality and completion.
      • godzilla8nj, on 07/04/2008, -4/+1Paint with a broader brush why don't you. There are plenty of top-notch apps on Linux with a high degree of polish, and you aren't prohibited from installing closed-source applications you prefer. You're obviously a new OSX user if you think that the fault lies with the platform that an application isn't made available for it.
    • Nexum, on 07/04/2008, -3/+9Thinking that you can make a Mac by making something *look* like a Mac is ridiculous. As so many people have said, design is not about the way it LOOKS, design is about the way it WORKS.
    • KMartSheriff, on 07/04/2008, -4/+7"If I really wanted to I could make linux look exactly like a mac"

      *rolls eyes*
      • d4ni, on 07/04/2008, -1/+1Upset? You know it's possible to let either Windows or Linux look like Mac OS X. People have been obsessed with Mac's looks ever since OS 10 ;) Hence, countless "Mac" skins have been created for each OS. Look like != feel / work like, obviously. Not that I own a Mac, it's just common sense. Im still thinking they are too expense, but I know for sure I will buy one sometime.
    • shank2001, on 07/04/2008, -3/+2I know I have posted this already above, but it is so common a misconception it baffles me and should be addressed:

      I challenge you to find a computer with equivalent components as what the Xeon Mac Pro Tower has inside for less money. Come on, try it! Go to New Egg and try to build your own, even! Seriously, you will not find a cheaper equivalent Xeon workstation than the Mac Pro (dont add extra ram or hds or anything from apple though, that is where Apple gouges you).

      Come on, someone step up to the challenge here. My claim: the Mac Pro tower is the best deal on a Xeon workstation around! Price to beat: $2,800 for equivalent components. Dual E5426 processors, 1600Mhz bus, 2 gigs of fully buffered RAM DDR2 800 DIMM ECC, 320GB hd, etc. etc. I CHALLENGE YOU!
      • renski13, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1You forgot to mention the Radeon HD 2600 XT. I think i'll pass on that lame setup.
  • Nicoon, on 07/04/2008, -15/+27When did macs stop being interesting?
    • ismellfunny, on 07/04/2008, -8/+9When every mac user thought of themselves as unique, hip, and artistic. *scoffs*
      • tugger, on 07/04/2008, -2/+2Most mac aficionados used to be PC aficionados
      • Amiga501, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1That just shows some people go from something good to something stupid. That's not exactly breaking news.
      • domomike, on 07/05/2008, -1/+1What are you talking about, Amiga? I didn't know inanimate objects could be "stupid."

        Opinion aside, who really gives a crap about what computer people prefer to use?
    • strel1337, on 07/04/2008, -0/+3when they became way too expensive
    • Amiga501, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1Day 2.
  • Typhoon2009, on 07/04/2008, -11/+28games games games games games
    lower prices lower prices lower prices
    stronger hardware stronger hardware stronger hardware
    • waluigi14, on 07/04/2008, -13/+5Thank you for summing up all the comments that normally occur on any apple related article. Now go away.
    • SneakytheThief, on 07/04/2008, -6/+5sounds like your average pc to me
    • shank2001, on 07/04/2008, -3/+1There are very few computers out there with stronger hardware than a Mac Pro tower, just how much more computer do you need?!?!
      • sturmgiest, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1sure, only the average decent gaming comp is faster. The best gfx card for gaming you can get is only an 8800GT, 4gb of ram drives the price up $500(worth $40 for 2gb). A single processor system without anything but the ram upgrade and the 8800GT is $3000. $3000 will buy you dual SLI GTX 280s. 3dmark difference will be over 20,000 points.

        Mac pro = teh suck for gaming. Too overpriced to be good at anything else. And they stole the look of the case from Lian Li.
      • mjparme, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1The latest generation of consoles (PS3 and XBOX 360) has rendered PC gaming irrelevant so lack of games for the Mac is not even a legitimate argument.

        People complain about the price of a Mac, and then mention gaming. Why spend $2000 for a PC that can run the modern games when you can buy a $400 console?
    • tian2992, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1HARDER, BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER
  • nshady, on 07/04/2008, -3/+16My christmas present last year was a new Macbook Pro - once they revealed the redesigned machines. Still waiting.
    • badenglishihave, on 07/04/2008, -1/+5Waiting for technology is pointless. Once these "redesigned machines" are out on the market something else will be announced that you want.
      • bxblox, on 07/05/2008, -1/+1Not necessarily. The pro line of laptops haves looked the same for ages.
      • badenglishihave, on 07/05/2008, -1/+1Obviously looks can stay the same but the internal hardware is what I am referring to.
      • bxblox, on 07/05/2008, -0/+2Redesigned looks are what nshady was referring to. If he was waiting for new internal hardware he would have bought the MBP when they switched to Penryn processors and multitouch, months after xmas. He's not waiting for new tech he's waiting for a bigger upgrade most of which would include the appearance. You can keep putting newer engines in old bodies but people will eventually want something new, regardless of how nice the original was.
  • hiro, on 07/04/2008, -7/+4A total redesign for the Macbook, the Sinclair Spectrum style keyboard joke is wearing a bit thin and the nice sharp edge along the front that cuts grooves in your wrists prevents any serious use
    • max1018, on 07/04/2008, -2/+3They keyboard is one of my favourite things on my MacBook! Although the edge is sharp in the center, even if I don't cut my wrists on it.
    • halfchub900, on 07/04/2008, -3/+1emo
  • booyadude, on 07/04/2008, -10/+5As expected, Microsoft will sit on it's laurels, where's my ZFS or my EFI, how about something like grand central... I mean c'mon what happened to windows 7 being based on minwin ARGH!!!

    /not hating, just expect more (use windows for teh games) mac interface+compatability+games=win
    • Nexum, on 07/04/2008, -1/+4Exactly - where are the Microsoft-land equivalents of Core Animation, Core Image, OpenCL (I suppose you could install CUDA/CTM and call that a day), Core Data, Cocoa Bindings, Core Video, Grand Central, etc. etc. Where are the exciting clientside developer technologies on Windows, it's completely barren.
  • Cheeseburgers, on 07/04/2008, -2/+14when will a quantum desktop computer be released?
    • Jexie, on 07/04/2008, -1/+32Today and yesterday, simultaneously.
    • Nexum, on 07/04/2008, -6/+3Seriously, not for 50 years. If then.
    • meshman, on 07/04/2008, -3/+2When somebody else invents it and Steve buys it and claims he did.
  • Residents, on 07/04/2008, -8/+2I hate Mac OS. Love the designs they come out with, but hate the OS entirely. The other thing I don't like is that for most of their products there is no way to have them fixed besides sending them back to apple.
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