AppleGazette’s Kevin Whipps addresses the quandary over how to choose between a MacBook and a MacBook Pro, noting that it used to be that if you wanted a 13-inch Mac laptop (excluding the MacBook Air), the only option was the original MacBook. Now with a 13-inch aluminum MacBook Pro on the market, the decision has become more complex.

Kevin allows that the 13″ MacBook Pro doesn’t give you a lot more value for your dollar, comparatively. I beg to differ, but there’s a large element of subjectivity in any such judgment, with many variables such as how much you value FireWire support (some of us a lot), how important a SD Card slot is to your needs, and whether the premium look, fit, finish, and durability of the Pro’s aluminum unibody construction justifies the 20 percent higher price.

20 Percent Higher Price — 20 Percent More Value?

Personally, I think these factors do add up to 20 percent more real value and then some, although Kevin has a point about the two machines being pretty much clones when it comes to core computing power. For example, it now appears that even Apple’s nominal 4GB maximum RAM upgrade spec for the MacBook is completely arbitrary. OWC is offering 8GB memory upgrade kits for the plastic unibody MacBook.

The MacBook comes with a 250GB hard drive, which is more than respectable for standard equipment, especially since the 13″ MacBook Pro’s base $1,199 model comes with a more modest 160GB drive. With the MacBook, 320GB and 500GB drives are BTO options, but that bumps the price to MacBook Pro levels.

The Case for the 15″ MacBook Pro

Kevin actually includes the 15″ MacBook Pro in his comparison, noting that at 5.5 pounds, the unibody 15-incher is not a whole lot heavier than the 13″ MacBook and MacBook Pro units at 4.7lb. and 4.5lb. respectively, and offers much more expansive screen real estate at its 1440 x 900 resolution. Being a former 17″ PowerBook user who recently switched from the big, old ‘Book’s 1440 x 900 display to an aluminum unibody MacBook’s more cramped 1280 x 800 13.3″ screen, I have to agree, and the latest $1,699 entry-level 15″ Pro is especially price-enticing.

However, note well that if you need the heavy-duty graphics support provided by the discrete NVIDIA 9600M GT GPU with 256MB of dedicated VRAM, you’re still going to have to pony up $1,999 for the middle-model 2.66GHz 15″ Pro. The $1,699 unit is essentially identical in power to the high-end $1,499 13″ MacBook Pro, and has only the integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics chipset (which should be more than adequate if you’re not into high-end graphics or video, or serious gaming) that annexes up to 256MB of your system RAM for video support.

A No-Brainer

Personally, while I find the new polycarbonate unibody MacBook very attractive — a quantum improvement over the old, iBook-esque MacBook form factor — my recommendation remains if you can somehow scratch up the extra $200, the base 2.26GB MacBook Pro 13″ represents the zenith of value and power for the money that Apple has ever offered in a portable computer, and if you’re willing to go with an Apple Certified Refurbished unit, the Apple Store currently has them available for the same $999 price as the new plastic MacBook, with the same warranty and AppleCare eligibility.

For me, it’s a no-brainer.

Two Spanish Apple sites are reporting that the latest build of Apple’s upcoming update to its Mac OS X Snow Leopard software contains references to as-yet unreleased new models of MacBook Pro.

Build 10C531 lists “MacBook Pro 6,1” and “MacBook Pro 6,2”, an indication of major revisions of the MacBook Pro lineup. The current family of MacBook Pro’s range from 5,1 to 5,5.

Last week’s introduction of refreshed iMacs brought Intel’s new Core i5 and i7 (Nehalem) processors to Apple’s most popular desktop machines, but the refreshed product lineup didn’t include any new MacBook Pros. Applesana suggests that the new MacBook Pro models will likely feature quad core processors based on Intel’s Arrandale architecture which brings i5/i7 technology to a more power-efficient mobile chip.

The last time Apple refreshed the MacBook Pro line was in early June at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

Hefty Update

10.6.2 is a significant update to Snow Leopard, bringing a raft of bug fixes and performance improvements to existing functionality. Nothing has been said about new features, however, the user guide for Apple’s new Magic Mouse makes the following reference to Mac OS X 10.6.2:

To use your Apple Magic Mouse and its full range of features, update your Mac to Mac OS X version 10.5.8 or later and install the Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0; or update to Mac OS X version 10.6.2 or later.

Apple’s developers have been working hard. For those keeping count, this is 10.6.2’s fourth developer build in less than a month. The first, 10C514f, was seeded on Oct. 5. Only four days later, on Oct. 9, Apple produced build 10C519f. Developers were treated to build 10C527f just one week after that. And finally, 10C531 brings us to today.

At nearly 500MB, 10.6.2 is a hefty update, addressing an equally hefty assortment of bugs and issues affecting Snow Leopard. Most notably, this update is expected to fix a serious bug that can result in users losing all their personal data. MacRumor’s Doctor Q lists other fixes.

The seed is said to contain dozens of minor bug fixes and performance improvements in these areas: Address Book, AppleScript, AppleScriptObjC, ATS, ColorSync, Component Manager, Core Animation, Core Audio, Core Chinese Engine, Core Data, Core Graphics, Core Text, File Manager, Garbage Collection, Graphic drivers, Help Viewer, ImageKit, IOHIDFamily, Networking, NS Image, OpenCL, OpenGL, OSA, QT Kit, Speech Recognition, Sync Services, and Xtype.

There is no indication yet as to when 10.6.2 will be released, though the speed at which these builds are being developed — and the urgent need for that data-wiping bug fix — mean we probably won’t be waiting much longer.

I have always been curious about what kind of tools people have used to liveblog events (especially those involving Apple). As many of you readers know, Apple recently held a media event on 9.9.09. I jumped on the opportunity to attend and represent TheAppleBlog. Naturally, one of my responsibilities was to liveblog everything.

Here’s the plan that was put together:

Hardware

• Macbook Pro
• iPhone
• Canon G10
• Eye-Fi Pro card

Software

• CoverItLive
• Text messaging
• Email
• Flickr
• Adium
• Eye-Fi Manager

Josh Pigford, TheAppleBlog’s editor, manned the computer to keep up a constant stream of updates on Twitter and  CoverItLive, an awesome liveblogging tool. Before I had access to a Wi-Fi network, I used my iPhone to send Josh text messages and email photos. I was warned by several other attendees that Wi-Fi never holds up during events. The proof? Everyone there appeared to have a 3G card for their laptops. I was extremely concerned, but at least I had my iPhone as a backup.

Once the press were allowed to check in and move closer to the building, I whipped out my Macbook Pro and jumped on the Wi-Fi network. I had to configure the Eye-Fi card so my Canon G10 would automatically upload photos as I took them. Configuring the card was quick and easy (thanks Eye-Fi!). The photos would be uploaded to Eye-Fi and then immediately sent to my Flickr account for Josh to grab.

Eventually we were allowed to enter and take our seats.  The end result was a comical combination of high and low tech. While photos were uploading (over the surprisingly reliable Wi-Fi network) I typed out virtually everything said on stage to Josh over AOL Instant Messenger (Adium). It was his responsibility to interpret and publish my never-ending stream of consciousness writing style into something you could read through via CoverItLive. I was surprised to see how much he let through (including my comments about Phil Schiller dancing in his seat).

I hope you all enjoyed the coverage, and if you have any suggestions on how to improve for next time please leave a comment.

My friend and Low End Mac’s publisher, Dan Knight, posted a nearly 3000-word essay recently positing a “what’s the perfect Mac” conundrum: MacBook Pro or iMac. I share Dan’s enthusiasm for examining and debating such hypothetical questions, and I thoroughly enjoyed the piece, but for me, the matter is much more open-and-shut.

I’ve been advocating for more than a decade that laptops are the logical Mac for most users, and in my estimation the unibody MacBook Pros — particularly the new 13-inch model — come as close to personal computer perfection as has yet been achieved.

As his top laptop candidate, Dan Knight leans more toward the 15-inch unibody model, with a particular nod toward the $1,699 configuration, which would be my second choice for ultimate Mac notebook value. First choice is the 2.26 GHz 13-inch MacBook Pro at $1,199, which gives you almost everything you get in the lowest-priced 15-incher, with the obvious exception of display acreage, and for $500 less.

However, for Dan, screen size and finish are much higher priority issues than they are for me. He developed his computing style and habits working as a professional book designer on two-page 152 x 854 and 1280 x 960 resolution screens, and finds smaller displays — say 1034 x 768 (SVGA) or lower resolutions — too restrictive for his tastes and work.

I, on the other hand, spent my first three Mac-loving years on a PowerBook with a 9.5″, 640 x 480, passive matrix grayscale display. After that experience, anything larger has seemed generously roomy, or at least adequate. The highest-resolution screen I’ve had in any Mac to date is the 1440 x 900 display in my 17″ PowerBook, which I like a lot, but adapting to the 1280 x 800 resolution of my 13″ unibody MacBook when I upgraded posed no real problem. Leopard’s Spaces feature has eliminated much of the inconvenience of working with modest display real estate.

Today, I would draw the line at 1064 x 768, which is what my two still-in-service Pismo PowerBooks offer. That’s also the highest resolution any of my desktop computer monitors have ever had, which sounds quaint when the entry-level $1,198 iMac today comes with a 20-inch 1680 x 1050 screen.

Dan’s current production rig is a dual-1GHz Mirror Drive Door Power Mac G4 driving a 1280 x 1024 a Dell flat panel display — hardware that befits the theme of his website, and ideal for a guy who isn’t yet willing to give up Mac OS Classic Mode. However, Dan says he’s excited this week because now that Apple has just added an “antiglare” display option for the 15-inch unibody MacBook Pro, he thinks it could become the perfect production machine for him, even going so far as to suggest that the 15-inch MacBook Pro is probably the perfect computer, period.

I won’t quibble overmuch with that, although I do still champion the 13-incher, since I’m more than satisfied with the glossy display. As Apple notes, with a glossy screen finish you get graphics, photos, and videos with richer colors and deeper blacks, which is better for most users who don’t have to work in print media. But if having an antiglare option helps persuade folks like Dan Knight to dismount the fence on the laptop side, I’m all for it, and let’s have it available on the 13-inch model as well.

So will Dan finally end up on a MacBook Pro, which would be his first production laptop since the original Titanium PowerBooks back in the early-to-mid ’00s? I think there’s a good chance he will, but he isn’t slamming the door on desktops by any means, noting that the perfect desktop computer would take the current iMac design, move some ports for easier access, and offer an antiglare screen option. Perhaps for him it will boil down to whatever Apple does next with the iMac.

How about you? Would you vote for either the MacBook Pro, the iMac, or something else entirely as “the perfect computer?”

Good news for those of you who were holding out for a matte screen option from Apple on something other than the most expensive, 17-inch MacBook Pro, and bad news for image and video professionals who already bit the bullet and picked up a 15-incher recently. Apple now offers a matte screen option on the 15-inch model.

The new customization option appeared sometime early this morning in Apple’s online store, and allows you to choose an “Antiglare Widescreen Display,” instead of the usual “Glossy” option, for an additional $50. For those unaware, the modification also rids your computer of the pretty black bezel that frames the notebook’s screen, and instead introduces a silver bezel that looks decidedly old school. Aesthetics aside, though, the antiglare option is reportedly a thousand times better for professional usage, and if you find the new glossy optical glass displays distracting.

This is a good sign that despite a recent rash of anti-Apple sentiment even from normally vocal supporters, myself included, over App Store disappointments, Cupertino is still very much committed to giving its users what they want, at least on the hardware side of things. People clamored for the option, and Apple clearly heard the complaints and delivered. I suspect it’s willing to broaden the availability of that option to the 13-inch MacBook Pro, too, if demand appears strong enough and the introduction of the 15-inch option proves beneficial to its bottom line.

Even though Apple’s willing to grant you the antiglare option, it seems like it would rather you didn’t, as is clear from its wonderful little piece of subtle copywriting: “Choose a standard glossy display that lets you view graphics, photos, and videos with richer colors and deeper blacks, or an optional antiglare display.” Wow, they sure do make that antiglare display sound…optional.

What Apple fan of small-and-light computing doesn’t remember that Macworld Expo Keynote? The one where, uncovering Apple’s then-latest laptop and holding it aloft, Steve Jobs declared it “the smallest full-featured notebook in the world.” By the self-satisfied smile on his face, you knew Apple was back in the ultra-portable market for good.

Two years and change later, it was canceled.

That would be the 12” PowerBook G4 of 2003 that met its demise in 2005, but what happened then seems eerily familiar in 2009. Since the manila-envelope unveiling at Macworld Expo 2008, the MacBook Air has gotten less Apple Event love than the time it takes Yael Naïm to sing “New Soul.” Phil Schiller spent about 30 seconds detailing a spec bump and a price drop at WWDC 2009, the same event at which the MacBook Pros saw major redesign. It was that seeming indifference to the Air that led me to ponder the history of the smallest PowerBook in relation to the fate of the thinnest MacBook. 

Comparative Updates: 12" PowerBook G4 vs. MacBook Air

Spooky, huh? The overlap is like looking at some old soul reincarnated and doomed to relive the same life of regret. Note that after the first revision that included new video options, both models subsequently received “drop-in upgrades,” incremental increases in CPU and storage capacity. Also, the 12” PowerBook G4 ended its model life at $1,499, which is the same price as the MacBook Air now.

Of course, comparing the timeline of the PowerBook G4 with the MacBook Air hardly predicts the future of the latter — though a mirrored RAM boost for the MacBook Air would be nice. If there is any foretelling of the Air’s future to be had, it’s more likely to be found in the demise of the PowerBook. That demise, in my opinion, would be the iBook.

When the 12” PowerBook G4 was introduced, it had several big advantages over the 12” iBook.

• G4 CPU vs. G3 CPU
• CD-RW/DVD vs. CD/DVD player
• GeForce4 420 Go and display spanning vs. ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 and display mirroring
• Infinitely Awesome Keyboard vs. Chicklet Keys

By the time the last iBook model was introduced, the only advantage left to the higher-priced PowerBook was the keyboard and the ability to run dual displays. When Apple switched to Intel, the MacBook did spanning, and the superior keyboard was no more. The black MacBook effectively replaced the 12” PowerBook G4 in the laptop lineup. The question now becomes whether the 13″ MacBook Pro is replacing the MacBook Air.

Feature Creep: MacBook Air to MacBook Pro

At Macworld Expo 2008, Steve Jobs might as well have likened the manufacturing of the MacBook Air from a sheet of solid aluminum to Michelangelo discovering David within a block of stone, so lavish was his praise of the technology. If you aren’t familiar with the process, there’s a video on Apple’s web site, on a MacBook Pro page. Symbolism noted.

The timeline shows the migration of technologies from the MacBook Air to the 13″ MacBook Pro. Though it’s a given that Apple always intended to diffuse the tech throughout its portables, the 13″ MacBook Pro puts these features in a design similar to the MacBook Air. Further, several MacBook Pro features are arguably missing from the MacBook Air, including: better battery life, more RAM, buttonless trackpad and SD Card slot.

Originally promising five hours of “wireless productivity,” battery life declined with the second revision of the MacBook Air due to its faster CPU. The third revision brought battery life back to five hours with a change from a 37 to 40 W/Hr battery. However, the new built-in battery in the 13″ MacBook Pro has increased battery life to six hours. While it is possible the MacBook Air has reached the limit of battery life, the memory situation is not up for debate.

In January of 2008, 2GB of RAM in a MacBook Air was a good deal; not so much in 2009. Even Apple’s white MacBook comes with 2GB standard. Worse, the high-end 13” MacBook Pro comes with 4GB standard. In stark and embarrassing contrast, the the high-end MacBook Air still has the same 2GB of RAM soldered to the motherboard. It’s a change that should have happened, but hasn’t, like the single-button trackpad.

Button, button, whose got the button, and why?

The MacBook Air was the first Mac portable to have multitouch input, with that functionality later duplicated across the Pro lineup. The question concerning the MacBook Air trackpad is why is there still a button? Clearly, Apple has moved away from that design with the high-end portables, a lineup that includes the MacBook Air at $1,499. A button-less trackpad may be more a matter of form than function, but what about the SD Card slot?

While one could argue that the SD Card slot might not fit into the MacBook Air, certainly no Mac laptop would benefit from such a feature more than one without an optical drive. Instead of purchasing a SuperDrive, you could boot OS X off an SD card for troubleshooting, or even installation. Imagine where that could lead.

When asked about bringing Blu-ray to the Mac at an Apple Event in 2008, Steve Jobs replied that “Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt.” By this, Jobs meant Apple didn’t want to burden Mac users with the “cost of the licensing and the cost of the drives.” While that sounds altruistic, it’s a little difficult to understand, as companies like Dell have sold sub-$1,000 laptops with Blu-ray drives for over a year.

More understandable would be history repeating itself with Apple and removable media. In 1998, Apple introduced the original iMac without an integrated floppy drive. The future is clearly digital downloading, the way video is rented and sold at the iTunes Store. Unlike the floppy, Apple has a vested interest in speeding the demise of the optical drive. Should Apple remove the optical drive on Pro lineup, the impact would be immediate for the MacBook Air.

The handwriting for the optical disc is not on the wall, but the back of the MacBook Pro case.

Removing the optical drive and supporting structure from the 13” MacBook Pro could reduce the weight by as much as half a pound. How much could Apple engineering then do to reduce the size of the motherboard? Adding a longer, thinner battery could allow for a wedge-shaped case, making the 13″ MacBook Pro look and feel a lot like the MacBook Air. Would a prospective MacBook Air buyer then pay an extra $300 for one less pound in weight? It’s the story of the 12″ PowerBook G4 all over again, though the story won’t end this year.

Fall is for iPods, perhaps desktops, but not laptops, and not during an Apple-less Macworld Expo in January 2010. Between February and April would be a good guess for the next round of laptop updates. Ironically, a last MacBook Air update in the spring would nearly complete the comparison to the 12″ PowerBook G4. Sometime later that year, the first MacBook Pros without optical drives could be introduced, leaving Apple’s latest foray into ultra-lights to vanish into the thinest air.

Apple users are dedicated defenders and evangelists of the products we love, but we also really like to get together and gab about the problems our devices have. I know I become obsessively detail-oriented whenever I pick up a new piece of Apple hardware, and am quick to overreact to every perceived imperfection I find by calling the Genius Bar and scheduling an appointment. Most of the time, my problems are more the product of a fevered brain and less concrete examples of design or manufacturing flaws, but some problems are all too real.

Case-in-point: Many consumers who ponied up the extra cash to get a faster, 7200RPM HDD vs. the standard, 5400RPM got more than they bargained for. Some of the drives apparently boast the unadvertised feature of making odd clicks and beeping noises while in operation. Maybe that’s just Apple’s way of making sure you’re paying attention to how much better your computer performs with the faster drive?

Seriously, though, the problem seems to affect quite a few users, with more reporting the same or similar issues every day. Reports indicate that in addition to audible clicking and beeping sounds, some of the drives are showing more serious performance issues, too, with the OS appearing to freeze for a brief second whenever a click occurs. While a vocal HD might just be annoying, a vocal HD that also seems to skip a beat is downright terrifying to anyone who depends on their MBP for work or for storing sensitive data.

Early theories on what’s causing the problem is the Seagate Momentus 7200.4 drive’s G-Force shock protection feature, which is probably redundant anyway, since Apple builds in its own fall detector and data protection system on every notebook it makes. Sadly, there’s no easy way to disable the special features for said drives. Users who’ve upgraded themselves with other 7200RPM drives seem not to be experiencing the issue, so the problem likely lies with the HDD and not with the MacBooks themselves. Cold comfort for those who’ve already paid for the Apple-installed upgrade.

The thread at the Apple support forums dealing with this issue is now 35 pages long, so I doubt it’s fallen through Cupertino’s nets. That said, no users have yet reported an actual drive failure as a result of the problem, so pressure for a response from official sources is not yet urgently required. I suspect they’ll play this one close to the chest and try to quietly issue a firmware fix before taking any more drastic action. For the time being at least, it looks like most appeals to the Apple Store for returns and exchanges are largely falling on deaf ears.

Is your machine one of those affected, and if so, has it become communicative? Describe your symptoms and discuss your experiences in the comments.

I’m a huge fan of Moshi’s Apple-centric line of products and accessories. In fact, my entire collection of Apple products has now been complimented by Moshi. For example, I use the iLynx USB/Firewire hub and Celesta keyboard with my iMac; my iPhone is protected by the iGlaze 3G; and recently, my Macbook Pro experienced a thorough makeover.

Over the years I have owned a variety of Apple laptops, and each one inevitably ends up with scratches on the screen, discoloration on the wrist area, disgusting keys, and other forms of wear and tear. I decided to not endure this experience with my new aluminum MacBook Pro. My goal is to maintain a pristine look for as long as possible, and I intend to achieve this goal by combining Moshi’s products into the ultimate protection solution.

Clearguard MB: $25

The Clearguard MB is a thin cover for your MacBook or MacBook Pro keyboard. Installation is simple: lay it across the keyboard. After a few minutes of typing, it’s barely noticeable. It’s virtually transparent so your backlit keys are still visible in dark rooms. I have been using it for a couple of months, and you can clearly see how my keyboard still looks like I just slid the computer out of the box. Cleaning the Clearguard is a simple process involving dish soap and water.

The best part about the Clearguard MB is I no longer see key indentations on the screen (a problem MacBooks and PowerBooks have experienced for a long time). Below is a picture of the Clearguard after a couple months. See the keys on the right side? I’m impressed.

Palmguard: $20-$28

The Palmguard is used to protect the area where your wrists sit on the computer. For me, that’s the part that receives the most damage over time. I’m always amazed at how powerful skin oil is. Again, installation is simple: Line up the Palmguard carefully in the corners and then firmly slide your hand across. If you aren’t satisfied, it’s easy to take the Palmguard off and try again without leaving any residue.

In the past, I used a competitor’s product to protect the wrist area. One thing missing was something to place onto the trackpad area. The Palmguard comes with a separate piece just for that. The accuracy and clickability (I just made up that word) of the trackpad are not affected.

Moshi sells a variety of Palmguard products to match the color and size of your Apple laptop. Below is a picture of the Palmguard after a couple months. Again, I’m impressed.

iVisor AG: $35-38

iVisor AG is the flagship laptop protection product by Moshi. Not only does it protect the screen from scratches, dust and fingerprints, but it also eliminates glare. Remember when we had a choice between matte and glossy screens for our MacBook Pros? Well, this is as close as you can get to owning an aluminum MBP with a matte finish without swapping the screen.

Installation is shockingly easy. You just line up the corners, press down, and firmly slide your hand across the screen. The air bubbles you see while applying a protective layer on your iPhone are not a problem. I was nervous about this, but fortunately Moshi delivered on its promise. There’s a hole at the top for your iSight, and a transparent part in the black border so the “Macbook Pro” text on the bottom is still visible.

Below is the iVisor after a few weeks. No reflection, no scratches.

Conclusion

A MacBook Pro is an investment. It deserves to remain in perfect condition. What I love about Moshi’s products is that they can be installed in minutes and they perform to my standards: no air bubbles, no scratches, and no damage.

I purposefully did not include outer cases because I dislike adding bulk to the laptop. Also, a simple and artistic way to protect the top from scratches is to add a Gelaskin.

Moshi products are available for purchase at Dr. Bott and nuCourse.

System Profiler reporting 13" MacBook SATA speed

A week after reports first surfaced of a downgrade in SATA bus speeds, Apple has issued a fix that both solves the problem and puts an end to conspiracy theories about it.

The issue centered around new MacBook Pros having a SATA speed of 1.5 gigabits, down from 3 gigabits on previous models, including the low-end MacBook. While there would be no performance degradation on any MacBook Pro with a mechanical hard drive or standard solid-state drive, there was at least a theoretical decline in performance for those with faster SSDs, like the Intel X-25M.

MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.7 “addresses an issue reported by a small number of customers using drives based on the SATA 3Gbps specification with the June 2009 MacBook Pro.” Interestingly, there is also a caveat: “While this update allows drives to use transfer rates greater than 1.5Gbps, Apple has not qualified or offered these drives for Mac notebooks and their use is unsupported.”

As the owner of a unibody MacBook, I can report that my “unsupported” Intel X-25M has run like lightning for six months and counting. The real issue here isn’t about unsupported drives, but how something like this slipped through Apple QA. Nonetheless, those considering upgrading their drives can now be confident of the best performance, be it real or imagined.

When I originally wrote about the introduction of the new 15″ MacBook Pro, I was curious as to if the newly featured SD card slot would support even newer SDHC cards. A little research later, I learned that the MacBook Pro does support this standard and has a few more tricks up its sleeve. So what’s all the buzz about the SD card slot?

Back to the Basics

SD (Secure Digital) cards are one of many competing formats for storing data onto flash-based memory cards (similar to how iPod nanos and iPod shuffles work). Among other competing formats, such as Memory Stick (Sony) or CompactFlash, SD has become one of the more popular types, found in newer digital cameras and camcorders.

Great. What’s This Mean for MacBook Users?

When Apple introduced Intel Macs in 2005, many were surprised to see that they could be booted from a USB drive in addition to FireWire, as had been the standard among PowerPC Macs. Many were surprised to find out last week that with the addition of the built-in SD card slot in these new Mac portables, they are also capable of being booted from this format. While this isn’t exactly feasible, as SD cards are still more expensive than optical media for comparable capacity, it really does speak highly for the robustness of the Mac platform. Of course, what would you expect? You can now pretty much boot a Mac from any device you can connect to it, from a FireWire hard drive, to an SD card, to your iPod. (Try that on a Windows computer!)

Hidden Secrets of the SD Card Slot

In addition to being able to boot from the SD cards, the new SD card slot supports most MultiMediaCards (MMCs) as they are physically similar to SD cards. Derivatives of SD card technology, such as MiniSD, MicroSD, MiniSDHC and MicroSDHC, can also be used with appropriate adapters.

What Doesn’t Work…At Least, That We Know Of

CES 2009 brought about the announcement of a newer format, called SDXC, which will allow for capacities up to 2TB in size. Due to the relatively recent announcement of this technology, and only one or two types of this card in existence, I am unaware if this card can be read by the new MacBook Pros.

Another implementation of SD technology, called SDIO (for Secure Digital Input Output) is incompatible with the card slot. This new technology is designed to combine the functionality of an input/output device, such as an ethernet or bluetooth adapter, with an SD card for greater functionality.

Will We See This Spread?

Apple stunned almost everybody with the announcement of a built-in card slot for the MacBook Pros. Card slots in general really aren’t something Apple has favored in the past (opting for devices like iPods and iPhones to have completely built-in memory). Even its reluctance to spread the technology to the 17″ MacBook Pro indicates that Apple is testing the reception of having this functionality built into its portables. During the keynote address, Phil Schiller mentioned that Apple knew that a very small percentage (less than 10 percent) of its users actually used the ExpressCard slot on its portables. If Apple is capable of tracking usage this accurately, then it stands to reason that if the SD card slot proves popular, it could be expanded to the other products as well.

SD technology is certainly very robust, and with newer standards and higher capacities around the corner, it is keeping up with changing times. This is the exact kind of stability Apple looks for when deciding to go with a new standard, such as including USB or adding FireWire 800 or gigabit ethernet to its products. With more and more consumer electronics using SD cards, the addition of a built-in slot is definitely a “win” for consumers.

MacRumors is reporting on a discussion that is on fire with reports of a downgrade in SATA speeds for the new 13″ MacBook Pro, and the 15″ models as well. Apparently, System Profiler is now reporting a SATA speed of 1.5 gigabits, down from 3 gigabits on the new machines.

While this change will not matter to anyone with a mechanical hard drive, or a low-end SSD, those using high-end SSDs like the Intel X-25M could see a performance decline. MacRumors forum member Shao was the first to post benchmarks from a 13″ unibody MacBook and a 13″ MacBook Pro, and the results are startling.

13" MacBook

13" MacBook Pro

The theoretical maximum for throughput is effectively halved in machines with identical chipsets, the NVIDIA MCP79 AHCI. While one could argue that theoretical maximums and the real world seldom overlap, in at least some instances, like audio and video work, there might be performance degradation.

Exactly why Apple is doing this, or even what exactly has been done, is only speculation at this point. 1.5 Gbit/s is the specification for SATA I, while 3.0 Gbit/s is SATA II, so the question then becomes whether Apple has downgraded to a previous standard. If the 15″ MacBook Pros turn out to have been downgraded too, one could argue it was just one of many changes made to increase battery life. If some models aren’t throttled, an argument could be made for Apple segmenting its lineup, as it does with discrete vs. integrated graphics. However, the difference here is that the 13″ unibody MacBook already had SATA II. Further, the current white MacBooks apparently still have SATA II, at least according to those posting specs from Apple Stores today.

One thing is certain — the future is fast SSD drives like the Intel X-25M. Those considering a long-term purchase of a MacBook Pro, with the intent of upgrading to an SSD in the future, would do well to wait until more is known. As for those like myself who own unibody MacBooks bought before last week, this news puts a little salve on the burn of being without FireWire.

Apple’s new/refreshed MacBook Pro 13″ and 15″ models each come equipped with an SD Media Card reader slot, but in the case of the 15-incher, this has required elimination of the ExpressCard/34 expansion slot that had been in every 15-inch MacBook Pro since the get-go, back in 2006. This has led to a crescendo of protest from certain classes of MacBook Pro users who depend on the expansion interface, even though an ExpressCard/34 slot is still offered on the 17″ MacBook Pro.

Does this move represent wise decision-making, or is it a blunder on the scale of the misbegotten elimination (now thankfully rectified) of FireWire support from the first revision 13″ unibody MacBooks? I think the ExpressCard/SD Card tradeoff makes some pragmatic sense. It would be great to have both formats, but for most users, SD Card support will be more functionally useful. Apple CFO Phil Schiller was quoted on Monday saying that surveys had determined only 10 percent of MBP owners ever used the ExpressCard slot.

As much as I like the idea of having ExpressCard capability in my laptop, I’m doubtful that I would miss having it on any machine that has built-in FireWire. I did make a fair bit of use of the PC CardBus slots in my G3 PowerBooks back in the day, and still do use the one in my “road” Pismo for a Buffalo G54 802.11g adapter card I use in conjunction with OS X’s AirPort software to log onto Wi-Fi hotspots. However, built-in AirPort has been standard on even the cheapest Apple notebooks for about five years now. On the other hand, an SD Card slot would be very useful for transferring image files from my digital camera. (Alas, my 13″ unibody MacBook has no slots and no FireWire.)

However, there are a minority of users who depend on the ExpressCard slot — for example, 3G cards for Wi-Fi connectivity, Gigabit Ethernet cards to provide a second network connection, or cards to provide extra FireWire ports on their own dedicated bus operating at full speed instead of daisy chaining devices. There are also ExpressCard-based PCI expansion options used by audio and video pros, and they work with ExpressCard interfaces. ExpressCard-based eSATA interfaces are also available for data transfer faster than FireWire 800 can support, and some folks, of course, use ExpressCard-SD card adapters or a variety of other media card readers such as 7-in-1 readers or 12-in-1 readers that can read much more than just SD cards. With an SD Card slot, you can only read one type of card.

All that said, Apple’s director of portables, Todd Benjamin, told PCMag’s Mark Hachman in an interview this week that the ExpressCard 34 slot was dropped from the 15″ MacBook Pro because the “vast majority” of owners use USB connectivity, and that Apple opted for a SD Card slot because that format has become “ubiquitous.”

The obvious solution, if one absolutely requires ExpressCard support, is to get a 17″ MacBook Pro, which at least is now more reasonably priced at $2,499, and most professional notebook users should find that affordable. The 17-incher is a bit larger and heavier to lug around, but having the bigger display is no hardship, and as a 17″ PowerBook owner myself, I would say that the diminished portability aspect is often exaggerated. I’ve found mine a surprisingly tractable road warrior-ing machine.

So, which would you prefer: ExpressCard 34 or SD Media Reader?

A Mac laptop question I’ve been getting asked over the past few months is which 13-inch MacBook is the better value — the posh aluminum unibody model, or the $300 cheaper carryover white polycarbonate unit, which, after two substantial updates in 2009, had been upgraded to pretty closely match the more expensive machine performance-wise, and had the bonus of a FireWire port, which the unibody didn’t.

My take has been that it’s a nice sort of dilemma, since you really couldn’t go wrong. Both models offered excellent value — more computer for the money than ever before in Apple portables.

However, the Mac portable landscape, and the relative value equation for these two models, shifted dramatically with the MacBook Pro line announcements at WWDC, and I can now declare a clear value-leader. The renamed, upgraded, and price-chopped 13-inch MacBook Pro now wins at a walk, retaining all the goodness of the aluminum MacBook but with a boatload of value added, along with a $100 price reduction. You really can’t go wrong with the new baby MacBook Pro now having a FireWire port restored and the welcome addition of an SD Card slot for good measure — something that’s never been seen before on an Apple laptop. You also get a backlit keyboard, a quarter-gigabyte more clock speed, and a built-in battery claimed to go up to seven hours between recharges.

The WhiteBook, now sole designate of the plain “MacBook” name, is still a formidable machine for $200 cheaper if you’re on a tight budget. Last week, prior to WWDC, Apple refreshed the white MacBook, quietly bumping the Core 2 Duo clock speed to 2.13GHz, the RAM speed to 800MHz, and matched the base unibody’s 160GB standard hardware drive capacity (upgradable to 500GB), which for a brief interval actually made the price-leader MacBook faster than the more expensive base unibody. But no longer. Here’s how it all shapes up between the WhiteBook and the 13-inch MacBook Pro now that the dust has settled a bit.

The Shootout

Processor Clock Speed
WhiteBook: 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo
Unibody: 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo
Advantage: Unibody

Frontside Bus Speed
WhiteBook: 1066MHz
Unibody: 1066MHz
Advantage: Draw

RAM speed
WhiteBook: 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Unibody: 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
Advantage: Unibody

Standard RAM
WhiteBook: 2GB
Unibody: 2GB
Advantage: Draw

Graphics Chipset
WhiteBook: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory
Unibody: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory
Advantage: Draw

Hard Drive Capacity (Standard)
WhiteBook: 160GB
Unibody: 160GB
Advantage: Draw

Display Backlight
WhiteBook: CCFL
Unibody: LED
Advantage: Unibody

USB Ports
WhiteBook: 2
Unibody: 2
Advantage: Draw

FireWire Ports
WhiteBook: One FireWire 400
Unibody: One FireWire 800 (backwards compatible with FW400 via optional adapter)
Advantage: Unibody

SD Card Slot
WhiteBook: None
Unibody: 1
Advantage: Unibody

Backlit Keyboard
WhiteBook: No
Unibody: Yes
Advantage: Unibody

Bluetooth
WhiteBook: Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Unibody: Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Advantage: Draw

Ethernet Port
WhiteBook: One Gigabit Ethernet
Unibody: One Gigabit Ethernet
Advantage: Draw

Video Out
WhiteBook: Mini-DVI
Unibody: Mini DisplayPort
Advantage: Depends on your needs and legacy hardware

Trackpad
WhiteBook: Conventional with button
Unibody: Glass multi-touch buttonless
Advantage: Unibody

iSight Camera
WhiteBook: Yes
Unibody: Yes
Advantage: Draw

Housing Enclosure
WhiteBook: White polycarbonate plastic
Unibody: Aluminum carved from a single billet
Advantage: Unibody

Price
WhiteBook: $999
Unibody: $1,199
Advantage: WhiteBook

Score (Wins in these 18 categories)
13″ Unibody MacBook Pro: 8
13″ White MacBook: 1
Draws: 9

There are also a few important distinctions that don’t show up in a straightforward features inventory comparison. While both machines have 13.3-inch glossy displays, the unibody has also been upgraded to a higher-quality screen from AU Optronics with 60 percent greater color gamut, another advantage over the WhiteBook.

Drop-Dead Gorgeous Jewelry Finish

The advantages of the unibody case are partly aesthetic (it is drop-dead gorgeous) but also structurally much more rigid, and presumably more durable and rugged than the white machine’s plastic case (which has had a history of cracking issues). The solid aluminum also has a sound-deadening effect that makes the machine virtually silent. You really have to see, feel, and (not) hear the unibody firsthand to truly appreciate its quietness, jewelry standard of finish, and precision component fits.

The Mini-DVI versus Mini DisplayPort advantages and disadvantages will depend partly on how important connecting to existing monitors and/or other devices you might have on hand is to individual users.

I like the buttonless trackpad in the unibody better than I thought I would, and it’s one of the best trackpads I’ve ever used. I experienced no difficulty in adapting to “buttonless” clicking. Both machines have “chicklet” type keyboards of which I’m not the biggest fan, but you get used to them.

I think the value equation between the two, which prior to this month’s revisions had been a bit of a saw-off, is now crystal-clear. The only category on which the WhiteBook beats the 13″ MacBook Pro is price, and my recommendation is that if you can somehow scrape up the extra $200, the unibody machine is well worth the extra outlay. My 2.0GHz 13-inch unibody MacBook is a delightful computer, and the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is even better in an abundance of ways.

What about the $1,499, 2.53GHz, 13-inch MacBook Pro? I’ve never thought that the top-of-the-line MacBook’s higher price was justified by what you get extra, but if a quarter GHz greater processor speed, 90GB more hard drive capacity, and an added 2GB of RAM look like $300 more value to you, then go for it. Also worth considering is that for another $200 on top of that, you can get a 15-inch display with basically the same specs as the $1,499 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Apple pulled a flanking maneuver on us today, catching us by surprise. While there were some rumblings about the unibody 13” MacBook possibly being brought into the “Pro” family, there were no rumors about changes to the MacBook or Pro line in general beyond perhaps the usual speed bumps.

Instead, we got some major updates to the MacBook Pro line, and lower prices. Let’s take a look…

The 13” MacBook Pro

I already considered the unibody 13” kind of a MacBook Pro Lite, so in my view it’s fitting they’ve officially added it to the family. Some of you who claim it can’t be a “Pro” without FireWire, well, then it’s a Pro. Let’s just get right to the additions today:

• Processor speed bumps. From 2.0 to 2.26 on the entry model, 2.4GHz to 2.53 on the high end.
• FireWire 800. There you go! Probably the single biggest complaint about the MacBook just got silenced.
• SD Card Slot. I’ve wanted one of these for a while. Easier to use on the road; no cable needed.
• Improved battery. A whopping 7 hours of battery life; and the battery itself should last nearly 5 years. When they did this for the 17” MacBook Pro I mentioned that I’d love them to bring this technology to the rest of their line; I’m glad they did so.
• Better screen. It’s hard to quantify this, but I believe it’s the same screen they use in the MacBook Air, which is a visibly better screen than the first unibody 13” MacBooks.
• Base Memory on the entry remains 2GB, but increases to 4GB on the high end (maximum memory for both increases from 4GB to 8GB).
• Hard Drive configurable maximum is now 500GB.
• Backlit keyboard for all models (previously just at the high end).

And all of this for $100 less than yesterday; $1,199 entry, $1,499 high end. These are tremendous upgrades for the “little” MacBook. I have an original high-end unibody 13” and am jealous. I’d especially love the battery, SD slot, and of course the “free” 4GB RAM upgrade all for $100 less than I spent. The better screen, faster processor, and FireWire are just icing on that cake.

The MacBook Pro 15”

This model shares many updates with its little brother:

• Speed bumps from two models at 2.4GHz and 2.66GHz, to three models at 2.53, 2.66, and 2.8GHz.
• Improved battery with the same characteristics as above.
• Same SD slot as above.
• Base memory of 4GB on all models (maximum of 8GB).

Unlike the 13” model, where all they did was add features, the 15” models got some trimming:

• These models no longer have the Express Card slot.
• The new low-end model lacks the discrete NVIDIA 9600M graphics

With the low-end model priced at $1,699, the upshot is that the price of entry for a 15” MacBook Pro is now $300 less than yesterday. And, though it lacks the discrete graphics and Express Card slot, it gains the SD card slot, greatly improved battery, and a faster processor. This is basically a 15″ version of the high-end 13″ MacBook Pro for only $200 more.

The $1,999 price that used to be the entry point for 15” is now a beautiful “middle” machine lacking only an Express Card slot from yesterday’s model, but gaining the SD slot, battery, etc. At $300 over the entry 15” version, you get a faster processor, discrete graphics, and a bigger hard drive. This thing is comparable to what Apple sold for $2,499 yesterday!

Finally, the high-end 15” is another $300 over the middle model. Still no Express Card, but you get a faster processor and a 500GB hard drive in addition to the SD slot, great battery, and discrete graphics. Note that the high-end 15″ costs $300 less than yesterday, and is a better machine.

It’s amazing what you get in a 15” MacBook Pro today compared to yesterday. Unless you require the Express Card slot, these are superior machines, at significantly lower prices, than before.

The MacBook Pro 17”

This model is the newest of the bunch, and as such needed the least upgrading. It already had the great battery, for instance. In addition, the 17” model retains the Express Card slot instead of getting an SD slot. Still, you get a bigger hard drive (500GB up from 320GB) and save $300 since it now starts at $2,499.

Summary

The 13” models are truly MacBook Pros, with more and better features, lower prices, and they lost nothing in the process. They are fantastic machines.

The 15” models are excellent values, shedding only the Express Card slot (and discrete graphics at the low-end) but gaining an SD slot, the better battery, and other things in the process. The three new price points make the larger 15” screen more affordable than ever.

The 17” is primarily unchanged, but getting a larger hard disk while saving $300 in the process is a pretty sweet deal.

Starting off the WWDC announcements of the day was the immediate availability and updating of the 15″ MacBook Pro. With a faster processor, new connectivity, and greater storage, this update will be minor for most people.

Something Lost, Something Gained

In an interesting move, Apple is dropping support for the ExpressCard on this model and instead, replacing it with a built-in SD card slot. ExpressCard was very popular for many travelers, giving flexibility for 3G adapters, additional FireWire ports and other connectivity options. While seeing it leave the 15″ model may be a bummer for some, the inclusion of an SD slot could open up new opportunities for better third-party add-ons. It remains to be seen what the real reason for this move is. (Why SD versus CompactFlash or another competing format?) I have yet to be able to find out if this SD slot supports newer SDHC cards.

More Storage & Battery Life

The new 15″ MacBook Pro supports larger hard drives, including up to 500GB 7200RPM drives. Additionally, the newer models come standard with 4GB of RAM with support for 8GB (like the 17″ model). Also, a new built-in battery similar to the 17″ MacBook Pro, offers seven hours of battery life. This trend may eventually make its way to the new 13″ MacBook Pro at some point as well, considering Apple generally likes to reduce the burden of consumers changing batteries (from a simplicity standpoint).

Processors & Displays

The new models come with processor speeds ranging from 2.53GHz (and 3MB L2 cache) up to 3.06Ghz (and 6MB L2 cache). The new LED-backlit displays offer a 60 percent greater color gamut than the previous models for a richer color experience.

More Attractive Pricing

Perhaps the biggest attractive feature of these new MacBook Pros is more economical pricing. The new MacBook Pro is available today and starts at $1,699, $300 less than before.

About three weeks ago, the keyboard and trackpad on my MacBook Pro (from mid-2007) began failing randomly for no apparent reason. I would turn it on only to find its keyboard and trackpad unresponsive to any input. Rebooting sometimes helped, but many times it did not. Without a reproducible pattern I could determine, it was impossible to know if the problem was caused by failing hardware, a software conflict, or both.

Imagine if this happened to you while you were out at a cafe or are about to give a presentation, and you’ll understand why I was near the brink of insanity. After some investigation,¹ it became clear there was a fundamental design flaw present in the MacBook Pro that was causing the problem. If your MacBook Pro does not have the new unibody design, this design flaw could give you grief sooner or later.

The Symptoms

Your MacBook Pro may exhibit any or all of the following symptoms:

• Upon waking from sleep, the keyboard and trackpad become unresponsive; log entries in OS X’s Console say “IOUSBFamily failed to enumerate a device.”
• Booting up the MacBook Pro and into the login screen with neither keyboard nor trackpad input. The only way to do anything further is to force shutdown of the system by pressing and holding the power button.
• The keyboard is sometimes present at boot, and sometimes isn’t. You can verify this by hitting the Caps Lock key and seeing if its corresponding light lights up or not while you are at the white boot-up screen with the gray Apple logo.
• Plugging in an external keyboard and mouse works, thereby eliminating the possibility that software is at fault.
• While OS X is running, the keyboard and trackpad may become intermittently unresponsive.

The Problem

Prior to going the way of the unibody enclosure, the MacBook Pro sported a design largely carried over from the PowerBook G4. A design trait common to all such MacBook Pro models is that of the battery bay. In this design, the battery bay of the MacBook Pro is located beneath the trackpad, in roughly the middle of the wrist-rest area in front of its keyboard. MacBook Pro models that share this design are:

• 15-inch Early 2006, Intel Core Duo (MA463LL/A, MA464LL/A, MA600LL, or MA601LL)
• 17-inch Early 2006, Intel Core Duo (MA0922LL/A)
• 15-inch Late 2006, Intel Core 2 Duo (MA609LL, or MA610LL)
• 17-inch Late 2006, Intel Core 2 Duo (MA611LL/A)
• 15-inch Mid 2007, Intel Core 2 Duo (MA895LL, MA896LL, MA895LL/A, or MA896LL/A)
• 17-inch Mid 2007, Intel Core 2 Duo (MA897LL/A)
• 15-inch Early 2008, Intel Core 2 Duo (MB133LL/A, or MB134LL/A)
• 17-inch Early 2008, Intel Core 2 Duo (MB166LL/A)

Removing the battery

Remove the battery and you will see the partially exposed circuitry of the trackpad. Notably, you will see a orange ribbon cable that ends in two connections to the trackpad.

Take a closer look at this ribbon cable and you will see that it does not lie completely flat against the floor of the battery bay.

I have my MacBook Pro in a sling bag whenever I’m on the move, placed in such a way that the battery side of the notebook is always against my hip. I suspect that the jostling of the MacBook Pro, specifically its battery, against my body over time has weakened the connection of the ribbon cable to the trackpad.

Replicating the Problem

If your MacBook Pro is exhibiting the symptoms I’ve described above, here’s how to replicate the problem.

Before you proceed, install HardwareGrowler. HardwareGrowler is a subset of Growl that notifies you whenever hardware is disconnected and connected from your Mac. This is extremely useful, as it lets you see, in real time, the keyboard and trackpad disconnect and connect while you troubleshoot.

Once you have HardwareGrowler installed, perform the following steps:

1. Your MacBook Pro should be running. If the keyboard and trackpad are still dead, use an external keyboard and mouse to login. Once you’re in OS X, unplug the external keyboard and mouse.
2. Make sure your MacBook Pro is plugged into AC power.
3. Flip your MacBook Pro over and remove its battery.
4. Then arrange your MacBook Pro so that its screen is flat on a surface and its lower assembly is vertical, 90 degrees to the surface.
5. Arrange yourself so that you can see both the battery bay and the screen of your MacBook Pro.
6. With one finger, press the ribbon cable in the spot just before where it bulges. You may need a couple of tries before you find the exact spot.
7. If you’re pressing the right spot, you should see two HardwareGrowler notifications appear on-screen. The first notification will say ‘USB Disconnection: Apple Internal Keyboard/Trackpad,’ while the second will say ‘USB Connection: Apple Internal Keyboard/Trackpad’.
8. Remove your finger from the ribbon cable. At this point, the keyboard and trackpad may or not remain working.

If this troubleshooting procedure yields the results in Steps #7 and #8, congratulations — you can now be certain that it is a hardware problem, that you are not going insane, and that you have a high-tech problem to which there is, fortunately, a low-tech solution.

The Solution

If the warranty on your MacBook Pro is no longer valid, like mine, don’t worry. Simply take a small piece of paper, such as a Post-It, and fold it in half. Stick it over the spot on the ribbon cable. Then reinstall the removable battery. The battery should exert enough pressure on the piece of paper to keep the ribbon cable working.

If your MacBook Pro is still under warranty, take it to an Apple service center. While Apple has not officially acknowledged that this is a widespread problem, it’s afflicted the machines of many owners, so surely it’s not unknown to them. Demonstrate the steps described above to whomever is helping you as letting him or her see the problem as it happens eliminates the guesswork and may help expedite the time needed for repairs.

The long-term solution is, of course, to have the ribbon cable replaced, because the last thing you want is to have the keyboard and trackpad fail on you when you need to use your MacBook Pro most. In the meantime, you have a temporary fix should you need one.

¹ _{I wish to credit Steve Eugene of Dallas for discovering the cause of the problem as detailed in his post on Apple’s discussion forum.}

A while back we reported about issues 17-inch MacBook Pro owners were having with vertical lines and other distortion appearing on their displays. Almost three weeks later, Apple has released a fix for the issue. Officially dubbed “MacBook Pro Graphics Firmware Update 1.0,” it’s downloadable immediately via Software Update.

Apple doesn’t point any fingers regarding the source of the problem, which seemed to be the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M card that handles dedicated graphics processing. Let’s hope this fix does finally resolve the issue once and for all, because otherwise Apple might have to move on to hardware replacement and even a general recall. Let us know whether or not the fix works if you were experiencing problems.

At this point, it seems like having some graphics issues is more of a “coming of age” thing for a new Mac product than something that surprises or worries us, though I’m sure if you have one of the affected MacBook Pros, you think otherwise.

Users are reporting in an Apple Support thread that the recently shipped 17-inch model is acting up, displaying green lines and ugly screen artifacts. The problem is apparently tied pretty clearly to the NVIDIA GeForce 9600M (the dedicated card), since the problem doesn’t arise while running the integrated 9400M, only appearing when you switch to the more powerful card.

No word from Apple yet about the issue, although they will likely try to resolve things with a firmware fix before trying anything more serious. One customer in the support thread said he received word from Apple that he would have to have his laptop replaced, although I doubt they realized at the time that the issues were so widespread.

It’s hard to believe that a machine so expensive, after such a long delay, could have such serious and quickly apparent problems. I suppose you could excuse Apple and just chalk this up as another NVIDIA screw up, but Apple must do some serious testing with these machines before they release them to the buying public. The alternative, of course, is that they were well aware of the problem but opted to stick to internal deadlines and deal with the problem down the road with a firmware update rather than delay the ship date of the 17-inch MacBook Pro any longer. Whatever the issue, Apple seriously needs to stop shipping significantly flawed products, or their reputation for quality isn’t going to last.

Alongside some of the more publicized changes Apple made to their lineup today, including the long-awaited new Mac mini, the iMac and Mac Pro updates, and the changes to the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule devices, there were also a few, more quiet modifications made.

Maybe most interesting among these changes are the processor speed improvements made to the MacBook Pro line of Apple notebooks. Whereas MacBook Pros used to cap out at 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors, the limit has now been increased to 2.93GHz. The standard processor included in the more expensive 15-inch model also gets an improvement, up to 2.66GHz from 2.53GHz.

Processors weren’t the only thing to receive attention today in Apple’s notebook lineup. The 256 SSD drive upgrade option that first appeared with the 17-inch MacBook Pro is now available for all unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros. I still think it’s prohibitively expensive, but I suppose if you have $825 lying around, there are worse ways to spend it. Maybe.

Apple peripherals also received a minor alteration this morning. Specifically, their keyboard now comes in three possible configurations. There’s the existing wired keyboard with numpad, and the wireless Bluetooth keyboard without, and now, there’s also a wired version without. The new smaller wired keyboard apparently ships by default with the new iMac, though the Mac Pro still comes with the numpad-inclusive version. Price point for the new wired keyboard? $49, same as with the numpad.

Does this strike anyone else as the opposite move Apple should’ve made? I don’t know about you, but I want my wireless keyboard with a little numpad spice, not the other way around. Talk about a missed opportunity. We’ll see how the Apple community reacts to the keyboard switch, but I really hope it isn’t just the first step towards phasing out the numpad version altogether, and then introducing a new peripheral, or worse yet, suggesting the iPhone is their numpad.

Today the 17 inch MacBook Pro joined its younger siblings with a unibody construction. While many of the improvements were expected — based on the existing unibody models — and there are some worthwhile performance enhancements, Apple also had a couple of nice surprises in store. Let’s take a look…

Expected Unibody Improvements

First and foremost, for the same base price of $2,799 as yesterday, the new 17 inch model provides the following:

• Solid unibody construction. We’ve learned the unibodies are indeed very solid and seem like tanks. The 17 inch takes that even a step further, as we’ll see below.
• Dual core processor at 2.66GHz (up from 2.5) on a 1066 MHz bus (up from 800MHz)
• Utilizes fast DDR3 memory at 1066MHz.
• It is actually about a tenth of an inch smaller in width and depth, and also two-tenth of an inch thinner. Yes, these are pretty small improvements, but for a device so big any relief is better than none. (Recall that the 15 inch model actually got slightly bigger in unibody trim.)
• The wonderful glass track pad with gesture support.
• The improved 9600M mobile graphics with 512 MB video memory (same as the high-end 15 inch model).
• 9400M mobile chipset and graphics for very good performance while saving an hour of battery life.

On the down side, the new model loses the separate FireWire 400 port, getting by with just the one 800 port (which supports 400).

Further, the new model uses the mini Display Port, which means to use it with your existing screen you’ll need to by a new adaptor.

Newer Improvements

Where Apple deviated from the other unibody models is in two important areas. How well these are received remain to be seen (I can already hear the complaints), but I ultimately think these are good:

• There is a matte screen option. You read that right. While the same glossy screen as the rest of the MacBook line is the default, a matte BTO option is available. That’s the good news, the bad news is it’s $50.
• New battery technology. This new technology increases battery size by 40 percent, and battery life by a whopping 60 percent! You get eight hours of life with the integrated graphics, and even seven hours with the discrete graphics. That’s the good news, the bad news is the battery is non-replaceable.

I’m sure the matte option will be greatly appreciated by those who need it, but since the option was free on the previous model there may some complaints about it costing extra. It seems in order to do it the most professional way, however, Apple isn’t just placing a matte cover on the glass screen, but rather removing the screen and applying the matte to the LCD. This does make the most sense, and it seems to me that for their flagship model Apple wanted to do it right. Besides, for all the howling over the glossy screens, matte screen aficionados shouldn’t complain about the price, right?

As for the new battery, it makes sense when you think about it. By using new technology and a battery essentially custom-made for this model to cram into all available space, they got much more battery in the slightly smaller case and increased battery life accordingly. And they did this without increasing weight! That amazes me the most. All this extra battery and the model weighs the same as before? Batteries are heavy. Clearly, the new model shed weight which they countered by adding more battery. Yet it’s still the lightest 17 inch laptop on the market.

I foresee Apple bashers having a field day with the non-replaceable battery. Heck, most of them still want a replaceable battery in the iPod! I do not have an extra battery, and prefer to avoid the expense and extra weight and clumsiness in carrying one around anyway.

I wonder if the reason the MacBook and 15 inch MacBook Pro models do not use this same battery approach is that, with their smaller case sizes, it may not have made enough improvement. In other words, there was less space to put the battery in anyway, so the improvement would not have been enough to make a big deal out of. With the 17 inch model, a 60 percent increase with no weight or size gain is a very big deal. I might also add that I like the fact that Apple is innovating with batteries, because I assume this technology can trickle down to their other mobile devices in the future.

Other Items

In terms of build quality, the unibodies are like tanks, yet the door on the bottom seemed to be almost flimsy by comparison. Without that weak spot I imagine the new 17 inch model to be even more rugged and sturdy. One issue, however, is that I’m not clear on how memory or the hard drive is upgraded.

Other available items are a maximum RAM of 8GB (nice), a 2.93 GB processor, and an option for a 256GB SSD. I’m surprised, however, that the max HDD is 320GB, when 400GB models are readily available elsewhere.

Conclusion

In short, for the same price as before you get a smaller, thinner, faster, more durable, and more expandable machine. On top of that it weights the same and yet has a battery life of up to eight hours!

To me, the best way to judge the worth of new features is if I wish I had them. Frankly, if they could have crammed more battery in my unibody MacBook for significantly more battery life, without gaining weight, even while removing the ability to swap it, I’d be thrilled. I’d also appreciate that it was even more solid. And, while I love the glossy and would not change it, the matte option is a nice touch for those who feel they need it.

I wrote about the unibody upgrades for the other MacBook here. Personally, I’d rate the unibody 17 inch model upgrade as right between the MacBook upgrade (which got the most improvement) and the 15 inch model (which got the least).