No New Macs At Macworld Expo, But Notebooks The Logical Mac More Than Ever
by Charles W. Moore
I’m not going to use the word “disappointment,” because the iPhone is so very cool and I predict it’s going to be another home run for Apple, but Steve Jobs’ keynote served up pretty thin gruel for Macintosh portable aficionados, or for that matter, Mac fans in general. Jobs didn’t even want to talk about the Mac, and for the first time in Macworld Expo, Apple announced no new or updated Mac hardware or software products. None, nada, zip. On top of that, the company is changing its name to Apple Inc., dropping “Computer.” Ouch!
Now, I love my iPod, and as I said - the iPhone is way cool and I hope Apple sells gazillions of them. Apple TV may even turn out the be a hit for Apple, although I don’t get all that excited about TV. My own current set is an old 26” RCA that one of my kids rescued from a dumpster. For me and IT, computers, especially portable computers, are the main event, so a Macworld without any computer announcements is a bit of a letdown. More than a bit.
Not that Apple is falling behind in the computer end of their business. Quite the contrary, in fact. Apple hasn’t been surfing so near the bleeding edge as they are now for a very long time. 2006 was a whirlwind year for Macintosh product introductions, and aside from the gap vacated by the 12” PowerBook last May, Apple’s portable line is filled with extremely desirable and up-to-date hardware.
Indeed, the latest sales figures released show that laptop computers have opened up a commanding lead over desktop units in sales volume. This is true across the industry, but particularly so for Apple, whose portable machines have been out selling desktop models for several years now.
During Apple’s second fiscal quarter desktop sales were down by 23% from the first quarter, but notebook sales rocketed up by 61%. For Apple’s fiscal year ending Sept. 30, desktop sales were down 3% while portable sales were up 42%. It bears noting that Apple’s second-quarter 10-Q report states: “The company believes the decline in the company’s professional-oriented desktop products was due to customers delaying purchases of such products in anticipation of the release of Intel-based professional systems...” The first Intel-powered Mac Pro models were released after Apple closed its second quarter, so desktop sales an reasonably be expected to rebound substantially in the balance of the year.
Nevertheless, I expect that notebook sales will continue to outstrip desktop sales, and that makes perfect sense to me. It took me about half a day after I bought my first laptop - a PowerBook 5300 - back in 1996, to recognize that portables were “the logical Mac,” and I’ve never really looked back except for a brief dalliance with a G4 Cube in 2001. I had not expected the laptop to essentially replace my desktop Mac, but that’s what happened, leaving me wondering whether there is any logical case for most people to own a desktop computer at all. Never say “never”, but I don’t perceive any likelihood that I’ll ever buy another desktop Mac, at least as my main computer. A possible exception might be a Mac mini, but I’m really not comfortable anymore using a machine that doesn’t support battery - powered operation.
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More on that point in a moment, but it goes for other than the convenience and security of battery power. Desktop computers just seem so excessively large and cumbersome for what they do compared with a notebook. Again, the Mac mini is a partial exception, but even it requires an external monitor, keyboard, and pointing device, unlike laptops, which constitute a completely self-contained package that can run completely untethered to peripherals as long as the battery holds out.
Laptops are also delightfully compact. Even my 17-inch PowerBook, which is a middling - large laptop, packs around very comfortably and conveniently in a one inch thick package with the screen closed, as opposed to a hulking 40 lb. lump or collection of lumps connected with a tangle of cables. The appeal is partly aesthetic, partly conceptual. It just seems more logical. Laptop computers don’t dominate a room the way a desktop machine does. They are more SUBTLE, a quality that appeals to me greatly.
Ever tried using a desktop computer in bed? I like computing while reclining, and keep my Pismo PowerBook by my bed most of the time, parked on a Laptop Laidback stand - not a mode that lends itself to practicality with a desktop computer - even a Mac mini. The Laptop Laidback actually positions the computer and keyboard in a near ideal ergonomic placement, with elbows at the prescribed 90° and the display at a viewing height that minimizes neck strain - much better than when using it on your lap or on a desk or table.
If you prefer of course, you can convert your ‘Book into a virtual desktop Mac for workstation use. Just plug in an external monitor, a standard keyboard and mouse, whatever Ethernet, USB or FireWire peripherals you need, and voila! This sort of set-up costs substantially less than buying separate portable and desktop computers. I use an external keyboard and pointing device(s) most of the time with my production ‘Book, but am quite content using the built-in monitor, with the machine on a laptop stand that elevates it to a comfortable and more ergonomically healthy viewing height. This is effective, and switching back to portable mode is just a matter of disconnecting a few cables.
One objection to laptops is that you do get more power and in some instances expandability for your money in a desktop, Even though the price gap is not if merely as pronounced as a used to be, with machines like the Core 2 Duo MacBook available for just $1,099.00. By the time you trick out a Mac mini with a decent monitor and input devices, you’re not going to be much short of that figure. An iMac will give you more performance in a low-cost Mac, partly because of its full-size 3.5-inch hard drive (the mini uses a 2.5-inch laptop drive), and is smallish as desktops do, but you still have to plug it in and it isn’t much more expandable than a MacBook.
The entry-level iMac does sell for a hundred dollars less then the entry-level MacBook, has the same 1.83- GHz Core 2 Duo processor, comes with a bigger 17-inch 1440 x 900 resolution display, a 160 gigabyte 7200 RPM hard drive. You get an extra USB 2 port and an extra FireWire 400 port, but the same memory ceiling and no expansion slots.
It’s a matter of taste I suppose, but at 15.5 pounds, the iMac is more than three times the weight of the MacBook, I can live quite happily with The MacBook’s 13.3-inch 1280 x 800 display, and personally I think portability is well worth the extra hundred bucks. in fact, I think the middle price point 2.0 GHz MacBook that comes with a gigabyte of RAM it as well worth the extra 300 bucks it costs. Value in a computer must be rationally measured but much more than a low-ball up front price.
if you do require the ultimate in raw computing power and/or PCI and AGP expandability, with multiple RAM expansion slots, and internal drive bays, then of course a Mac Pro tower is the way to go, but seriously folks, what percentage of Mac users really need those capabilities? My guess would be fewer than 10 percent. For most of us, today’s Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros have more performance potential than we will ever need and an ExpressCard 34 slot facilitates a degree of expandability as well. Three gigabytes of RAM should satisfy the requirements of most users and then some.
One area where desktop advocates do arguably have a point is ruggedness and reliability, qualities not enhanced by miniaturization and the hard knocks encountered with portability. In general, desktop machines with their larger, usually better-ventilated internal components have a durability advantage, and the first generation of Intel powered Mac portables have not exactly shone in the reliability Department, although the revision B Core 2 Duo models seen thus far to be substantially improved.
On the other hand, my last three Apple ‘Books have been completely reliable and trouble-free, even after, in the case of my Pismo PowerBook, six years of workhorse service. Based on personal, anecdotal experience with these machines, laptops have given me very little to complain about, and even that old PowerBook 5300 still works.
And if you live out in the boonies like I do, working on a notebook eliminates worry about data loss due to power outages. I can happily keep on computing, and even Web surfing through blackouts as long as my batteries hold up, which is better than the five to 15 minutes or so typical Uninterruptible Power Source (UPS) units used with desktop computers can provide.
Early last month, this neck of the woods was hit with the first significant (and indeed only so far) snowfall of the season - not a whole lot, but coming down as heavy, wet stuff that caused an 18 hour power blackout due to tree limbs breaking under the weight and taking out wires.
Happily, I was able to proceed with my work schedule thanks to the TruePower Extended Life Battery in my Pismo PowerBook. Actually, I have three extended life batteries for the Pismo (two TruePower 7800 mAh units plus a Newer Technology NuPower 6600 mAh), so I could have managed for several days with judicious power conservation, but as it turned out the Pismo, with a fully-charged TruePower unit installed, lasted just short of six hours on the first battery, which was sufficient before the power came back on.
I did turn down the display backlight to the dimmest level that was practical, but took no other extraordinary power economy measures except for logging off the Internet when I didn’t really need to be dialed up. If I used a desktop computer, I would have missed some deadlines, and it doesn’t take much of that to justify the higher purchase cost of a laptop computer.
But even if you live where blackouts are exceedingly rare (if there is such a place), the laptop computing experience commends itself in a constellation of other ways, which doubtless accounts for so many more users choosing portables. I expect the trend to continue, and I’m confident that we will see some Apple ‘Book updates before Macworld Expo 2007.
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