The more things change…
My new 13" MacBook Pro
Apple understands consumers better than any other tech company. While other companies change, tweak, adjust, and re-design on the outside, Apple redesigns on the inside. With a Mac, you get a nicer paint job, stylish new grillework, and something that will impress your friends when you drive up in front of their house. But, when you turn it on, everything is familiar. You’re driving the moment you put the keys in the ignition. But it’s faster and better on the inside.
Last week, I got a shiny new MacBook Pro. Because it’s so familiar, I was using it right away. Apple’s innovative approach to set up using Time Machine backups mean that your new computer has everything your old one did before you even log in! Essentially, there is hardly any setup or configuration or hardly any thinking to do. Yet, every day I discover things. Better battery life, faster processing, better bluetooth behavior. I didn’t have to learn about them, read the manual, or even delay my work. So, instead of mastering a new machine, I have a sexy new MacBook and keep smiling as I discover new things about it.
Our house is filled with computers we’ve owned in the past. I did a little walkaround today and looked at my old Compaq laptop, Grace’s old HP, my old Toshiba. They all look so foreign in their design, and all look so different. Plugs, sockets, connectors… they are all in different places with different symbols. It really makes me appreciate our switch to Apple four years ago.
Product has performed to better than thought. The only things I wished it had would be a S-Video port. Its light and very powerable little notebook that I use both at work and at home. Would recommend to anyone on the go and also the 6-cell battery for its great battery life.
I agree that it is very “lean” on external ports. They even omitted the audio-in port completely and there is only a headphone port. From what I understand this was done because there literally was no room inside to accomodate these ports. Probably true, since the 15-inch model has the audio in port.
But, Apple has done a pretty good job of making up for it. The headphone port is actually one of the new “headphone/microphone” ports that is compatible with the iPhone. So, iPhone headsets work just by plugging them in and you can use the microphone and talk controls. I have actually used that feature quite a bit. There are also a host of little white adapters that will transform the mini display port into a DVI, S-Video or component output. We use those a lot since we are in the video industry.