Will Apple's Upgrade Path Be Driven By Processor Now That They Have Gone Intel?
Blog By James McCarthy | May 23, 2006
Category: laptop
I was just admiring Apple's newest bud on the tree, the MacBook, at our new Apple Store and thought to myself, "I think I will wait until they ship with the newer Intel Core Duo 2 chip". Supossedly the Core Duo 2 will be more stable, run cooler and be an overall better match for Apple hardware. Then a terrible, terrible thought struck me. Knowing that a single processor, like Apple's former PowerPC Chip, could meet all my needs for years was a huge purchasing factor in my decision to move away from the "how fast can I go" Windows world. Now, I can't help but wonder if Apple users will feel pressured, by both Apple and Intel, to upgrade hardware not because it needs to be upgraded, but because the processor is faster, as it is in the PC world? Previous to being Intelized I could have cared less about the difference between 2.0 GHz and 2.1GHz. Now, I might think about it? Perhaps there is more to this "Intel Inside Apple World" then we want to accept.
My PowerBook G4 is still a solid, rockin' computer for its age of 3 years. In fact Adobe, Microsoft and Macromedia haven't released Intel updates to their popular programs, nor will Windows Media Player even support Intel Macs; will Version Cue ever work on an Intel Mac? The slightly larger screen on the MacBook "Pro" is handsome, but the glossy smaller screen on the MacBook is more than words can describe. The ability to run Windows XP atively on a MacBook "Pro" sounds like fun, but the reality is you're booting one or the other and Parallel's VM is probably a better choice for users who want to be in both world's at the same time. The Black MacBook is sharp with a cool new keyboard but there is no backlighting on it. Where did the SVIDEO go on the MacBook "Pro"? And, why in the world isn't there a built-in small-memory media card reader yet for Secure Digital, Memory Stick and Compact Flash. I now have to pay $50 for a USB modem; remember when Bluetooth was $50 more? No built-in modem, in my opinion, is a bad Apple design choice. It has been written Apple's Mac Mini can be upgraded by just popping out the processor from its socket base, but the MacBook's processors are soldered to the mother board. The new airport in MacBooks is a mini-PCI Express and no longer uses a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi Combo card, supposedly improving performace, but will Apple take advantage of the benefits?
The Pros and cons of upgrading my PowerBook G4 are neck in neck in justifying the $1099 - $4000 price tag. Come earlier Q3, if Apple did ship hardware using the upgraded Core Duo 2 chip would this make it worth the investment? Will Adobe have released a universal binary for Photoshop, Flash or Illustrator? There are many questions that time will of course answer, but ultimately if you're like me is worth upgrading from PowerPC to Intel right now, or should I hold out until the Core Duo 2 ships and maybe some other long awaited hardware upgrades, like a dual layer DVD+R (superdrive), to justify spending a small fortune on a computer?
There are so many questions on how these new Intel Mac's will work I'll just have to sit back and let the smoke clear, unvieling the real problems. Until then though I am going to enjoy the Intel MacBook "Pro" on my work desk and continuing ironing out some of the issues I am experiencing. A few include: overheating during long SuperDrive use, software incompatibility (eg., Windows Media Player including Flip4mac, Flash 8 Plug-in for Safari/Camino/Firefox, Version Cue 2 nasty StartupItems crash) and unexplained "gray curtain closing" kernel crashes. Of course the benefits include Parallel's VM which is faster than my current desktop PC, bigger and brighter screen and backlit keyboard and it's thinner.
In conclusion, like any new car wait until the second generation for all the recalls and minor bugs to be worked out by the earlier adopters. If you can get work to buy you one of these first generation models to play with use the time to prepare for your own personal transition. By that time the Core Duo 2 should be shipping and hopefully the larger software companies like Adobe and Microsoft will have their stuff up to parr. Of course don't be surprised to hear the Core Duo 3GHz will be announced right after you click the "buy" button.
Welcome to an Intel world at Apple prices.
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