Intel iMacs and the MacBook Pro 


As an avid Applewatcher, I was of course glued to my browser yesterday evening watching MacOSRumors' live transcript of Steve Job's keynote address at Macworld 2006. True to form, Jobs did not disappoint, with announcements of new releases of the iLife and iWork software bundles and, more importantly, the very first Intel processor based Macintosh computers: the new iMac and MacBook Pro (sic). 

Aside from being most impressed by the quoted performance (2–3 times faster than the fastest iMac G5, and 4–5 times faster (!) than the existing PowerBook line, although real-life applications are more likely to see a more modest but still very impressive 50 to 100% speed increase), the announcement was as interesting for what it left out than what was actually in it.

First of all, most of the pundits had been predicting updated iBook and Mac mini lines, as these are the models currently most in need of revision. However, in retrospect, Apple strategy makes perfect sense. The new iBook and Mac mini may well have outperformed the existing PowerBook and iMac models, which would be slightly embarrassing for Apple, hitting sales of older machines, which are still being offered at full price via the online AppleStore and elsewhere. Also, many of the Mac faithful (myself included) are so desperate to get their hands on one of the new Intel-based Macs that they are likely to buy the first new model that comes along. This would be bad both for Apple, who would lose out on the revenue generated by sales of the more expensive machines, and for consumers, who would be annoyed when the newer, faster models came out a couple of months later and they wish they had waited and bought them instead. From this point of view, releasing the higher-end hardware first is a shrewd and sensible move that will help to ensure maximum impact and sales in the marketplace (imagine the headlines if the single-processor Mac mini was released first: "New Intel Macs not much faster").

Another reason to hold back the iBook and Mac mini releases is the availability of software in the new universal binary format that contains both PowerPC and native Intel code. Although this may not deter early adopters and power users willing to run existing software under the Rosetta emulation technology, which will almost certainly run faster on the dual-core processors of the new machines, but could be confusing for new consumers, especially if they are unfamiliar with Macs or wish to make purchase new software. On this basis I would expect to see new iBooks and minis emerge some time in March, or perhaps early April, once the new MacBooks are shipping and more applications (such as Microsoft Office) are available as universal binaries.

It's an interesting question as to whether the new iBooks and minis will contain dual or single core processors. If the Mac mini is intended as a home media hub then dual-core would make perfect sense for multitasking the distribution of media streams around a home network, simultaneous recording and playback of digital TV, etc. However, this is unlikely in the short-term because of the cost implication, although perhaps Apple will offer it as an optional configuration. The new iBook—probably called the MacBook mini, or something equally banal—is also intended as a low cost machine, and I would expect to see some fairly aggressive pricing from Apple on the entry-level model, so again, probably no dual-core CPU there.

At the other end of the scale, the MacBook Pro (seriously, guys, what's with the name? MacBook Pro?! A five-year old could have done better…) looks to be an extremely capable and stylish laptop, almost identical in appearance to the existing PowerBook G4, but much faster, slightly thinner, and with a brighter screen, built-in iSight camera, infrared remote control (overkill, but nice), and groovy magnetic power cord, which avoids any damage to the laptop if someone trips over the cable (which, let's face it, we've all done at some time or another). Less obvious changes are the omission of a fast FireWire port (already causing some consternation amongst the high-end video crowd), the replacement of the ageing Type 2 PC Card slot with a pint-size ExpressCard socket, and no more S-video out (presumably this is available via the DVI connector?). More worryingly, and despite increased battery capacity (60W), no battery life figures are quoted, which can only mean that they are worse than the recently upgraded PowerBook G4s, which can manage a fairly respectable four hours or so on a single charge. It's possible that Apple's reluctance to give figures is also due to the large variation in power consumption arising from the brighter display and faster processor, which could burn up the battery in half this time when running CPU-intensive tasks. However, the Intel Core Duo is also supposed to contain some fairly smart power saving technologies, and so with the appropriate settings I would expect battery life to be broadly similar, if a little less than the existing model (say about 3.5 hours?). Even this would better than my current PowerBook G4 1.5GHz, which can only manage 3 hours on a good day, but is of course pure speculation on my part.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was no mention of Intel Viiv (pronounced to rhyme with 'five'—oh why do they do it?!). Whether this is because Apple are not interested as they already have their own media strategy based around iTunes, are saving it for the Mac mini, or perhaps have already included it but wish to hold off making any announcement yet (unlikely), your guess is as good as mine. Capabilities like 'instant-on' and robust streaming of digital TV broadcasts are again ideally suited to the home media hub, but as these can mostly be achieved through software rather than hardware (with the possible exception of secure encryption), Apple may have decided to keep its costs down and stick with its own proprietary solutions (as opposed to Intel's proprietary solution).

All in all, I think yesterday's announcements were an encouraging start to Apple's Intel transition, and I can't wait to see some of the other machines that are undoubtedly just around the corner. Although the reality may have seemed slightly lacklustre in comparison with the rumour mills' frenzied outpourings, that would probably have been the case whatever the outcome, given the huge amount of speculation and anticipation leading up to yesterday's event. In any case, there is certainly plenty more to come and I for one look forward to the next few months with interest. I have already started saving for my 15" MacBook Pro… or should I get an iMac, or perhaps a Mac mini? It's so difficult to decide… ;-) 

Posted on Wednesday - January 11, 2006 at 10:09 AM            

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