August 16, 2006

I Want a MacBook Pro

August 16, 2006, 5:42 PM | 8 Comments

Even before Apple announced the switch to Intel processors a year ago, I knew I would be seriously considering the purchase of a new Mac for my next computer. Well, the time has come and I’m at the point where I’m ready to buy, but I find myself hesitating. The problem I’m having now is that there are some rumours going around about Apple updating their laptops to the new Intel Core 2 Duo processors in the near future.

These rumours were circling around and some industry analysts were predicting the Core 2 Duo MacBooks announcement at WWDC 2006, which has since come and gone. After Steve Jobs gave a less than stellar keynote address with no mention of the Core 2 Duos (correct me if I’m wrong), the talk began heating up that the changes to the MacBook and MacBook Pro are now going to happen in September (assuming they’ll make the announcement at their annual event in Paris).

So, if I’m ready to buy now, why bother waiting? Am I really going to benefit from the difference between the 32 bit Intel Core Duo processor and the 64 bit Intel Core 2 Duo processor? Probably not, or at least, not noticeably. I run a Windows x64 machine at work, and I’ve never once been impressed by it. In fact, most of the time I’ve been hindered by the fact that 64 bit support is (at least so far) very weak on the Windows side and while I do expect that Apple’s 64 bit implementation will be a lot stronger, that’s not even my motivation for waiting.

The plain, simple truth is that I can’t stand the thought of buying a brand new machine, and then having Apple update the processor (and presumably at least 1 more item in the MacBook Pro) a few weeks, or even a couple of months later. This is especially true when you add in Apple’s history of packing more features into the same product and not even bothering to adjust the price point.

Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not bashing Apple’s practices in this regard. The fact that they offer more features and better components in the same product at the same price (or in some cases an even lower price) is exemplary in the industry and only endears consumers towards the Apple brand even further. I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen that type of practice from the Dell or HP camps, but I have digressed.

Over a year ago I mentioned that I thought Apple had bridged the gap between Windows and Mac users. With the advent of Parallels and Apple’s own Boot Camp, my thoughts have been confirmed. The fact is that an Intel based Mac has become the perfect ideal platform for web professionals to develop with and I’m definitely not the only one who shares this thought.

When I finally do make the switch and get a MacBook Pro, you can bet that I’ll be posting an on-going journal to share the experiences of transforming myself from a long-time Windows user to a Mac user.

The time has come, and it’s getting harder to hold off.

Update: A new report has shown up on AppleInsider detailing a little bit more about Apple’s plans.

Update, October 24, 2006: Apple has released new MacBook Pro models with Intel Core 2 Duo processors. There have been a lot of good upgrades that they’ve seen as well such as a Firewire 800 port, bigger hard drives, more RAM, better optical drives. I sure am glad that I’ve been holding out for the upgrade, because it was well worth the wait.

Update: I now HAVE a MacBook Pro! Be sure to check out my “Switch Journal” as I chronicle my experiences switching from a PC/Windows user to a Mac user.

Posted in: Apple, Life, Technology