Info Laptop

Don’t get me wrong, I love my new 13-inch MacBook Pro. In many, many ways, it is far superior to any older computer I have lying around. I can’t get over how far Apple design and function has come. But I do have to admit to shifting and tilting the device around when I’m sitting on the couch with my window in the background. I suppose I could close the window, or rearrange my living room furniture, but I’d have much preferred just clicking a matte display option when buying my notebook. That option may reappear soon.

Or, I could’ve opted for the 17-inch MacBook Pro, which I’m sure is what Apple was hoping for, considering the $2,500 price tag. Sadly, I am not independently wealthy, nor do I have a job that justifies that kind of computer muscle. I just don’t like glare with my computing. Unlike some, I don’t find the MBP’s screen intolerable, just mildly annoying in certain lighting situations, but choice is still nice.

According to reports by AppleInsider, Apple is considering a reintroduction of matte screen options on machines other than the 17-inch MacBook Pro. This is according to “people who have proven familiar with the company’s plans.” Perhaps not the most reassuring of sources, but there is a lot of vocal support of such a move, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple was at least entertaining the thought. The company did, after all, reintroduce Firewire on the 13-inch MacBook (Pro) after much protest about its demise.

Professional users have even more reason to complain than I do, since the glossy screens and glare pose a serious problem when color and image accuracy are of paramount importance. I expect that any screen options Apple does introduce will also carry the $50 charge that currently attaches to the upgrade on the 17-inch model, but that’s nothing compared to the price of upgrading to the pricier model and still paying an extra $50.

I’m not saying the current screen is that big of a problem, but I can’t help but notice the difference between it and the screen on the 12-inch PowerBook I recently picked up as a hobby machine. Yes, everything appears more vivid, more rich, and just generally more impressive, but only in low-light situations. My home workstation is right next to a window, which is necessary to prevent me going completely stir-crazy, and the PowerBook looks a lot more at home there than the MBP does. Would I swap the screens if I could? I’d be mighty tempted, that’s for sure.

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Apple announced a slew of hardware updates today, including a number of upgrades to its notebook lineup.

For me, the most notable among these was the upwards shift of the 13-inch aluminum MacBook into the MacBook Pro category, alongside the 15- and 17-inch models, both of which also got their own feature and hardware improvements. The white, plastic polycarbonate MacBook is looking mighty lonely down at the low end of the scale.

Alongside the name change, the 13-inch MacBook Pro (I’m glad I no longer have to specify “unibody” or anything else to distinguish it from the regular white MacBook anymore) gets an SD card slot, up to 8GB (if you’re partial to a $1,000 upgrade) of memory, a max hard drive size of 500GB (or 256GB SSD), and a backlit keyboard, standard.

Also, making a triumphant return, is FireWire thanks to an FW800 port, as is standard for the Pro line of computers. All this at a new entry-level price point of $1,199, which comes standard with a 2.26GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 160GB HDD. Another higher-priced option with a 2.53GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 250GB HDD goes for $1,499.

The price drop, combined with the spec upgrade, makes this one of Apple’s most appealing machines to those of us who are cost-conscious Mac addicts. Add in the inclusion of the same battery tech that was first introduced in the 17-inch MacBook Pro, with a reported battery life of seven hours (likely exaggerated), and I’m sold. If you’re an education customer, you get another $100 off, bringing the total price of the laptop to $1,099 before taxes. Someone’s going shopping later today, and I’ll let you in on a little secret: It’s me.

I’d wait for Snow Leopard to come out in September, but with $29 upgrade pricing, and a $49 family pack (I have three Macs), there’s not really any cause to wait. One might argue that not enough has changed with this upgrade to justify slapping the “Pro” moniker onto the end of the name, but honestly, the company cut the price along with the title rather than raising it, so I’m not complaining. I seriously believe that this is the best value proposition in Apple’s lineup as it stands, especially given that it’s still relatively easy to upgrade RAM and hard disk (compared with the Mac mini) on your own — much cheaper than it would cost to do so with Apple-installed components.