So I’m nearly 2 weeks into the whole Intel Mac experience, and I am in awe of what this baby can do. I have barely caused it to break into a brisk walk, let alone given it opportunity to stretch its legs, but this thing is seriously fast!
The screen is so bright, the keyboard is so responsive, the whole two-finger scroll thing is great and as for the built in iSight, well what can I say? You can’t open enough applications to cause it to wheeze, and the bigger screen means that multi-tasking (which was already a joy on a Mac) moves to a new level.
I loved my iBook, and I have to say I don’t think I would ever have grown tired of it – it could do everything I wanted it to do, and the only thing that was ever frustrating was its video encoding abilities, but even then it coped, albeit not as quickly as I’d have liked. But this Macbook is a whole new level of Mac ownership, and I think I am in love with a piece of computer equipment – but then you have to admit that no other notebook comes close on visual appearance, never mind usability and performance.
For those of you considering switching from Power PC (or even Windoze) – do it. I was concerned about speed issues with Adobe products, but I have to say that even running under Rosetta they feel quicker than they felt on my iBook. I guess if you are used to Creative Suite on a G5 then you are in for some disappointment, but if you don’t need to be spending all day in Photoshop or InDesign, and like me use it only it short bursts, then I think you will find the other enhancements outweigh that down-side. As for other apps, most are now Universal Binary, so there is little to slow you down.
Other pieces of design genius include the MagSafe connector: for the uninitiated a magnetic power connector that, if kicked or caught, neatly comes away from the computer rather than staying attached and causing your computer to be propelled at high velocity towards the floor – which is never a good thing (as my buddy Mark can testify).
I had read that battery life was poor, but in general use I get close on 4 hours, which I think is OK. I am a bit of a battery fanatic, so I regularly condition my laptop batteries, and if that keeps the level at 4 hours then that is fine by me.
Overall: I love this thing. I had my doubts about the switch to Intel, but I have to say ‘Steve Jobs, great decision’
