Now pointlessly enhanced with AI
Apple introduces new features to iPhoto ’09 such as Places and Faces.
Faces automatically scans iPhoto library right after the upgrade, and it might take a while to process all the data. I have 3368 of assorted pictures in my iPhoto Library, and I’m looking at a good 80 minutes for my 15-inch MacBook Pro Core Duo 2.0GHz to process Faces data.
I’m going to post some screenshots from faces, if I remember to.
There are a lot of news items that I have not writte about yet for the past 7 days. It’s time for me to catch up with them.
Steve Jobs is going on a medical leave of absence.
January 14th, 2009
Apple CEO Steve Jobs today sent the following email to all Apple employees:…….
In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.
Circuit City is going out of business after filing Chapter 11. Download the PDF’s below:
Microsoft Songsmith, and the ad features MacBook Pro.
Songsmith is for Windows OS only, Mac users can cry in the corner; or will they?
It is so great that it produced music to accompany David Lee Roth.
Palm Pre, the would be savior of Palm.
Palm is back with a new OS and new SmartPhone in the form of Palm Pre. It looks promising so far, and some anti-Apple movement crowd are hoping that Palm Pre would be the iPhone killer.
Video of Phil Schiller’s Keynote is now available. Watch it here.
Also available in Apple Keynotes Podcast, iTunes required.
Watch Philip Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing, unveil Apple’s latest innovations at Macworld 2009. See the video-on-demand event right here, exclusively in QuickTime and MPEG-4.
QuickTime 7 is required.
Here we are at the last month of 2008. It has been an interesting year for the tech industry. Google has finally released its first operating system; for mobile phone. Apple is going full speed ahead with the iPhone 3G, and the rest of industry trying to match it up. Microsoft is finally responding to Apple’s “Get A Mac” ads, by admitting that all that Apple has been poking fun at are true. Yahoo! is looking down a barrel of a gun playing Russian Roullette, “Buy me still, buy me not.”
Let’s see what else went on in 2008 so far. Obama successfully utilized the Technology (read: Internet) in the Presidential Campaign. The Stock Market took a nose-dive. Metallica released “Death Magnetic” in September. Axl’s Guns N’ Roses “Chinese Democracy” is actually released. Wall-E is AWESOME! BlackBerry Storm is unlike any other BlackBerries, it is more iPhone-like with a twist. AVCHD camcorders are gaining ground. Apple ditched FireWire on its new Unibody Aluminum MacBook. Futurama goes High-Def with “Bender’s Game” Blu-Ray.
OK, I’ll add whatever above later.
The point is that that December is usually a slow month for Technology. So I’m focusing on some other things such as the Holiday and Comedy.
The three comedians I’m working with will be having some big shows in December.
Jill-Michele Meleán is having her JillyOnline.com show at the Hollywood Improv on December 9th, 2008.
Darren Carter will be performing in Sacaramento, California and Milwaukee, Wisconsin this December. Check his Web-Site or Blog for dates.
Carlos Alazraqui will be storming Cobbs Comedy Club December 12th and 13th. The week before Christmas, Carlos will be doing huge shows at Hollywood Improv. Mark your Calendar, December 19th and 20th, 2008.
I currently have a Unibody MacBook on loan for the weekend. I definitely like it, but personally I really need FireWire port on the MacBook. I am planning to get the Unibody MacBook Pro sometimes in early 2009.
I installed Windows on the MacBook, and it seems to handle it really well, be it XP or Vista.
More to come.
I have been waiting since January 2008 to replace my original MacBook Pro Core Duo. I’ve written about MacBook Pro Early 2008 and MacBook Pro Late 2008 (also this) since then. Around August 2008, I stumbled upon informations on MacBook Pro with Quad-Core processors.
I had high hope that Apple would release Quad-Core MacBook Pro on “The spotlight turns to notebooks” event. The new Aluminum Unibody MacBook Pro is nice, but it is still missing the Quad-Core I really want.
I am using my Original MacBook Pro Core Duo to write this post; it is still a capable machine. I’ve done tons of video editing on this MacBook Pro. With a 7200 RPM hard-drive, this MacBook Pro Core Duo beats newer MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo with 5400 RPM hard-drive.
Yes it is still a great computer.
I was going to buy the new Unibody MacBook Pro on the first day it was available. For some reasons, there have been some kind of divine intervention that prevented me from spending the hard-earned dollars.
I do have the sense that the MacBook Pro would gain Quad-Core as an option around January 2009. It is based on my gut feelings, backed by some informations that I’ve gathered. I’ve been through this road before, and I’m sure that if and when I got the new Unibody MacBook Pro, the Quad-Core option would be added a few months after.
Decisions, decisions.
A lot of the questions I’ve been getting since August 2008 from friends and clients are about buying a MacBook or a Macbook Pro. Now that Apple has refreshed their notebooks line, I can now give them better answers.
All prices are in U.S. dollars and for U.S. stores. More disclaimers at the bottom of this post.
Buying MacBook
If you are new to the Macintosh, and wants to get a MacBook, the new Unibody Aluminum MacBook is a no brainer. The downside is that base prices for MacBook are $1,299 and $1,599. The $1,599 model has one thing that any other MacBooks don’t have, and that is the backlit-keyboard. The first complaint about the Unibody MacBook is the lack of FireWire port.
MacBook @ Apple Store (Retail and Online)
MacBook 2.0GHz $1,299 | with Educational Discount $1,249
MacBook 2.4GHz $1,599 | with Educational Discount $1,499
Macbook 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo – plastic White $999
MacBook @ Amazon.com (as of 2008.10.18)
MacBook 2.0GHz $1,294
MacBook 2.4GHz $1,594
Macbook 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo – plastic White $944 and $75 rebate
Usually Amazon adds $75-$100 rebates on each MacBook. Since the Unibody MacBook is just released, there is no rebates added yet as of October 18th, 2008.
Buying MacBook Pro
The Unibody MacBook Pro comes in two 15-inch models. One for $1,999 and the other is for $2,4999. The first one comes with Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz with 3MB L2Cache, 2GB of RAM, 250GB 5400RPM hard drive and 256MB video RAM. The second model comes with Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz with 6MB L2 Cache, 4GB RAM, 320GB 5400RPM hard drive and 512MB video RAM.
If you see the need for better performance, the $2,499 model does have double the L2 Cache and video RAM.
MacBook Pro @ Apple Store (Retail and Online)
MacBook 2.4GHz $1,999 | with Educational Discount $1,899
MacBook 2.53GHz $2,499 | with Educational Discount $2,299
MacBook Pro @ Amazon.com (as of 2008.10.18)
MacBook 2.4GHz $1,994
MacBook 2.53GHz $2,494
Usually Amazon adds $150 rebates on each MacBook Pro. Since the Unibody MacBook Pro is just released, there is no rebates added yet as of October 18th, 2008.
Previous MacBook and MacBook Pro
If you still want to buy Apple notebook but don’t want to spend as much, consider buying the previous MacBook and MacBook Pro models.
@ Apple Store
MacBook 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo – White $1,249
MacBook 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo – Black $1,299
MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo $1,599
MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo $1,799
@ Amazon.com
MacBook 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo – White $1,234.23 and $75 rebate
MacBook 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo – Black $1,294 with $100 rebate
MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo $1,594 and $150 rebate
MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo $1,779
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NEXT: Upgrading the MacBook and MacBook Pro
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Disclaimer
If you bought anything through Amazon link above, and I get some kickbacks.
“If you buy Apple notebooks, I can buy a MacBook Pro” to paraphrase the great Robert Schimmel.