I’ve just finished checking out all the coverage from Phil Schiller’s keynote and I have to say, I’m satisfied. Let’s take a look.
We all knew it was coming so here it is. The unibody 17-inch MacBook Pro.
It’s what you’d expect really, so I’m not going to bother with all the specs. Think 15-inch MacBook Pro but better.
The only ‘Wow’ feature in the new device is the amazing battery life. Apple claim that the specially designed batter will last up to 8 hours a charge and last 3 times longer than other laptops. Once again, Apple has been pushing the ‘green’ angle of the device which I couldn’t care less about (I just like the ads). All I know is that it’s hell expensive ($2799) and has no removable battery.
Bitching about the battery? Don’t, but leave a comment!
I’ve just finished checking out all the coverage from Phil Schiller’s keynote and I have to say, I’m satisfied. Let’s take a look.
iWork
Like with iLife, iWork has received some new features but hasn’t done anything huge. It’s hard to know whether it’s worth getting, but I’m considering it strongly.
Pages. Pages has easily become my favorite word processor. It’s simple and easy to use and I make all my friends annoyed when I show up with a fantastic, professional looking assignment complete with cover sheet and all.
Full screen mode. As an easily distracted, I can appreciate this new distraction free feature in Pages. Something tells me I will be using it a lot.
Outline mode. Apple are called it ‘Dynamic Outline’ but it looks like their answer to what Microsoft Office:Mac has to offer in it’s Notebook mode. I liked this feature in Office:Mac and am glad that I will see it in iWork.
More templates. Finally! I never thought that there were enough of these in iWork ’08 and there were many template types that Pages never offered which, as a student, I could have made use of. There are over 40 new templates in Pages ’09
Support for MathType and Endnote. I’ll be honest, I’m sure this feature is useful to someone but it isn’t to me. Look it up yourself I have no idea what it is. kthx
Keynote. I got so bored of the hell boring look and feel of powerpoint presentations. When I switched to Keynote, I was over the moon with how fresh and new my presentations looked! The new Keynote just makes this even better.
Slide transitions. Yeah sounds boring I know but just wait until you see it. Imagine dynamic slide transitions, where objects change location, scale, opacity, and rotation automatically. This gives the effect of looking as if you haven’t even changed slide. Ok, it’s hard to explain. Head over to Apple.com to have a look.
Brand new themes, text and object transitions, 3D charts and transitions. Explain themselves don’t they?
iPhone App. Ever wanted a keynote presenter application or one of those wireless remotes that cost $150? You don’t need one if you have an iPhone! Apple are introducing a new iPhone app that does all of this for you!
Numbers has humanized chart and graphing applications. If you are scared of Microsoft Excel (as everyone is) then Numbers is you answer. I found this so easy to use the minute I gave it a go.
More advanced. I didn’t know how to explain it! Simply put, Apple is trying to give professionals a reason to use Numbers. With the addition of formulas, formula list view, advanced charts and table categories, Apple hope to bring Numbers to a stage where it can compete with Excel. I am happy to say that it looks like this hasn’t impacted it’s ease of use. The new features don’t get in the way of the rest of the application, allowing me to make… super interesting tables without accidentally doing algebra.
I’ve just finished checking out all the coverage from Phil Schiller’s keynote and I have to say, I’m satisfied. Let’s take a look.
iLife ’09
From what I heard on Twitter, people aren’t that excited about the new iLife, saying that “There’s not much new!” but the iLife updates are never that revolutionary on their own (ignore iMovie ’08). What you see is the evolution of an amazing suite of products, each getting that bit better with every update. What I see from the new iLife are features that are a must have for some people, and feature that some people wouldn’t pay $79, its all personal choice.
First, iPhoto.
Face recognition in every photo. This looks very cool, iPhoto finds faces and ask you who’s they are then ads it to every photo containing that person. Something like this allows you to collate albums of just your family and the like.
Geo Tagging. This is something you don’t normally see on low price consumer software, so I am impressed that Apple did it. Some cameras and phones (iPhone for example) have GPS built in, allows the device to know where each photo was taken. iPhote ’09 uses this information and ads it to your photos. Google maps is used to show you exactly where you took these photos.
New slideshow themes and settings.
Travel books can now have maps. Why the hell would I want this? I don’t want a Google map in my expensive glossy photo book. Talk about tacky!
Onto iMovie. Unlike many other people, I really like the direction Apple headed with iMovie ’08. Now, they have addressed people’s complaints and added those much demanded feature back into iMovie ’09. Side note: iMovie was introduced right as MacRumors was hacked with porn and as Gdgt started to crack under the strain, so my info on iMovie may not be complete.
New themes and video effects. This was something I missed in iMovie ’08. Video effects such as sepia and video slow down are useful in some situations. I would have loved to have had them for a wedding movie I am making. Pity I can’t hold off on doing it for a month.
Image stabilization. Self explanitory yet ohhhh so desired. Back to this wedding video, I didn’t have a tripod for the camera. Yeah, you know what happened. Shaky!! Hopefully, the new iMovie ’09 will fix up all my bad camerawork.
Timeline. From what I could make out the traditional way of editing movies is making some sort of comeback. I think Apple are calling it “Precision Editing”. What ever!
GarageBand. This is truely the dark horse of the iLife suite. The power and potential on GarageBand is not to be underestimated. I mean, it is the application that got me full marks in a music composition assessment. I chose to use GarageBand over the incredibly expensive Cuebase and Sibelius because it is so much user friendly. Very true to Apple form.
Learn To Play. If making music wasn’t enough, GarageBand can now teach you how to play an instrument. There are even lessons from famous artists like John Fogerty, Colbie Caillat, Patrick Stump, Sting, Sara McLaughlin, Ryan Tedder, Norah Jones where they teach you how to play their songs! You have to admit, this is pretty awesome. Each lesson will only cost $5, that a hell of a lot cheaper than what I pay for music tuition. I really want to try this out.
Brand new design, brand new chipsets, brand new MacBooks!
(Side note! Every time I refer to the MacBook, it also applies to the MacBook Pro unless specified)
2 days ago Apple announced a new line of MacBooks and MacBook Pros. They were everything the rumors said they would be! Built using a new production method (Yes, the Brick rumor was right) the MacBook is now aluminum like its big brother the Pro.
In my opinion, they look amazing. The new LED screen, the perfectly contoured edges, the slightly curved lid, everything yells APPLE! If you compared the old MacBook and MacBook Pro with a PC notebook, you would see Apple’s products were years ahead in terms of design. I can’t imagine how many years ahead they look now. Well, a lot at any rate.
On the inside there is some new stuff too! A brand new chipset from Nvidia makes graphics performance 5 time faster than the previous Intel chipset. For the MacBook Pro, there is also a brand new GPU also from Nvidia. Interestingly, Apple put the chipset and the GPU inside the Pro instead of just the GPU. This gives users a choice between the two based on what there current graphics needs are. If you want to save battery life, switch on the chipset. If you want full power, turn on the GPU!. Unfortunately, there isn’t the option to use both at once. Looking to the future, the ability to use both as well as the CPU would be an amazing feature. Especially considering that Apple is considering harnessing the GPU in they computers to handle everyday tasks is the next version of OS X.
I also have to bring something negative up. The price. Not the price in the US, but the price in Australia (this might apply to other countries outside the US) It seams that the recent financial crisis as well as the diminishing Australian dollar mean that the Mac is becoming even less affordable. In Australian dollars, the cheapest model of the new MacBooks cost AU$2100. When the difference is converted into US dollars, we here in Australia have to pay nearly US$200 more than you do in the US! This is the same for the MacBook Pro. The price point of the new lineup might be a turn off for many people. Human psychology is telling me that if the prices started at $1999 and $2999 they would sell a lot more.
All in all, I really like the new Apple notebooks. This marks a momentous occasion for Apple, no more fully plastic computers (Yeah, yeah I know about the Mini but nobody buys that!) If I had a spare AU$3200 lying around, I would pull out my check book and buy one right now! That is, if I had a check book…
Posted by James Wilson 
iWork
iLife ’09
James and the Giant Apple 