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Macworld San Francisco 2006

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Macworld San Francisco 2006 Wednesday evening, 11 January 2006

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt (so i can rub it into to any mac geeks back in the uk). So the big announcement, Intel Core Duo powered ‘MacBook Pros’. I’m a little disappointed they didn’t go up to 2.0GHz, just 1.83GHz for now. I’m also a little disappointed that they’re significantly more expensive in the UK. £1514 (before tax) vs $USD2,500 ~£1420 before tax. Sure, that’s only £100, but take into account that if you order it in the states then you can get it with NO tax. If you are a tax payer in the UK then it’s £1779

I got the chance to play with one, the MagLock power cable system was very cool. I have yanked my laptop a few times by the power cable and this system just lets it come right away. Also impressive (and this got big applause at the keynote speech) is the built in iSight (web cam). The lid is just a few millimeters thick and there is no bulge where the camera is right in centre of the top bezel. So, i may have to sell my current powerbook and iSight camera in order to help fund one of these when they come out.

As for all the reports of the new Intel processors being 4-5 times faster than the G4 they’re replacing. Well, yes, maybe. Benchmarks are wonderful things. Both benchmarks were optimised for the processor. That’ll be great once all the mac software we use is re-compiled to take advantage of it. For the moment there probably won’t be much if any improvement as it is run in emulation.

Anyway, this was my first macworld and I loved it, the buzz, the products, the enthusiasts, the rows of dual 30” display systems, wonderful!

 

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