What is Digg?115 Comments
- tabledesk, on 10/12/2007, -6/+38Easily accessible hard drives aren't always a common feature of PC laptops. Please go away.
- evilempire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23No - that's not just Apple - that is any laptop manufacturer. Who the hell sells a laptop without a hard drive?
- prockcore, on 10/12/2007, -10/+24None of the PC laptops I've used (Vaio, Compaq and HP) have had difficult to access harddrives. Most of them slide right out of the side.
I've never seen *anything* like what you need to do to an iBook. - funkytaco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12What's up there, flamebait? I've upgraded the drive on my iBook. Apple has just made it easier on the new Mac Books.
- samsoffes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11they used a 5200rpm for 1. money and 2. heat. i was reading about some guy who put a 7200rpm in his powerbook and said he couldnt touch the bottom of it while it was on after he did it.
- veauger, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11I think you will find that with Apple, they tend not to do what many people think they 'obviously' should.
- kcampos, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13When I first switched from PC to Mac I had the same concern...why do they make it so dang tough to swap stuff out. I was used to having to replace lots of hardware on PC laptops(Vaio, IBM, Dell, I've had them all). But then a funny thing happened. I bought my first PowerBook and years later I haven't had to touch any hardware at all. It just works. Same goes for my G4, my iMac.....get the picture? What do I care how easy it is to replace, I don't ever have to replace it cause they just work. Crazy concept to PC users I know, I was there. But I've been set free.
- SilentSpyder, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9nice touch with the user login picture use of the isight.
- Fett101, on 10/12/2007, -6/+14My Dell only requires 1 screw to replace the hard drive. Beats Apple by one screw and at least 2 years. Innovation my butt.
Also upgradeable/installable by a screw. Two RAM slots. One MiniPCI slot. One modem/NIC.
(Let’s wait and see this get modded down. I want to hear excuses from those who choose to) - JasonDelta, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I'm also not impressed. I have a 2-year old HP zt3000 (the HP equivalent of the Compaq x1000) and I just recently replaced the hard drive in about 2 minutes - 2 screws and the hard drive pops out of a convenient slot on the bottom. And just like Fett's laptop, both RAM slots are easily accessible, as well as the miniPCI. The video card and processor can also be replaced with a little more effort. This is all just another example of how everyone goes crazy when Apple reinvents the wheel...yawn...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6no, replacing a hard drive (or optical drive) in an iBook is a LOT of work... I have done it a couple of times (at work we have 30 iBooks from 2001, all out of waranty) it is not easy by any means... the only harder part to replace is the logic board... You basically have to tear the whole thing apart in order to do it... I like the iBook design, it is durable, and it has a metal frame (unlike a lot of pc laptops), but I don't like working on them...
- kcampos, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9us Mac users don't need to reinstall our OS every year either...doesn't mean we haven't heard of users who do have to. We just pity them. Good luck with that.
- MikeSD34, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work.
- Gardenhead, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9I thought I knew what FUD was. Wow.
- Linkage155, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6They couldn't before?
(sorry if I sound newb-ish) - asmodeus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4With the old IBM Thinkpads (or at least the models I encountered at my last job), the hard disk was easily replaceable - after removing a couple of screws on the bottom you could slide them out of the edge. Since Thinkpads are my only real experience with PC notebooks I have no idea how widespread similar design is, or if the drives were event standard.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"I've never seen *anything* like what you need to do to an iBook."
no pictures on the article of what you have to do...though from the description i'm guessing you just unscrew a plate and pop it out the bottom? - chadseld, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You do NOT void you warranty by opening the machine and changing the hard drive. The deal is that your warranty does not cover anything that you break while doing so.
- stonyhill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I replaced hard drives in a 2002 iBook and a 2003 12" Powerbook. It went OK, but there were parts that could have been broken by making simple errors.
I'm glad to see them making it easier to upgrade. - youareretarded, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Quote: "forgive my ignorance, but I don't hear many PC notebooks having "user replaceable hard disks."
That's because it's such a basic and standard feature that it's hardly even a "feature" let alone news worthy! - errer, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7The expense of the black model is absolutely retarded. 150 bucks for black? No thanks.
- masamunexs, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Should this really be characterized as a new feature? This is more like a fix to a flaw.
- Fett101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3superal1394
That's not the point. It's not innovation. Windows wasn't available on a Mac until this year either. Doesn't mean Apple should be fawned over. - evilempire, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Yeah - I would love to see them as easily upgradable as IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads. One screw, pull out the HD. It is incredibly easy to do.
Compare that to taking apart an iBook - which if you have ever done it is probably 2 hours of work. - Fett101, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@tabledesk
They aren't always common, but it's no excuse to have an article praising Apple for thier mind blowing innovation. - jazzwolf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3My Old IBM Thinkpad i1200 from way back in 2000 had a user replaceable HDD. So Apple is quite a bit late on this.
But I do say... I’m oddly reminded of: http://www.engadget.com/2005/09/17/apple-patent-hints-at-integrated-webcams-for-future-imacs/ :P - Truegod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Nice, does anyone have a picture of the hard drive access?
- frogstik, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4just because it's easier to get to the hard drive it does NOT mean that the macbook has user installable hds... if you install one yourself, you'll void your warranty... end of story.
- frem001, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3now if it was a carbon fibre case that would justify the extra cost
- tabledesk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I've read that 5400rpm disk drives lead to better battery life than a 4200rpm drive because the reduced amount of read time overcomes the extra power needed to spin the drive. Does that apply to 7200rpm vs 5400rpm?
- shadowmoses, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is really cool, allows for a much more customisable system, and allows for anyone to upgrade in the future....
- underburn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Nothing new here, so does the iPod.
- jdog1016, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If you go to customize the macbook, upgrading to a 7200 drive is an option, so yes, it would work.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My 8 month old 17 inch power book has a 100 gb HD, what more do you need for now? Its the cadillac of laptops, im sure the new Mac book pro is even better! wish i had one!
- superal1394, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Dear prockcore: I had a Sony Vaio V505 for awhile, and I had to replace the hard drive before i sold it because it had died. I had to completely dissasemble the machine short of removing the motherboard. If my memory serves right, 15 screws.
Dear Fett101: Have you ever owned a Mac laptop? Easily replacable hard drives is NEVER an option. - oboreruhito, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Swappable video cards? In a laptop?"
Yeah, those Apple dudes are totally not known for their design expertise. If anyone could figure out how to make a new connectivity standard for computer hardware that could revolutionize the industry, it sure as hell isn't Apple. - Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2glossy screens show better blacks, matte screens have less glare. I think the glossy screens are fine for how/where I use a computer.
With the Powerbooks you have a choice. - mickaloha, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5It is funny that Apple is promoting a feature that has been around on PCs for a long time. What is even funnier is when people say that Apple is using higher quality parts for the new Intel macs. They don't. Apple doesn't even make the laptops. They outsource to the same outsourcers that Dell and HP do. They are using the same parts that go into a Dell or HP. They stick a different case on it and voila! You have a laptop that is your favorite brand but is in reality, brand x from a Taiwan company such as Quanta Computer, Twinhead Computers, Acer, Asustek, and the list goes on. The macbook is really just an Asus computer with different case and different size screen. Too bad the Asus can't run OS X legally though.
- aquax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Generally, in Apple terminology, "user replaceable" means that the item can be replaced by a consumer in their own home as part of a warranty repair, instead of sending/taking the unit to an Apple certified technician, saving time.
Apple's support site has a listing of parts in the various iMacs that are "user replaceable", and I would expect a similar list for the MacBooks sometime in the future. - frogstik, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3if you open the system, and you are not an authorized apple technician certified on portables, then yes... opening up anything other than the access to the ram slot will void your warranty. just like opening up a mac mini to pop in ram will technically void your warranty since you are not authorized to do so.
- felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That last photo with the giant legs in the foreground scared me!
- gimpbully, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1erm, iirc, the older macs did have a lil bay for drive enclosures/trays, they went away with the intro of the toilet books and the aluminum powerbooks.
- jdog1016, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1When you buy a mac, they give you the OS X discs, and obviously you need to backup your personal files yourself to restore them.
- enochlai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've replaced many a hard drive on both iBooks and Powerbooks, the aluminum Powerbook hard drive is about 10x easier to replace than the iBook. The old iBook you had to pry apart the bottom and top case, unscrew about 30 different screws, take off the keyboard, airport card, and a few other steps just to get to the hard drive. I agree that this is a flaw that they had to fix. I actually don't mind replacing a HD in a powerbook or macbook pro for that matter as they're pretty much the same process.
- TWiThead, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I purchased my ThinkPad over two years ago, and its hard disk drive slides right out. Apple should be commended for improving their product, but they shouldn't be credited with any sort of innovation because of this.
I can almost hear it now: "Apple just added a second button below their laptops' touchpads! They're geniuses!" ;) - kloud213, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2there are alot of barbone laptop manufacturers like asus and msi. well i know these two anyways
- lavo96, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Easily replaceable drives were available on the Wallstreet, Lombard and Pismo Powerbooks between the late 90s to when the Titanium powerbooks came out (even those were easy).
What is sad is that everything points to this laptop being the first Apple laptop since the first Powerbook 100 that was not designed by Apple themselves (bar the case design). - Truegod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1you get a hard drive upgrade so it's actually "only" $100 for the black case... But it does sucks you pay more just for the blackness.
- kram, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1NO *****! This feature dates back to the G3 powerbooks.
- Fett101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Canthros, various wintel laptops have had swapable video cards for a shot while. I don't know what good they are currently as the laptop manfuactrers seem to have their own lil formats so you don't really have much in the way of choice. It's a good start though.
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