$800 Apple MacBook soon: Hogwash

With the release date of Apple’s new laptops growing nearer, the web is live with speculations and rumours. A newer one is that Apple is going to launch a MacBook for $800. Apparently retail stores have already received price lists for the new laptops and they range from $800 to $3100.

And here’s why I feel that a $800 laptop from Apple is really a lot of hogwash. This statement is based on how Apple wants to be perceived. Ever since its shift to Intel based motherboards, Apple has gained more momentum with its laptops and desktop systems. In spite of this Apple has always maintained a very high markup on its hardware though the components it uses are pretty much the same when compared to Windows laptops. So why would Apple do so? Simple Apple wants to be perceived as an exotic entity. They want their customers to feel exclusive. What better way to achieve this than to markup their prices to the extent of putting their products beyond most people?

The only thing that would probably justify Apple’s pricing is their operating system. The Mac OS is right now the most user friendly system on the planet and Apple has every right to ask a premium for it. But when you add this premium to the already high markup that Apple keeps for commodity hardware, the final price just goes beyond most people. 

So the $800 MacBook is probably nothing but a lot of hogwash. What might be available at $800 from Apple maybe a netbook. What would Apple call it? The Mac NetBook?

New Apple MacBook photos

A few more of supposedly leaked images of Apple’s new line of laptops surfaced today. Take a look for yourself:

They look very un-Apple like in design. A two tone color scheme does not appear to be something that Apple would go for. Moreover the laptops have a bit of Alienware-like feel to them. I wouldn’t say they are positively ugly, but they sure don’t seem to be inline with Apple’s designs.

The new Apple MacBook Pro

Speculations are rife about what the next Apple notebooks are going to be like. The prognosis is that Apple is going to announce the launch of a new line of its MacBook and MacBook Pro line of laptops next month. Till now there have been quite a few leaked images about the new lineup but nothing confirmed. Here’s another one:

This is what the new MacBook Pro is supposed to look like. Well the major difference is the black colored sides on the display. The photo of the person taking the photograph shows him/her wearing a black T-shirt with the Apple logo on it. It could be intended to mislead people believe that this was in fact the next device; maybe the person thought that the Apple logo on his/her T-shirt would lend more credibility to this photo. On the flip side, it could be original. Instead of giving it away, the T-shirt might have been intended as a message that this is authentic. We would not know till device is actually announced.

Here’s another more interesting image about what is called the “Brick”:

Well more likely it seems to be an artist’s rendition. Whatever it is, it looks pretty cool and dandy. Little is known about this Brick. Some say that its a netbook, some say its just a new Mac Mini and there are others who say its just a tablet PC version of the MacBook. The tablet version has some meaning since Apple already possesses marvellous haptic technology to make the tablet experience more worthwhile.

Let’s just wait and watch. 

The new Lenovo X301: An alternative to the MacBook Air

As if in answer to my post on the Lenovo X300, Lenovo announced today the ThinkPad X301 notebook PC that expands its current lineup of ultrapotable laptops. The new X301 addresses a lot of drawbacks of the previous X300 series laptops.

Lenovo has spruced up the tech specs of the X301 to make it more like a traditional laptop rather than an ultraportable. The latest Intel Core 2 Duo ultra low volt processor finds its way into the heart of the X301. On the storage side, Lenovo now offers an option of choosing a 128 GB solid state device over the standard 64 GB one. This was one area where the previous X300s were found wanting.

On the performance front, Lenovo says that the X301 shows a 20% performance hike due to the use of DDR3 RAM modules and the latest Intel processor.

Detailed tech specs are still not available.

With these upgrades, the Lenovo X301 surely looks to be a very viable alternative to the Apple MacBook Air. The only thing that goes against it is the Microsoft Windows Vista that comes bundled. With superior connectivity and good options, the X301 shows Lenovo’s seriousness in competing with the likes of Apple in the ultraportable arena.

The X301 is expected to hit the stores on August 26 with a rather steep starting price of $2,599. Even then, for people who are agnostic to OS preferences, this seems to be a much better offering than the MacBook Air in terms of tech specs and options.

Lenovo X300 or MacBook Air

Lenovo just released the X300 ultraportable notebook computer that is supposed to be a competitor to the Apple MacBook Air laptop. The X300 looks pretty good as evident from the following photographs:

However it surely is not as appealing as the MacBook Air when it comes to looks and design.

In terms of slimness, X300 is slim enough. Now for the differences.

Firstly the X300 ships with the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system whereas the Air comes with Apple’s Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. That is a major difference. Vista really has not set the community ablaze with its greatness whereas the Mac OS has definitely earned some rave reviews. Well we really cannot blame Lenovo for this since they do not control Microsoft’s OS business.

The Air has a standard 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with the option of upgrading to a 1.8GHz one. The X300 disappoints in this regard as it offers only a 1.2 GHz version of the Core 2 Duo from Intel. Though this difference in speed would hardly be discernable to most users, the Air might have an edge when it comes to running CPU intensive jobs.

2GB DDR2 SDRAM is standard on the MacBook Air whereas the X300 comes equipped with only 1GB of the same. This is another disappointment. Windows Vista hardly performs with 1GB of RAM. Lenovo should definitely take a look at shipping with 2GB as standard on its machines.

On the wireless front, the Lenovo has built-in support for 802.11 a/b/g/n whereas the Air supports only 802.11 a/b/g. Again this hardly makes much of a difference on most of the wireless networks available today. Then again the Lenovo does have the latest.

The biggest disappointment with the Lenovo lies in the hard drive. The X300 ships with a 64 GB solid state device and does not offer any option of using a traditional drive at all. The Air on the other hand provides more space with the standard 80GB parallel ATA hard drive. Of course you can also opt for a 64 GB solid state device on the Mac at an additional cost.

In the display the Lenovo does offer a better highest resolution. The X300 supports 1440×900 whereas the Air stops at 1280×800.

Where the Mac deparately falls short is in the peripheral connectivity and optical drive systems. The Mac offers a single Micro DVI, 1 USB 2.0 and an audio out port and no DVD drive. That is just not enough. The Lenovo does much better in this regards. It offers 3 USB ports, one headphone port, a line-out port, a microphone/line-in port, a Gigabit Ethernet port and an external display port. Thats a lot when it comes to its small package.

The Lenovo also offers a few WAN choices including one that has GPS funtionality. Wow! That would be a good one to have for the people on the go. The Air does not offer anything like that.

The Lenovo X300 can weigh between 2.93 lb to 3.51 lb with the different options whereas the Mac Air wieghts around 3 lb. Well the Lenovo does offer more options.

So which one to choose? The answer is very clear if you have a preference for a certain operating system. If not then a more careful consideration would be needed. Performance wise both should be performing near to each other. If you need more connectivity the Lenovo X300 seems to be the one. If you need more storage space and can live without all the USB ports and a DVD drive then the Mac Air will suffice. And if you need just the coolness then both would do though personally I find the Air better in this matter.