MacTel v. Wintel ... now it all begins for real ...

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
So now we and Apple, are starting to see true head to head competition between the Mac and the Windows worlds. For better or worse and most seem to believe worse, Apple can not exist in its own hardware ecosystem. The new Lenovo Thinkpads are beginning to come out with the same chipsets as MacBooks and even Windozers are interested in the comparisons. Here an Ars link...



http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/x60.ars/4



Several observations:

1. This is awesome that non-Applefans are taking the Mac seriously!!! (Yeah, I know Ars is pretty open to Macs, but this is an article for the business Thinkpad crowd.)

2. This is terrible that anyone would compare an aluminum Mac with a black plastic pc. (Okay that is snobbishness coming thru)

3. What is wrong with OpenGL and QuickTime!?!?!? Isn't the Mac supposed to be the best at those?!!??! (This will hopefully put a fire under Cupertino to REALLY be the best in media!!!!)

4. More than ever, the future is about SOFTWARE and Apple needs to remain WAY out in front, to keep the usability edge, but also keep Adobe and friends developing for the Mac.

5. Apple needs to expand into the Intel ecosystem - which is bigger than the iPod ecosystem - as a dominant species with no natural predators ... yet play nice with everyone. ("Partnerships, partnerships, partnerships .... integration of products, integration of products, integration of products" ... he says monkey-boy-like.)

6. Now is not the time to hold back on open-source innovation! Linux-heads may now be able to show, on a platform basis, how cheap and fast they are against both Macs and Wintels on the same chips.



So how does this make you feel?



It makes me want a fast Lenovo-like MacBook Pro in beautiful aluminum and it makes me think Apple can do it and needs to do it at a reasonable price. Hopefully Apple gets even more competitive and not just with Disney short animations.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    macgregormacgregor Posts: 1,434member
    As a reply to myself (since no one else will ... sniffle) today we also have some comparisons of Mactels running Windows ... and they are doing really well!?!?!



    http://gearlog.com/blogs/gearlog/arc...3/21/8212.aspx



    I guess this will be an interesting year and I bet even Bill and Steve don't know what will happen as systems get tweaked!
  • Reply 2 of 9
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member




    FUUUUUUU
  • Reply 3 of 9
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Dear god, how big *is* that Extended Battery they're using?!?



    "Hold on while I *gnng* get out my *gggghhh* laptop *THUD*..."



    Edit: 3lb machine. Urk.



    Hey, notice that they're using the GMA950 as well...
  • Reply 4 of 9
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    The Mac has never been the fastest at OpenGL. Quicktime should be Apple's fortay.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    jidojido Posts: 125member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacGregor

    3. What is wrong with OpenGL and QuickTime!?!?!? Isn't the Mac supposed to be the best at those?!!??! (This will hopefully put a fire under Cupertino to REALLY be the best in media!!!!)





    I guess that the QuickTime encoder is C code and that the Windows compilers are better optimised.
  • Reply 6 of 9
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Anders





    FUUUUUUU




    UUUUUK
  • Reply 7 of 9
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Two thoughts on the ars review of the thinkpad.



    1). Intel IG on a $2000 laptop. Makes the MBP look really good. Should also quiet the critics who complained about it in a $599 mini.



    2). Were my eyes deceiving me or did they actaully get 10hrs. of battery life? I pinched myself while I read the article to make sure I was awake and it seemed to hurt.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    macgregormacgregor Posts: 1,434member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by backtomac

    1). Intel IG on a $2000 laptop. Makes the MBP look really good. Should also quiet the critics who complained about it in a $599 mini.



    I agree and I think the Mini is just fine, unfortunately it is the $100 up-pricing that is the unfortunate part. I think it is worth it, but a sub$500 entry level computer is still kind of important when consumers look at the newspaper ads.



    Quote:

    2). Were my eyes deceiving me or did they actaully get 10hrs. of battery life? I pinched myself while I read the article to make sure I was awake and it seemed to hurt.



    I assume going to Intel means the iBook/MacBook should get the same.
  • Reply 9 of 9
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacGregor

    [B]I agree and I think the Mini is just fine, unfortunately it is the $100 up-pricing that is the unfortunate part. I think it is worth it, but a sub$500 entry level computer is still kind of important when consumers look at the newspaper ads.







    Well I have thought about this and I think that if they need to offer a sub $500 computer maybe they should have kept the ppc mini around longer. Apparently the g4 chips were cheap and, IMO, stacked up pretty well against the core solos, which are now the entry level cpu. I'm tring like hell to get my dad to get a mini and dump his pc. I look at the refurbs about once a week to see what the prices are.
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