Apple Mac lovers everywhere are like kids in candy stores today – nervously checking their credit card limits to see what new toys they can afford.
There are a few new things that interest me:
Updated Keynote – ok this won’t be number 1 on most people’s list – but I love Keynote. I do a lot of public speaking and it’s a tool (like Powerpoint for those of you who are not Apple people) that I find is one of the best ads for Macs as people always come up to me after a presentation to ask about it. I also use it to create graphs and diagrams here at ProBlogger (again every time I do people ask about it as it produces beautiful graphics). Anyway it’s been updated. I’ll definitely be getting a new copy.
iWeb – As mentioned a few days ago here in my linkdump – Apple have included a new application in their latest iLife collection (which I’ll have to get now they’ve updated iPhoto and iMovie) called iWeb. I’m yet to fully investigate but they are promoting it like this:
The Internet is calling. Answer. Use iWeb to create websites, blogs, and podcasts — complete with photos, movies, and music — and get them online, fast. Just drag, drop, and design using your choice of web templates, then publish live to your .Mac account.
Sounds interesting – While I suspect it will be basic, Apple are definitely moving into a new media kind of space.
MacBook Pro – Ok I can’t justify this having got a new PowerMac – but a boy can dream. It’s 4x faster than the old Powerbook and is Apple’s first dual core intel inside laptop. It’s also slimmer, has a brighter screen and runs quick. Nice!
Of course there are new Intel iMacs but I’m not really an iMac guy and a new iPod Radio Remote – but it’s the above new products that got my attention this morning.
PS: apparently Tiger is updated today too which will be good (although I’m not seeing it as an option to update on my software updater yet).
The MacBook, I had no idea the prices would be so high, i’m not quite sure what they are in relation to another Dual Core laptop. The other laptops are still avalible in the Apple Store, i’ve just looked online, maybe there’s still hope for me getting an Apple laptop in the near future still!
The wait is over at least.
Mmmmm…Keynote 3
Delicious! I love my current version, so I can’t wait to check out the new one.
I’m also saving for a new Apple laptop, but I’m not sure if I want to get in on the very first generation of Apple/Intels…maybe I’ll let someone else test them out first ;)
Cary – wise move.
Carl – yeah it’s high priced because it’s a pro machine. If they do an ibook intel machine it’ll be lower i guess.
Darren, ain’t it great when folks ask what you did your presentation in? I’ve also had that everytime I’ve done a presentation using Keynote. It’s the textures and backgrounds they notice most – the little things, the polish.
Wait til they see the new textured 3d graphs – they are absolutely stunning!
its the transitions that get a lot of people – that cube rotating etc….
yeah i cant wait for 3d graphs….I’ll be posting every second day with a graph here at ProBlogger – just because I can.
Anyone know when iWork and iLife will be in stores though???
I really was waiting for the intel ibooks beacuse they were going to be cheaper and hopefullty were going to come in black. But the new Macbook Pro is great but its way out of my limit when time pases and the prices drop then i will think about it.
Oh boy – it’s playtime. Just as I (almost coincidentally) launched my revamped (OK, new) Apple blog :)
BTW Darren the OS X update has just shown up on my SW update – it wasn’t there an hour ago. Quicktime and iTunes also updating. Nice big download thank goodness for broadband!
Yeah my Tiger update appeared eventually.
Darren are you on Mac platform?
Actually I feel regret buying this I-Book. bought it for nearly £800 upgraded to 1gb ram and bought an external hard disk. Hope the dual core future dual core I-Book does not come only in white color. My current I-Book has 2 palms stained on it. I am a dirty fellow?
yeah my old ibook got dirty too – but so did my powerbook.
Now I’m on a powermac – I tend to wear them out pretty quick :-)
iWork and iLife can be bought right now through AppleStore and ships in 1-2 days. I don’t know when it will be available in retail stores, though.
iWeb! Gee, I can’t wait for a gazillion .mac.iblogs that look all the same. It’s like the deault kubrick theme from WordPress: it looks cool when it’s new, but when you see it everywhere … you get sick of it …
And finally …. Intel inside … I can only recommend all Mac users to leap ahead … ;-)
All the while, I assume PowerBook will be more resistant to dirt as it is in gray colour.
Ecto vs iWeb, any comments?
I am just about to get ecto after I get my ebay refund. But now I get to know iWeb here.
no idea on iWeb – doesn’t look like it’d compare at all with ecto though. Different markets and even features at a glance. ecto for Mac is a seriously good tool.
cubachi, don’t expect iWeb to compete with Ecto unless you host your blog on .Mac
This from the iWeb site:
“.Mac membership unlocks all iLife ’06 has to offer, including Photocasting support, one-click iWeb publishing, web hosting, and more.”
Ecto is a tool for serious bloggers supporting categories and tags. It is possible someone *may* write a plugin/extension for iWeb one day that lets them publish to other blog engines (eg Blogger, WordPress, Drupal, Nucleus, Typepad etc etc), but don’t expect Apple to ever do it.
All the new Apple gear looks great! I new waiting to upgrade my iMac would pay off. I can’t wait to try out the new Intel iMacs.
I updated my Mac Blog with full information about all the new releases in case anyone is interested.
Now I’m off to run software update and get all that 10.4.4 goodness.
Hehe – I couldn’t face the download last night so I’ve not seen the latest Tiger yet.
I’m usually quite an early adopter, but (quite apart from the money factor) I’ll be holding off the intels for a little while longer.
I still love my little Powerbook!
Well, I ordered a MacBook immediately. Yes, I would have liked the price to be lower, but my iBook is three years old and showing its age. Besides, I write about Mac stuff quite often.. and if I need more excuses for my wife, I’m sure I can come up with something convincing.
Rumors say it may be a while before I actually have the thing in my hands, and of course there is the nagging fear of being an early adopter – this is new Intel and new Apple, so let’s hope it doesn’t make a mess..
But I’m looking forward to it.
oooh – congratulations pcunix – very jealous. Let us know how it goes!
Carl, PC dual core laptops cost as little as $1150 to more than $2000. The high-spec ones cost about the same as the MacBook. I compared a few prices, and drooled over my keyboard, here.
Must … resist … .urge … to … buy
All the Apple stuff looks yummy!
Can’t work out how to afford one though…..
Boo hoo…
I’ve got an IBM Thinkpad 600x with Windows 98. Does the job. lol…
heck…I’ve got an old 466mhz iBook, and it still does the trick, too!
;D