I swung by the San Francisco Apple Store this afternoon, and employees told me that, while old-skool MacBooks were out on the floor, they had the new stuff in the back room and it was all ready for purchase. Resisting the urge to buy one sight unseen, I vowed to come and play with the new collection tomorrow, once the demo units are out.
Joe Russell, on the other hand, went for the early purchase and made it first to unboxing:
First thing I noticed on the trackpad, the entire surface is in fact not a clickable button… but rather the lower two-thirds. And as far as it being glass, it feels more like the original textured surface of the trackpad on the MacBook Pro.
I feel like I’m now rolling w/ a MacBook Air that’s been hitting the gym.
Be sure to check out the full gallery. The spongy tab to pull the machine out is ingenious.
I’ll be back this weekend with a report on unboxing the MacBook Pro, if all goes according to plan…
Pete Mortensen is a design strategist for consulting firm Jump Associates and the co-author of Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, a book and blog that are significantly more interesting than you might initially think. Pete’s particular Apple avocations are both around design–interface and industrial. Follow him on Twitter!
6 responses to “New MacBooks Hit Apple Stores, Get Unboxed”
Here’s an interesting point: Looking ahead to Macworld in January, what is there left for Stevo to pull out of the bag?
If you look at it, 2008 has seen them revamp all three of their main businesses – the Mac, the iPhone and the iPod.
MacBook/MacBook Pro – done, october
iPods – done, september
iPhone next gen (3G) – done (along with ‘accessories’ the app store and mobileme) july
iMac – done
Which might point to the focus shifting to their “hobby” – AppleTV – perhaps to become the forth “leg” of their “stool”.
So my predictions for Macword (early though this is) is a focus on Apple TV (DVR etc) or perhaps a non-smartphone iPhone (what people are dubbing the iPhone nano) or a totally new product.
Thoughts??
* assuming snow leopard is still some way off
Can’t wait to try these out in an Apple Store this weekend. Firewire isnt a big deal for me personally, so I’m eying the high end Al Macbook.
And as for Macworld johnny, I can has Mac Pro refresh plz?
Let’s see the ports on the side!