Like many, I was anxiously awaiting the Macbook Pro refresh. And, like many, I was disappointed that 13″ model didn’t see the more significant processor upgrade that its 15″ brethren were treated to. The new 13″ MBP features astounding battery life, on par with the iPad, that I’d most definitely appreciate (along with a backlit keyboard and SD slot). But my primary complaint with the current 13″ unibody Macbook (late 2008 model) is that spinning beach ball. Something I’d hope to see significantly less of with an Intel Core i5 processor. Incidentally, this same sort of Apple decision is why we don’t own a 21.5″ iMac. The fact that I don’t want a larger screen shouldn’t imply that I don’t want larger processing power.
ZNF regular Greg Glockner suggests my response is one of a fanboy. However, I imagine a true fanbois would be one who thanks Steve Jobs for his insight and makes a purchase without evaluating his computing needs. I had a buyer lined up for my current 13″ model at half of what I originally paid, never minding those Snow Leopard and 2GB upgrades (bringing me to 4GB total). But I can’t justify the ~$600 out of pocket expense for marginal improvement in processing power… especially when I could find a similarly equipped Windows laptop for much less. Then again, Apple’s portable laptop hardware is generally more thoughtfully designed than the MS contingent.
So, for the time being, I’ll continue to sit on the sidelines… having made a few software adjustments. Being a blogger and a generally voracious reader, it’s not unusual for me to have two dozen (or more) Firefox tabs open. While I haven’t empirically analyzed the data, I get the sense that Firefox is something of a resource hog. And this speaks more to memory than to processing power. However, as someone who multitasks, it plays into the larger performance wall I frequently run up against. Now, for the first time since the pre-Firefox 1.0 days when we called it Firebird, I have a new primary browser. The Mac version of Google’s Chrome is finally ready for prime time. It’s still got one or two quirks, but the kiosk mode has been successfully ported from PC (much smoother than FF) and, more importantly, the vast majority of sites I visit render/behave properly. It’s too soon to declare a verdict but, over the last few days, things do seem sprightlier. Or, perhaps it’s all just coincidence and I haven’t hit as many Flash-based sites.
Another program I hope to save cycles with is Acorn. I’ve been using Photoshop and derivatives, like Elements, since 1997 as my go-to image editor. However, it’s a bit bloated for my minimal photo hackery needs (and skills). I originally ended up with Acorn during a Macheist event about a year ago. And never used it, or really any of the programs. However, the folks behind Acorn are offering a $10 upgrade dealio this weekend. So I’m giving it a shot. 24 hours in, I’ve noticed a somewhat repeatable cropping quirk and the save dialog doesn’t calculate image size based on jpeg quality. But I’ll stick with it a few weeks, as it does appear sufficiently capable and lighter weight.
Of course the video manipulation department is where I could really use some additional horsepower. But I’m not aware of suitable replacement software. And will carry on with my (hopefully less frequent) beach ball friend.