MacBook mooing: MacInTouch survey results
Posted by Pierre Igot in: MacintoshJuly 31st, 2006 • 2:26 pm
The ever-reliable MacInTouch web site has posted more information taken from their recent survey of MacBook and MacBook Pro computers. (The link will change when the information is permanently archived in a fixed location.)
As the unfortunate (and temporary) owner of a mooing black MacBook, I did participate in the survey myself, and so did thousands of other MacBook users.
Of particular interest to me today is the “Mooing” column in this table:
What this table tells me in fairly certain terms is that the mooing is a pretty common occurrence in MacBook laptops, and less frequent in MacBook Pro machines. (We should keep in mind here that some people might use their laptops in noisy environments where they don’t even notice the mooing.)
In fact, based on this survey, if I really want to buy another Mac laptop and be almost certainly sure that it won’t have the mooing, I’ll have to buy a… 17″ MacBook Pro!
It’s not the most encouraging news. What these statistics might confirm is that the MacBook form factor itself, with its smaller footprint and more compact design, makes heat dissipation more of a challenge, and that this inevitably results in machines in which the mooing (which is clearly related to heat issues) is more frequent or noticeable.
Maybe the 17″ MacBook Pro is so large that it has enough empty room inside to be able to dissipate heat more effectively without the use of internal fans.
The 17″ MacBook Pro is a pretty expensive machine ($2,848 through the Apple Canada Educator’s Store). And it probably has the same AirPort reception issues as all other Apple laptops with metallic enclosures. The black MacBook had the best AirPort range I have seen in a long time. I highly doubt that the MacBook Pro comes anywhere near that.
But in the big scheme of things, a perfectly quiet machine is much more important than optimal AirPort reception. The other benefits of a MacBook Pro include, of course, a bigger hard drive, a proper graphics card, and a bigger screen with a matte finish. The keyboard is different from the one on the MacBook. It’s more like the keyboard of previous PowerBook generations—although my wife did like the new keyboard on the black MacBook a lot.
All this could influence our ultimate decision regarding the machine that will replace my wife’s aging Titanium PowerBook G4. One thing is for sure: The replacement machine will not be a MacBook, unless Apple addresses the mooing problem.