What’s Not Inside Apple’s New Laptop
There’s a great deal to like, even crave, about Apple’s new
MacBook Pro, the Intel-based laptop that replaces the Powerbook line. I’ll say more about that in a more detailed posting soon.
But there’s an bizarre omission on Apple’s part: It has taken out the modem that came standard with every previous laptop computer in memory.
OK, fine, you can go buy Apple’s external dongle-ish
USB modem for an additional $49 (and note that current customers have, at
best, mixed reviews of the thing). But this means carrying around one more
piece of gear, an annoyance at best.
Maybe you live in the world that Steve Jobs and other privileged executives
inhabit. They never, ever stay in a place that requires dial-up Internet
access, and their company doesn’t mind paying the $10-25 that hotels charge
(typically closer to the higher amount outside the U.S.).
The rest of us live in the real world. I try to stay in hotels that have
Ethernet or wireless connections, but I can’t always do that. And even when I
do, they sometimes charge so much that dialing up is far the better, or at
least more affordable, alternative for getting my email and other routine
chores.
The cost of having a modem on the motherboard is relatively trivial,
especially since today’s modems are much more software than hardware. Jobs and
company live two years, technologically, ahead of regular folks, something
that helps them create advanced gear. But they should not assume we all live
in their lifestyle zone.
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Comments
The lack of an internal modem is less troubling that you might expect. I have a two-year old, PowerBook G4 (Aluminum) WITH an internal modem, but I never use it. If I’m on the road and without broadband access, I simply switch to using my cell phone for Internet access
- Pay Sprintg an extra $10 (I think) per month for Sprint Vision data plan
- Connect a Sprint cell phone to a Mac via a $20 cell/USB data cable
- Instruct Internet connect to dial #777
- Connects to the Web as if I am using the phone’s internal browser
- Speeds up to about 70k with Sprint Vision or faster (broadband) with Sprint EVDO network
That procedure only works if you’re in a Sprint PCS coverage area, because the phone is acting as a “bridge” to the PCS digital channel, not as a real modem.
It doesn’t work if you’re roaming, or in a rural area where Sprint hasn’t upgraded older cell sites to support PCS.
Actually Dan, all Macs have been devoid of internal modems for a few months now - as you say, you now have to pay extra for a USB modem. I’m guessing Apple assumes that you’re the sort of person who can afford broadband or goes to places which offer Wifi. While those technologies are becoming more ubiquitous, having a 56k modem to fall back on is handy (I’ve certainly found this myself when I’ve had ISP problems at home) and it’s a shame that Apple have started doing this.
In the summer they offered internal modems as build options - surely for some machines, like the Mac Mini, they could continue to do this? But then I suppose bundling a USB modem with the machine is cheaper (in terms of labour) and easier than inserting it inside the case.