科技資訊:MacBook家族又添新品

Are you intensely disappointed by the resolution of your laptop screen? Didn't think so. Yet, Apple thinks it could be better. This has long been a theme for the famed technology company: Find a product that people don't think is all that flawed (early MP3 players) and replace it with a product so captivating (iPod) that they forget whatever came before it.

你是不是對自己筆記本電腦屏幕的分辨率極爲不滿？沒這麼想過？然而蘋果公司（Apple）認爲筆記本電腦屏幕完全可以做得更出色。這就是這家著名的科技企業長期以來一直都在奉行的主題：找到一個大家並不覺得有多大缺陷的產品（早期的MP3播放器），用一款魅力無窮的產品（iPod）取而代之，讓人將之前的東西忘得一乾二淨。

The company continued its pattern last week with a new addition to the MacBook family: the MacBook Pro with Retina Display. This isn't a laptop for average, mainstream consumers, but for pros and enthusiasts. (The MacBook Air, once an exotic niche, has taken over the mainstream role.)

本月中旬，這家公司延續了它的一貫作風，MacBook家族又添新品：視網膜顯示屏MacBook Pro。這款筆記本不是面向普通的主流消費者推出的產品，而是以專業人士和發燒友爲消費羣體。（MacBook Air曾經也是差異性定位產品，現在已經成爲了主流機型。）

I've been using this laptop over the past week, and my retinas are properly impressed, if that's scientifically possible. Apple describes its Retina Display as such a high pixel density that a user's eyes can't see individual pixels on it. On this screen, colors pop, text seems crisper and image details - like light catching on water droplets - seem more pronounced. Its screen makes others look muted, including my regular MacBook Pro, a MacBook Air and two Windows PCs that I set up near it. On the downside, its battery life came up short in my tests, and its 15.4-inch-diagonal screen size is too big for some people's taste.

在過去的一週裏，我一直在使用這款筆記本電腦，可以說我的視網膜對其印象良好。蘋果公司描述視網膜顯示屏時稱，它的像素密度之高，用戶的肉眼看不見屏幕上的單獨像素點。這塊顯示屏色彩分明、文字清晰、圖像細節──比如照射到水滴上的光──似乎更明顯突出。這款筆記本的屏幕讓其它電腦黯然失色，包括我那臺普通的MacBook Pro、一臺MacBook Air和兩臺我放在旁邊的Windows系統的PC機。不足的是，在我的測試中，這款筆記本的電池續航時間很短，而且它15.4口的尺寸對有些人來說太大了一點。

The MacBook Pro with Retina Display is the first MacBook Pro to rely solely on flash storage and has an improved processor and graphics. This new build makes it thinner and over a pound lighter than a 15-inch MacBook Pro with a hard drive. It is only 0.03-inch thicker than the thickest edge of the slender MacBook Air. And its speakers sounded remarkably good as I blasted Latin and classical tunes throughout my living room.

視網膜顯示屏MacBook Pro是第一款完全依賴閃存存儲的MacBook Pro筆記本電腦，處理器和顯卡都經過改進。這種新的構造使其更薄，重量比帶硬盤的15口MacBook Pro筆記本還要輕一磅多，厚度上只比纖薄的MacBook Air最厚處多0.03口。我在客廳裏開大音量播放拉丁或古典樂曲時，它的揚聲器聽起來音質格外好。

Beauty and power like this come at a price. The MacBook Pro with Retina Display costs $2,200 for 256 gigabytes of flash or $2,800 for 512 gigabytes of flash, making it one of the most expensive MacBooks.

像這樣一臺集實力與美感於一身的機器價格也是不菲的。閃存容量爲256G的視網膜顯示屏MacBook Pro售價2,200美元，512G閃存容量的售價2,800美元，成爲價格最昂貴的蘋果筆記本電腦。

Meanwhile, prices have dropped for three of the four MacBook Air models, which, since their 2008 debut, have been thought of as the gold standard in ultra-thin laptop design. The least expensive, 11-inch MacBook Air remains at $1,000, while the other 11-inch and two 13-inch MacBook Airs have come down by $100 each. All MacBook Airs were updated with improved processors, graphics, faster flash storage and larger amounts of memory.

與此同時，四款MacBook Air機型中的三款已經降價。自2008年面世以來，MacBook Air就被視爲超薄筆記本電腦設計領域的標杆。價位最低的一款11口MacBook Air售價維持在1,000美元，而另一款11口和兩款13口的MacBook Air價格都下調了100美元。所有的MacBook Air電腦都進行了升級，處理器和顯卡得到改進，閃存速度更快，存儲容量更大。

Regular MacBook Pros without new screens were upgraded with features like new processors and faster graphics, and they start at $1,200 for a 13-inch or $1,800 for a 15-inch.

未使用新屏幕的普通MacBook Pro筆記本也得到了升級，換了新的處理器和速度更快的顯卡，13口的機型起售價爲1,200美元，15口的則爲1,800美元。

The MacBook Pro with Retina Display is the first MacBook Pro without a disc drive slot, though MacBook Airs never had one. The ports that remain include two USB ports (compatible with both USB 2 and the faster flavor, USB 3); an HDMI port for directly connecting this laptop to a TV; two Thunderbolt ports, which provide fast connections to external screens or data devices, and an SDXC memory card slot.

視網膜顯示屏MacBook Pro是第一臺沒有光盤驅動器插槽的MacBook Pro筆記本電腦（MacBook Air則是一直就沒有），保留的端口包括兩個USB接口（兼容USB 2和速度更快的USB 3）；一個可以直接和電視機連接的HDMI接口；兩個能夠快速連接外接屏幕或數據設備的Thunderbolt接口以及一個SDXC存儲卡插槽。

I don't normally run half of the programs that a power user might, but this MacBook zoomed along as I used it for tasks like downloading music, importing dozens of high-resolution photos, opening over 30 tabs at a time in my Web browser and editing images in iPhoto and Aperture, Apple's high-end photo editing software.

我開啓的程序通常不及一名高級用戶可能運行的一半，但我在測試時也同時執行了下載音樂、導入數十張高分辨率照片、在瀏覽器中一次打開30多個標籤、用iPhoto和蘋果的高端照片編輯軟件Aperture編輯圖像等諸多任務，這臺MacBook快速地進行着處理工作。

I also used it to record songs in Apple's music program, GarageBand. It took less than seven seconds to open iPhoto and generate high-resolution thumbnail images for 183 12-megapixel images. In five seconds, it imported 42 of those images onto the computer. Using Aperture I edited a 43.6-megabyte, RAW (unprocessed) image with instant results. It started up in just a few seconds.

我還用蘋果的音樂程序GarageBand在這臺電腦上錄製歌曲。打開iPhoto並生成183張1,200萬像素照片的高分辨率縮略圖耗時不到七秒鐘。五秒鐘之內，那些照片中有42張被導入進電腦。我用Aperture編輯一張43.6M大的RAW格式（未經處理的）照片，編輯結果可以實時顯現，軟件在幾秒鐘之內就啓動工作了。

In my standard battery test, which I performed twice for accuracy, I got just over four hours each time, though Apple claims up to seven hours. My test taxes the computer more than a normal user and involves keeping Wi-Fi on, cranking the screen to full brightness, turning off all power-saving features, keeping email retrieval going in the background and playing an endless loop of music. Four hours of juice with this test likely means that a person using it more regularly would get 5 or 5 1/2 hours of battery life.

我對電池進行了兩遍標準測試，以求精確。在我的測試中，每次電池續航時間都是四個多小時，雖然蘋果公司號稱可以達到七個小時。我的測試比一般的用戶更消耗電腦的資源，測試中要打開Wi-Fi、將屏幕亮度調到最亮、關閉所有省電功能、後臺運行電子郵件接收程序以及不停地循環播放音樂。在這樣的全方位測試下，四個小時的續航能力很可能意味着一個正常使用這臺電腦的人可以獲得五小時或者五個半小時的續航時間。

When I used my own MacBook Pro after using the MacBook Pro with Retina Display, its screen appeared as if a thin, hazy film was floating on top of it.

在我使用過視網膜顯示屏MacBook Pro筆記本之後再去用我自己的MacBook Pro時，感覺屏幕上面好像飄着薄薄一層模糊視野的薄膜。

Apple says the 2880-by-1800 resolution of the Retina Display has more than five million pixels, or over four times that of the previous MacBook Pro and over three million more than an HDTV. Apple claims this computer's screen cuts down on reflective glare by 75%. While I did notice less glare when I compared it to other glossy screens, sunlight did affect it.

蘋果公司稱，這塊分辨率爲2880×1800的視網膜顯示屏像素超過500萬，也就是說它的像素是之前MacBook Pro筆記本的四倍多，比一臺高清電視（HDTV）多300餘萬像素。蘋果公司聲稱這款電腦的屏幕可以降低75%的反射眩光。雖然我在拿它與其它的鏡面屏幕作對比時沒有注意到它的眩光是否更少，但是陽光對它的影響的確存在。

It's no surprise that Apple's newest product improves on its last. This move to a better screen, all-flash storage and the elimination of a physical slot for discs shifts the company ahead in its typical, pack-leading style. Power users will be thrilled by the MacBook Pro with Retina Display. Average users will now consider the MacBook Air more seriously.

蘋果的最新產品會在上一代的基礎上進行改良，這一點不足爲奇。這次升級電腦屏幕、採用全閃存存儲方式、取消物理光驅的改進措施讓公司前進了一步，繼續保持它典型的引領潮流的風格。高級用戶對視網膜顯示屏MacBook Pro筆記本會怦然心動，而普通用戶現在也會更加認真地考慮一下MacBook Air了。