Ranier Brockerhoff gives an extensive analysis of the guts of the new Macbook, the changes Apple made, and why they made them (or at least, the apparent benefits of the changes they made). His conclusion? It was a choice between the Firewire 400 port and another (unpowered) USB 2.0 port, and Apple figured that more people wanted the latter. In the Macbook Pro, the 800 port was included because not only can it handle legacy peripherals through an adapter, the form factor is planned for use in the next two Firewire iterations.

One of the common complaints (especially from me) was the lack of a Target Disk Mode, making disc migration a pain. Brockerhoff brings up an interesting point: the new Macbook makes it easier for technicians to access and replace the hard drive.

Perhaps underscoring the phasing out of Firewire on Macs, Apple has added the Migration and DVD/CD Sharing Update to Macs (OS 10.4.11 and 10.5.5) using the Software Update feature.

The software, previously available with the Macbook Air and as a separate download, allows users to migrate from one Macintosh computer to another using not only Firewire, but Ethernet or a wireless connection. The latest Macbook, part of a consumer series that Steve Jobs declared the best selling Macintosh ever, is shipping with no Firewire port at all, and the Macbook Pro ships with only a Firewire 800 port.

Release notes and links after the break.