I recently binged some television while Margaret was away, watching back episodes on my laptop at the dining room table. I mention this because while the speakers on my MacBook Air must be tiny, with attendant limitations on their frequency range, I was utterly flabbergasted by the fidelity of their spatial definition. Several times I thought I heard a sound from outside the house and paused the playback to hear the sound more exactly — only to discover that the sound in question came from the soundtrack of the television show. Did I hear a bird? *pause* No, it was ambient sound from the garden scene. Is there a crowd gathering across the street at the pub? *pause* No, the guests arriving for a wedding were talking among themselves.
Granted that one wants speakers large enough to generate some bass, especially if one relishes rock’n’roll as I do. But honestly, I’m knocked out by the MacBook’s capacity to throw its voice (as it were) convincingly, and I’m certain that’s no small engineering feat. Full marks to Apple for that one. (Now, let’s talk about the Smart Keyboard for the iPad, which costs £169 and wears out after two years (I’ve had two.). That’s £80/year for a keyboard; there must be a way of making that more durable.)