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Apr 12, 2001
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In two reports back in April and July of last year, we reported that Apple was working on an ultra-thin 15-inch Mac notebook, with the suggestion being that the existing MacBook Pro line would evolve to take design cues and many of the features from the popular MacBook Air. But whether the larger notebooks would be branded as MacBook Pros or MacBook Airs has been unclear.

Many had hoped that the redesigned 15-inch notebook would debut by the end of 2011, but Apple apparently elected to squeeze in one final minor spec bump as it waited for Intel's Ivy Bridge platform to launch in 2012. Reports late last year continued to suggest that Apple was finishing up work on the redesigned 15-inch MacBook Pro ahead of a 2012 debut.

AppleInsider now weighs in with its own claims essentially mirroring much of what was previously reported, but emphasizing that the shift will likely see a unification of Apple's notebook lines under the MacBook Air design aesthetic, covering the full range of 11-inch to 17-inch sizes by the end of this year.
This will include new, ultra-thin unibody enclosures that jettison yesteryear technologies like optical disk drives and traditional hard drives in favor of models with lightweight chassis that employ flash-memory based solid-state drives, instant-on capabilities, extended battery life, and rely on digital distribution for software and media.

"They're all going to look like MacBook Airs," one person familiar with the new MacBook Pro designs told AppleInsider. Meanwhile, existing MacBook Pro designs are expected to be phased out over the course of the year.
The report suggests that Apple may not shift the entire MacBook Pro line at once, instead beginning with the 15-inch model and then following with the 17-inch model "shortly thereafter". Apple followed a similar pattern with its transition to the present unibody design back in late 2008 and early 2009.

macbook_air_four_sizes_mockup-500x78.jpg



Mockup of MacBook Air design spanning full range of Apple notebook sizes
The fate of the 13-inch MacBook Pro remains murky, and may depend on just how closely the new MacBook Pro designs mirror the smaller MacBook Air and whether Apple brings the whole notebook line under a single name. With the MacBook Pro redesign and a boost to the 13-inch MacBook Air, there may simply not be enough differentiating the two 13-inch machines and Apple may opt to consolidate its notebooks down to essentially a single line in four different sizes.

Article Link: More Claims of MacBook Pro Adopting MacBook Air Form Factor in 2012 Redesign
 

damir00

macrumors 6502a
Oct 30, 2011
744
7
Very curious to see how much GPU and CPU performance they'll be able to keep in a 15". Quite the design challenge...!
 

MacintoshMan

macrumors regular
Feb 16, 2006
158
20
Yay! We get some Apple news that doesn't pertain to IOS and iProducts. 2012 will be a good year, really hoping the RETINA display makes it to the MBP before Q1 2013...
 

thekeyring

macrumors 68040
Jan 5, 2012
3,485
2,147
London
I hope the new MacBook Pros still have DVD drives. I know people will say "but waahhhh I never use mine!" Well, what about the plenty of people who's laptops are their portable DVD players?

I'm sure the MacBook Pros won't merge with the MacBook Airs as the Pros aren't designed to be thin, so the same sacrifices won't be made with the Pros as is made with the Airs. For example, MacBook Pro hard drives will still be min 500GB.
 

kolax

macrumors G3
Mar 20, 2007
9,181
115
Isn't the fact that Steve Jobs himself said that "this is the future of notebooks" when showing off the redesigned Air enough proof that the teardrop design of the Air is what the Pro will adopt?

I'd love the new 2012 Pro to be all silver again. Not a fan of the black keys and black bezel (the antiglare looks fantastic, like the Air). Silver keys and silver hinge again.
 

Carlanga

macrumors 604
Nov 5, 2009
7,132
1,409
I hope the new MacBook Pros still have DVD drives. I know people will say "but waahhhh I never use mine!" Well, what about the plenty of people who's laptops are their portable DVD players?...
most people w/ hard media have already moved to BR, especially people that can afford the apple tax ;)
 

TylerL

macrumors regular
Jan 2, 2002
207
291
You can take my optical drive, Apple (put more battery in its place!), but please please keep Ethernet and Firewire.

I'm worried I might want to buy the last 13" Pro rather than go to a new 13" Air if the Pro line disappears...
 

Amazing Iceman

macrumors 603
Nov 8, 2008
5,246
3,989
Florida, U.S.A.
I hope the new MacBook Pros still have DVD drives. I know people will say "but waahhhh I never use mine!" Well, what about the plenty of people who's laptops are their portable DVD players?

I'm sure the MacBook Pros won't merge with the MacBook Airs as the Pros aren't designed to be thin, so the same sacrifices won't be made with the Pros as is made with the Airs. For example, MacBook Pro hard drives will still be min 500GB.

I would like BluRay on my new MacBook Pro, that is if I even replace mine. At this point I'm more interested in a desktop: iMac or Mac Mini, as my iPad is my primary mobile device.

In worse case scenario, I would at least want a SuperDrive in it.
 

bushido

Suspended
Mar 26, 2008
8,070
2,755
Germany
Isn't the fact that Steve Jobs himself said that "this is the future of notebooks" when showing off the redesigned Air enough proof that the teardrop design of the Air is what the Pro will adopt?

I'd love the new 2012 Pro to be all silver again. Not a fan of the black keys and black bezel (the antiglare looks fantastic, like the Air). Silver keys and silver hinge again.

i feel the opposite, i prefer the black bezel over the silver one. ^^ all silver is boring. To each their own however
 

derek1984

macrumors 6502a
Nov 5, 2008
720
58
I'm happy with my 17 inch MBP from 2009, still runs like it's new. No issues. This is exciting news for those in the market for a new MBP though.
 

ABernardoJr

macrumors 6502
Dec 19, 2006
364
0
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thekeyring said:
I hope the new MacBook Pros still have DVD drives. I know people will say "but waahhhh I never use mine!" Well, what about the plenty of people who's laptops are their portable DVD players?

I'm sure the MacBook Pros won't merge with the MacBook Airs as the Pros aren't designed to be thin, so the same sacrifices won't be made with the Pros as is made with the Airs. For example, MacBook Pro hard drives will still be min 500GB.

The plenty of people will either have to get an external drive or they'll be saying "wahhhh I still use mine though". It's not that big of a deal if Apple gets rid of the ODD. Many people have options and if they still need an ODD then there's the external or another product altogether.

Your reasoning for why they won't merge is circular. Eventually they will more than likely merge in some form.
 

Boe11

macrumors 6502a
Sep 12, 2010
516
23
Very curious to see how much GPU and CPU performance they'll be able to keep in a 15". Quite the design challenge...!

Read between the lines, dudebro!

Macbooks will no longer have discrete GPUs.

***Speculation alert***

No more pros or airs. Just macbooks, 11,13,15,17. Ultra thin, no discrete GPUs. Forthcoming thunderbolt options will be available for gaming dock setups.
 
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dgree03

macrumors 65816
Jan 8, 2009
1,177
0
Pretty much guarantees I wont be getting a new Macbook pro.

If they some how make/allow user replaceable parts, then I will change my mind.
 

osx11

macrumors 6502a
Jan 16, 2011
825
0
I hope the new MacBook Pros still have DVD drives. I know people will say "but waahhhh I never use mine!" Well, what about the plenty of people who's laptops are their portable DVD players?

Rip the DVDs.

End of discussion.
 

Nielsenius

macrumors 6502a
Apr 16, 2011
565
0
Virginia
Unless there's a major technological breakthrough with these new Ivy Bridge chips, I don't know how anyone expects an Air-like MacBook Pro to run at the same "Pro" level. There would seem to be a number of battery life and heat issues that need to be addressed.
 

ABernardoJr

macrumors 6502
Dec 19, 2006
364
0
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

osx11 said:
I hope the new MacBook Pros still have DVD drives. I know people will say "but waahhhh I never use mine!" Well, what about the plenty of people who's laptops are their portable DVD players?

Rip the DVDs.

End of discussion.

I agree with what you're getting at but I'm sure someone's going to say you need an ODD to rip the DVDs lol
 

WestonHarvey1

macrumors 68030
Jan 9, 2007
2,771
2,187
I hope the new MacBook Pros still have DVD drives. I know people will say "but waahhhh I never use mine!" Well, what about the plenty of people who's laptops are their portable DVD players?

I'm sure the MacBook Pros won't merge with the MacBook Airs as the Pros aren't designed to be thin, so the same sacrifices won't be made with the Pros as is made with the Airs. For example, MacBook Pro hard drives will still be min 500GB.

Laptop as a portable DVD player? Ugh!

How do you carry all your DVDs around? Do you have one of those folders that zips open with all the little plastic folders inside?
 

macuserx86

macrumors 6502a
Jun 12, 2006
622
3
At that point, Apple should get rid of the "Pro" moniker since such a thin machine will most likely require sacrifices in power and expandability that will make it useless to anyone who has a compute-intensive workflow.

Even if Apple could fit a proper mobile GPU and sufficiently powerful CPU, the constraints of such a thin design will mean either clocking them down to a useless extent or having a laptop underside that routinely hits over 70ºC.

In addition, it would follow that Apple would adopt a MBA style of SSD. If that happens, the great ability to fill the MBP with 2.5" drives (or even just the ability to easily upgrade/replace one 2.5" drive) will be gone and the product will be virtually useless.

Now, before everyone goes "flame on" on my post, remember that I'm just speculating and assuming the worst. Thunderbolt has the potential to make a MBAir-style laptop useful, but the lack of available/affordable thunderbolt accessories is worrying and constantly having to carry external TB accessories just to recoup lost functionality is horribly backwards.

However, if Apple thinned down slightly, removed the optical bay and migrated to a (normal 2.5 "SATA) SSD+HDD setup then I'd call that progress. I mean, who uses optical drives anymore?
 

TSE

macrumors 68040
Jun 25, 2007
3,968
3,296
St. Paul, Minnesota
This has been pretty obvious for awhile.

I'm not sure what to think of this.

On one hand, yeah, MacBook Pros will be a lot lighter, probably have slightly better battery life, and flash storage will become extremely fast.

On the other, no upgrade compatibilities, and no optical drives (I still use mine about twice a month).

What is the point of omitting the optical drive from the 17 inch MacBook Pro? No matter how thin and light you make it, it will never be a thin-and-light.
 
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