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Moonjumper

macrumors 68030
Jun 20, 2009
2,740
2,908
Lincoln, UK
Yes, that sounds plausible.
But, I think making the 13inch Retina even slimmer and therefore not allowing longer battery life would be a bad decision.
Having a 13inch Retina MacBook Pro with 10 hours of battery life would be absolutely incredible! :)

If the Haswell figures are as good as suggested, the 13" rMBP may be able to be thinned down to the 15" thickness and still have longer battery life than before.

But all that trouble and expense for 1mm? :confused: It's really that important?

If you put a 13" and 15" retina MacBook Pros next to each other, the 15" proportions do look more elegant. Apple could easily consider that important.

I put forward an idea of something I think might happen. I'm not too worried either way if it happens.
 

adrien25

macrumors newbie
May 30, 2013
4
0
Challenge accepted !!
http://www.ichallengeyou.net/ICU1429282692
We'll see if KGI is right !
Give your opinion !
 

12dylan34

macrumors 6502a
Sep 3, 2009
884
15
Hmm...I really need a new computer, and I have the money, but I still can't afford it due to living expenses...sucks to be a newly independent college student realizing how the real world works...
 

Drunken Master

macrumors 65816
Jul 19, 2011
1,060
0
God, can we please stop using the phrase "form factor"? Doesn't that just mean form?

"The MacBook Pro now comes in a slimmer form."

There's no reason for the superfluous "form."
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
Is there anyone here who feel unnecessarily burdened by the thickness of the current rMBP? As implied in the article, does it feel less "portable" now because it's just too thick "as is"?

Apple has done a great job of spinning "thin" as some kind of important benefit for years now. Every product overhaul gets multiple people predicting how much better it will be when <insert name of Apple product> is thinner.

How do you make these thinner? Something inside has to go. What goes in this case? Probably battery capacity because the new chips are apparently up to about 2X as energy efficient as the existing chips. So, switch to the new chips and have up to 2X the battery life by using the existing battery (and just living with that onerous thickness "as is") or reduce internal space and some weight by cutting the battery down so that Apple can spin a little more battery life than the current model but "look how much thinner we've made it." I know what I would prefer.

I've got a rMBP and think it's plenty thin enough. I'm never thinking how I wish it could be even thinner than it is now. In fact, I wish it was just a little thicker so that certain, important missing ports could be put back in place (rather than using Tbolt adapters). Sure, that's just my opinion and I know not everyone shares it. But still, in our wildest dreams, how much thinner do we really want these to go? There comes a point where it's conceptually so thin that it loses a lot of structural integrity (ala, "I accidentally sat on my iPhone and now it's bent").

IMO, thin has been a good design goal for several years but there is a limit to how thin is thin enough. (Again) IMO, I think we're there, if not past there. Lately, the pursuit of getting to brag about "thinness" has involved stripping tangible hardware functionality out (without prices coming down to reflect that loss of utility). Is this another round of "here we go again"?
 

hockeyfanatic

macrumors member
Feb 23, 2011
94
0
Here's what I'd love to see... kill the current Macbook Pro, have the retina Macbook Pro replace it and just call it Macbook Pro (we know about the retina by now). Rename the air to Macbook (we know its thin by now), and give it retina. Done. From 3 models to 2, a slimmer line-up, and names that are simpler.

That makes sense. Or they can call it the macbook pro retina unibody slimmer.
 

Serban

Suspended
Jan 8, 2013
5,159
928
yes i would love to see an macbook air 11 retina...it will be best sell this year..
because of it purpose and for it price i think.

but i heard from YOU guys that iMAC with retina displays are coming in 10 days??
 

TC03

macrumors 65816
Aug 17, 2008
1,272
356
Is there anyone here who feel unnecessarily burdened by the thickness of the current rMBP? As implied in the article, does it feel less "portable" now because it's just too thick "as is"?

Apple has done a great job of spinning "thin" as some kind of important benefit for years now. Every product overhaul gets multiple people predicting how much better it will be when <insert name of Apple product> is thinner.

How do you make these thinner? Something inside has to go. What goes in this case? Probably battery capacity because the new chips are apparently up to about 2X as energy efficient as the existing chips. So, switch to the new chips and have up to 2X the battery life by using the existing battery (and just living with that onerous thickness "as is") or reduce internal space and some weight by cutting the battery down so that Apple can spin a little more battery life than the current model but "look how much thinner we've made it." I know what I would prefer.

I've got a rMBP and think it's plenty thin enough. I'm never thinking how I wish it could be even thinner than it is now. In fact, I wish it was just a little thicker so that certain, important missing ports could be put back in place (rather than using Tbolt adapters). Sure, that's just my opinion and I know not everyone shares it. But still, in our wildest dreams, how much thinner do we really want these to go? There comes a point where it's conceptually so thin that it loses a lot of structural integrity (ala, "I accidentally sat on my iPhone and now it's bent").

IMO, thin has been a good design goal for several years but there is a limit to how thin is thin enough. (Again) IMO, I think we're there, if not past there. Lately, the pursuit of getting to brag about "thinness" has involved stripping tangible hardware functionality out (without prices coming down to reflect that loss of utility). Is this another round of "here we go again"?
I see your point, but the future is thin and not thick. Apple should be in the future as soon as possible.
 

Lunfai

macrumors 68000
Nov 21, 2010
1,566
519
Sheffield
yes i would love to see an macbook air 11 retina...it will be best sell this year..
because of it purpose and for it price i think.

but i heard from YOU guys that iMAC with retina displays are coming in 10 days??

No. Too soon for an iMac refresh after the initial delay. Expect later this year, I wouldn't think it'll feature Retina until next year. Although dont hold my word against me when that time comes nearer.
 

69650

Suspended
Mar 23, 2006
3,367
1,876
England
Why not integrate the 13-inch Air and the 13-inch Retina?

Because they serve two different markets, which is why there is a £250 price difference between them. The MBA is meant to be the consumer device and the MBP-R the pro device. I don't see the benefits of merging them into one device.
 

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,020
7,863
Aggressive move, and a somewhat risky one given that they already had to drop the price of the rMBPs once. That said, it's clear that the rMBP is the future. As an owner of a 13" rMBP, I'd appreciate anything they can do to make it a little thinner (it's a bit bulky for someone coming from a MacBook Air), but I'd be a bit surprised that they have changed the design after just one year, even if only slightly.
 

bushman4

macrumors 601
Mar 22, 2011
4,008
3,317
Just as important as the new Haswell chip is the new WiFi standard AC of which no mention has been made yet .
The new WiFi standard will lend itself towards boosting sales for Apple
 

skaertus

macrumors 601
Feb 23, 2009
4,230
1,380
Brazil
I'm not entirely sure, but maybe the mobile chips weren't released at the same time as desktop?

Well, as far as I'm concerned, the MBP released in February 24, 2011, was as follows (the dates are of release of the processors equipping the models):

13", low end: Core i5-2415M at 2.3 GHz (Q1 2011)
13", high end: Core i7-2620M at 2.7 GHz (Feb 20, 2011)
15", low end: Core i7-2635QM at 2 GHz (Jan 5, 2011)
15", high end: Core i7-2720QM at 2.2 GHz (Jan 5, 2011)
15", BTO: Core i7-2820QM at 2.3 GHz (Jan 5, 2011)
17": Core i7-2720QM at 2.2 GHz (Jan 5, 2011)
17" BTO: Core i7-2820QM at 2.3 GHz (Jan 5, 2011)

So, it appears that the newest processor of the bunch (the Core i7-2620M) was released just four days before the announcement of the MBPs in 2011.

Apple can't get its hands on processors before everybody else since it "betrayed" Intel by going with NVIDIA integrated video cards in late 2008.
 

Serban

Suspended
Jan 8, 2013
5,159
928
I think if apple make this year retina for macbook air 11", kills the ideas of iPad 9.7
 

69650

Suspended
Mar 23, 2006
3,367
1,876
England
I'd rather have the longer battery life than a slightly thinner device. Hope they reduce the price of the MBP-R and upgrade the MBA to retina.
 

skaertus

macrumors 601
Feb 23, 2009
4,230
1,380
Brazil
I'm not entirely sure, but maybe the mobile chips weren't released at the same time as desktop? Yes I think the Air got the ULV chips a week before official release.

Sandy Bridge MBAs were released on July 20, 2011, and had the following line-up (probably):

11": Core i5-2467M at 1.6 GHz (June 19, 2011)
13": Core i5-2557M at 1.7 GHz (June 20, 2011)
11" and 13" BTO: Core i7-2677M at 1.8 GHz (June 20, 2011)

The processors had been released one month prior to the announcement of the new MBAs.

----------

I'd rather have the longer battery life than a slightly thinner device. Hope they reduce the price of the MBP-R and upgrade the MBA to retina.

Although desirable, that's unlikely to happen. Apple has already dropped the price of rMBPs, and it will likely not drop them again this time. As for a retina Air, Tim Cook already said not to expect a significant hardware release until this fall. And a rMBA would be considered an exciting new product (although Tim Cook has seriously downplayed the importance of Macs in favor of the much-hyped iOS devices).
 

Baws

macrumors newbie
Sep 1, 2011
4
0
Canada
I recovered my username/password and making my first post just to say that if apple discontinues the non rMBP, and keeps the price the same, they'll lose this customer. I was waiting for WWDC to buy a 15" non rMBP but if they discontinue it and keep the price for the rMBP at what it is now, they'll be missing out on a price range for a wide range of customers. What if I want something more powerful than a MacBook Air but not at the ridiculous price point of the rMBP with increased storage and upgradable memory? I don't want to buy a laptop with old tech and I think many don't want to either. They should upgrade the processors one last time and announce that they're discontinuing it. :( I hope they make the right move
 

ValSalva

macrumors 68040
Jun 26, 2009
3,783
259
Burpelson AFB
Not quite. In 2009 they changed the original 2008 unibody design for both the 13" and 15" models. 13" became a MacBook Pro (had been just a MacBook) and gained an SD slot and FW 800 and dropped the audio in port, and the 15" traded the ExpressCard slot for an SD slot.

Yes, all true. Perhaps I should have said the dimensions are the same. In 2009 both the 13" and 15" got the non-user replaceable batteries too. But the main component, the unibody, retained the same dimensions.
 

barkmonster

macrumors 68020
Dec 3, 2001
2,134
15
Lancashire
I wish I'd book marked it but there's already PC laptops with a 2.5" HDD, a mini SSD and an optical drive (including blu ray options). If they could fit one of the mini SSDs in the Macbook Pro, making a fusion drive standard and keeping the optical drive, it would be a fantastic feature (assuming they don't charge £200 more for under £100 worth of additional SSD like in the criminally expensive build to order options).
 

skaertus

macrumors 601
Feb 23, 2009
4,230
1,380
Brazil
I recovered my username/password and making my first post just to say that if apple discontinues the non rMBP, and keeps the price the same, they'll lose this customer. I was waiting for WWDC to buy a 15" non rMBP but if they discontinue it and keep the price for the rMBP at what it is now, they'll be missing out on a price range for a wide range of customers. What if I want something more powerful than a MacBook Air but not at the ridiculous price point of the rMBP with increased storage and upgradable memory? I don't want to buy a laptop with old tech and I think many don't want to either. They should upgrade the processors one last time and announce that they're discontinuing it. :( I hope they make the right move

The thing that most irritates me in Apple is that it has this habit of dumbing down its customers. I would like to have a lower-price, upgradeable machine too. But the retina display dazzled me, and the thin and light body of the rMBP is what I was expecting from a laptop. So, I guess I'll have to surrender to the wonders of the rMBP and be embraced by the siren song once again.
 

GizmoDVD

macrumors 68030
Oct 11, 2008
2,597
5,001
SoCal
I recovered my username/password and making my first post just to say that if apple discontinues the non rMBP, and keeps the price the same, they'll lose this customer. I was waiting for WWDC to buy a 15" non rMBP but if they discontinue it and keep the price for the rMBP at what it is now, they'll be missing out on a price range for a wide range of customers. What if I want something more powerful than a MacBook Air but not at the ridiculous price point of the rMBP with increased storage and upgradable memory? I don't want to buy a laptop with old tech and I think many don't want to either. They should upgrade the processors one last time and announce that they're discontinuing it. :( I hope they make the right move

Guess they'll lose you.
 
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