2012 Macbook Pro Redesign

[Stetrain]

My predictions:

MacBook Pro:

...
MacBook Air:

...

Looks spot on to me, except that I think that the base 13" Air will be $1199 to exactly replace the 13" Macbook Pro. The AU price has decreased by $100 so it would make sense for the US price to do the same.

Also 256 and 512GB SSDs on the 13" models seem a bit high. I would expect them to keep the 128 and 256GB SSDs respectively, especially since there's a price drop.

 

[kaydot]

No way Apple would discontinue their best-selling model. no way.
It's like you'd said that BMW will discontinue the 3 series sedan and drop the price of the 3 series coupé to fill its place. Bollocks.

As one of the other posters already said, the 13" MacBook Pro could conceivably be dropped. There is so much overlap and so little differentiation between the 13" Pro and 13" Air, that dropping it in fact does make sense for a couple reasons.

- To draw a distinction between the pro and the air lines
- To make the top selling Mac the 13" Air, which has a higher price point and, probably, higher margins

There are other ways to achieve both of these goals and maintain the 13" MBP. But my point is that I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility.

 

[rendyr]

I wish there are still Macbook Pro 13", since I've been waiting for this for 3 years+.

If no Macbook Pro 13", I would consider Macbook Pro 15". But MBP 15" is very big and heavy. Even now, my MB Aluminum 13" is little heavy.

My prediction on MBP 15"
Ivy Bridge Processor, USB 3.0, nVidia Graphic Card, 500GB HDD (you know, harddisk price is very high now), 4GB/8GB RAM, Thunderbolt, LAN 1000Base-T, high resolution display (Maybe 1680x1050 or 1920x1200?), no redesign (or maybe little design modification).

If there are still a Macbook Pro 13", I hope the specification is:
Ivy Bridge Processor (Dual Core, Quad Core is better, but I think it's to pricey), USB 3.0, Intel HD Graphics 4000 (I hope for a Discrete GPU, even the cheap one, at least better than HD 4000), 4GB/8GB RAM, Thunderbolt, Lan 1000Base-T, high resolution display (maybe 1680x1050, Retina Display is not likely), no redesign (I still hoping for a big redesign)

For me, removing the ODD is a good idea. Make the Macbook Pro slimmer and lighter. Apple will not make it look like Macbook Air.

 

[Blu-Ray]

My predictions:

MacBook Air:

13" Model 1: $1,249 US

Same design
Core i5 3427U (1.8 GHz)
4GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
256GB SSD
Same display
Intel HD4000

If this happens at this price, day 1 purchase for me. The Air will handle everything that I throw at it just fine but I need at least a 256GB SSD. I do hope that the SSD is user replaceable though.

 

[definitive]

My predictions:

i highly doubt that they'd put 650m in to their base 15" mbp. knowing apple they'll go with the cheapest version that they can possibly get away with (640m), and then put the mid tier card (650m) into the higher-end 15" and 17".

 

[x24]

It's really going to grind my gears if they don't even have a product to compete with the Zenbook. I was really looking for options...

 

[RodPinto]

i highly doubt that they'd put 650m in to their base 15" mbp. knowing apple they'll go with the cheapest version that they can possibly get away with (640m), and then put the mid tier card (650m) into the higher-end 15" and 17".

You are ridiculous! Of course they will have To put at least a 660m in MacBook pros 15 and 17! Competition isn't sleeping and Apple knows that!

They have To bring me something real good, worth the price, or i will stick to another brand with better specs!

 

[Blu-Ray]

It's really going to grind my gears if they don't even have a product to compete with the Zenbook. I was really looking for options...

This is the competition (if the price is right):

MacBook Air:

13" Model 1: $1,249 US

Same design
Core i5 3427U (1.8 GHz)
4GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
256GB SSD
Same display
Intel HD4000

 

[salmoally]

My predictions:

MacBook Pro:

15" Model 1: $2,199 US

New design
Core i7 3615QM (2.3 GHz)
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
256GB SATA3 SSD
Retina Display
Nvidia GeForce GT650M

15" Model 2: $2,749 US

New design
Core i7 3720QM (2.6 GHz)
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
512GB SATA3 SSD
Retina Display
Nvidia GeForce GT660M

BTO options for 512GB SSD on first model, 16GB RAM, Core i7 3820QM (2.7GHz and 8MB L3 cache) on second model.

No new 13" or 17" model.

Best prediction so far I reckon. Graphics seem optimistic but then they have to be with what other laptops are offering these days.

13" was going away, people can bitch and whine all they want but the 15" is in a different world compared to it atm. The new changes would make the gap even more huge that it would just be silly to have the "pro" label associated with the 13". Not sure about the 17" though since that probably deserves the "pro" title more than all 2 of the current lineup.

Really looking forward to next week!

 

[definitive]

You are ridiculous! Of course they will have To put at least a 660m in MacBook pros 15 and 17! Competition isn't sleeping and Apple knows that!

They have To bring me something real good, worth the price, or i will stick to another brand with better specs!

apple has always been cutting corners when it came to their computers, and have hardly ever had best bang for the buck systems except when it came to air and white macbooks. the rest of their systems are sold for a at least a third less by their competition. look at the other manufacturers that are selling 13" and 14" laptops. there are tons of them that have dedicated graphics, yet apple is selling theirs with a 3000 intel "gpu."

 

[salmoally]

Image

apple has always been cutting corners when it came to their computers, and have hardly ever had best bang for the buck systems except when it came to air and white macbooks. the rest of their systems are sold for a at least a third less by their competition. look at the other manufacturers that are selling 13" and 14" laptops. there are tons of them that have dedicated graphics, yet apple is selling theirs with a 3000 intel "gpu."

I've almost caved a few times while waiting for the MBP looking at windows laptop specs to price ratio. Then I remember it won't have what I really want - OSX

 

[Colpeas]

As one of the other posters already said, the 13" MacBook Pro could conceivably be dropped. There is so much overlap and so little differentiation between the 13" Pro and 13" Air, that dropping it in fact does make sense for a couple reasons.

- To draw a distinction between the pro and the air lines
- To make the top selling Mac the 13" Air, which has a higher price point and, probably, higher margins

There are other ways to achieve both of these goals and maintain the 13" MBP. But my point is that I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility.

Look, customers prefer 13" Pro over 13" Air for a reason. (other than the $100 difference in price). The Air won't be able to replace my 13" Pro, no matter the configuration. The Air is a coffeeshop laptop, nothing more, nothing less.

 

[pgiguere1]

Well let's not forget that the second MBP would be an almost 3k laptop.

New Ivy Bridge Alienwares have a GT 660M with options for a GT 675M and 2x GT 675M in SLI.

 

[Stetrain]

Look, customers prefer 13" Pro over 13" Air for a reason. (other than the $100 difference in price). The Air won't be able to replace my 13" Pro, no matter the configuration. The Air is a coffeeshop laptop, nothing more, nothing less.

Explain please? What exactly keeps the Air from replacing the 13" Pro for most users? Other than the "Pro" name?

If the 13" Macbook Pro got the same treatment as the rumored 15" redesign, it would have no DVD drive, no Firewire, and no Ethernet. The only difference between a redesigned 13" Pro and an updated 13" Air would be a bit of processor speed and user upgradeable RAM.

Comparing current models, the Air has a higher resolution screen than the Pro as well, and would be faster in every-day tasks for most people because of the standard SSD.

 

[koyoot]

I wish there are still Macbook Pro 13", since I've been waiting for this for 3 years+.

Again, wait for the WWDC and see what they will show. Cause IMO there will not happen to Pro line, except the Spec update.

That 3K dolars machine is a 15 inch Macbook Pro, or a totally new computer which Apple will disclose on WWDC.

 

[Free Ale]

Is anyone else going to be pissed If the baseline 15" models raises $400 to $2199? That's rediculous!

 

[RodPinto]

Well let's not forget that the second MBP would be an almost 3k laptop.

New Ivy Bridge Alienwares have a GT 660M with options for a GT 675M and 2x GT 675M in SLI.

Exactly what i'm trying to say!

I love osx, but i also would like to receive a decent hardware compatible with the price i'll be paying. That's why i think that wanting the gt660m is not asking too much!

 

[neilpryde23]

If Apple does in fact introduce a 15" MBA at those prices that we assumed were for a 15" MBP, that would be a mighty expensive "Ultrabook" considering it wouldn't have a decent dGPU, if at all, it would have non-user upgradeable soldered RAM, and would most likely be a dual-core CPU (maybe the 35 W i7-3612QM?).

 

[MrGando]

Is anyone else going to be pissed If the baseline 15" models raises $400 to $2199? That's rediculous!

Yeah, I think it is... I'll pay though, because I really need a new MBP. But it sounds strange, $400 USD more? I won't believe it until I see it.

 

[samac92]

I've so far been thinking that Apple will keep the 13 inch Pro, but with all the latest rumours I think there will only be a minor update to the pro (the one rumoured yesterday, maybe as an education model) and the 13 inch Air will replace the Pro as other people have been saying. Last week I would have said that wouldn't happen, but all the evidence has been pointing towards that.

Kind of a shame but I'm ok with that as long as it has a retina display and more storage than it currently has.

 

[PVisitors]

I've so far been thinking that Apple will keep the 13 inch Pro, but with all the latest rumours I think there will only be a minor update to the pro (the one rumoured yesterday, maybe as an education model) and the 13 inch Air will replace the Pro as other people have been saying. Last week I would have said that wouldn't happen, but all the evidence has been pointing towards that.

Kind of a shame but I'm ok with that as long as it has a retina display and more storage than it currently has.

Agree with all of this. I genuinely thought the 13" would have staying power given it's 50% of all Mac sales. It's why I am still sceptical that it will be axed completely. I think that we could see the 13" specs 'leaked' yesterday be rebranded as the old white Macbook.

Hopefully with what looks to now be either the death or breakaway of the 13" Pro it means the Air which is inevitably going to take its place will come with upgradeable RAM and Retina. The former is very unlikely, but I would be very happy if it happened!

 

[x24]

This is the competition (if the price is right):

The display on the Zenbook...

 

[Liquinn]

Hm, with the release of the 2012 models; I'm tempted to buy an early 15". Would it be worth it though?

 

[\-V-/]

Hm, with the release of the 2012 models; I'm tempted to buy an early 15". Would it be worth it though?

Wait a week and see what your options are...

 

[Blu-Ray]

Is anyone else going to be pissed If the baseline 15" models raises $400 to $2199? That's rediculous!

I will be because it goes outside of my budget and eliminates the MBP as an option for me.

If that does happen, I will probably get a 13" MBA or 13" Zenbook Prime (depending on which fits my needs better).