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2012 Macbook Pro Redesign
- Thread starter Funkymonk
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My latest update on the thunderbolt/usb 3.0 issue is the following:
IB brings native USB 3.0 support, while thunderbolt (or light-peak) will be optional and most likely will only be included on more expensive motherboards. This information is from a recent post at Anandtech, and applies to desktops mostly.
If the situation in the mobile market turns out to be similar, the result will be that thunderbolt will only be included in a small fraction of notebook PCs, thus the selection of TB devices will be small and the prices higher compared to USB 3.0 devices. $50 for a 2m cable is a bad sign already.
edit: Should have waited for CES before writing something. So far, we have a Thunderbolt SSD announced by OCZ, and a nice looking Acer ultrabook with Thunderbolt port.
IB brings native USB 3.0 support, while thunderbolt (or light-peak) will be optional and most likely will only be included on more expensive motherboards. This information is from a recent post at Anandtech, and applies to desktops mostly.
If the situation in the mobile market turns out to be similar, the result will be that thunderbolt will only be included in a small fraction of notebook PCs, thus the selection of TB devices will be small and the prices higher compared to USB 3.0 devices. $50 for a 2m cable is a bad sign already.
edit: Should have waited for CES before writing something. So far, we have a Thunderbolt SSD announced by OCZ, and a nice looking Acer ultrabook with Thunderbolt port.
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Not to anyone but some people needs that +0.2Ghz
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All I can do is cross my fingers and hope that they'll include it
From my genie bottle.
The MBP will be thinner. It's gotta be, it's what sells.
Better display. Have to keep up with the competition.
All flash storage. Why else would Apple buy a flash storage company?
IB without a doubt.
Apple will get the new IB before anyone else. Apple has a track record of doing this with Intel.
I'm not going to speculate on the I/O, that is a crap shoot.
The public will know all this in the 3rd week of March.
The MBP will be thinner. It's gotta be, it's what sells.
Better display. Have to keep up with the competition.
All flash storage. Why else would Apple buy a flash storage company?
IB without a doubt.
Apple will get the new IB before anyone else. Apple has a track record of doing this with Intel.
I'm not going to speculate on the I/O, that is a crap shoot.
The public will know all this in the 3rd week of March.
so ugly. i like the aluminum finish. it says "im not cheap plastic like 90% of pc's"
Thinner is great for aesthetics, but performance-wise, does it help? Thinner means there's less room for ventilation, less ventilation means poorer performance, and poorer performance means driving people away who needs the power like me.
I mean I love the MBA, but I could never see myself using it because I'd fry the poor thing in a day.
Id LOVE to see a 15" Air like pro with dedicated graphics.....but we all have dreams.
If this happens i'm pawning off my '11 MBP 13" to my GF and buying one STAT!
I've learned to temper my expectations when it comes to Apple releases. Having said that, I'm definitely ready for a cool new MBP!
Possibilities.
New design. I'm one of the happy MBP owners that has a hard time imagining being able to improve on the current design, but they will. That's what they do, and they're good at it. I don't necessarily see them going away from aluminum, but they may try some liquid metal or some sort of glass surfacing. Maybe magnesium? Stronger, lighter.
Screen resolutions that will turn our brains to mulch! I think it's pretty clear that in the next year or so display technology is going to take a pretty big leap and I expect Apple to be one of the first to show up at the party with an actual release.
Powerful dedicated graphics I have a fear... a fear that we've seen the end of the line for dedicated graphics in the macbook series. I'm worried that the improved integrated graphics performance of Ivy will cause Apple to blur the lines between the air and the pro, make them comparably thin, and omit the dedicated GPU to conserve space and power. My nightmare is that they remove the pro moniker, drop the 13" former pro, and consolidate the whole notebook line into "Macbooks", 11, 13, 15, 17. With recent developments regarding their Pro Apps and the lingering rumor that the Mac Pro will not be returning, this wouldn't be much of a shock to me. But, this is probably a long shot and I sincerely hope it isn't the case, as I love my MBP and frequently utilize it's 6770 to the best of it's ability. I really hope that they continue their trend and give us a very competitive 7000 series mobile GPU.
USB 3 I'm not sure why people still root for this. I really don't see it happening. CES has indicated that Thunderbolt is alive, well, and has a bright future. Apple is about as likely to include usb3 in Macs as they are to start supporting Flash in IOS.
I'd be happy to see even one or two of these improvements. I really enjoy my 17" MBP. For me, it's about perfect and I'll be one of the hopeless suckers standing in line, cash in hand, when the new MBPs are released.
Possibilities.
New design. I'm one of the happy MBP owners that has a hard time imagining being able to improve on the current design, but they will. That's what they do, and they're good at it. I don't necessarily see them going away from aluminum, but they may try some liquid metal or some sort of glass surfacing. Maybe magnesium? Stronger, lighter.
Screen resolutions that will turn our brains to mulch! I think it's pretty clear that in the next year or so display technology is going to take a pretty big leap and I expect Apple to be one of the first to show up at the party with an actual release.
Powerful dedicated graphics I have a fear... a fear that we've seen the end of the line for dedicated graphics in the macbook series. I'm worried that the improved integrated graphics performance of Ivy will cause Apple to blur the lines between the air and the pro, make them comparably thin, and omit the dedicated GPU to conserve space and power. My nightmare is that they remove the pro moniker, drop the 13" former pro, and consolidate the whole notebook line into "Macbooks", 11, 13, 15, 17. With recent developments regarding their Pro Apps and the lingering rumor that the Mac Pro will not be returning, this wouldn't be much of a shock to me. But, this is probably a long shot and I sincerely hope it isn't the case, as I love my MBP and frequently utilize it's 6770 to the best of it's ability. I really hope that they continue their trend and give us a very competitive 7000 series mobile GPU.
USB 3 I'm not sure why people still root for this. I really don't see it happening. CES has indicated that Thunderbolt is alive, well, and has a bright future. Apple is about as likely to include usb3 in Macs as they are to start supporting Flash in IOS.
I'd be happy to see even one or two of these improvements. I really enjoy my 17" MBP. For me, it's about perfect and I'll be one of the hopeless suckers standing in line, cash in hand, when the new MBPs are released.
I would like the Pro to maintain its chassis exactly the same as the 2011 model, but without the SuperDrive. This would free up a lot of space, which could allow for bigger batteries, dedicated graphics, quad-core CPUs or SSD + HDD combos (same as OptiBay).
A Pro 13" with quad-core, SSD + HDD, dedicated graphics, 10hr batteries would sure be pricier, but a lot more "Pro" than today. After all, that's the point of professional machines. And the Air could be rebranded "MacBook" and live on as Apple's mainstream notebook.
A Pro 13" with quad-core, SSD + HDD, dedicated graphics, 10hr batteries would sure be pricier, but a lot more "Pro" than today. After all, that's the point of professional machines. And the Air could be rebranded "MacBook" and live on as Apple's mainstream notebook.
You could not be more wrong. Intel's Ivy Bridge chipset will have USB 3.0 built into the chipset. In order for Apple to *not* support it Apple would have to integrate a USB 2 chipset onto the motherboard and not use the already built in USB 3 chipset. Just makes no sense what so ever to do that. USB 3 is pretty much a no brainier for any new product that will use Ivy Bridge.
I do not see a reason not to include USB 3.0. It is not a direct competitor to thunderbolt because of what TB can do. It is much more than a data port.
Why does MBP need to get slimmer? Isn't that what MBA is about already? I personally think that the MBP form is fine as it is design-wise. I would simply reduce the bezel on the 13" to make it closer to the bezel on the 17" (which is half of that in the 13").
And yes, it NEEDS usb 3.0: it's the market standard, and it's not a direct competitor to Thunderbolt.
I personally don't think it has to get thinner. It's the way everything is going. Before long they will be freakin see thru! LOL
I'm a daily user of fully rugged laptops in extreme places. Believe me, i'm not a fan of thin and fragile.
At CES a few companies showed off some "premium ultrabooks", with a price tag around $1500, 14'' to 15'' high-res displays, no ODD, Ivy Bridge CPU. Other stats: 3-4 lbs, small bezel (i.e. small device footprint when compared to screen size), 0.5-0.6 inch thin.
I'm not sure if apple will rely on the 15'' Air to counter these, or if they will also move the Pro line in this direction.
Also: Aluminum unibody is getting boring. Every company has that now. I think one company presented a new laptop body that was partially glass... thick, heavy, and not particularly nice... but at least something new.
I still think they might replace the touchpad with a touch-screen.
I'm not sure if apple will rely on the 15'' Air to counter these, or if they will also move the Pro line in this direction.
Also: Aluminum unibody is getting boring. Every company has that now. I think one company presented a new laptop body that was partially glass... thick, heavy, and not particularly nice... but at least something new.
I still think they might replace the touchpad with a touch-screen.
Of course the unibody is fine.
In fact it's so fine that Apple will never change it. Ever again. Why would they ever think about it? Apple and technology aren't about trying to continually improve things. So let's continue dismissing any possibility of a redesigned body.
In fact it's so fine that Apple will never change it. Ever again. Why would they ever think about it? Apple and technology aren't about trying to continually improve things. So let's continue dismissing any possibility of a redesigned body.
As I have said before , the current design is fine with me , but...
It should be changed , just enough , to have a user replaceable battery.
Also , it must have SSD as the standard , it is time to do away with the rotating mass so often referred to as the boot hard disc !
With TB and FW , I see no need for a large conventional HD.
Ivy Bridge is a must as well as a stand alone GPU.
Of course this is just my opinion , but a great one !!
Me
It should be changed , just enough , to have a user replaceable battery.
Also , it must have SSD as the standard , it is time to do away with the rotating mass so often referred to as the boot hard disc !
With TB and FW , I see no need for a large conventional HD.
Ivy Bridge is a must as well as a stand alone GPU.
Of course this is just my opinion , but a great one !!
Me
With TB and Ivy Bridge, I see no reason for a dedicated GPU. Just buy one of these for gaming:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5352/msis-gus-ii-external-gpu-via-thunderbolt
The Ivy integrated GPU will be fast enough for anything else.
These are my predictions:
13 inch base
2.6GHz Core i5 Duel
4GB of 1333MHz RAM
750GB HDD
Intel HD 4000
Redesign
1680X1050 Display
13 inch High End
2.9GHz Core i7 Duel
4GB of 1333MHz RAM
1TB HDD
Intel HD 4000
Redesign
1680X1050 Display
15 inch Low End
2.3GHz Core i7 Quad
4GB of 1333MHz RAM
1TB HDD
Intel HD 4000
AMD Radeon HD 7750M
Redesign
2560X1536
15 inch High End
2.6GHz Core i7 Quad (Optional 2.7GHz)
8GB of 1600MHz RAM (Optional 16GB)
1TB 7200RPM HDD
Intel HD 4000
AMD Radeon HD 7770M
Redesign
2560X1536
17 inch
2.6GHz Core i7 Quad (Optional 2.7GHz)
8GB of 1600MHz RAM (Optional 16GB)
1TB 7200RPM HDD
Intel HD 4000
AMD Radeon HD 7770M
Redesign
2880x1800
13 inch base
2.6GHz Core i5 Duel
4GB of 1333MHz RAM
750GB HDD
Intel HD 4000
Redesign
1680X1050 Display
13 inch High End
2.9GHz Core i7 Duel
4GB of 1333MHz RAM
1TB HDD
Intel HD 4000
Redesign
1680X1050 Display
15 inch Low End
2.3GHz Core i7 Quad
4GB of 1333MHz RAM
1TB HDD
Intel HD 4000
AMD Radeon HD 7750M
Redesign
2560X1536
15 inch High End
2.6GHz Core i7 Quad (Optional 2.7GHz)
8GB of 1600MHz RAM (Optional 16GB)
1TB 7200RPM HDD
Intel HD 4000
AMD Radeon HD 7770M
Redesign
2560X1536
17 inch
2.6GHz Core i7 Quad (Optional 2.7GHz)
8GB of 1600MHz RAM (Optional 16GB)
1TB 7200RPM HDD
Intel HD 4000
AMD Radeon HD 7770M
Redesign
2880x1800
Attachments
I don't think they can forego standard HD's in the entire MBP line; there will at least need to be an option. Most power users want at least 500GB of storage, and that is a pretty pricey SSD - at least $7-800 right now for one that size if you buy on your own. And looking at the cost of optional SSD's that the apple web site offers, they price it at over $1,000 for one that size. I am assuming Apple wants to keep the price relatively flat with today's price ranges for MBP's, so going entirely SSD...not sure I can see that happening.
They went all SSD for the MB Airs because they keep them no bigger than 256GB/more affordable. But I don't think 256GB is acceptable for a pro user - even with the cloud - and I don't see SSD pricing coming down radically in the next few months to make 500GB SSD fit into their pricing model. Especially if they are going to use a retina display as well. They can't price the next version of the MBP up into the stratosphere. There are already viewed as over-priced by many, as it is.
I think Apple bought the flash company because they supply controllers and other flash storage software for several apple devices, and they probably want to take the expertise in-house so they can innovate with those people - and prevent the competition from benefiting.
I do agree though, the future is SSD - I put a 500GB SSD in my 2010 macbook recently, it was pricey but I love it. But I think we are a few years away yet before SSD in big enough capacities is cost effective for the mainstream pro user who wants more local storage for software, etc.
I can remember when RAM was $400 for 16MB. Thats MB, not GB! Now look at what $400 buys. SSD's will eventually be the same. They will get a lot cheaper eventually.