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2012 Macbook Pro Redesign

Mad Mac Maniac said:
From the MacRumors Buyer's Guide

Macbook Pro
Days since last update: 192
Average days for update: 267

You can hardly consider the MBP refresh as "late". Technically, based on averages the next MBP shouldn't be released for another 75 days, putting it somewhere around mid July. If August hits and we don't have a refresh, then you can start crying foul. But I expect the refresh in June.
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But that was hardly an "update". That was the smallest change Apple's put into the line in quite a while, if I'm not mistaken. Tiny bumps in processor speed and HD cap. No notice online, no fanfare from Apple, store was just down for a few hours and the product changed.

But perhaps it seemed tiny because of all of the "air" rumors. I've been waiting since *before* that "update" for to get a replacement for my MBP. I really like the idea of a 15 or 17 "air" style machine....
 
I am becoming more and more convinced that Apple is going to announce the entire new Mac line at WWDC. This article at appadvice.com indicates that something big is coming in June, but I think they're off the mark on it being a new iPhone. While, historically (until last year) iPhones were announced at WWDC, I think this time they're going to announce different new hardware.

If they were to refresh (redesign, not just spec bump) the entire line, they would want to make a big announcement about it and I think that WWDC would be the place/time to do it.
 
metalhawk said:
But that was hardly an "update". That was the smallest change Apple's put into the line in quite a while, if I'm not mistaken. Tiny bumps in processor speed and HD cap. No notice online, no fanfare from Apple, store was just down for a few hours and the product changed.

But perhaps it seemed tiny because of all of the "air" rumors. I've been waiting since *before* that "update" for to get a replacement for my MBP. I really like the idea of a 15 or 17 "air" style machine....
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I agree that it was a minor update, but many of Apples Mac updates are similarly minor. Without any statistics in front of me, just based on my experience of watching Mac rumors for the past 4.5 years, I would argue that over half of all mac refreshes (not a redesign, but simply spec bumps) get the same non-fanfare. The early 2011 MBP/iMac was an exception because they received thunderbolt which Apple really wanted to tout.
 
jimckimmel said:
I am becoming more and more convinced that Apple is going to announce the entire new Mac line at WWDC. This article at appadvice.com indicates that something big is coming in June, but I think they're off the mark on it being a new iPhone. While, historically (until last year) iPhones were announced at WWDC, I think this time they're going to announce different new hardware.

If they were to refresh (redesign, not just spec bump) the entire line, they would want to make a big announcement about it and I think that WWDC would be the place/time to do it.
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I completely agree with you.
Everything begins to match. The dates on which updated the iPhone I smelled something fishy, but now make sense. If so is because Apple has long been preparing a major update of the Mac range at WWDC, many things, besides presenting ML.
Already seeing the first IB Ultrabooks with other brands and Apple would not let them benefit but for that they are cooking something important.
 
jimckimmel said:
I am becoming more and more convinced that Apple is going to announce the entire new Mac line at WWDC. This article at appadvice.com indicates that something big is coming in June, but I think they're off the mark on it being a new iPhone. While, historically (until last year) iPhones were announced at WWDC, I think this time they're going to announce different new hardware.

If they were to refresh (redesign, not just spec bump) the entire line, they would want to make a big announcement about it and I think that WWDC would be the place/time to do it.
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I think WWDC makes sense too but the original source of that rumor you linked is adamant that the "something big" is not macbooks.
 
Mad Mac Maniac said:
I agree that it was a minor update, but many of Apples Mac updates are similarly minor. Without any statistics in front of me, just based on my experience of watching Mac rumors for the past 4.5 years, I would argue that over half of all mac refreshes (not a redesign, but simply spec bumps) get the same non-fanfare. The early 2011 MBP/iMac was an exception because they received thunderbolt which Apple really wanted to tout.
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I think every update, more or less, since I got my original unibody (late 2008) has had something more integral changing - new body (early 2009 for 17, later for 13), new motherboard/chipset, new graphics card etc. that involved a new numbering for some machine. This update has the exact same number set for all machines, which is part of why I was saying it was the most minor update in years. The only time the 15" MBP number hasn't changed on an update was early 2009, where the 17" was introduced, and the 15" just got a minor spec bump a few months later, and kept the same number (5,1).
 
Moshu said:
Yes, and one additional bennefit is that it helps sell the "old" models. I'm sure a lot less would buy a MBP when you know precisely that the next one will be out in <insert number of days>.
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Apple will not hold up the launch of a new range for fear of what happens to inventory levels. They will sell these at a modicum of discount, even if they have to do so as refurbs when they are brand new machines. Slow depreciation is one of the strengths of the brand
 
A lot to look forward to in 2012....

Blu-Ray said:
I think WWDC makes sense too but the original source of that rumor you linked is adamant that the "something big" is not macbooks.
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Well they did say we have A LOT to look forward to this year....so whats A LOT to apple? Perhaps it is Macbook Pro, Air, iPhone, Mountain Lion, iMac....???...and what about Mac Pro and Mac Mini? They're all due..

It has to be almost certain something big is going to come out at WWDC...Thats 5 products with 8 months left this year....so already assume they will plan 2 maybe 3 reveals...doesn't leave much time in between releases....so something must come soon! Please MacBookPro!

I'm worried maybe the new iPhone will come first since those are the most rumors floating around and with the leaked new parts (home button, sim card tray)...

4076a8d0-15a9-484f-a71e-deb96f51b6dc_large_verge_medium_landscape.jpeg
 
Xcallibur said:
The quad cores are definitely faster, by a considerable amount too. As Nielsenius states, the number of calculations is drastically higher on the quad core, even when you consider a lower hertz rate of the quad core. However, with hyperthreading enabled the figures quoted above are 2x higher.
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Hyperthreading only gives a 30-40% increase in performance. Definitely not double. A virtual core is very different from a physical core.
 
Argentine86 said:
Well they did say we have A LOT to look forward to this year....so whats A LOT to apple? Perhaps it is Macbook Pro, Air, iPhone, Mountain Lion, iMac....???...and what about Mac Pro and Mac Mini? They're all due..

It has to be almost certain something big is going to come out at WWDC...Thats 5 products with 8 months left this year....so already assume they will plan 2 maybe 3 reveals...doesn't leave much time in between releases....so something must come soon! Please MacBookPro!

I'm worried maybe the new iPhone will come first since those are the most rumors floating around and with the leaked new parts (home button, sim card tray)...
Click to expand...

Let me start by saying Apple would say they have a lot to look forward to every year. That's just how it goes.

Now the mbp, mba, iPhone, and iMac will all be updated (with at least spec refreshes) this year 100%. They all are updated at LEAST once a year, every year. Mac mini is almost certain to get one, and I predict that either the Mac Pro will be updated or cut completely this year (if it's not updated it'll be nearly 900 days since an update and the sandy bridge processor is ready for it).

Also, the Mac line isn't the same as the iPad/iPhone. Meaning that Apple would never release a new iPad at the same time as an iPhone. It would be pure madness. But I could easily see apple releasing the iMac, mbp, and mba all at the same time. Heck they could even throw in the mini and pro if they wanted. I'm not saying they will, but its feasable. They are all in the right timeframe to launch around WWDC, and mbp and iMac could potentially see redesigns.

If you are worried the iPhone will come out first... don't. It won't happen. iPhone will come out in Sept/Oct and there's no way the mbp refresh could slip past July.
 
I agree. I think the reason we don't have new 15" mbps right now is Intel's i5 Ivy Bridge delay. I suspect that a redesign, maybe a big redesign, is in the cards. They could probably release that redesign right now with the 15" and 17", but not the 13" which is their most popular sku.

They probably don't want to have beautiful brand-new redesigned 15" and 17" mbps, whatever the new design is, sitting on the same display desks next to 13" mbps with the old design. This decision was probably made as soon as Intel told them that the ivy bridge i5 would be delayed.

I think everything else is probably irrelevant. They've never delayed macbooks for a major new OS release - I doubt they'd hold on to them for ML. And given that ML looks to be more of a minor tweaking-update like Snow Leopard, rather than a big architectural change like Leopard or Lion, I think delaying mbps, or any Macs, for ML is really unlikely.

I think WWDC is just a nice coincidence for them. They probably would have had an event this week to announce a new mbp design if it was ready. It just turns out the Intel is going to be shipping Ivy Bridge i5's around the time they're having WWDC.
 
Argentine86 said:
I'm worried maybe the new iPhone will come first since those are the most rumors floating around and with the leaked new parts (home button, sim card tray)...
Click to expand...

You shouldn't be worried, as long as the MBP line up will be top notch then we're fine!

Please let there be a mind blowing upgrade!
 
If we have to wait for WWDC I hope the MBA gets an update at the same time so that I can choose between them.
 
Xcallibur said:
I thought that myself until I saw this promo video from Intel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_6kk7ioWuM
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Interesting. But that is Intel showing it so of course they want you to think that.

Take it with a grain of salt, but Wikipedia is saying that the performance increase is going to be around 30-40%. Granted, they are talking about older CPUs. But I do notice that when rendering in Mental Ray on my Mac Pro using 24 virtual cores, it is no where near twice as fast as 12. So speaking just from experience, I do not believe it yields the same performance as an additional physical core.
 
parish said:
I hope not. The extra height of 16:10 is useful, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did go 16:9 since they already have with the iMac and Cinema Display :(
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There's also rumors of the new iPhone moving to a 16:9 ratio. Who knows, maybe Apple will completely switch over to that.
 
Mad Mac Maniac said:
Really?

So the "entry level" 13" apple notebook currently costs $1300 (MBA)

and the "pro level" 13" apple notebook currently costs $1200 (MBP)

is that what you are saying?? :confused:

Although I agree that if the MBP changes in a lot of the ways people are crying for (remove superdrive, give SSD, thinner form factor...) you will find a 13" MBP and MBA that are nearly identical prices with a nearly identical form factor... That's why I'm inclined to believe that Apple should Merge the two lines. That would help to eliminate cost too.
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I'm saying why hold the 13" Pro back to keep it in the low one-thousand range when there's already a consumer oriented 13" Macbook in that price range?

For a couple of years the 13" Pro (originally the Aluminum Macbook) has been Apple's main consumer laptop, especially once they phased the white Macbook out.

Now there are two consumer oriented laptops priced at $999 and $1299. Why does the Pro need to stay in this price range anymore? Right now there is the optical drive, firewire port, ethernet port, and larger hard drive to differentiate it from the Air, but I suspect that at least a few of those things will go away.
 
Stetrain said:
Now there are two consumer oriented laptops priced at $999 and $1299. Why does the Pro need to stay in this price range anymore?
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Because it's been years that Apple caters exclusively to consumers instead of professionals. The "Pro" label does not mean "professional" anymore.

Think about the latest Apple's major moves: iPads, iPhones, MBAs, Apple Store, iTunes, etc... they're ALL products created with consumers in mind, not professionals.

So, to sum it up: don't let the "pro" tag fool you. It's not a "professional-orientated" machine anymore. Now a days, both the MBA and the MBP are consumer-orientated machines.
 
that1guyy said:
There's also rumors of the new iPhone moving to a 16:9 ratio. Who knows, maybe Apple will completely switch over to that.
Click to expand...

That kind of makes sense as the iPhone has a camera that shoots full-HD video which is 16:9, but on a computer there's more done than watching HD video.

For example, I do a lot of photography and my dSLR shoots 3:2 images. I did the maths once and when you display a 3:2 photo full-screen on a 16:9 you lose a couple of hundred pixels (on a 27" 2560x1440 Cinema Display) on the width over 16:10 as well as on the height so, for the same diagonal and resolution the usable area drops with 16:9 over 16:10. Even just web browsing and e-mail you see less - look at your screen now and imagine the bottom 10% missing - more scrolling.
 
If Apple switch to 16/9; MacBook Pro 15" will go for 1600x900. That's not a bad deal, but I prefer 1680x1050.
 
No way an iPhone would come out in the summer. Why would they mess up their normal yearly cycle of refreshes? And seriously.. Galaxy S III isn't exactly a home runner IMHO. Especially if they want an iPhone that hit it out of the park with new design, new material and/or LTE/world roaming/quad core/etc etc..

No one would blame them for being late if they have a refresh in Sep/Oct and getting it RIGHT. But imagine if they come out with iPhone 4S (same design, same materials, same CPU as the current gen iPad 3 but with lower clock) in a 4inch package in June, I think a lot of people would question where they've been spending their research/innovation $ on.

On the other hand, Mountain Lion for sure in June, but I hope it's time for an update of the entire Mac computer line - From mini to MB Pro to Mac Pro (I guess MBA isn't quite due for an update yet.. right?)

It's been too long since they really paid any real attention to the computer line and I think for Apple's health, they should pay attention.

Argentine86 said:
Well they did say we have A LOT to look forward to this year....so whats A LOT to apple? Perhaps it is Macbook Pro, Air, iPhone, Mountain Lion, iMac....???...and what about Mac Pro and Mac Mini? They're all due..

It has to be almost certain something big is going to come out at WWDC...Thats 5 products with 8 months left this year....so already assume they will plan 2 maybe 3 reveals...doesn't leave much time in between releases....so something must come soon! Please MacBookPro!

I'm worried maybe the new iPhone will come first since those are the most rumors floating around and with the leaked new parts (home button, sim card tray)...

Image
Click to expand...
 
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