With the news today that the updated MBPs look more likely to be released imminently (link) but possibly only the 15" and 17" models, this combined with the above recent quote from Steve Jobs has made me quite excited about the fate of the 13" MacBook Pros and the MacBook Air.
Maybe there was nothing substantial beyond the kind of marketing hyperbole we'd expect from a CEO, however I'm going to guess it is significant.
Of course, this may be totally wrong, but I imagine the 15" and 17" MBP updates will be along the lines of same form factor, Core-i, slight SSD bump, some form of current-gen graphics and maybe Optimus. Little else. If the 13" MBP + MBA are left out of this update, I'm guessing they’ve got big plans for them beyond the 15" and 17".
Namely a unification of the MBA + 13"MBP into a super premium-ultraportable:
1) A device lighter and thinner than the 13" MBP and around about the same size, or even a little bigger than the MBA - remember the Vaio Z is about the same weight as the current MBA so there is scope for hopefully big performance gains
2) NO Optical Drive - This would make perfect sense given the direction of things. Lighter, more room for cooling
3) Optimus or any other fully seamless graphics switching on the fly
4) Custom-made Intel processor a la MBA Or even another nudge away from Intel with a PA Semi chip (eg Cortex A9 – though I don't know how plausible this as I don't know of any A9 benchmarks).
5) USB 3.0 or Light Peak -though given timescales say the latter is unlikely but I would absolutely love if we had either one – in which case I wouldn't really mind lower capacity but higher performance SSD
6) Absolutely killer design – I say this again, imo the Macbook Air is the best designed notebook in the history of computers – it really is a stunner, and the size/performance ratio (of the Rev B+ Rev C) is the closest to perfection that I have seen – its reputation unfortunately hampered by the problems with the Rev A version.
This is a bit more out there but:
7) Novel cooling techniques/new materials – eg leading to a fanless notebook which would have an enormous battery life
8) OLED/touchscreen/any other display tech update
9) Some other Apple X-factor
Some of that sounds like a dedication to the MBA, apologies (to some degree it is!)
I've seen a few posters here on MR including Scottsdale at the MBA forum predicting a possibility of this very fusion as far back as last year. Though the rumors today of no imminent MBA and 13" MBP were initially disappointing, I now hope they turn out to be true
Maybe there was nothing substantial beyond the kind of marketing hyperbole we'd expect from a CEO, however I'm going to guess it is significant.
Of course, this may be totally wrong, but I imagine the 15" and 17" MBP updates will be along the lines of same form factor, Core-i, slight SSD bump, some form of current-gen graphics and maybe Optimus. Little else. If the 13" MBP + MBA are left out of this update, I'm guessing they’ve got big plans for them beyond the 15" and 17".
Namely a unification of the MBA + 13"MBP into a super premium-ultraportable:
1) A device lighter and thinner than the 13" MBP and around about the same size, or even a little bigger than the MBA - remember the Vaio Z is about the same weight as the current MBA so there is scope for hopefully big performance gains
2) NO Optical Drive - This would make perfect sense given the direction of things. Lighter, more room for cooling
3) Optimus or any other fully seamless graphics switching on the fly
4) Custom-made Intel processor a la MBA Or even another nudge away from Intel with a PA Semi chip (eg Cortex A9 – though I don't know how plausible this as I don't know of any A9 benchmarks).
5) USB 3.0 or Light Peak -though given timescales say the latter is unlikely but I would absolutely love if we had either one – in which case I wouldn't really mind lower capacity but higher performance SSD
6) Absolutely killer design – I say this again, imo the Macbook Air is the best designed notebook in the history of computers – it really is a stunner, and the size/performance ratio (of the Rev B+ Rev C) is the closest to perfection that I have seen – its reputation unfortunately hampered by the problems with the Rev A version.
This is a bit more out there but:
7) Novel cooling techniques/new materials – eg leading to a fanless notebook which would have an enormous battery life
8) OLED/touchscreen/any other display tech update
9) Some other Apple X-factor
Some of that sounds like a dedication to the MBA, apologies (to some degree it is!)
I've seen a few posters here on MR including Scottsdale at the MBA forum predicting a possibility of this very fusion as far back as last year. Though the rumors today of no imminent MBA and 13" MBP were initially disappointing, I now hope they turn out to be true
