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A realistic approach to what the Apple lineup might look like.

TSE

TSE

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 25, 2007
4,079
3,730
St. Paul, Minnesota
These are all base models, battery life is realistic in real world use, not what's advertised:

13" MacBook
1280x800 LED Resolution
Intel Sandy Bridge Processor
Intel GMA HD
2 GB RAM
320 GB HD
7 Hours Battery Life
$899

11" MacBook Air
1366x768 LED Resolution
Intel Sandy Bridge LV (not ULV) Processor
Intel GMA HD
2 GB RAM
128 GB SSD
7 Hours Battery Life
$899

13" MacBook Air
1440x900 LED Resolution
Intel Sandy Bridge LV Processor, faster than the 11"
Intel GMA HD
4 GB RAM
256 GB SSD
10 Hours Battery Life
$1499

15" MacBook Pro
1600x900 LED Resolution
Intel Sandy Bridge Processor
Intel GMA HD + AMD Radeon 6630HD
4 GB RAM
500 GB HD
7 Hours without taxing AMD Graphics card
$1799

17" MacBook Pro
1920x1080 LED Resolution
Intel Sandy Bridge Quad-Core Processor
Intel GMA HD + AMD Radeon 6630HD
4 GB RAM
640 GB HD
6 Hours without taxing AMD Graphics card
$2299


Facts:

-16:10 LED screens are getting more and more expensive
-If Apple wants to up the resolution of it's 15" MacBook Pro, they would either have to go with 1680x1050, which to my knowledge no notebook that has been updated recently uses, or they can go 16:9
-The Air is for lightweight portability and battery life. The processor increased performance will be incredible. Some people might not like that there is no graphics card, but what else can Apple do?
-There are currently three 13" Apple notebooks, the MacBook can be used to get rid of all the extra 1280x800 screens, 320 GB HDs, etc. that Apple has laying around
-The 13" MacBook Pro would be the hardest to contain both a Sandy Bridge processor, a capable graphics card, all while maintaining the battery life the current one has
-Sandy Bridge processors have shown 20-30% better battery life over the previous Arrandales. The Quad-Cores have shown great strides when it comes to power management.
 
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Yeah i dont think the white macbook would get killed off. For $999 plus the education discount, thats an awesome price for a macbook. I do see that its goign to be upgraded in the near future though.
 
TSE said:
These are all base models, battery life is realistic in real world use, not what's advertised:

13" MacBook
1280x800 LED Resolution
Intel Sandy Bridge Processor
Intel GMA HD
4 GB RAM
320 GB HD
7 Hours Battery Life
$899

11" MacBook Air
1366x768 LED Resolution
Intel Sandy Bridge LV (not ULV) Processor
Intel GMA HD
2 GB RAM
128 GB SSD
7 Hours Battery Life
$899
Click to expand...

Why would you buy the 13 inch if you could get the 11 inch air for the same price? The new air is the hot item, it's a mac, and not just ANY mac, it's a shupa sexy looking mac (c'mon son, we all know it looks better than the plastic macbook). :p

I think the 13 will see another price drop or just be axed.

I mean picture it, you're a university student, you need a laptop and want a mac, you got a 899 MB, a 899 MBA, and suppose the 13 inch MBP is 1099.

if you want power you'd drop the money for a mbp, if you want thin and light, you'd drop the money for a mba, if you want ??? you'd drop the money for a MB? it doesn't seem to add up.

Say you do video editing and what not real graphics intensive stuff, you'd cough up the dough for the processor and overall more powerful 13 inch pro, if you just need something to carry around to and from campus and take notes, you'd get a mba its plenty powerful and does all you need it to do. The plastic MB isn't that much lighter than the pro, and it isn't a powerful, you do save 200 bucks, but if it aint powerful enough, you'll upgrade sooner than later, and thus the 200 bucks feels like a waste. I just don't see how they can market the MB with the MBA and MBP (13) cannibalizing it's sales. :confused:
 
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i get what you are trying to say but $200 towards college is still alot, esp with those $100+ books, even with the used books. So its a really a matter of choice, and its still a very affordable and viable choice for college students.
 
NZed said:
i think the no since macbook is Apple's best selling laptop since it attracts students to buy them and Its a laptop for everyone(as it advertises)
Click to expand...

Didn't Apple say that the 13" MBP was currently the best-selling Mac?
 
Yeahp

First of all, everybody, the Macbook is not going to get cut because it is there main laptop. It's the Air and Pro put together... It's there best selling laptop, and schools buy only those ones usually. But the white color, yes, I think it might have to go.

The prices are really going to get lowered, because Apple will need to tap into more markets, ones with LOWER price points. They have been lowering the prices a lot, actually. The Macbook Air went down in price $799, the Apple TV went down dramatically, I think over $100, and the Macbook Pro's have also gone down. The iMacs also. iPod Classic also has.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
White Macbook gets scrapped, 13" MBP returns to 13" MacBook when it gets Sandy Bridge.

Apple gets to scrap an entire notebook line and stop manufacturing an old case, and none of the customers get put out, especially if Apple keeps the disk drive, firewire, and maybe lowers the price too.
 
13" MBP won't be killed. Apple had no problems with using C2D in it and calling it a pro so they won't have a problem with using Intel IGP and calling it a pro. If something, they will kill the MacBook and drop the price of 13" MBP to 999$.

Displays will remain 16:10 or otherwise it will be a downgrade.

Battery life will go up in all models as Sandy Bridge is more energy efficient. The tests are done with light usage so quad core won't really use more energy.
 
Erasmus said:
White Macbook gets scrapped, 13" MBP returns to 13" MacBook when it gets Sandy Bridge.
Click to expand...

I agree. If I were to buy a MBP now, it would be a 13". I have a 2008 MBP 15" and 15" feels a tad too big when out and about. 13" is perfect (maybe they should up the res though), if you need a bigger screen at home or office connect the MBP to an external display.

(Or maybe I'll go with the 11" MBA next time, as I really don't see a need for super i7 mega core for my part... ;) )
 
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I think they'll kill the white Macbook because the MBA 13" is better for students and the MBP 13" is good for potability, with connectivity. So:

- MBP 13", 15" and 17"
- MBA 11" and 13"

Students choose a MBA*, instead of a heavy white MacBook.

Or a MBP 13" (or possibly 15") for a computing course, as it has more ports and a better CPU; but the next MBA may have a sandy bridge, in which case, the MBP will be unnecessary for students, as they can get a lighter laptop, with the same specs.
 
While I obviously hope for something more (everyone always does), I'ld be satisfied with this update. Would go for either 13". The MBA is a very likely option than, even though the additional price tag of $600 may be a set-back.

Thanks for sharing your lineup approach ;)
 
forget the 16/9 ratio, and I don't know about you, but I have no problems getting the 9 hours battery life out of my 17", as advertised.
 
13" Macbook is a decoy that makes everything else look better value. No reason to cancel it, it makes people believe that $1,000 is the base price to pay for a new laptop, and that pushes up what they will pay for everything else.
 
NZed said:
i think the no since macbook is Apple's best selling laptop since it attracts students to buy them and Its a laptop for everyone(as it advertises)
Click to expand...

I haven't seen a new regular MacBook in ages. I think its because even people with room temperature IQ's can see that the MacBook Pro is worth the minuscule additional cost, and if your thinking "if you only have 1000 dollars..." stop right there because if that's the case you shouldn't be buying a luxury computer which is basically what Apple produces. None the less they are very fine computers. If they want to kill the white MacBook then turn the 13inch pro into the regular MacBook with aluminum case and either take out the firewire port or add something to the 15inch pro's that is just so amazing people will fork over the extra cash depending on how they feel. /thread
 
i actually prefer current specs to the specs that people are saying it may get. Intel graphics suck. They always pull crap and say its good and every single time, as in always it falls short and ends up sucking as usual. intel is not good at graphics and they need to get a grip on that fact. I am actually buying a mac sooner then later maybe within the next week because i dont want sandybridge and intel graphics.
 
I would guess for these. Apple said they're happy with nVidia, and shows no sign for a switch to AMD for graphics. Plus, MacBook Air's have special C2D's that are much smaller than normal CPU's. Intel would have to provide the 1st-generation Core-i processors in the same package.
Apple made the 16:10 ratio famous, they'll want it to stay famous.

13" MacBook
1366x768 LED Resolution
Intel i3 Processor
nVidia GeForce GT320M
4 GB RAM
320 GB HD
7 Hours Battery Life
$1000

11" MacBook Air
1440x900 LED Resolution
Custom shrunken i3 Processor, using the same shrunken architecture of the current C2D-Air's
nVidia GeForce GT320M
4 GB RAM
128 GB SSD
7 Hours Battery Life
$1100

13" MacBook Air
1440x900 LED Resolution, upgradeable to 1680x1050
Intel shrunken i5 Processor, most probably i5-2537M if not shrunken.
nVidia GeForce GT330M
4 GB RAM
256 GB SSD
10 Hours Battery Life
$1400

13" MacBook Pro
1440x900 LED Resolution, upgradeable to 1680x1050
Intel Sandy Bridge i5, i5-450M
nVidia GeForce GT410M
4GB Ram, Max 8GB
320 GB HDD
10 Hours
$1300

15" MacBook Pro
1680x1050 LED Resolution, upgradeable to 1920x1200
Intel Sandy Bridge i5, i5-25x0 processors
Intel HD Graphics
nVidia GeForce GT420M
6 GB RAM, Max 8GB
500 GB HD
7 Hours
$1800

17" MacBook Pro
1920x1200 LED Resolution, upgradeable to 2560x1600
Intel Sandy Bridge i7, i7-2720QM and i7-2820QM
Intel HD Graphics
Choice of nVidia GeForce GT445 and ATI Radeon HD 5600
6 GB RAM, Max 8GB
640 GB HD
6 Hours
$2300
 
TSE said:
These are all base models, battery life is realistic in real world use, not what's advertised:

13" MacBook
1280x800 LED Resolution
Intel Sandy Bridge Processor
Intel GMA HD
4 GB RAM
320 GB HD
7 Hours Battery Life
$899

11" MacBook Air
1366x768 LED Resolution
Intel Sandy Bridge LV (not ULV) Processor
Intel GMA HD
2 GB RAM
128 GB SSD
7 Hours Battery Life
$899

13" MacBook Air
1440x900 LED Resolution
Intel Sandy Bridge LV Processor, faster than the 11"
Intel GMA HD
4 GB RAM
256 GB SSD
10 Hours Battery Life
$1499

15" MacBook Pro
1600x900 LED Resolution
Intel Sandy Bridge Processor
Intel GMA HD + AMD Radeon 6630HD
4 GB RAM
500 GB HD
7 Hours without taxing AMD Graphics card
$1799

17" MacBook Pro
1920x1080 LED Resolution
Intel Sandy Bridge Quad-Core Processor
Intel GMA HD + AMD Radeon 6630HD
4 GB RAM
640 GB HD
6 Hours without taxing AMD Graphics card
$2299


Facts:

-16:10 LED screens are getting more and more expensive
-If Apple wants to up the resolution of it's 15" MacBook Pro, they would either have to go with 1680x1050, which to my knowledge no notebook that has been updated recently uses, or they can go 16:9
-The Air is for lightweight portability and battery life. The processor increased performance will be incredible. Some people might not like that there is no graphics card, but what else can Apple do?
-There are currently three 13" Apple notebooks, the MacBook can be used to get rid of all the extra 1280x800 screens, 320 GB HDs, etc. that Apple has laying around
-The 13" MacBook Pro would be the hardest to contain both a Sandy Bridge processor, a capable graphics card, all while maintaining the battery life the current one has
-Sandy Bridge processors have shown 20-30% better battery life over the previous Arrandales. The Quad-Cores have shown great strides when it comes to power management.
Click to expand...

They are not going to update the macbook airs right now, they just updated them.... not a realistic approach.
 
deeesea said:
Why would you buy the 13 inch if you could get the 11 inch air for the same price? The new air is the hot item, it's a mac, and not just ANY mac, it's a shupa sexy looking mac (c'mon son, we all know it looks better than the plastic macbook). :p
Click to expand...

Maybe because a lot of people would rather have a 13" screen as their main notebook than a ridiculously tiny 11" screen, not to mention the severely underpowered 1,4ghz C2D... believe me i would choose the current 13" plastic macbook over the 11" macbook anytime without a doubt, if i were given only these two options..

i do agree however, that the MB will probably get axed and replaced by the current 13" MBP..
 
There's a reason for a Core 2 Duo vs the Core i-Series. Intel's blocking the use of higher end integrated video cards by other companies.

Basically speaking, if you want Core i3 in the Air, you won't be getting the 320M. You'll be getting the Intel HD graphics.

Happy now? No. Logically, Apple would rather use a slower CPU for a faster GPU.

Furthermore, the Core i7-2620M are still a Dual Core, Quad Thread CPU, just with SB and a faster integrated GPU. Then again, it's the only CPU that has the 35W TDP limit Apple likes.
 
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