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Aluminum MacBook and MacBook Pros Spotted?

As the MBA's should be poised for going down anyway (netbooks), the MacBook should get LED backlit screens anyway, SSD should replace conventional hard drives more and more, and the rumors about aluminum MacBooks pop up again and again, Apple might only "need" two notebook lines:

- MacBook Pro 13 / 15 / 17, including dedicated graphics, optical drive (Blu-ray), high-end CPUs and the usual FW/LAN/USB ports = "optimised" for features, expandability and performance
- MacBook Air 13, sacrifing ports and performance for the form factor (and greatly reduced price compared to now) = "optimised" for battery runtime, weight, portability

Of course, that's just some idée fixe I have had for a while... which I keep pushing on these forums every now and then ;)
 
AppliedMicro said:
Crazy? Quite on the contrary. It's common sense. There are (too) few things where it would be distinguishable from the plain MacBook. What is or what could realistically be different between the MB and MBP, besides screen size?
Click to expand...

Matte screen, alu (lighter), punchier GPU, illum keyboard.... the MBA was almost there.... :(
 
If only it wasn't £1200 for a ulv machine, just as the market was flooded with cheap netbooks.
 
AppliedMicro said:
As the MBA's should be poised for going down anyway (netbooks), the MacBook should get LED backlit screens anyway, SSD should replace conventional hard drives more and more, and the rumors about aluminum MacBooks pop up again and again, Apple might only "need" two notebook lines:

- MacBook Pro 13 / 15 / 17, including dedicated graphics, optical drive (Blu-ray), high-end CPUs and the usual FW/LAN/USB ports = "optimised" for features, expandability and performance
- MacBook Air 13, sacrifing ports and performance for the form factor (and greatly reduced price compared to now) = "optimised" for battery runtime, weight, portability

Of course, that's just some idée fixe I have had for a while... which I keep pushing on these forums every now and then ;)
Click to expand...

Blu-ray is unlikely (too much power consumption), at least in smaller notebooks. While I wouldn't mind if Apple notebooks' future looked like that, I think their idea is different. They're two things of worth in notebooks (apart from good design etc. which all of Apple's laptops share): portability and power. That's what people are willing to overpay for.

Left end is portability, right end is power, < > stand for price differences:

MacBook Air > MacBook < MacBook Pro

You have portability compromising on power in Air, power compromising on portability in Pro, and MacBook, which is neither truly portable nor powerful, thus being cheaper than them both. Air is more powerful than comparable laptops, and Pro more portable. MacBook is more of both, and it's this optimized version that most people need.

So, I think MacBook stays. Not to mention it would be odd to have "pro" version without "basic" version (unless Air filled that gap, which isn't likely and certainly not in near future).

If only it wasn't £1200 for a ulv machine, just as the market was flooded with cheap netbooks.
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I think Air's processor isn't ULV. It isn't comparable to netbooks, and I don't understand why people are stubbornly placing it with them. It belongs in "thin and light" category with Voodoo's Envy, Thinkpad X300, Dell's E4300... all of which are similarly priced or more expensive, by the way.
 

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My friend was just up at Ingram Micro, they are slammed with laptops, apparently MB Pro, MB and MB Airs, ready to go and he heard them say they're ready to go, they built the skids for the locations, they are waiting on "some guy to make an announcement." Now announcement could be just a call to them to release the stock vs. an event.

Whether it's 10/7 or 10/14, it seems logical that it's coming for real.

Thanks, hope this helps.
 
Do anybody know if it comes at the same time in US as in Norway?:) I just can't wait to get a new macbook! I really hopes it is coming out 7/10:rolleyes:
 
Interesting about the deliveries.

Also, an nVidia chipset with the new Intel processors would be awesome for the Macbooks, as it would be a good compromise of power and budget. The Intel GMA may be suitable for an ultraportable but for something like the Macbook the more powerful nVidia integrated stuff is a lot better.
 
As to the 9 to 5 mac 2nd brick hint...maybe a green light to go forward and make the annoucement? 10/7!!!!
 
aleksandra. said:
Not to mention it would be odd to have "pro" version without "basic" version
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Well... the iPod, dubbed "classic" for some time, set the precedent there: A newer model taking the place of the older one as the "mainstream" model (though in that case, the newer models were cheaper, not more expensive).

Anyway... if at all, this is something for the next upcoming years. There wil probably still some iterations of the MacBook family to come.
 
psiachris said:
My friend was just up at Ingram Micro, they are slammed with laptops, apparently MB Pro, MB and MB Airs, ready to go and he heard them say they're ready to go, they built the skids for the locations, they are waiting on "some guy to make an announcement." Now announcement could be just a call to them to release the stock vs. an event.

Whether it's 10/7 or 10/14, it seems logical that it's coming for real.

Thanks, hope this helps.
Click to expand...

I believe your friend. I also know someone at Ingram Micro who hinted at something brewing with Apple along the lines of new macbooks, etc sitting around. Unfortunately they are sworn to secrecy so even the hints could jeopardize their careers and you can't get too much more info out of them. I believe October 14th is the date because it has been mentioned from the get go. Even before the actual ipod announcement, there was talk of another announcement coming on Oct. 14
 
Forget aluminum!!!!

Forget about aluminum, I want carbon fiber or magnesium.

My friends and I used a LOT of carbon and carbon/kevlar on our Ducatis. One bike in my stable also has a fair amount of mag.

Aluminum is so, well it's just aluminum.

Get with the 21st century, Apple.
:D
 
QuantumLo0p said:
Forget about aluminum, I want carbon fiber or magnesium.

My friends and I used a LOT of carbon and carbon/kevlar on our Ducatis. One bike in my stable also has a fair amount of mag.

Aluminum is so, well it's just aluminum.

Get with the 21st century, Apple.
:D
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Agreed I would love Apple notebooks to be as tough as the Panasonic Toughbooks. But not as ugly.
 
AppliedMicro said:
Well... the iPod, dubbed "classic" for some time, set the precedent there: A newer model taking the place of the older one as the "mainstream" model (though in that case, the newer models were cheaper, not more expensive).

Anyway... if at all, this is something for the next upcoming years. There wil probably still some iterations of the MacBook family to come.
Click to expand...

In Classic's case, they discontinued higher-end model. Anyway, it wasn't exactly what I meant. There's no iPod Pro. If MacBooks and MacBooks Pros were merged into one line, it'd be a bit silly to have them named "Pro" without offering anything not-so-pro. I know theoretically it would be fine, but those three letters suggest a premium product. You need a comparison for that. I don't think Air could take this place, not with its low-end price being between MB's and MBP's.
 
Loge said:
That still doesn't show the effect of going from 1920x1200 to 1920x1080, since your picture is showing an increase horizontally.
Click to expand...
The physical display size increases horizontally. Resolution would decrease or increase depending on the ppi.

Loge said:
It was probably a case of not realising something was good until it was gone. I remember at the time there was no shortage of moaning about the 12" how it was "crippled" compared to the 15 and 17 models (eg. lower max ram, no card slot, no backlit keyboard).
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:D

I wonder if the same people who want the 12" PowerBook back were those who dissed it when it was around.
 
iMacmatician said:
The physical display size increases horizontally. Resolution would decrease or increase depending on the ppi.
Click to expand...

If the physical size increases but the horizontal pixels remain the same, then the ppi is reduced, which is another reason to prefer the current hi-res panel.

But thanks, your last picture now shows the effect clearly, a noticeable loss of screen real estate for those considering the top end MBP.
 
If that Ingram thing is true, then great - although, not for me, as I'd have to sell my current Mac.. bah.

I take it I can restore from a Time Machine back-up to a new Mac?
 
Refurbs

Just checked Apple Refurbs and the amount of Macbooks and MBPs has tripled since yesterday..
 
kbstru said:
Just checked Apple Refurbs and the amount of Macbooks and MBPs has tripled since yesterday..
Click to expand...

there is no doubt in my mind that something is going to happen this month or early next month. It's a given because macbooks are waaaaaaaaaay overdue for an update.

The thing I question is if it will just be something minor or major.
 
puffnstuff said:
there is no doubt in my mind that something is going to happen this month or early next month. It's a given because macbooks are waaaaaaaaaay overdue for an update.

The thing I question is if it will just be something minor or major.
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major plzzz:D
 
I don't see the logic of only having an 800 firewire port. I don't have a single device that uses this. I do have four external hard drives that use the old version none of which I'd be able to access with this new MacBook pro and all of which I need to for my job.
How is this a good thing?
 
RHD said:
I don't see the logic of only having an 800 firewire port.
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The logic is rather simple: FireWire 800 is faster and downward compatible.
RHD said:
I do have four external hard drives that use the old version none of which I'd be able to access with this new MacBook pro and all of which I need to for my job.
Click to expand...
You'd just have to get a 9pin-to-6pin firewire cable.
These are available for less than 10$ (US) / 5£ from eBay (shipping included).
 
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