Aluminum MacBook Pro Case Photo?

[Bubba Satori]

I have two complaints with the current design:

1. It's a nightmare to replace the hard drive.
2. The ports are too close together; I can't comfortably plug a Y-adapter into the Line In without blocking off the Headphone and USB ports.

Yabbut thats functionality, not cosmetics or thiness. 🙄

 

[kabunaru]

New MacBook Pros soon. Would be interesting to see what they get.

Edit: MacRumors, can you use proper English please. Instead of aluminum, please use aluminium.

 

[Tallest Skil]

New MacBook Pros soon. Would be interesting to see what they get.

Edit: MacRumors, can you use proper English please. Instead of aluminum, please use aluminium.

MacRumors uses a proprietary rules format when deciding how to spell certain words. MacRumors goes by standard English rules of grammar and punctuation, but deviates from these to follow the tertiary rules of the most powerful (in terms of capita) English-speaking country at the time. 😛

The battery takes up the entire bottom. If it's plastic, I'm not buying it at all. It's aluminum. It will always be aluminum.

And the glowy-rimmed black Apple logo is kick-awesome... but the glow needs to be blue.

 

[Bubba Satori]

There aren't 8-bit notebook panels, and BD-ROM does not sit high on most priority lists. It's a bullet point aspiration for most. Anyone who really wants one can get an external drive.

Nobody else really cares to deal with the expense, thickness, and battery drain the devices cause. Beyond that, only a small minority of US households have anything on Blu-ray to begin with. It's nothing like the revolution that DVD provided. It's a capacity bump most people don't even care about.

Using notebook BD-ROM as a mark of "quality" is foolish at best.

I care about Blu-ray. I want the choice. Jeebus Apple is a $50 Billion coprporation, not some rinky dink, two bit reseller of cheap laptops. Can't they make enough models to allow people to have the features they want ? Why are they so anal retentive about giving people what they want ?

Why must people give Apple these incredibly annoying passes for dragging their feet on features that other laptops have. I mean seriously. Hard drives that can be removed without a Phd. High resolution 15" screens, newest video cards, Blu-ray, built in card readers. If they didn't include them because we were talking about a $400 laptop, I could understand it, but we're not. 😡

 

[Tallest Skil]

Can't they make enough models to allow people to have the features they want? Why are they so anal retentive about giving people what they want?

Couple of reasons for that:

What people want is usually the last thing that they need. Case (no pun intended) in point, the redesign.

Because Apple is about simplicity. They killed off clones and most of their models when Steve came back.

Because Blu-ray sucks battery life. Like a beast. Apple likes power management.

It takes a Ph.D. to undo 20+ screws? Yes, the number of screws is excessive, but you don't need to have much technical knowledge. Besides, if this is the new case, the battery runs the length of the computer, giving us access similar to a MacBook's. We'll never have Pismo-level access again, but this would be close.

 

[headfuzz]

I predict a chrome logo. Too bad--I'll be sorry to see the lighted one go.

I call a fibre optic logo. So rather than have an inverted silhouette of the Apple logo you'd have one with glowing edges 😎

EDIT: I see someone's already suggested a clip in opaque logo which would achieve the same effect, bugger. 😱

 

[CalmEnvy]

Maybe they will finally let MacBook Pro owners upgrade their HDD in a manor just like the MacBook.

 

[gifford]

MacRumors uses a proprietary rules format when deciding how to spell certain words. MacRumors goes by standard English rules of grammar and punctuation, but deviates from these to follow the tertiary rules of the most powerful (in terms of capita) English-speaking country at the time. 😛

i presume this will change in 2010 then, when india takes that crown 🙂

 

[freeny]

This is most likely just the casing.

The center circle in the apple logo would be where an LED is placed and the glow would be accomplished through a "fiber optic like" illumination. The two other circles are where the plastic white apple logo gets its footing.

 

[Breegy]

I care about Blu-ray. I want the choice. Jeebus Apple is a $50 Billion coprporation, not some rinky dink, two bit reseller of cheap laptops. Can't they make enough models to allow people to have the features they want ? Why are they so anal retentive about giving people what they want ?

Why must people give Apple these incredibly annoying passes for dragging their feet on features that other laptops have. I mean seriously. Hard drives that can be removed without a Phd. High resolution 15" screens, newest video cards, Blu-ray, built in card readers. If they didn't include them because we were talking about a $400 laptop, I could understand it, but we're not. 😡

I somewhat agree with you.

If you're paying 1k+ for a laptop, you should be allowed more options, and shouldn't have to settle for whatever they want to give you.

But Apple doesn't have the same competition the PC market does. With PCs there's different companies (Gateway, Dell, Sony, so on) making different products so they need to be more diverse to sell. Having that more diverse market causes the companies to get more competitive and pack all they can into smaller prices.

If people want Apple or OS X, they have to settle and pick whichever of the limited options Apple has to offer.

They do what they can, and honestly, to me it is worth it. I'll settle buying my MacBook and it will be a nice machine, and then in three years or whenever I buy again, I'll look forward to seeing what's on the market then. Honestly, I'd love to have blu ray. The picture is amazing. I'd also love to have a dedicated graphics card. It's a shame those things have to wait.

 

[dstrauss]

MacBook perhaps? Btw, I can't imagine Apple not backlighting their logo.

I can. Apple is making unprecedented inroads into the enterprise, and Snow Leopard looks like a direct frontal assault on Vista/Windows 7, particularly with native Exchange support. Given all of that, the backlit logo has a certain "juvenile" quality to it (oops, here come the flames) while a polished apple, like the back of the original iPhone, gets across the brand without the "in your face" quality.

 

[LoCarbHotrod]

crap, and when my mbp is just a little over 1 moth old 🙁

Don't think like that brother, you have a sexy, timeless in design laptop, with quality features and parts. I think the current MBP will still be one of the sexiest laptops for at least few more years

 

[Tallest Skil]

i presume this will change in 2010 then, when india takes that crown 🙂

Are there more English speakers than Hindi speakers in India? I don't really want this place to go Hindi; I'd need my dad (went to boarding school there for years) to teach me the language because I couldn't stand not being able to come here. 😛

 

[sterlingindigo]

Well at least (if it's true) they are keeping it aluminum (instead of putting plastic on the back like the new iPhone). If APPL is listening, I hope they have alum keys.

I've been a fan of the lighted logo myself but the non-lit logo does provide a "solid" feeling to it. Not sure what is up with the three circled "core" on that logo. Makes me think it's a fake.

 

[Mackan]

I care about Blu-ray. I want the choice. Jeebus Apple is a $50 Billion coprporation, not some rinky dink, two bit reseller of cheap laptops. Can't they make enough models to allow people to have the features they want ? Why are they so anal retentive about giving people what they want ?

Why must people give Apple these incredibly annoying passes for dragging their feet on features that other laptops have. I mean seriously. Hard drives that can be removed without a Phd. High resolution 15" screens, newest video cards, Blu-ray, built in card readers. If they didn't include them because we were talking about a $400 laptop, I could understand it, but we're not. 😡

The Apple world is all about control and closeness. It's a shame that good things are always accompanied with bad things.

 

[Wingnut330]

If it's a MBP in the MBA body then sign me up. I had a MBA for a couple of months and have since switched to a MBP. I love the power and screen size of the MBP but miss the portability of the MBA.

 

[Brianstorm91]

I reckon there'll be a chromed 3D apple logo like the one shown at startup of the iPod touch.

 

[Breegy]

I can. Apple is making unprecedented inroads into the enterprise, and Snow Leopard looks like a direct frontal assault on Vista/Windows 7, particularly with native Exchange support. Given all of that, the backlit logo has a certain "juvenile" quality to it (oops, here come the flames) while a polished apple, like the back of the original iPhone, gets across the brand without the "in your face" quality.

I like you're thinking.

When looking at the new iMacs compared to the previous generation, the aluminum is very nice, while the white plastic is starting to look cheap to me. The new ones look more sophisticated. However, I think that a subtle glowing white apple, or just a glowing any color apple (even that neat black one someone did), in the back is very attractive as well. It's signature among Apple laptops, and with aluminum looks really beautiful. I'd be sad to see it go.

While the MBA is a very attractive machine, I think all aluminum like the MBP looks a lot better than the black and white with the keyboard.. But I know, some of of you disagree. Just glad I'm not looking to buy a MBA.

 

[kingshrubb]

I really don't mind if the Apple logo doesn't light up. Maybe it's part of the "going green" thing or very slightly better battery power who knows... I guess it looks cooler lit up but w/e Apple does is cool with me. 😀

 

[BornAgainMac]

I hope in addition to losing the backlight logo, they don't remove both Firewire 400/800 ports and have just one USB port and then have integrated graphics and still call it Pro complete with yellow hue displays and scan lines clearly visible and poor thermal paste application causing heat issues and a very loud fan than won't shut off and a Intel Inside and other stickers.

 

[DOUGHNUT]

how come the case doesn't have a battery compartment? is it because it's a prototype or what?

also, if the MacBook Air has a backlit logo, MBP has to have one as well.

 

[DOUGHNUT]

I really don't mind if the Apple logo doesn't light up. Maybe it's part of the "going green" thing or very slightly better battery power who knows... I guess it looks cooler lit up but w/e Apple does is cool with me. 😀

the lit up logo has 0 impact on power consumption. it uses the same backlight that the screen uses. the only problem with the backlit logo is that if you're using the laptop in front of a bright light, you can see a faint shadow of it on the screen. really a nonissue though.

 

[carlitofox]

mmmm yes, that would be nice.

To obtain a more vibrant color, a different angle of dispersion, brighter, generally more control such as blinking/pulsing to signify different states.

Maybe, who knows, but I would have chucked an LED in there years ago personally.

i think you hit the nail on the head here i think this will be the new laptop logo

 

[techmonkey]

i was just searching Flickr for aluminium mockups 😀

i hope this is true! i love the aluminium look and want to sell my MBP, buy a gaming PC and a new MB.

I dont understand. Are the current MBPs not aluminum?

What if the 3 circles were for a screw and 2 LEDs, a cover can go on top then the Apple logo could be outlined with a white outer glow. That would be a cool idea.

Neat idea.

 

[slackpacker]

Sure its LOGO is backlit.... they will probably put an LED in the little hole in the center.

Looks like someone had that Idea already.... so its True!