Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Notebook

[MattInOz]

Best argument I've heard so far. Hopefully they'll keep some sort of Pro line around, whatever the naming scheme is going to be though.

I'd be fine with a 15" MBA. Better processor and bigger battery, more RAM, and more SSD - all of that should be doable.

Gone will be: Dedicated gfx - this will simply be impossible; all sorts of ports that nobody needs (use a Thunderbolt dongle if you need FireWire 800 or Ethernet or a freakin' SD card reader, the existence of which I find baffling). USB is still useful of course. DVD.

Unfortunately it still won't have a retina display but hey, it's only a few more years..

Not sure why you say Dedicated GPU is not possible?
If you take the Air13 internals and stretch them out foot print of 15 then it seem like there lots of room for apple to play with say a second fan and GPU chip on the board. Which would double the amount of heat it could displace, right?
Maybe go little thicker and they could move all the battery cell to the front edge. Assuming the two middle ones are pushed back to allow for the track pad. That would get them thicker fans so higher wattage CPU and GPU's than the airs.

 

[HelveticaRoman]

So the 600 DVDs I gave a fortune to the Hollywood studios for are now to be trashed and I should buy the content all over again and download it, and this is all for my benefit?

 

[AppleScruff1]

Apple DOES care about the tech nerds and DOES care about the professional user. Maybe you just can not see it but I am so glad that Apple do.

If they didn't they'd be in the race to the bottom of the barrel just like every other PC hardware vendor is.

Read a bit about the new Final Cut Pro and see what the professional users say.

So the 600 DVDs I gave a fortune to the Hollywood studios for are now to be trashed and I should buy the content all over again and download it, and this is all for my benefit?

Yes, but now you can buy them from Apple this time.

 

[superericla]

So the 600 DVDs I gave a fortune to the Hollywood studios for are now to be trashed and I should buy the content all over again and download it, and this is all for my benefit?

Buy an external hard drive and rip the movies to your hard drive. Then when a disk driveless MacBook Pro comes around you'll still have access to all of those DVDs and could buy digital from there on.

 

[Jerome Morrow]

So the 600 DVDs I gave a fortune to the Hollywood studios for are now to be trashed and I should buy the content all over again and download it, and this is all for my benefit?

So buy a notebook with an optical drive in it. Problem solved.

Yes, but now you can buy them from Apple this time.

Yes it was Apple's intention all along ...

 

[AppleScruff1]

Yes it was Apple's intention all along ...

That is why there won't be a BluRay drive in a Mac. Pure greed.

 

[wywern209]

Buy an external hard drive and rip the movies to your hard drive. Then when a disk driveless MacBook Pro comes around you'll still have access to all of those DVDs and could buy digital from there on.

this. or buy blurays. you get free digital copies with those.

 

[fpnc]

This is a short-sighted and narrow-minded analysis. I'm not saying that you are as a person, nor do I mean any offense, but this is really short-sighted...No sir, I'm sorry, I am not that kind of sheep and I can tell you with great confidence and certainty that most Mac users not on this evangelical forum will agree with me...

Well, I don't agree with you and I'm sure there are a good number of others who feel the same way. The tone of your rhetoric sounds familiar and you may remember we had a "good" exchange back in January about the future of the 13" MacBooks when you were suggesting to many that the 13" MacBook Pro was going to be discontinued and that it would be replaced by an updated white MacBook.

In any case, here is what I said in January when we discussed the future of optical drives in the MacBooks.

...it's my opinion that the optical drive is going away fairly soon. If it doesn't happen this year on the redesigned MacBook Pros then it will happen in 2012...I think the MacBook Airs (which Apple has already said represent the future of MacBooks) and the recently opened Mac App Store indicate that this change may be closer than many might think...

So, we disagreed six months ago and nothing has changed since -- except the following:

1.) Apple essentially discontinues boxed software sales and shifts nearly all of the Apple-branded software distribution to the Mac App Store (including Final Cut X and Mac OS X Lion).

2.) Apple drops the optical drive from the newly redesigned Mac mini.

3.) Apple discontinues the consumer version of the white MacBook in favor of the newly upgraded MacBook Air.

Now tell me, whose arguments from this past January seem to be trending more toward fulfillment - yours or mine?

To be honest, I'd be a little surprised if Apple came out with a radically redesigned 15" MacBook before next year's Ivy Bridge CPU. That event (Ivy Bridge) is when I expect Apple to drop the optical drives from the MacBook Pro line. Ivy Bridge should be a true landmark in the evolution of the MacBook. We'll get a new compact form factor (i.e. no optical drive), better battery life, USB 3.0, a more mature version of Thunderbolt, and a much improved Intel integrated GPU (or IGP). We could also see a version of the 13" MacBook Pro that will include a discrete GPU (with the space saved from the removal of the optical drive, although Ivy Bridge's improved IGP could be good enough to satisfy the majority of users).

 

[gropital]

When I'm reading this article I can't stop thinking about the new thunderbolt 27" display.

Why, because it acts like a dock. This docking concept can be extanded for new generation of MBP: A macbook air 15" + a dock with all the connectivity of th current MBP with optical drive. You would have the best of the two worlds.

For power consumption and dissipation, i don't think that it's the main issue, aluminium is a good heat conductor.

 

[the8thark]

Carry around what you need to work on only.

Very well said. And this is Apple's future plans I think. A plan I agree with 100%. I could argue desktops still need the optical drive. But portable PCs (iPad included as it is a PC) don't really need the optical drive any more. And having it spinning on the move is just a risk I would not want to take.

 

[the8thark]

I've got no beef

I have beef.

 

[jennyp]

Funny, my MBA has over 1 TB of available storage

how?

 

[dfelix]

I just want multiple hard drives, particularly if it comes at the expense of the optical drive. And 4 memory slots. The rest on the 15" can stay as is.

 

[Tshapi]

Odd no odd that is the question

Steve jobs one quoted Ford. if ford asked his customers what they wanted. they would say Faster Horses!

Apple will not remove the word pro from the MacBookPro. The word Pro gives apple the ability to separate. The MBA will at some point be re branded MB but the MBP will always be the MBP i would be very surprised if they removed the Pro. it gives them the ability to have that Mac Tax for one. for two. it allows Apple to have a high end line and a low end line. MBA are obviously the low power portables.


There will be no ODD in the next MBP redesign.

Thunderbolt is also giving apple the possibility of removing ports such as ethernet from the computer and placing it in some type of port hub. the ethernet port is the tallest port.

 

[talkingfuture]

I think this is completely plausible. The Pro will get discrete graphics, better processors, more storage and probably a few extra ports down the side but no optical drive. I think the external super drive will stay in production for a good few years so you will always have an option for reading dvd's when you need to.

This also ties in with those rumours from a while ago that the next MBP would be a major redesign.

 

[TheGenerous]

i'm glad you think of movies and music as disposable downloadable art

some of us don't, however, and kinda like having the means to play our stuff through our computer while on the go

what are you talking about? he never meant that for USB drives

 

[iSamurai]

Hey boss where can I legally download CS5?

The price of an optical drive is minimal compared to Adobe CS5, and that's already if you or someone else have a computer with an OD.

 

[aslkqwpo]

If this is a 15" Air or Redesigned MacBook Pro, I'm in!

So right, I guess 15" will offer a higher end of i5/i7 with a better battery and a splendid Graphics - they needn't go any better. Even if they remove the Optical Drive (i have a playstation for that) i guess most of them be in too.

My only question can they can remove the Bezel out on the right and the left sides - makes it look like a Cinema Display or make it smaller?

Oooh !

 

[marzomac]

What does anyone need an optical drive in 2011 for? USB sticks FTW!

I regularly use my optical drive for watching DVDs. I know you will say that I can download my movies and tv shows from multiple sources, however I like many others have limited internet. I use mobile broadband and am on the best plan avalible which gives me a total of 4gb, cable or adsl is not an option for me. External DVD drives are a pain to use and to transport. I know that almost everyone in the US is loaded with data and fast connection speeds, however in other parts of the world it is not the same. I too would not buy a laptop without an optical drive.

 

[hleewell]

New 15" Air with HDD/SSD combo

This new 15" Air model could be the new addition to the Air line up or something else altogether. One thing I would miss if Apple decides to go all SSD is the large capacity of cheap HDD : 500gb to 1Tb. I sure hope the thin model would sport the SSD/HDD combo like the iMac and yes, the new Mac Mini.

 

[johnhw]

Expecting this to be released on October.. since I remember this timeline back in 2008! (Updated MBPs in Early 2008.. redesigned in Late 2008!)

I certainly hope it wouldn't be a gradual thin like the Air but a steady thin/thickness like the current ones..

 

[rochford]

So the 600 DVDs I gave a fortune to the Hollywood studios for are now to be trashed and I should buy the content all over again and download it, and this is all for my benefit?

Hardly, just get yourself one of these:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC684ZM/A

 

[weckart]

Hey boss where can I legally download CS5?

http://www.adobe.com/downloads/ How did you not know this?

Indeed...

I just hope that it's a 15" MBA, not a MBP. I really want a DVD drive. No, don't bring up the argument on how many times I've used it. When you need to use it, you don't have to be in the fuss of plugging in an external just to burn something or rip music off a CD.

Gonna bring it up regardless. When you never need to use it you don't want the bother of carting it around in your laptop everywhere you go. Or pay for the privilege, for that matter.

So the 600 DVDs I gave a fortune to the Hollywood studios for are now to be trashed and I should buy the content all over again and download it, and this is all for my benefit?

Yes, because you carry those 600 DVDs around with you wherever you go with your portable device. Do what the rest of the world has been doing for years and start ripping them. Put what you need on a flash/usb drive for your travels and have done. Your Macbook's battery will thank you for it.

 

[MasterHowl]

This is exciting!

Ive had my mid-2009 MacBook Pro for two years now, and never once used the CD drive! Getting rid of it and squeezing in some extra juice would be ace for me.

Might sell my old MacBook and use it towards funds for one of these bad boys!

 

[bushido]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; de-de) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Hey boss where can I legally download CS5?

http://www.adobe.com/downloads/ How did you not know this?

Indeed...

I just hope that it's a 15" MBA, not a MBP. I really want a DVD drive. No, don't bring up the argument on how many times I've used it. When you need to use it, you don't have to be in the fuss of plugging in an external just to burn something or rip music off a CD.

Gonna bring it up regardless. When you never need to use it you don't want the bother of carting it around in your laptop everywhere you go. Or pay for the privilege, for that matter.

So the 600 DVDs I gave a fortune to the Hollywood studios for are now to be trashed and I should buy the content all over again and download it, and this is all for my benefit?

Yes, because you carry those 600 DVDs around with you wherever you go with your portable device. Do what the rest of the world has been doing for years and start ripping them. Put what you need on a flash/usb drive for your travels and have done. Your Macbook's battery will thank you for it.

its illegal to rip copy protected dvds tho ...