Apple MacBook in May?

[WebHead]

iBook still makes sense

Agreed. I think it's pretty obvious that the iBook will be renamed MacBook. As stated, why have a MacBook Pro w/o a MacBook in the first place?

Er, for the same reason there'll be a Mac Pro but not a plain ol' Mac?

Steve's comments aside, iBook makes just as much sense as MacBook. You have to look at them in terms of consumer and pro, not desktops and notebooks:

iMac, iBook
Mac Pro, MacBook Pro

 

[Sammie2u]

I think those may the be refurbished prices....cuz a 12" iBook refurb is usually $799....but I can only guess because I cant find what you're talking about on the site.

Maybe they are just the refurbishe and I didn't read carefully enough. I logged on to the Southern store, authenticated myself with my user name, yadda, yadda, and on the right side of the store screen it says "recommended systems" and has a green check mark next too something that says "systems that meet your needs" or something of that nature. When i clicked on this, it shows each iBook and their specs and has the educational discount price listed, under which each says promo with $150 off the 12 inch and $200 off the 14 inch... maybe it is just a SIUC thing... I don't know, it just seemed like a good omen, so I thought I would share

Not that this helps my crediblity, but I logged on to the apple store for my undergrad (my school account hasn't expired) and the recommended section is not on that store, maybe it is just a Southern thing

 

[AidenShaw]

Er, for the same reason there'll be a Mac Pro but not a plain ol' Mac?

The "plain ol' Mac" will, of course, be the new form factor mini-tower with the Conroe chip (single socket, dual-core).

Perfect filler for the huge gap between the tiny, limited expansion MiniMacIntel and the huge, limited expansion maxi-tower quad PowerMac (or Woodcrest-based quad MacIntel).

Macbook Pro <= PowerBook
Macbook <= iBook
Mac Pro <= PowerMac
Mac <= new mini-tower form factor MacIntel
MiniMac <= MiniMac

Aiden is predicting it, so when The Steve announces the "Mac" minitower in July you can do a simple wai to Aiden, and I will bow back in kind....

 

[tekriter]

Geez...who do you work for that's so secretive to the point of fanaticism? Bush? (Or more likely, Cheney?)

Not directly (I'd shoot myself), but I do work for a company that makes stuff for the gummint...

 

[timswim78]

The "plain ol' Mac" will, of course, be the new form factor mini-tower with the Conroe chip (single socket, dual-core).

Perfect filler for the huge gap between the tiny, limited expansion MiniMacIntel and the huge, limited expansion maxi-tower quad PowerMac (or Woodcrest-based quad MacIntel).

Macbook Pro <= PowerBook
Macbook <= iBook
Mac Pro <= PowerMac
Mac <= new mini-tower form factor MacIntel
MiniMac <= MiniMac

Aiden is predicting it, so when The Steve announces the "Mac" minitower in July you can do a simple wai to Aiden, and I will bow back in kind....

I like the idea of a "Mac." Mini's and iMacs are too crippled (in terms of upgradeability), and PowerMacs cost too much for me to justify buying them in order to have upgradeability.

 

[twoodcc]

I like the idea of a "Mac." Mini's and iMacs are too crippled (in terms of upgradeability), and PowerMacs cost too much for me to justify buying them in order to have upgradeability.

i agree. even though i do have an iMac, i would rather have a Mac that's more upgradeable

 

[Paulhammer]

Er, for the same reason there'll be a Mac Pro but not a plain ol' Mac?

Steve's comments aside, iBook makes just as much sense as MacBook. You have to look at them in terms of consumer and pro, not desktops and notebooks:

iMac, iBook
Mac Pro, MacBook Pro

If you go by that reasoning, it shouldn't be the MacBook Pro, but rather just plain old Book Pro...

I think AidenShaw has it right. Unless they call the "Mac Pro" the iMac Pro, and use the 'i' designation for desktops and the 'Book' desgination for portables... Who really knows though?

 

[mpw]

Er, for the same reason there'll be a Mac Pro but not a plain ol' Mac?...

The new Apple adverts end with an iMac that's just labeled Mac, now you might say that the ads are for the OS but I think it shows a marketing shift away from the 'i' brand for Mac hardware like I said back in post 14 of this thread.

...maybe the move to having Mac in the name of all hardware products running OSX is so the 'i' brand can be fully cross platform. The iPod already is so Apple would just release iLife for Windows and of course the iPhone will sync with both OSs. What do you think am iRight?

 

[prism_emf]

I'm not going to be surprised, but I doubt it'll happen, if they remove Firewire. I don't think Apple sees Firewire as a going concern in the long term as far as their low-end consumer gear goes. If they did, they'd be making more of an effort to promote it - how much would it cost to include the Firewire cables with the iPod? Why isn't it on the iPod nano?

Cost cutting. The iPod does *not* benefit from FW at all. There's just no point in having a FW chipset in an iPod when every machine out there has a USB 2.0 port. Yes, I know that older iPods worked faster through FW than USB, but that was either because it was better optimised, or that they were just using a FW-USB bridge to get USB compatibility easily. No iPod can approach transfer rates that would be anywhere near the bandwidth limits of either USB 2.0 or FW400.

But when it comes to the iBook successor, I doubt they would take out FW. That would seriously lower the value of iLife - as in, why have iMovie if you can't even plug in a DV camera? Nah, not going to happen.

 

[Beko]

Hey guys,

What about the possibility of Steve introducing the MacBook at the opening of their new flagshipstore in NYC?

 

[mdsll]

Hey guys,

What about the possibility of Steve introducing the MacBook at the opening of their new flagshipstore in NYC?

Nooooo, I can't wait another 2 Weeks.

From Appleinsider:
"In the meantime, rumors continue to swirl around another potential Apple event during the month of May, which would be used to usher in the company's much awaited MacBook line of Intel-based consumer notebooks and some other "iPod product." However, no specific dates have been mentioned."

Let's hope it it an event next Tuesday then (E3?)

 

[50548]

The "plain ol' Mac" will, of course, be the new form factor mini-tower with the Conroe chip (single socket, dual-core).

Perfect filler for the huge gap between the tiny, limited expansion MiniMacIntel and the huge, limited expansion maxi-tower quad PowerMac (or Woodcrest-based quad MacIntel).

Macbook Pro <= PowerBook
Macbook <= iBook
Mac Pro <= PowerMac
Mac <= new mini-tower form factor MacIntel
MiniMac <= MiniMac

Aiden is predicting it, so when The Steve announces the "Mac" minitower in July you can do a simple wai to Aiden, and I will bow back in kind....

Sorry Aiden, it's NOT gonna happen soon. There is no mini-tower from Apple, for the reasons already exposed in other threads.

And you just forgot the "main link" in your "equation" above...the iMac.

The line-up is like this:

XServe for servers - Woodcrest/Clovertown

MacPro for pros - Conroe/Woodcrest

iMac for SOHO/home/prosumers - Kentsfield (as the iMac will be revamped only by mid-2007)

MacMini - Core Duo/Merom

MBP - Core Duo/Merom

MP - Core Duo/Merom

You saw it here first...thanks very much..!

 

[Wellander]

Hi,
All I can say is that I hope that they do not have the same type of problems that we have been reading about with the MacBook Pros.
I also that the new powermacs (or what ever they will be calling them) do not have these issues eaither.

 

[kaeptn]

Hi.
I don't know why, but this time I think ThinkSecret.com is right. And the new books will appear.
Great time, Apple's stock is quite high and if they release it, I hope the stock will increase further and my Macbook will be "for free"

Bye,
Fritz

 

[AidenShaw]

Sorry Aiden, it's NOT gonna happen soon.

Not "soon", but it may happen?

XServe for servers - Woodcrest/Clovertown

MacPro for pros - Conroe/Woodcrest

I won't speculate on the XServe - it's never made much sense to only have a low-end 1U server IMO. It's been neglected for so long I wouldn't be surprised if it's simply dropped from the lineup. (Along with the weak attempt at a SAN array.)

Conroe needs a different motherboard from the Woodcrest, and Conroe will be much cheaper than Woodcrest. The Woodcrest chipset is more expensive as well, so a Conroe is still much cheaper than a system based on a single Woodcrest.

It would make more sense to put the Conroe motherboard in a mini-tower, and slot it into the product line between the mini and the maxi.

Or, Apple could continue to try to force an all-in-one on those people....

iMac for SOHO/home/prosumers - Kentsfield (as the iMac will be revamped only by mid-2007)

MacMini - Core Duo/Merom

iMac will get Merom the day they're announced. It's a drop-in, and Apple won't stand for the MiniMacIntel way outperforming the iMacIntel.

I'd also expect Apple to go to an all 64-bit lineup as soon as possible.

In the long run, it would be better to have as few Yonahs in the field as possible - it will make it easier to drop 32-bit support in the future if fewer systems are affected.

 

[netdog]

Yes, MacBook to be released in NYC? I Like the sound of an announcement in New York! What is the date of the NYC store opening?

 

[student_trap]

here's what im hoping (realistically) for:

Upper model:

13" laptop
1 gig ram
1.83/2 GHz Core Duo
128 MB dedicated graphics card
100 GB HDD (5.400 rpm.)
iSight
FrontRow
illuminated keyboard

Lower model:

13" laptop
512 megs ram
1.67 GHz Core solo
integrated graphics
80 GB HDD (5.400 rpm.)
iSight
FrontRow
illuminated keyboard

realistic?

[EDIT] as aside note, i would be looking to buy one in the fall, do you think that any teething problems would have been worked out by then?

 

[shadowmoses]

here's what im hoping (realistically) for:

Upper model:

13" laptop
1 gig ram
1.83/2 GHz Core Duo
128 MB dedicated graphics card
100 GB HDD (5.400 rpm.)
iSight
FrontRow
illuminated keyboard

realistic?

This sounds like a decent guess, assuming apple dont plan to release a 13.3" MacBook Pro.......

SHadOW

 

[ImAlwaysRight]

Hi.
I don't know why, but this time I think ThinkSecret.com is right. And the new books will appear.

Maybe it's because ... TS is bound to get it right when they NAME EVERY SINGLE MONTH AS A POSSIBLE MACBOOK RELEASE!

First TS predicted a January release, then when they missed that, they said March introduction with possible April shipping dates, then when they missed that they said "June," now they are going with "May," following what AppleInsider has been saying since last November. Reading TS is starting to read like macosrumors.com, which isn't a good thing...

 

[50548]

Not "soon", but it may happen?

Well, we may speculate on the dates à la Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?"; it might happen by late 2007 or 2008, but not as soon as this year or early 2007...it's just not in Apple's margin profile.

I won't speculate on the XServe - it's never made much sense to only have a low-end 1U server IMO. It's been neglected for so long I wouldn't be surprised if it's simply dropped from the lineup. (Along with the weak attempt at a SAN array.)

Conroe needs a different motherboard from the Woodcrest, and Conroe will be much cheaper than Woodcrest. The Woodcrest chipset is more expensive as well, so a Conroe is still much cheaper than a system based on a single Woodcrest.

The XServe/XSan duo has been doing more inroads than most people ever expected, so I don't think they will be dropped at all. It's Apple's way of getting into the server market, and they are doing pretty well for now.

I agree Woodcrest will be more expensive, but the server feature set/performance combo may justify its usage in top-tier machines. MacPros may use Conroe, but I don't see them in XServes...

It would make more sense to put the Conroe motherboard in a mini-tower, and slot it into the product line between the mini and the maxi.

Or, Apple could continue to try to force an all-in-one on those people....

The problem is that you still fail to acknowledge the role of the iMac in the line-up...it's most probably the best desktop offering ever in the whole PC market, price-, performance- and feature-wise. Apple will not drop this cash cow in benefit of another "floppable" Cube, I am sorry. The MacMini is already filling the non-AIO low-end spot, and providing a good entry-level machine that can run both OS X and Windows with normal performance.

iMac will get Merom the day they're announced. It's a drop-in, and Apple won't stand for the MiniMacIntel way outperforming the iMacIntel.

I'd also expect Apple to go to an all 64-bit lineup as soon as possible.

In the long run, it would be better to have as few Yonahs in the field as possible - it will make it easier to drop 32-bit support in the future if fewer systems are affected.

That's a good point, but unless Merom is fully plug-n-play in existing iMac MOBOs, it won't happen so soon. Apple would never change a computer's architecture in such a hasty manner, especially because the Core Duo has just arrived and will stay around for a while; besides, 64-bit awareness is still far from necessary.

I'd rather bet on successive speed/GPU bumps until Conroe is upon us in mass production...Merom is a mobile chip, and will find a much more anxious market in MBs and MBPs...

 

[peharri]

Cost cutting. The iPod does *not* benefit from FW at all.

That's simply not true. Older Macs (pre-2004) don't even have versions of USB that are usable for the kinds of data transfer we're talking about, as it wasn't until then that Apple started shipping high-speed USB2 in any Macs.

But when it comes to the iBook successor, I doubt they would take out FW. That would seriously lower the value of iLife - as in, why have iMovie if you can't even plug in a DV camera? Nah, not going to happen.

It wouldn't seriously lower the value of iLife, it would only potentially (ie if this is all Apple did) lower the value of one of iLife's components. And Apple can fix that, if they want, by releasing some kind of adapter. It might even make more sense like this, shipping an adapter with Firewire, S-Video, RCA, and DVI-in. No, that's not what pros want, but pros aren't buying low-end laptops. Such an adapter makes more sense for the consumer market and will be more useful.

Additionally, given iMovie will take video feeds from any device with a Quicktime driver, Apple can ship drivers for digital video cameras with USB2 outputs.

Firewire is not some magic bullet that puts digital video in the hands of consumers. It isn't universally adopted, there's an installed base of analog and differently-digital (ie non miniDV) video equipment out there. Video sources are increasing, and I don't see it as likely that, say, the average mobile phone will ever have a Firewire port, no matter how much better the video quality gets. Once upon a time Apple was an active Firewire advocate. They're much more pragmatic these days, and they've proven, with the iPod, they're willing to deprecate it or even remove it completely, even at the expense of losing loyal customers, to save a few cents per package.

I believe it probably will be included, but much of that has to do with it being a feature of the chipset Apple is using, and it being part of the spec of the Mac mini, not because Apple necessarily believes they'll lose sales by dropping it. I'm disappointed, but then I was when they dropped SCSI too.

 

[peharri]

The problem is that you still fail to acknowledge the role of the iMac in the line-up...it's most probably the best desktop offering ever in the whole PC market, price-, performance- and feature-wise. Apple will not drop this cash cow in benefit of another "floppable" Cube, I am sorry. The MacMini is already filling the non-AIO low-end spot, and providing a good entry-level machine that can run both OS X and Windows with normal performance.

I still have difficulty understanding the logic of those who argue that introducing a mid-range headless Mac implies dropping the iMac.

I'd say the iBook and Powerbooks represent greater competition for the iMac than a headless Mac ever would be.

The iMac is an all-in-one. If you want a mid-range tower Mac right now, you have one choice: Buy it from Dell, and install a pirate version of Mac OS X. And that's not even legal. Nobody who wants a mid-range tower's going to buy:

- A Mac mini - because it isn't one.
- An iMac - because it's not one either.
- A PowerMac - because it's too expensive

And nobody who wants an iMac is going to buy a mid-range tower, even if they do come out. They might buy a notebook though, as notebooks are AIO too.

 

[alfismoney]

i'm not sure if apple's release logic is going to stand that well anymore. i want a macbook _if_ they have dedicated graphics. if whatever apple releases doesn't have that, i'm buying the low end macbook pro and grumbling for the next year until something i actually want to buy is released. then i'm probably going whine and decide to pass over upgrading my macbook pro that i don't really like for another two years.

so my question is this: is it beneficial for apple to hold off on announcing product specs like this? i would have ordered a computer back in january if i had known what the macbook specs were going to be. i don't even need specific info, i just want to know important things like that integrated graphics are or are not on the drawing board. is it more cost effective to have the customer's cash in hand (ahh collecting interest) from day one or to keep your competition in the dark as long as possible and ruffle your customers' feathers? i have a feeling that apple loses money in sales but makes it back from the media covering its press releases so closely. whatever. at least it's finally getting closer to macbook launch.

 

[vespats]

Here is my opinion (actually a mixture of realism and hope):

13.3 macbook single core 1.67, white, $999
13.3 macbook dual core 1.67 (maybe bto 1.83), igp, white, $1249
13.3 macbook pro, dual core 1.83 (maybe bto 2.0), x1?00, black $1499-1699

at the same time mbp 2.0 and 2.13 (think about the price of the 17 mbp)

i will not buy a mb or mbp with a igp and i don't think that i'm the only one.

there must be a cute replacement for the 12 pb - so why not use the mobo and chip of the imac and put it in a black macbook case.

costs are still reduced and there is also a visual difference between the 13.3 mb and the 13.3 mbp (and there are a lot of black nanos out there, so why not a black 13.3 mbp)

lets see what happens...

 

[stew400523]

Hi I haven't posted much but please don't flame me. I only post when I think its important. I was wondering what are other people's estimated shipping date for their 17" MacBook Pro? Mine is scheduled to ship by May 10th and to be arrived by the 17th. I called an apple rep and he even said that it could be shipped as early as the 5th of May.