Apple to Release Thinner MacBook Pro at WWDC

[Rocketman]

To be honest is losing something as vital as an Ethernet port worth those extra millimetres shaved off?

I agree and by the time I replied to this you had 29 votes of approval, the largest number I have personally seen. I don't use Ethernet every day, but when I do it is typically without much notice and with intense need. What if I don't have my dongle that day? If I need Ethernet, and as near as I can tell I will need it for at least 2-3 more years (need), it should be a default feature. The case is tall enough for it, the plug would simply have to go down into the lower bevel a bit.

I used to use Ethernet every day on the Mac I currently have so it is not some distant memory.

There needs to be some ultra compact pocket/coin size dongle to resolve this omission.

I get there is faster wifi in the device, but is it on the other end? Not always. I get there is TB and and USB3 that is great. Ethernet is literally a technology developed at Xerox-PARC and is still totally pervasive to this day. And a security feature too.

Rocketman

 

[AppleDude]

Is Ethernet Still a "Pro" Requirement?

But the lack of an ethernet port would be a sad commentary of the second class status of anything 'pro" at Apple.

For me, an Ethernet port used to be a requirement for a professional laptop, but no more. I can count on two fingers the number of times I've used it on my 2008 MBP. With WiFi becoming more common in the corporate environment, I don't expect to use it all with my next MBP (coming any day now)

I'd still buy an adapter in case I find myself needing one, but I doubt I ever will. Between VPN and WiFi, I'm good to go.

 

[blackhand1001]

And, to those crying about "losing" ethernet, I think if you're going to spend over a thousand dollars on something, you could spare 30 for this:

Image

Its the simple fact that its built in. Not everyone wants to carry 4 different adapters around.

 

[CausticPuppy]

Im going to guess that they're going to once again sacrifice the GPU for more thinness. Too bad because I really wanted to get a new Macbook Pro. PC it is then.

You don't have any clue as to what Apple is actually going to do in their updated MBP's, nor does anybody else.

 

[Saturn1217]

Nice red-herring. The magsafe is larger than the usb 3 port which is larger than the tb port, which is larger than the SD card.... So no, removing all those other ports wouldn't make the laptop any thinner, so there is no reason not to include them. Now, perhaps they should remove the magsafe, then they could make it even thinner!!

Not to argue with you (I'm ok with removing the ethernet port) but I think the point is where does Apple stop?

A big difference between apple and average PC laptops is already that to hook up a mac to any kind of display except for the apple display you need an adaptor. This causes problems all the time in an academic environment with non-tech savvy people don't realize their fancy apple computer that 'just works' doesn't have the port they need that literally every PC laptop in the same building has built in...Now ethernet, another aging but very standard port for many business and education environments is going to be added to the list.

Again I don't have a problem with things thus far. But Apple already demonstrated with the original Air (you know the one with the little flap on the side for all connectivity) that they really wish they could get rid of all IO ports. It would make their computers really sleek-looking. But functionally it would leave a lot of people behind (hence why the MBA didn't take off until they added some ports back).

 

[Gata]

Molten laps and fans to 6200 RPM? They made it thinner too. Maybe nVidia can source enough wafers for GK107 but that performance is hot. nVidia appears to have many more shipment commitments on GK107 compared to the weak push getting GK104 out the door. Then again GK107 is for notebook vendors instead of retail video card AIBs and boutique gaming machines.

They made the new iPad slightly thicker in the name of performance.

I don't see them skimping on power to make their products slimmer- as a pro machine, that's a decision that just would not be competitive in a marketplace dominated by a combination of impressive specs, design, and battery life.

 

[Peace]

Its the simple fact that its built in. Not everyone wants to carry 4 different adapters around.

Do you carry 4 different adapters around ? And if so please tell me what they are used for.

 

[Sackvillenb]

This sounds pretty nice. If it has reasonably sized SSD's... oh yeah...
Retina would be cool, not a deal breaker for me, but it would be cool. Wonder if that will require a better GPU though? Which might translate into better gaming... maybe...

 

[hstewart]

I don't think anyone cares about this. We just want the iPhone 6. Thanks.

Go to Engadget if you believe that future of all computing devices is phones.

 

[expose24]

Do you carry 4 different adapters around ? And if so please tell me what they are used for.

- HDMI
- VGA
- Apple Dock connector (Iphone)
&
- LAN, thx to the new design

// Explaining:
HDMI & VGA, necessary for my presentations
Dock connector: Necessary to have fast internet on the go, since bluetooth tethering doesn't work properly and seems to be a lot slower

 

[AidenShaw]

This conversation was repeated about 2000 times in the previous thread today.

Person A: No Ethernet
Person B: Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adaptor
Person C: No Ethernet!!
Person B: Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adaptor

and so forth.

Person D: A $150 dongle - WTF!

They haven't removed the functionality, they just moved it.

Dongles cost extra, they get lost, and worst of all - they might not be in your bag when you need one.

People should realize that "dongle == fail" - the base system is missing a useful feature.

TB to USB 3.0 adapter; TB to Ethernet; TB to SD Card Reader; TB to 3.5mm jack.

If you buy all those you could end up maybe $150 or 200. Not to mention you musnt forget to bring each adapters… I know I wouldnt want that.

The T-Bolt tax is currently much higher - cheapest $99 extra for single port (no daisy-chain) device.

Four T-Bolt dongles could be closer to $800.

Huh? He was talking about USB to Ethernet adapters, which do use CPU cycles.

Even power adapters use CPU cycles.

Dell (and probably others) send an A/C data stream O-O-B on the D/C signal - so that the laptop knows the max power output of the power brick, and can do the right thing.

It takes CPU cycles to decide whether or not to light the "power connected" LED or on-screen icon that says "power connected".

Overclocked ivys run hot. Not normally speced ones. Just don't tweak it and it'll be cooler than Sandy Bridge.

These are 45w chips at normal clocking - when put in the Apple case where "thin" is more important than "functional", they'll get hot.

Even Core 2 CPUs will get mighty warm when under load.

Intel's power management work is focussed on reducing the power consumption of idle CPUs - realistic since in much use (email, surfing, ...) the CPUs are seldom busy. Run a multi-core aware video rendering app, though, and the case gets hot and the fans hit high and the battery life is gone. (Bing for "cpu core parking" for some insight as to what's going on.)

It has nothing to do with Ivy Bridge or over-clocking - busy CPUs run a lot hotter than idle CPUs.

 

[thekev]

I honestly have no ****ing idea what you're talking about... What graphic? what claim? What assumption?

You sure you quoted the right person? All I said was basically "You either use the ethernet port a lot or not at all".

Heh... you and others are claiming lack of an ethernet port for two reasons. One is that the earlier article suggested it. The other is that the image used in this article depicts the laptop without one. On the first article, it shows two thunderbolt ports on the opposing side. Going back further, it came from digitimes. I'd chock this up to another troll rumor, especially given that Apple hasn't really used WWDC for Mac hardware announcements in a while.

 

[Speedrope]

I guess there will always be people upset, but regardless, I'm not. Far from it. If this rumor pans out, it is day one for me. I don't need an ethernet port (nor a odd) on a laptop, and if the removal of it makes the laptop smaller and more portable, thats a step in the right direction imo (And everyone will follow ... watch). Higher res display? Thank god! The only question mark for me at this point is the graphics on the 15in. If it stinks, I might up to a 17in if its better in that regards. If the 15in has good graphics, I'll probably go low end 15 and pick up a thunderbolt display that i can plug in an ethrnet cable to when my laptop isn't being used as a portable device . After a rumor/news drought, I'm really excited again for mbp next month!!! Back to counting the minutes til Diablo 3 launches

 

[blackhand1001]

Do you carry 4 different adapters around ? And if so please tell me what they are used for.

I don't personally but if I bought a new macbook pro like the one there talking about I would certainly need mini display port to vga, mini displayport to hdmi, mini display port to dvi, and usb to ethernet. They are simply getting way to adapter happy. With my DV7 which is my primary machine I have vga, ethernet, and hdmi without any adapters. The only adapter i ever need is hdmi to dvi but usually you can get by with hdmi and vga. VGA is still what pretty much every projector uses so it helps for presentations.

 

[chairguru22]

I'm sure there will be a $19 cable to convert a port into ethernet for the 5% of the time 5% of the users who will need it.

 

[expose24]

I'm sure there will be a $19 cable to convert a port into ethernet for the 5% of the time 5% of the users who will need it.

We all know, that you can buy adapters, but why include two mini display ports, if you could simply include an ethernet on the position of the right mini display port?

I personally strongly believe, that the percentage of people who use LAN is higher that the percentage of people who would use TWO mini display ports at the same time.

 

[MacFan23]

Go to Engadget if you believe that future of all computing devices is phones.

I would think that by now most people who follow tech would know that mobile is the future for everyday users computing needs.

 

[space dog]

-

 

[Riemann Zeta]

Im going into graduate school next year and am curious why you stick to Macs if you have all these concerns (similar to my concerns).

Basically, I like the OS. For the past 10 years, Mac OS has had the most elegant combination of UI, software selection and honest-to-god Unix/X11 compatibility. Even though if they no longer call it "Mac" OS and are doing the best they can to simplify and idiot-proof it, I still think it is a good OS. It's not that I dislike Windows 7--I have a dual-boot partition setup--I just like the filesystem layout and UI of Mac OS more. I like the BSD-like nature of Mac OS a lot more than Linux and like having X11 as an option but not the only graphics layer.

Could it be that the best Mac laptop configuration is a hackinmac?

 

[akadmon]

This would be sweet if I only gave a damn. Laptops are for the birds. Give me a new Mac Pro!!!

 

[mganai]

Plz announce new iMacs. Like, right now.

 

[The Final Cut]

this is no longer a pro, If i can't connect my fax, pager, legacy projector, and crt monitor this is no longer a pro. the community is outraged. what ? this is not able to be powered on fossil fuel? for shame apple!

 

[NewbieCanada]

Not to argue with you (I'm ok with removing the ethernet port) but I think the point is where does Apple stop?

A big difference between apple and average PC laptops is already that to hook up a mac to any kind of display except for the apple display you need an adaptor. This causes problems all the time in an academic environment with non-tech savvy people don't realize their fancy apple computer that 'just works' doesn't have the port they need that literally every PC laptop in the same building has built in...Now ethernet, another aging but very standard port for many business and education environments is going to be added to the list.

Lots of PC laptops come with only HDMI output these days, while lots of projectors require VGA. The Dell Ultrabook comes with mini DisplayPort only.

 

[expose24]

-

Thats true, but if you look at the picture, which has been posted by 9to5mac, you'll notice that there still is some space next to the right mini display port.

And another option would be having the mini display port on the left side and the ethernet port on the right side. It would probably fit next to the two USB ports.

A third option could be having only one usb port on each side, since its been like that in the current model as well, so there wouldn't be a loss.

 

[SeaFox]

Well. You got your 30 seconds of fame.

Oh, no. They'll get much more than thirty seconds. As Apple continues to prosper in the future we'll drag that quote out every once in awhile and laugh at them again. It wont be nearly as enduring as Slashdot's original iPod review ("no wireless, less space than a Nomad, lame"), but it will reappear.