Apple to Release Thinner MacBook Pro at WWDC

[aloshka]

Obviously, Apple isn't building this to your specs, so they also don't expect your demographic to purchase them.

Myself, I will greatly enjoy the HiDpi screen and thinner form factor, and for the lack of ethernet, I suspect I'll survive fine with the dongle and WiFi.

I agree with you. First I thought, man I need Ethernet, but now realized since I have the thunderbolt display I have never used the Ethernet port on the laptop. If I need gigabit Ethernet, I'm probably doing something intensive so need the power cable as well.

I'm wondering if they are going to introduce 802.11ac as well. Gigabit wireless, Ethernet won't really be needed.

 

[GREEN4U]

So if Apple drops the ball on this is really going to be pathetic

No is just you that will be pathetic. See? I can form incomplete sentences too!

 

[ThisOneHere]

To beat a dead horse:

No, this is not going to be overtaken by a PC netbook or even MacBook Air for that matter. To anyone who thinks a netbook can "do the same thing" as MacBook Pro clearly doesn't do anything but surf the net and check email. "Professionals" and "Gamers" will never pick a netbook over the industry standard (check Consumer Reports and GeekBench scores, MBP reigns supreme for the overall package).

No one is losing Ethernet. I switched from a MBP to an Air last year (I have an iMac at home), and simply purchased a $30 USB to Ethernet adapter from Apple, problem solved. I enjoy the slimmer size but miss the 15" display and discrete graphics of the MBP. I think this is a perfect compromise. If loss of optical media is also a deal breaker, buy the USB to optical adapter, although once you try it I'm sure you'll agree that you won't miss it much. This is the same uproar that occurred when Apple ditched the floppy drive, and soon after everyone else followed suit.

 

[aloshka]

As probably already mentions (but just in case), the Samsung series 9 notebooks have an Ethernet adapter. Not an USB to ethernet adapter, but just a plug adapter. I have one and it actually is faster than the Macbook Gigabit.

So if Apple drops the ball on this is really going to be pathetic

BTW, the Series 9 is as thin as the MBA.

I bought the new 9 series then immediately returned it. Trackpad is still crappy, no two-finger right click, normal clicking is really iffy. Screen is gorgeous but fades contrast when left on too long. Keyboard is so shallow, hard to type on and Ethernet requires a stupid extra cable that is so thin and the port so flimsy that just moving the laptop dropped Ethernet connection. Oh and automatic brightness sensor is close to the keyboard that the screen dims/brightens ever split second just because you are typing. Very annoying. Oh and slow as anything. I also have an 11 inch MBA, and that thing flies compared to the Samsung.

Ironically speakers were fantastic for such a small laptop.

 

[mac jones]

The thing about ethernet is that its only needed 10% of the time when you absolutely must have that speed, for tech support, for certain security settings, etc. But if you are using ethernet you are obviously tied down by the cord anyway, so I see no more inconvenience being tied down with a dongle as well.

However, a usb2 dongle kind of defeats the purpose of most of the ethernet advantages BUT I think a perfectly good compromise on apples part would be to release a Thunderbolt to ethernet dongle for a reasonable price (~$50). Best of both worlds. Full speed when you absolutely need it, but ability to make the laptop more portable when you don't. TB Dongle FTW!

Thunderbolt to Ethernet is not going to cut it. Any conversion will limit real-time usage. There are a lot of apps that use this connection for real-time data.

THen again, perhaps Thunderbolt itself could be used. If it was comparable (or faster) than this of course would be a option.

But even this would be a disaster IMHO. I use Gigabit to connect to a Windows machine as a slave. There's no other way to do this. I've spent a lot of time and money on this, and if Apple drops the port it's bye-bye to them; At least these new machines.

But of course, if they do this all HELL will break loose on them. So really they can't.

But they do seem to get obsessed with things strange; like those heavy glass screens, and other things. Maybe now they are OCD with the thin thing.

We shall see.

 

[blakckadoores]

cool

that's cool i like it and i will get it.

 

[mac jones]

I bought the new 9 series then immediately returned it. Trackpad is still crappy, no two-finger right click, normal clicking is really iffy. Screen is gorgeous but fades contrast when left on too long. Keyboard is so shallow, hard to type on and Ethernet requires a stupid extra cable that is so thin and the port so flimsy that just moving the laptop dropped Ethernet connection. Oh and automatic brightness sensor is close to the keyboard that the screen dims/brightens ever split second just because you are typing. Very annoying. Oh and slow as anything. I also have an 11 inch MBA, and that thing flies compared to the Samsung.

Ironically speakers were fantastic for such a small laptop.

MAYBE not . I have the 9 and the trackpad works exactly like the Apple trackpads after I tweaked it.

I noticed that in the forums people were having major issues. I just turned off all the edge motion stuff and enabled the tapping, and it works great. Windows has extensive adjustments to these trackpads. WAY overkill, and confusing IMHO. The edge motion or suppression alone, will ruin your day if you let it

Actually, I had read these nightmarish posts about the trackpad and was expecting a disaster. But not so. It's an Elan trackpad and it's very good. Amasingly, almost as good as the Apple one.

I was very surprised.

 

[aloshka]

Thunderbolt to Ethernet is not going to cut it. Any conversion will limit real-time usage. There are a lot of apps that use this connection for real-time data.

THen again, perhaps Thunderbolt itself could be used. If it was comparable (or faster) than this of course would be a option.

But even this would be a disaster IMHO. I use Gigabit to connect to a Windows machine as a slave. There's no other way to do this. I've spent a lot of time and money on this, and if Apple drops the port it's bye-bye to them; At least these new machines.

But of course, if they do this all HELL will break loose on them. So really they can't.

But they do seem to get obsessed with things strange; like those heavy glass screens, and other things. Maybe now they are OCD with the thin thing.

We shall see.

What the heck are you doing that has such latency requirements? I use thunderbolt Ethernet (through the display) and latency does not pick up even a single millisecond compared to the port built into the laptop.

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MAYBE not . I have the 9 and the trackpad works exactly like the Apple trackpads after I tweaked it.

I noticed that in the forums people were having major issues. I just turned off all the edge motion stuff and enabled the tapping, and it works great. Windows has extensive adjustments to these trackpads. WAY overkill, and confusing IMHO. The 'edge motion' thing will ruin your day if you let it

You are right, doing tapping makes it work well and I'm pretty sure I disabled edge motion. But I like the clicking of the trackpad itself and didn't want to lose that functionality. To be fair if apple trackpads didn't exist to compare, that thing rocks. But comi from MacBook air was a disappointment.

 

[MacinDoc]

I'm going to say I'm wary about the flash drive...

Because to me that says either going to be a lot more expensive, or a lot less storage space. And I wonder how easy it will be to replace (will they do it like they do on the Air)?

I'm pretty sure they are talking about a dedicated flash drive for the OS only. You would still have a separate flash drive or HDD for apps/data/content.

 

[mac jones]

I bought the new 9 series then immediately returned it. Trackpad is still crappy, no two-finger right click, normal clicking is really iffy. Screen is gorgeous but fades contrast when left on too long. Keyboard is so shallow, hard to type on and Ethernet requires a stupid extra cable that is so thin and the port so flimsy that just moving the laptop dropped Ethernet connection. Oh and automatic brightness sensor is close to the keyboard that the screen dims/brightens ever split second just because you are typing. Very annoying. Oh and slow as anything. I also have an 11 inch MBA, and that thing flies compared to the Samsung.

Ironically speakers were fantastic for such a small laptop.

Yes it does seem slow. I don't know what's going on with that, but i'd bet Samsung crippled these to get the battery numbers as they run so cool (which suggest they aren't running at all )

 

[Mr. Gates]

I'm pretty sure they are talking about a dedicated flash drive for the OS only. You would still have a separate flash drive or HDD for apps/data/content.

Like on my HP Envy ?

 

[mac jones]

What the heck are you doing that has such latency requirements? I use thunderbolt Ethernet (through the display) and latency does not pick up even a single millisecond compared to the port built into the laptop.

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You are right, doing tapping makes it work well and I'm pretty sure I disabled edge motion. But I like the clicking of the trackpad itself and didn't want to lose that functionality. To be fair if apple trackpads didn't exist to compare, that thing rocks. But comi from MacBook air was a disappointment.

Oh I agree. I just need the Ethernet.

I use an Audio app ( rather expensive) that uses the connection for real-time midi/audio. With this cable you can run machines in parallel thus doubling and tripling the CPU and RAM. So latency is the enemy with these.

Not very many people use this (obviously ) but I would think there are many other situations where people just demand the fastest. After all, we are sort of obsessed with this, no?

 

[stfwayne]

Finally!

That being said I hope that if they are getting rid of the ethernet port that the device comes in very thin

If the device is not super thin and lacks and ethernet port that will be a huge disappointment

I think the most interesting thing will be the pricing as that will surely affect the way the Macbook Airs are priced.

I wouldnt be surprised to see Apple drop the price on the Airs to make them more of the "cheap" choice and really charge a premium for these resigned notebooks

 

[kylepro88]

What does an Ethernet port have to do with your monitor?

OK...this has been answered already. $30 for an Apple USB to Ethernet adapter. Problem solved...

 

[Virinprew]

This will doom the company. The thinner laptops are worthless overpriced netbooks. Why pay so much money when you can have the same functionality with a $150 netbook?

Already android phones and tablets are driving Apple out of the market, and once they lose the PC market, the company will probably fold up by 2013-14 at the latest.

Save it until official release and once you get your hands on it. Don't post without any clues.

 

[mac jones]

OK...this has been answered already. $30 for an Apple USB to Ethernet adapter. Problem solved...

USB 2.0 is a major bottleneck to Gigabit. USB 3.0, i guess would be better but still is going to slow it down considerably. There's no way around this.

For those who want Gigabit, this is not good.

However, Gigabit as it is now isn't using the max bandwidth. I don't know the details, but it is capped well below 1000MBps.

I've measured a few of them and they average around 700MBps. (don't hold me to any of this, as i'm not very technical )

 

[Yetihunter]

Most downvotes I've ever seen on a post

I find it hilarious that no one got the joke.

 

[bartzumbari]

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

It's not the money, it's the inconvenience of having to schlep an ethernet adaptor AND VGA adaptor around at work. When it was just the VGA adaptor, it was fine, but now I need two things. I'm glad to see the DVD go, so that part is good.

----------

USB 2.0 is a major bottleneck to Gigabit. USB 3.0, i guess would be better but still is going to slow it down considerably. There's no way around this.

For those who want Gigabit, this is not good.

However, Gigabit as it is now isn't using the max bandwidth. I don't know the details, but it is capped well below 1000MBps.

I've measured a few of them and they average around 700MBps. (don't hold me to any of this, as i'm not very technical )

Why do you think USB3 would be a "significant" bottleneck to gb ethernet? The latency from the internal PCI-e bus to USB3 is pretty small since USB3 is based on PCI-e. I would think the latency converting to gb ethernet is huge by comparison, so the pipeline delay added by USB3 as an intermediate step is probably pretty minor. Meanwhile, all of the non-ethernet hardware moves up another generation which will make ethernet itself an even bigger bottleneck. I wouldn't judge USB3 based on experience with USB2.

1GB is the gross baud rate. The payload data rate is much lower--perhaps 70% if everything else was perfect.

Bart

 

[dirigodigital]

WHO CARES ABOUT THE ETHERNET.

It's a big ugly port that indeed would save a lot of space if removed. Would you feel better if they shipped it with a USB dongle?

Which you'll probably plug in at your office and leave there anyway or more likely NEVER USE.

You all flipped out over the floppy drive ixnay didn't you? You know you did. Yeah... embarrassed now aren't you...

 

[AppleHater]

I agree with you. First I thought, man I need Ethernet, but now realized since I have the thunderbolt display I have never used the Ethernet port on the laptop. If I need gigabit Ethernet, I'm probably doing something intensive so need the power cable as well.

I'm wondering if they are going to introduce 802.11ac as well. Gigabit wireless, Ethernet won't really be needed.

Wired is always more stable connection than wireless. I'll pick Ethernet wherever possible. Gigabit is not a luxury any more.

Frankly, I don't know why people care about thunderbolt. It's crazy over priced connection that I haven't found any real use for it.

Tell me why I need thunderbolt when I have usb3.0 and hdmi and thunderbolt devices are so much more expensive. It's not a sensible option atm.

 

[Poisednoise]

Just to throw a bit of oil on the fire, the majority of my acquaintances with MacBooks aren't crying about the loss of ethernet, but the demise of the DVD drive. These are predominantly touring musicians and actors, who are frequently on the road/in the air and spend time while travelling as well as many an evening in hotel rooms, catching up on the latest TV series on DVD.

When I've said to them "oh but you can just get a separate drive" they make much the same arguments against carrying an extra thing around as the people moaning here about not wanting to carry around the Ethernet-TB adapter that will inevitably be made available. The difference is, in their case, primarily because of its much greater bulk, they have more of a point. I'm not arguing that the DVD drive should stay, far from it. What I'm saying is there are people out there who actually have a much better reason to be complaining about the loss of the DVD drive than all you lot crying over the loss of the Ethernet port. Honestly, get a grip.

 

[AidenShaw]

I agree with you. First I thought, man I need Ethernet, but now realized since I have the thunderbolt display I have never used the Ethernet port on the laptop. If I need gigabit Ethernet, I'm probably doing something intensive so need the power cable as well.

I'm wondering if they are going to introduce 802.11ac as well. Gigabit wireless, Ethernet won't really be needed.

802.11* will always be a shared bus, subject to interference and other issues.

Wired GbE is a full duplex full bandwidth fabric.

You'd need terabit WiFi to equal gigabit copper.

THen again, perhaps Thunderbolt itself could be used. If it was comparable (or faster) than this of course would be a option.

T-Bolt is a connector for external PCIe devices - it's not a network protocol. A T-Bolt -> GbE adaptor would be almost as good an an internal GbE adaptor on PCIe.

In theory, you could have a T-Bolt -> 10GbE adaptor, but it would be second class compared to an internal PCIe 10GbE adaptor.

USB 2.0 is a major bottleneck to Gigabit. USB 3.0, i guess would be better but still is going to slow it down considerably. There's no way around this.

s;considerably;slightly;g

However, Gigabit as it is now isn't using the max bandwidth. I don't know the details, but it is capped well below 1000MBps.

I've measured a few of them and they average around 700MBps. (don't hold me to any of this, as i'm not very technical )

Yes, you're not techical, since you claim to measure GbE at 5600 Mbps.

GbE is not "capped" - but actual end-to-end performance is of course never the theoretical limit of 125 MBps.

Real world performance of over 100 MBps is easy - as long as the source disk and the target disk can read/write at over 100 MBps. Otherwise, you're just measuring the poorer of the source or target disk speeds.

 

[dukebound85]

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

and this pertains to mbps how?

 

[faroZ06]

Is there a way to use Firewire via Thunberbolt for DV recordings and such?

It's likely because they are supposedly similar. Firewire 400 to 800 was easy with a passive cable.

 

[derickdub]

Just to throw a bit of oil on the fire, the majority of my acquaintances with MacBooks aren't crying about the loss of ethernet, but the demise of the DVD drive. These are predominantly touring musicians and actors, who are frequently on the road/in the air and spend time while travelling as well as many an evening in hotel rooms, catching up on the latest TV series on DVD.

When I've said to them "oh but you can just get a separate drive" they make much the same arguments against carrying an extra thing around as the people moaning here about not wanting to carry around the Ethernet-TB adapter that will inevitably be made available. The difference is, in their case, primarily because of its much greater bulk, they have more of a point. I'm not arguing that the DVD drive should stay, far from it. What I'm saying is there are people out there who actually have a much better reason to be complaining about the loss of the DVD drive than all you lot crying over the loss of the Ethernet port. Honestly, get a grip.

Has nothing to do with bulk, but the effectiveness of USB to Ethernet adaptors. This point has been made valid plenty of times in this thread. Many people who rely on Ethernet have no other choice. They can't switch to wireless due to bandwidth limits, security vulnerabilities, and the cost of infrastructure and they can't use an adaptor because the bandwidth limit of current adaptors and the draw on the CPU. The only choice is to buy a different computer. There's plenty of alternatives to the ODD, many superior. There isn't one superior alternative to ethernet.

And really, an external drive is ideal IMO. I've only used mine on my MBP once or twice in the last 3 years, but when I used them a few years before that I ended up breaking disk in them a few times. For most people it's much cheaper to replace an external drive than an internal one.