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Apple to Release Thinner MacBook Pro at WWDC

atomicbloke said:
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.
Click to expand...

The 15" MacBook Pro is a very bulky, heavy laptop. I had been hoping they would slim it down, improve the form-factor, and decrease some of the chunky aluminum and bezel space around the display. It could really be a much sleeker laptop, and even better with a retina display and SSD standard as well as Ivy Bridge.

A sleek and stylish, more portable laptop can still be svelte and uber-cool, and nothing like a netbook, providing substantially more features, functionality, and performance.

I think this is what Apple has in mind for the new MacBook Pros, decreasing the "dead space" and excess aluminum that makes it a bit hefty, ditching HD in favor of thin blade SSDs which are super-fast, and adding retina displays which make them in a league of their own....plus providing desktop-level performance with hi-end Ivy Bridge processors.
 
Bold move by Apple for sure; however, it really does fit their current product line. I imagine Apple realizes the sheer amount of people using MacBooks as their desktop that barely moves from the desk. Introduce thunderbolt displays, when used by these sorts of customers, it really is the perfect solution. For people who don't want to buy a thunderbolt display and never take their MacBook off their desk, insert iMac.
 
uclamacguy said:
What will go in the vacated SuperDrive area?

- BTO second HDD/SSD
- Bigger battery
- iPhone slot for: charge + auto-tethering option?
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...if it's Retina that means.

- Dedicated Graphics Card
- Longer Battery Life (bigger battery)
- Storage

----------
WardC said:
The 15" MacBook Pro is a very bulky, heavy laptop.
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The 17" MacBook Pro is a very bulky, heavy laptop.

Fix'd that for you. If you think the 15" is very bulky and heavy, you need to hit the G-Y-M.
 
Matthew Yohe said:
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
Click to expand...

I am not one of the ones crying, but I know that it is practically useless. I use one with my MBA and my N wireless is actually faster since the adaptor only supports 100 Mbits Ethernet. We need a Thunderbolt --> Gigabit Ethernet adaptor.
 
I really look forward to the new PowerBooks, ideally as 17" with maximum processing power. I would love something that can throttle back to conserve energy when the power isn't needed. Apple should really incorporate solar electric into the skin of the machine to trickle charge. The lack of DVD bothers me some but as long as external unit is an option I can see lightening the load. Two SD card slots would be really nice. Like adding another drive. The retina display doesn't do much for me. Most of all I wish Apple would resupport Classic and Rosetta. There's a lot of old software that deserves support and the data that goes with it. This would cut down on the extra machines kicking around to do legacy. The power is there in the new hardware. Apple has the resources and money. If they're not going to support Classic and Rosetta then they should release them out into the public domain with full documentation so others can pick them up for profit or not.

Walter Jeffries
Sugar Mountain Farm
Check out our Kickstarter at http://smf.me/k
 
theSeb said:
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.
Click to expand...

All for the low, low price of $100 I'm sure. The thunderbolt cord itself is $50, plus yet another cord to clutter up our lives...

Why is a few millimeters going to be worth it?
 
atomicbloke said:
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.
Click to expand...

Everywhere I look I see people with iPhones. Tons of people are getting iPads. Even though Macs don't have a dominant market share, they still help Apple maintain it's spot as most profitable company on Earth. & you think they'll fold up by 2014?

The MacBook Air can do many things a netbook cannot - run final cut pro x, photoshop (really well) to name a few.

A thinner MacBook Pro, which at worst will be a slightly thicker air with more memory/bigger ssd can hardly be said to have the same functionality as a $450 netbook, let alone a $150 netbook.
 
FlatlinerG said:
Bold move by Apple for sure; however, it really does fit their current product line. I imagine Apple realizes the sheer amount of people using MacBooks as their desktop that barely moves from the desk. Introduce thunderbolt displays, when used by these sorts of customers, it really is the perfect solution. For people who don't want to buy a thunderbolt display and never take their MacBook off their desk, insert iMac.
Click to expand...

If they don't remove it from their desks, why on earth would it need to be made thinner and lighter?

Logic failure. Oop.
 
Jamie0003 said:
When the report mentions it using flash memory, does that mean the HDD will be replaced with a flash chip (the same as MBA) Or simply a normal SSD?

Personally I would be very happy if it's the MBA chip as if i'm not mistaken they are upgradeable to some extent? Meaning thinner + faster SSD = very good Mac.
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Ideal solution would be a SSD Blade like the MBA has along with a HDD drive. The Blade would barely take up space and can be upgraded easily.

KouThan said:
The one thing that worries me the most is the loss of ethernet. Maybe apple can shrink the connector so that you can have full gigabit ethernet just by using a small passive adapter.
Click to expand...

I wonder if the new Thunderbolt chips will make it easy to create an adapter that does FW and Ethernet in one affordable accessory
 
I use the Firewire port DAILY, and so do a lot of other people I know. It's essential for a lot of post-production jobs where everyone trades FW drives back and forth. Losing it would be a HUGE disappointment, especially because there's no cheap/simple Thunderbolt>Firewire dongle out there.
 
wallysb01 said:
Yeah, Ethernet will be a big loss for many people, especially for a "professional" machine that is part of a local network. I'd be fairly surprised if this part of the rumor is actually true. I'd find it more likely that its slightly tapered and still keeps the ethernet.
Click to expand...

Since when does Apple care about professionals?
 
wallysb01 said:
All for the low, low price of $100 I'm sure. The thunderbolt cord itself is $50, plus yet another cord to clutter up our lives...

Why is a few millimeters going to be worth it?
Click to expand...

I really don't mind. My own company pays for these things. You can always stick with the 2011 model and get a good price on a refurbished one.

as well as flash memory to cut startup times and extend battery life
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I am curious about this though. Surely not just SSD as standard across the board? So are we talking a small SSD for caching and a normal HDD?
 
theSeb said:
I am not one of the ones crying, but I know that it is practically useless. I use one with my MBA and my N wireless is actually faster since the adaptor only supports 100 Mbits Ethernet. We need a Thunderbolt --> Gigabit Ethernet adaptor.
Click to expand...

Probably more simple and cheaper would be a USB3.0 adapter (if the rumored MacBook has 3.0). That should support full gigabit as 3.0 supports up to 5Gigabit/sec.

And agree - for those that do need ethernet - they need it for a reason (speed). It would be silly for them to nix the ethernet port and not include a proper full speed subsitute.
 
WardC said:
The 15" MacBook Pro is a very bulky, heavy laptop.
Click to expand...

facepalm.jpg


Right.
 
theSeb said:
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.
Click to expand...

Or USB 3 to GiB Ethernet adaptor.
 
Matthew Yohe said:
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
Click to expand...

This obviously will not do it for Gigabit ethernet. And if there is USB 3.0 version for GBps ethernet they better had enough those USB 3.0 ports.
 
macbwizard said:
It's not like the current size MBP is so thick that it ever prevents me from taking it anywhere. Is this thinness for the sake of thinness?
Click to expand...

Well - I disagree! I got a macbook air about six months ago, and also have a 2009 MBP. Sometimes I dont use the MBP for days, and when I finally pick up I cant believe how big and heavy and bulky it is!! How could this even be considered portable !! :)

But - all aside - I agree thinness for the sake of thinness is worthless ! I'd rather have a kick-a** MBP, a few ounces heavier, than an impotent confused netbook-wannabe. BUT; if Apple is able to keep the performance going up, battery time better and the machine cool; then a little thinner is most welcome in my (mac)book !
 
The one thing that worries me the most is the loss of ethernet. Maybe apple can shrink the connector so that you can have full gigabit ethernet just by using a small passive adapter.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple come out with some slimmer Ethernet port and just include the adapter with it...anything is possible. I mean if you look at a standard connector..there's room to shave off a few mm here and there.
 
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