Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple's 15" Ultra-Thin Notebook Due in March 2012
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
MacBook Pro and MacBook Air will be merging. We'll have 11", 13", 15" ... 17" is questionable. I could be wrong, but would be surprised if I was. If the MacBook Pro loses the optical drive and becomes thinner, I don't see enough differentiation between it and the Air. I see Apple calling the new product simply MacBook or another name all-together with a new design taking cues from the Air.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)
This will be a 15" air...current high performance sandy bridge processors use up 45w.. That's too hot for such a small enclosure..
If the launch window is later, say May, then a thin 'pro' book would've been conceivable, with the release of ivy bridge. But in that timeframe, it's a 15" air, not a pro, or at least a 'pro' that's significantly less powerful than the current pro
This will be a 15" air...current high performance sandy bridge processors use up 45w.. That's too hot for such a small enclosure..
If the launch window is later, say May, then a thin 'pro' book would've been conceivable, with the release of ivy bridge. But in that timeframe, it's a 15" air, not a pro, or at least a 'pro' that's significantly less powerful than the current pro
Think you might be on the wrong site. Also, who is Wild Bill?
http://www.mendotamuseums.org/WBH.htm
Diggin' the 'stashe.
I think it's too early for the SSD as a standard, honestly. Too expensive, and not all MBP owners would appreciate smaller storage and higher cost. Also, too early for an optical disk killing, especially for high end MBP's.
Ivy Bridge is obvious, and I can speculate a resolution bump up as well. I don't think that the dedicated GPU's will be at all "decent", since when have they really been decent, up-to-standards AND have decent battery life?
With Ivy Bridge, I would expect at LEAST 7-8 hours of battery life with the greatly increased power efficiency. I also believe a design change as well, most likely on the thinning side.
I don't think Air and Pro will be merging.
That's coz both categories targets 2 different types of market.
I don't think there will be enough differentiation, though- what, really would a new, thinner, optical-driveless, SSD-sporting MacBook Pro have that you couldn't get with an upgrade to an Air , or an Air-like machine? They would be way too close. I see a merging with many upgrade options. Just a hunch.
I think if Apple made a thinner MBP wouldn't they have to remove the optical drive and the HDD? If you take the back off, those two components seem to be the thickest along with the battery (but that would be redesigned). I agree with what your saying about the cost of an SSD, but again, if there is going to be a MBA like MBP, I can't picture it with a HDD.
The GPU was definitely wishful thinking lol. I tried to use as loose of a term as I could.
I was also thinking this. That would be a good use of the space freed up by no optical drive. It doesn't necessarily have to be as thin as a MacBook Air for me to buy one, just having a larger battery and more storage with no optical drive would be fantastic.
Absolutely correct IMO.
This is going to be a beefed up 15" MBA. I'd be very pleased to eat my words come next spring... but I doubt it.
It will likely be a 15in macbook air to see how well it does, since the 15in pro is their best selling MBP AFAIK. It will probably be used to iron out all the kinks before the MBPs go sans OD.
Maybe they will merge all of them and add ports to the 15 and 17...2 USB ports, a FW, a TB, and an audio in/out is all you really need....its silly to add ports a small percentage of people will be using.
Maybe they will merge all of them and add ports to the 15 and 17...2 USB ports, a FW, a TB, and an audio in/out is all you really need....its silly to add ports a small percentage of people will be using.
That seems like a major possibility, although it's worth noting that due to the flooding in Thailand, HDD supplies are limited and prices have shown a substantial increase in recent weeks. The situation is expected to last until mid-2012. Meanwhile, SSD makers are taking advantage of the situation -- and the expected acceleration in the shift in demand from HDDs to SSDs -- by increasing their own manufacturing capacity (possibly leading to lower SSD prices)
The net result: expect the price gap between the two to become much narrower for many market segments over the next six months.
Define pro.
Business pro's would fit this fine. Same with web designers, engineers, writers, etc.
Pro is a much wider field than the graph ad movie guys.
I agree, though I think the ODD should be kept on the 17" model only for professionals. That and the Mac Pro, well if they don't axe the machine itself of course.
But yes, axe the iMac ODD too while you're at it Apple
This is exactly right, at the moment supplies of platter drives are already tight, and its only going to get worse for the next couple of months. If Apple releases in March, and has to deal with a spike in shipments they need to be running SSDs, and no doubt Apple gets the best wholesale price on SSDs in the market already.
Its a major opening for them, as many larger OEMs that are depending on the 320-500GB disks in the sub-$600 laptops that are everywhere are going to have a hard time keeping costs down or supplies up.
Well I hope there is still a remodel macbook pro line coming out as well. Until 500 gb SSD's get to a reasonable price I'm not too interested in the "air" line. I to don't care about optical drive but I'll trade a bit of bulk for better specs and more HD space.
CRAP! In time for a birthday present to myself, but I'm really starting to love this 13" form factor on the MBA....looks like it'll be coin tossing time in a few months.
I could only see working in the 17" MBP, unless they cut the size of the board and battery in the 15", or offer the option to order your MBP without an optical drive (I could easily see the latter idea being the beginning phase of getting rid of optical drives... starting with the ability to order it custom without one, then getting rid of it one year and selling external SuperDrives instead).
I disagree
The biggest differences between the MBA & MB Pro are the following;
The MB Pro uses quad-core CPU (except 13") while the MB Air are all dual-core CPU
The MB Pro use discreet graphics (except 13") while MB air are integrated GPU only
The MB Pro contain more ports vs MB Air for professionals to add more peripherals.
So performance-wise there is big difference. There's two options I see for the 13" MB Pro. Either it gets the axe or it uses a 35W Ivy Bridge quad-core CPU (read this on Anandtech) to help it differentiate from the MB Air 13.
----------
If they're gonna get rid of optical drives in the MB Pro, they should do it this year. What's the point of waiting one more year.
The biggest differences between the MBA & MB Pro are the following;
The MB Pro uses quad-core CPU (except 13") while the MB Air are all dual-core CPU
The MB Pro use discreet graphics (except 13") while MB air are integrated GPU only
The MB Pro contain more ports vs MB Air for professionals to add more peripherals.
So performance-wise there is big difference. There's two options I see for the 13" MB Pro. Either it gets the axe or it uses a 35W Ivy Bridge quad-core CPU (read this on Anandtech) to help it differentiate from the MB Air 13.
----------
If they're gonna get rid of optical drives in the MB Pro, they should do it this year. What's the point of waiting one more year.