MacBook and MacBook Pro Port Speculation

[EagerDragon]

In about 24 hours we will know.

I seen a lot of rumors about the notebooks, about iLife09, iWorks09, new Apple TV, new HDTV, etc.

I am not saying that these do not exist, but I would think that Apple would leave some of these for January. If they lump all of them for this presentation, there will be nothing for January and there is always something special in January.

 

[ubercool]

Then it's no evidence at all, it's basically the source of the rumor.

Do u speak Engrish?

 

[Wierd Fishes]

Finally, someone who says it like is. FireWire is dead! Long live USB!

Psshhhfftft. I eat serial for breakfast.

 

[MasterNile]

Adaptater that would plug where exactly? USB ports? Way to fail.

Have you not been reading? Ethernet

 

[droz]

isn't it just not on the picture?

yeah, thats possible. It looks like there isn't enough room behind the ethernet port in the MBP photo but I think the angle of the shot is deceiving me.

 

[Mattjeff]

Finally, someone who says it like is. FireWire is dead! Long live USB!

blasphemy! I love firewire, down with that cheap USB!

Only 401 posts? how pathetic we need more...

 

[Peace]

The bottom port on the Pro model is HDMI. Here's my reasoning.

A. HDMI is the standard now for high def.
B. New Cinema displays and a possible TV would have HDMI
C. HDMI isn't just video and audio. It's also DRM handshaking between components. We all know how much Apple loves DRM.
D. It's on the bottom left because when hooked up to the new cinema display you can push the Macbook Pro up and over to the right of the display to place it away from you. Most people are right-handed so that's a natural. It's also a Jon Ives signature design.


As far as the Macbook not having firewire. I believe what people think is USB 2.0 is actually USB 3.0.
Apple has been in the forefront of new technology starting with the at the time not completely ratified 802.11N ( as discovered my moi' )

That's my take.

 

[Wierd Fishes]

In about 24 hours we will know.

I seen a lot of rumors about the notebooks, about iLife09, iWorks09, new Apple TV, new HDTV, etc.

I am not saying that these do not exist, but I would think that Apple would leave some of these for January. If they lump all of them for this presentation, there will be nothing for January and there is always something special in January.

1 day 0 hours 2 minutes and 45 sec to be exact (anyone else set up a dashboard widget for this)

 

[iBlender]

MS IS DEAD. DELL IS DEAD.

PACKARD BELL IS DEAD, COMPAQ SHOULD BE DEAD, WINDOWS 95 IS DEAD, DEAD IS DEAD, ZOMBIES ARE DEAD, ASBESTOS USED IN STRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENTS IS DEAD, DINOSAURS ARE DEAD, JIMMY CARTER IS NOT DEAD BUT HE'S CLOSE, THE NES IS THE GREATEST GAMING SYSTEM TO EVER GRACE THIS EARTH BUT SOME WOULD CALL IT DEAD, THE CAMARO IS DEAD, THE 80'S ARE DEAD BUT SOME DON'T KNOW IT, DAN MARINO ISN'T DEAD, MY POLITICAL SCIENCE TEACHER APPEARS DEAD, THE SLINKY IS DEAD BUT EVERY SO OFTEN YOU CAN STILL FIND THEM DOING A FEW STAIRS...

 

[Nepenthe]

Hello considering these new upcoming laptops are going to have new chipsets and such and so they might have bugs that need to be worked out would ya'll recommend waiting for a "revision B" ? If so how long are those normally released after "revisions A" ?

I would really like to know more about this as well.

On one hand Apple usually "updates" their products (ie. the whole product, not just a component revision) every 6 months or so. On the other hand, we are left in the dark about the frequency of minor component revisions.

Fortunately most significant performance bugs and other issues are fixed with software/firmware updates. Physical defects are, from what I understand, usually replaced for free once publicly acknowledged (weird display behavior and case discoloration / cracking are good examples of this). There may be a minor uprising when the reports surface since Apple takes a while to publicly acknowledge some issues.

 

[Masklinn]

Isn't usb 2.0 480MB/S compared to 400MB/S with firewire?

Theoretically. I've pretty much never observed better perfs through USB2 than through FW400 though.

What? Do your hdmi displays have built-in speakers or something? I bet ya most people will use HDMI and use a separate audio cable to feed their sound system. If it ever comes to HDMI instead of a DVI port.

Considering most HDMI probably go to TVs, I think most HDMI displays do have built-in speakers yes

I don't think you can power a 30" ACD with HDMI. Correct me if I'm wrong.

You are

HDMI 1.3 does support resolutions higher than ACD's on Type A connectors (the most common by far), and HDMI supports resolutions up to 30" ACD's since 1.0 on Type B connectors

edit: looks like the MCP79 would only handle HDMI 1.2 though, so no Type A able to drive 30" ACD.

A. HDMI is the standard now for high def.

It's not, the new high-def standard for computers is DisplayPort.

B. New Cinema displays and a possible TV would have HDMI

They'll have DisplayPort.

C. HDMI isn't just video and audio. It's also DRM handshaking between components. We all know how much Apple loves DRM.

DisplayPort also has that, and it has an even stronger encryption scheme.

As far as the Macbook not having firewire. I believe what people think is USB 2.0 is actually USB 3.0.

USB3 isn't even done yet. And I've seen no word of the MCP79 supporting it.

 

[portishead]

The bottom port on the Pro model is HDMI. Here's my reasoning.

A. HDMI is the standard now for high def.
B. New Cinema displays and a possible TV would have HDMI
C. HDMI isn't just video and audio. It's also DRM handshaking between components. We all know how much Apple loves DRM.
D. It's on the bottom left because when hooked up to the new cinema display you can push the Macbook Pro up and over to the right of the display to place it away from you. Most people are right-handed so that's a natural. )

Apple TV already has HDMI. I don't see why Apple would include it in their laptops. Giving their laptop line the ability to playback media would kill the Apple TV line. Also, the dock idea doesn't really make sense. A dock is overkill when all you need is a cable.

 

[owdin]

Found it?

It hink the small port next to the USB's might be the following:

The article was about Firewire, but the picture says DV out?

Source: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/FireWire

 

[Peace]

Theoretically. I've pretty much never observed better perfs through USB2 than through FW400 though.




USB3 doesn't even exist yet, it won't be released before 2010 and there's very precisely 0 USB3 peripheral right now.

From wikipedia :

On September 18, 2007, Pat Gelsinger demonstrated USB 3.0 at the Intel Developer Forum. USB 3.0 is targeted at ten times the current bitrate, reaching roughly 4.8 Gbit/s (600MB/s) by utilizing two additional high-speed differential pairs for "Superspeed" mode at a clock frequency of 2.5GHz [28], and with the possibility for optical interconnect.The two new differential pairs make the cable about as thick as an ethernet cable and provide full-duplex transfers.The USB 3.0 specification was 90% complete as of August 13, 2008 and commercial products are expected to arrive in 2009 or 2010.USB 3.0 is designed to be backwards-compatible with both USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 and employs more efficient protocols such as 8b/10b encoding to conserve power while increasing the maximum power available for connected devices.

 

[Wierd Fishes]

Apple TV already has HDMI. I don't see why Apple would include it in their laptops. Giving their laptop line the ability to playback media would kill the Apple TV line. Also, the dock idea doesn't really make sense. A dock is overkill when all you need is a cable.

About the apple tv killer, I think you're wrong, people could do that already, it's convenience that sells the Apple TV.

About the dock, I agree, that's impractical.

 

[Matsuto]

That first port is NOT a magsafe port, it is the video (hdmi) or esata port. The laptop will be using induction based charger that doesn't need a port at all.

I doubt it would happend any time soon ^^

 

[MasterNile]

USB3 isn't even done yet. And I've seen no word of the MCP79 supporting it.

From Wikipedia on USB 3.0:
On September 18, 2007, Pat Gelsinger demonstrated USB 3.0 at the Intel Developer Forum. USB 3.0 is targeted at ten times the current bitrate, reaching roughly 4.8 Gbit/s (600MB/s) by utilizing two additional high-speed differential pairs for "Superspeed" mode at a clock frequency of 2.5GHz , and with the possibility for optical interconnect. The two new differential pairs make the cable about as thick as an ethernet cable and provide full-duplex transfers. The USB 3.0 specification was 90% complete as of August 13, 2008 and commercial products are expected to arrive in 2009 or 2010. USB 3.0 is designed to be backwards-compatible with both USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 and employs more efficient protocols such as 8b/10b encoding to conserve power while increasing the maximum power available for connected devices.

Disregard, peace beat me to it

 

[Ropedartman]

Goodbye ethernet?

I agree that the ethernet could be the missing plug. Like so many people, I use the firewire on my MB every day. I use EVERY port, except my ethernet (my AEBS is fast enough, it doesn't matter). Wireless is the mantra at lately. Since I am going from MB to MBP it doesn't really matter, but I cannot see them getting rid of the firewire on anything.

As for design, I think the shape and look of these are great so far! Tapered edges wouldn't work with the necessary ports and would cross too much with the MBA. Hopefully performance will not be lacking (and I doubt it will on the MBP), though with rumored price cuts, entry-level MB's may be lacking.

There is no point joining a Mac-RUMORS forum, just to criticize people gossiping about the rumors. We can babble about ports all we want, no one is forcing anyone to read this stuff!

Can't freaking wait for tomorrow! Get to find out if I'll be getting a new computer soon or not, my MB is lagging lately with some 3D CAD projects and large image rendering (not really what it was intended for, but it HAS gotten me this far when the salesman said it absolutely would not!).

 

[Masklinn]

From wikipedia :

Yep, I corrected my info after checking more precisely.

Which doesn't change the basic issues:

• USB3 doesn't exist yet (90% complete is not enough for such a spec)
• There is currently 0 USB3 peripheral
• No word on the chipset handling USB3, and I doubt it does.

I agree that the ethernet could be the missing plug.

It can't. Seriously, let that drop, losing gigabit eth would make people flee apple at a rate orders of magnitude superior to dropping FW400 from the macbook.

 

[mpb2000]

Camcorders

To everyone who keeps saying that most of today's camcorders do not use firewire, you are flat out wrong. I'll repeat what I said in the other thread.

What is the most popular video format today? NOT flash, hard drive, or DVD. It is mini-DV, with HDV gaining in popularity as high-def does the same. Mini-DV is by far the most popular and most economical format. These formats must be transferred via firewire because they stream to your computer in real time. This just cannot be done via USB. When you see cameras that have USB interfaces, they are for one of two things: one, to transfer still images, and two, to transfer MPEG formatted video (which, by the way is inferior to even mini-DV when it comes to editing because it's already compressed). This would be from the flash or HDD based camera models. If you watch some of Apple's tutorials on iLife, you will see these show individual clips that can be copied to your computer. USB is fine for this type of transfer, because you are not streaming the videos; you are just copying files, as you would from any HDD.

And to say that I or anyone else with these camcorders should get a MBP is ridiculous. I am not a "pro" in any manner. I have a CONSUMER camcorder. It is Sony's base mini-DV model (ie the cheapest they offer). I should be able to use this CONSUMER camcorder with a CONSUMER computer (ie the MB). I don't do crazy video editing with Final Cut or anything like that. I have no aspirations of being a graphic designer.

Apple includes iLife for free with every Mac to provide everyone with simple, easy to use software. But without a firewire port, iMovie is going to be useless for most people because, as I have said, mini-DV and HDV are by far the most popular video formats right now. Apple would be crippling one of the things they advertise the most (I'm a mac, I do fun stuff, easily. You're a PC you do spreadsheets and boring stuff.) Someone already said something like this earlier in the thread: I can see the conversation in the apple store now...

Customer: Yeah, I have this new camcorder and I want to import my videos onto a new computer. I know macs are supposed to be the best for multimedia applications, and I saw that iLife is included for free.

Employee: Yes it is, but if you want to connect that camcorder you'll have to spend an extra $1000 or so because you're now considered a "pro" because you know how to use a camcorder! Congratulations!

Anyway, the whole point is, just because you want to put video on your computer, doesn't mean you should automatically have to buy a "pro" computer. I do not need any of the other things that the pro machine has over the MB. There is just no argument to say that firewire is a "pro" connection.

 

[Wierd Fishes]

I agree that the ethernet could be the missing plug. Like so many people, I use the firewire on my MB every day. I use EVERY port, except my ethernet (my AEBS is fast enough, it doesn't matter). Wireless is the mantra at lately. Since I am going from MB to MBP it doesn't really matter, but I cannot see them getting rid of the firewire on anything.

As for design, I think the shape and look of these are great so far! Tapered edges wouldn't work with the necessary ports and would cross too much with the MBA. Hopefully performance will not be lacking (and I doubt it will on the MBP), though with rumored price cuts, entry-level MB's may be lacking.

There is no point joining a Mac-RUMORS forum, just to criticize people gossiping about the rumors. We can babble about ports all we want, no one is forcing anyone to read this stuff!

Can't freaking wait for tomorrow! Get to find out if I'll be getting a new computer soon or not, my MB is lagging lately with some 3D CAD projects and large image rendering (not really what it was intended for, but it HAS gotten me this far when the salesman said it absolutely would not!).

3D cad? on mac? which? how? where? why? gimme!

 

[Nepenthe]

It's not, the new high-def standard for computers is DisplayPort.

Just did some reading on Wikipedia about Displayport. It sounds much more comprehensive than HDMI (which is a messy "standard" from what I understand - but, hey, you have to start somewhere).

"
Advantages over DVI

1. Based on micro-packet protocol
* Allows easy expansion of the standard
* Allows multiple video streams over single physical connection (in a future version)
2. Designed to support internal chip-to-chip communication
* Can drive display panels directly, eliminating control circuits and allowing for cheaper and slimmer displays
* Aimed to replace internal LVDS links in notebook panels with a unified link interface
3. Dual-mode DisplayPort is capable of backward compatibility with single link DVI/HDMI (active converter adapters or dongles are required for dual link DVI/HDMI and analog VGA)
4. Supports both RGB and YCbCr colour spaces (ITU-R BT.601 and BT.709 format)
5. Auxiliary channel can be used for touch-panel data, USB links, camera, microphone, etc.
6. Fewer lanes with embedded clock reduce RFI
7. Slimmer cables and a much smaller connector that doesn't require thumbscrews. Connector pins don't run the risk of bending if improperly handled
8. The DisplayPort connector is easier to connect guided only by touch
"

PS: The mystery port *could* be a DisplayPort connector. It is about the right size.

 

[MasterNile]

There is currently 0 USB3 peripheral

Since it's backwards compatible that doesn't matter, and it would effectively future proof the USB ports. That's not to say that they will include USB 3.0, but if it was possible it wouldn't be a bad idea too.

 

[namethisfile]

to plug or not to plug

another reason why not having a FW port would be counter-productive is that it's sacrificing an extra port for your FW devices. this means more unnecessary plugging and unplugging. and, mostly likely, a need for a USB hub. with FW, all you need is one port, and the ext. hdd and camera can be daisy-chained to go into that one port. not to to mention the performance advantages of FW over USB. there's a wealth of documentation on it on the internet for anyone to peruse over.

anyways, it would look as if, future alum MB owners will be plugging and unplugging their stuff more than usual. i can see a USB hub making this task easier, but i am still not sure how effective a computer can be with a bunch of USB devices connected to it?

as i don't use USB for editing - can anyone here attest if connecting a video camera thru USB and a USB ext hdd is effective for capturing and then editing video?

 

[spryen]

Touch Screen Release?

I believe they will be releasing a touch screen product tomorrow.