MacBook and MacBook Pro Port Speculation

[scottintosh]

no firewire on MB?

That would be a disappointment if firewire was no longer available on the regular MacBook.

 

[MasterNile]

Also - Ethernet > Firewire, if I had to choose. Transferring stuff across a gigabit port "FTW".

Transferring stuff across a gigabit port will never help free the whales j/k
(if you don't get that see my earlier post regarding FTW)

 

[Cloudane]

That's why I used it.

Humour detector FAIL

 

[MasterNile]

That's why I used it.

Humour detector FAIL

lol no I got the "s I put that little note in for anyone else reading that was like "WTF is Nile talking about? He's completely drunk," the you was the general you, not you specifically Cloudane

EDIT-I'm only on my first beer

 

[roosta]

i've not seen this mentioned anywhere else, but has anyone considered that if the macbook lid is indeed plastic, then it might possibly come in ipod nano colours?

its a frightening thought, but maybe apple might want to get some of that pink notebook market...

 

[chakosticks]

Hopefully the mystery port will allow me to hook up the DVD-RAM drive from my 8-year-old G4 to a new MacBook to render it useful for the first time ever.

 

[MasterNile]

i've not seen this mentioned anywhere else, but has anyone considered that if the macbook lid is indeed plastic, then it might possibly come in ipod nano colours?

its a frightening thought, but maybe apple might want to get some of that pink notebook market...

It was mentioned somewhere in a different thread, though they just assumed the top would be black plastic as coming in iPod nano colors would mean that Apple stores would have to carry at least one of every color or would possibly lose some sales due to them not having the specific color the customer wanted at the time.

 

[137489]

I was going to sell my MBP to my GF (For like 1500) and then buy a Nehalem MBP in 09. But tomorrow may make me rethink that idea. This whole dock idea would make me do it. Assuming it comes and I wouldn't be able to use it with my current macbook pro.

Plus - a 24" imac could easily hold a 15" Macbook Pro. And would explain the lack of a new Apple Display for a while.

In all fairness.. with the ports being on the left on the current macbooks, looks like the ports are on the left of the new models (MB and MBP). I would hope.

1. New MB/MBP just slides right in (highspeed port).
2. an option to do bluetooth on current macbooks/mbp or some sort of an adapter we can put on our current MB/MBP to be able to use the dock. I would not mind paying $200-$300 for an imac-like dock for my current macbook.

I do not like the 3rd-party docks that are out there now. they are just port replicators which is actually a waste if you ask me.

Hmm, then again the specs for the updated one....

The docking station replicates all of the connectors and ports from the side of the 13″ MacBook. The dock allows for all of the peripheral devices normally connected to the side of the MacBook - Ethernet, FireWire, Video, USB, Audio In, Audio Out to be plugged into the back of the dock, and remain plugged in, independent of the computer. Taking the computer from the office or the home or moving it from one room to another doesn’t require disconnecting and reconnecting several devices. You must use your MagSafe power supply to power up your MacBook. The dock does not supply power but does have a feed-through slot to safely house your MagSafe connector.

** New: This MacBook 13″ Includes a Powered USB Hub with a total of 5 USB ports and a Full Size VGA and DVI port

But you are still left with it sitting on your desk instead og sliding the notebook out-of-the-way inside of the imac-like dock...
http://www.drbott.com/prod/db.lasso?vend=Bookendz - Olympic Control

 

[dnguyen]

blue ray or glass trackpad?

 

[xDYLANx]

did you predict they'd come with keyboards and screens too, o wise sage?

must've really taxed the ol' neurons to 'predict' a top of the line machine would have firewire. please dazzle us with more predictions.

what i meant to say was, only the MBP would have firewire. since they are geared more for editing and things of that sort.

 

[localoid]

Seemless Firewire support on a Mac is one of the things that make a Mac great and set it apart from PC's. Removing it is pure lunacy. Unless the new Macbook Pro has a 13" model, I won't be upgrading my laptop anytime soon. I was looking forward to the new laptops... not anymore. How much does removing a firewire port save? $2? Great.

Agreed. If there is no FW on the new Macbooks I sure as hell won't be replacing my black Macbook anytime soon with a new model.

 

[hvfsl]

My guess is that the unknown port on the MacBook Pro is a display port:

It can carry DVI and VGA signals, so users wouldn't have to worry about ditching their old displays.

 

[840quadra]

i've not seen this mentioned anywhere else, but has anyone considered that if the macbook lid is indeed plastic, then it might possibly come in ipod nano colours?

its a frightening thought, but maybe apple might want to get some of that pink notebook market...

It is an interesting thought, but remember the iPod nano is Anodized Aluminum, not plastic. Meaning, they could do the same colors if the Macbook outer shell was also aluminum.

 

[namethisfile]

i've not seen this mentioned anywhere else, but has anyone considered that if the macbook lid is indeed plastic, then it might possibly come in ipod nano colours?

its a frightening thought, but maybe apple might want to get some of that pink notebook market...

i agree.

pink = teenyboppers

teenyboppers = $

$ = bottomline

bottomline = no FW

no FW = Forward-watching

Forward-watching = Different

Different = to Think

to Think = way to go apple

 

[Piplodocus]

the circle thingy is just a battery eject button :/

http://9to5mac.com/mystery-button-revealed

I'll believe that when I believe they're lasered out of a solid block of Alu!

 

[fleshman03]

My guess is that the unknown port on the MacBook Pro is a display port:

It can carry DVI and VGA signals, so users wouldn't have to worry about ditching their old displays.

The best argument for it to be a video port and not a dock is this:
Where is the external monitor port?

 

[roosta]

It was mentioned somewhere in a different thread, though they just assumed the top would be black plastic as coming in iPod nano colors would mean that Apple stores would have to carry at least one of every color or would possibly lose some sales due to them not having the specific color the customer wanted at the time.

actually, instead of having x number of pink models and x number of purple models, perhaps the macbook comes without a lid and at purchase one is put on. it would give the consumer a greater choice and keep costs down. not to mention being a perfectly silly idea.

 

[MasterNile]

My guess is that the unknown port on the MacBook Pro is a display port:

It can carry DVI and VGA signals, so users wouldn't have to worry about ditching their old displays.

When you say mystery port, I'm assuming you're talking about the one that's taped up? or the one that's labeled as a display port? cause either way I'm pretty sure you're wrong, there's obviously some kind of new display port between the audio in and the USB, why would they need another one that's a DisplayPort? why not just put the DisplayPort where the one labeled as a display port is? and if you're refering to the one labeled as a display port as being DisplayPort....it's too small to be one, although it's possible it's a mini-DisplayPort

 

[MasterNile]

actually, instead of having x number of pink models and x number of purple models, perhaps the macbook comes without a lid and at purchase one is put on. it would give the consumer a greater choice and keep costs down. not to mention being a perfectly silly idea.

I suppose that's possible but in my mind unlikely

 

[Lopes]

My guess is that the unknown port on the MacBook Pro is a display port:

It can carry DVI and VGA signals, so users wouldn't have to worry about ditching their old displays.

I think this is the winner right there. The mystery port seems to have a similar scalloped edge like the Display Port shape on the card you posted.

I don't know much about Display Port; does a Display Port -> HDMI cable exist, or is it possible? Because if these have blu-ray, I'd love to be able to take the laptop to a friend's and hook it up to their TV and bring over some of my BD movies.

 

[Beric]

I suppose that's possible but in my mind unlikely

Make that VERY unlikely.

 

[Masklinn]

Where is the external monitor port?

Between the USB ports and the jacks, it even has the little "display port" icon apple has been using since before the powerbooks, so it's not that hard to see if you pay attention.

does a DisplayPort -> HDMI cable exist, or is it possible?

It's completely possible, but mistery port is not a display port (displayport or otherwise), apple's notebooks get a single display port, and it's already accounted for.

 

[davidee]

I was going to sell my MBP to my GF (For like 1500) and then buy a Nehalem MBP in 09.

Ok, I have read _all_ the rumor threads and told myself I was not going to post, but this one just needed to be pointed out ....

Seriously, you are going to SELL her the MBP? You just don't want any love from her do ya ;-)

for the rest of the points:

oh yea loosing firewire would suck, but it would be another reason (besides the crappy glossy screen and non-backlit keyboard) to buy the MBP (as I have the done the last 3 revs), and loosing eth would be a detractor as the cpu would have to do the work to go over a usb dongle, and in the mainstream wireless is not _everywhere_ (especially in secured areas, but then again the mb* would generally not be allowed in as it has a camera)

I feel for those out there that want the new MB, but if it doesn't have FW save for the MBP, the impulse buy ... resist it until you can get what you want. Isn't that how we get into problems w/our economy (over simplification yes yes)? Save for another 3 months and buy the pro, you'll never look back and you'll be happy you did.

its kinda like saving for a ring, well not for fleshman03, he's not going to need to worry about that since he is selling her the MBP ;-)

just chill and we'll see what comes tomorrow. after that vote with your $ that is the only true leverage anyone has.

 

[Gasu E.]

Impossible to believe no FW. That would imply Apple giving up on iMovie as well.

 

[Halldorf]

Could it be.......?

Since I'm one of those who really don't like the fact that apple might drop there firewire 400 connection and just stick with a 800-port I've really given this a lot of thought.

First of all, 800 is not bad in anyway, but we still need 2 separate FW-ports (reasons mentioned several times earlier in this thread).

For my own reasons it's because i work as a video-editor and really need to be able to connect my semi-pro cameras to FW400 and at the same time have the FW800 for an external harddrive.

However, one thing that struck me was the fact that all the endless speculations about what kind of new video-port that's seems to be placed just beside the two usb-ports, have simply been based on the fact that there is infact a video-out symbol just beside this small hole..

But .. what if we for a while ignore that fact and just focus on the size of the holes.

The Magsafe, Etherneth, FW800 and the two USB are without a doubt, just that!

But i took, in what might be a little bit of wishful thinking, two pictures posted in another thread earlier and made an experiment to see if that small hole could be a FW 400 but this time in a smaller 4-pin connection.

This is what i did:

Took the picture of what is supposed to be the new MBP and then opened it in photoshop along with a picture (that someone uploaded earlier in this thread) of a whole other computer with just this kind of 4-pin FW400 (and also a e-sata and hdmi).

Then i tried (with my very small Photoshop experience) to align these to photos so they where as similar as possible in perspective, size, and so on.
I can se that they are not perfect but i think it's close enough!
Since i think we all agree that we have two USB-ports on the "spy-photo", i used this as a reference to then make some final adjustments the two pictures to make sure that they where as equal as possible.

After that i just took the ports and placed them over the holes in the MBP-photo .... and then ..... LOOK!!

The FW400 4-pin fits perfectly in the small hole!!!
(I've attached two pictures with different opacity setting in photoshop to make it easier to see how good it fits!)


I even took the e-sata port to the "covered mysterious hole" with the thought that this might the answer to what they are going to put there.

It's mutch harder to se the exact outline of this covered hole so it's hard to say if it fits perfect or not...
If it's not e-SATA it might be HDMI or as mentioned before, maybe a DisplayPort??!

But now, this theory still suffers from the fact that the video-out icon is present just above the small hole.

But what if this really is a prototype as someone said?!
Who knows who might have misplaced the symbols in the production of this??
..or even further..could this be a set of faulty produced cases and thats the reason why someone could bring them home to make hi-res photos without any problem??!

This is just an idea, and as i said a bit of wishfull thinking since i REALLY want a FW400 port! (an extra usb wouldn't hurt either.....)

Tell me what you think of this theory .. i know its a long shot, but hey... you can not deny that the 4 pin DOES match VERY, VERY good in the hole..............!!



Just one other thing...
On the pictures when the MBP lies upsides down (and you see the inside of the case) doesn't it almost look like another port at the top right corner of the picture??!! (see attached picture to see what i mean)

Since no photos that we have seen so far have shown the back or the front, could there be more to this story than we already know...??

Mysterius.......

//Johan - Sweden