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MacBook Fall 2009 Speculation

I hope those who say the MacBook line will get dropped completely are wrong. I like the distinction between the Professional and Consumer models.

Things I would like to see.

1) Tweak the case. Plastic is fine and it keeps cost down, but go back to the iBook style where the top and bottom case met on the side, not the top. This would help solve the cracking issues from the screen hitting it.
2) More than one size. That's what great about the MBPs. There was always a screen size option, and now there are three options. A 13", 15", and maybe in the future a smaller one, too.
3) Bring back the BlackBooks. They were just really sexy IMO.
4) Lower price. I'm sick of hearing people say that the only reason they don't own a mac is the price. We've got a great thing here, and we should make it available to as many people as possible.

Good?
 
Looks like your predictions may be on to something

sherwinzadeh said:
Seth Weintraub of ComputerWorld seems to be agreeing with my speculation that future MacBooks will drop the optical drive and ship software on SD Cards!
Click to expand...
Interesting bit right here.

The SD card has become part of Apple's MacBook strategy. It should be arriving on the MacBook Air and the regular MacBook at the next updates...and it might even take the place of the DVD drive on the next MacBook.
Click to expand...
After reading that report I too have to agree. The removal of the (large) optical drive means there is a lot of room for other components. Apple could make the notebooks thinner (if nothing else stops them from doing so), or go the power route and add a faster processor/GPU or a 2nd HDD. The battery could be made larger too.

Interesting how it says the MacBook may drop the optical drive… I wonder what will happen to the MacBook Air then… merged (as lower-end to MacBook Pros)? dropped? made even thinner?
 
Dropping the optical drive from a consumer machine would be retail suicide. It wont happen.
 
5280m said:
Dropping the optical drive from a consumer machine would be retail suicide. It wont happen.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Netbooks don't have optical drives and are growing in popularity. Also Apple likes to push the adoption of new standards and they like to push the adoption of dropping standards. They were first to drop the 3.5" drive.
 
iMacmatician said:
Interesting how it says the MacBook may drop the optical drive… I wonder what will happen to the MacBook Air then… merged (as lower-end to MacBook Pros)? dropped? made even thinner?
Click to expand...

I always thought the Air is like a "concept" car. They built a dream system and a lot of it's components are slowly slowly going into more mainstream laptop lines. And it's been happening:
1) Precision Aluminum Uni-body.
2) Built in, non-removable battery.
3) SSD Option

Next up...
4) Remove optical drive.
 
I don't see why people can't see the MacBook being redesigned with plastic as the main material still. Most laptops during the '90's were plastic, and they got redesigned pretty often. There's no reason why Apple couldn't come up with a new plastic design for the MacBook.
 
sherwinzadeh said:
I always thought the Air is like a "concept" car. They built a dream system and a lot of it's components are slowly slowly going into more mainstream laptop lines. And it's been happening:
1) Precision Aluminum Uni-body.
2) Built in, non-removable battery.
3) SSD Option

Next up...
4) Remove optical drive.
Click to expand...

I sold my iBook G4 for a netbook - and let me say, the optical drive is the thing I miss most about it. (The other being decent wireless reception.) Optical media is still the main data transfer method of choice. There are way too many people who use their optical drive enough to the point that an external would be a pain for them to use and carry around.
 
sherwinzadeh said:
I always thought the Air is like a "concept" car. They built a dream system and a lot of it's components are slowly slowly going into more mainstream laptop lines. And it's been happening:
1) Precision Aluminum Uni-body.
2) Built in, non-removable battery.
3) SSD Option
Click to expand...
Don't forget the multi-touch trackpad.

Cassie said:
I sold my iBook G4 for a netbook - and let me say, the optical drive is the thing I miss most about it. (The other being decent wireless reception.) Optical media is still the main data transfer method of choice. There are way too many people who use their optical drive enough to the point that an external would be a pain for them to use and carry around.
Click to expand...
My iBook's optical drive broke last year and since then I rarely miss it. Even after getting my MacBook Pro, I only use the optical drive for watching DVDs (and burning one CD or so). On the other hand, removing the optical drive could mean a second HDD and a bigger battery, two things I would really like on a notebook.
 
I would rather Apple remove the optical drive and make the battery bigger. Without the optical drive, we might see battery life approach 12 hours.

Hard drives are usually big enough that you can copy a DVD now. So if you could use an external optical drive to copy the DVD to your hard drive if you wanted to watch a movie on a plane.
 
If Apple removed optical drives from the MacBook, that would in turn make an optical drive a 'pro' feature. Apple would be laughed at.
 
t0ddl3s said:
If Apple removed optical drives from the MacBook, that would in turn make an optical drive a 'pro' feature. Apple would be laughed at.
Click to expand...

I think maybe they could move towards an optical drive as an option. Maybe people could choose between an optical drive or a second HDD/SSD.
 
t0ddl3s said:
If Apple removed optical drives from the MacBook, that would in turn make an optical drive a 'pro' feature. Apple would be laughed at.
Click to expand...

I don't think so... again look at Netbooks which don't have optical drives...they're gaining in popularity ...and for many people like students it's becoming their primary computing device.

According to Engadget, Apple is redefining what the term "Pro" means in their notebooks. For example, the 13" Pro doesn't have dedicated graphics and there's now even an entry point 15" Pro model without dedicated graphics. Also Engadget mentioned in one of the recent Podcasts that an Apple spokesperson told them that they consider the 13" Pro to still be an entry point product...and it definitely is priced as one. So "Pro" doesn't really mean "For Advanced Professional People" but more like "Best of the Bread".

What kind of message does the MacBook line currently make?... "$200 cheaper for plastic"....? I don't think that tells a story the way Apple likes their products to. And while I don't think Apple will create a Netbook with the Atom processor specs and all, I do think they will retarget MacBook as an inexpensive entry level notebook line primarily targeted for K-12 students. For the most part, these students need to run iLife, and surf the web. In this economy it's difficult for a parent to justify $1000+ for a laptop for their K-12 kids. Especially when Windows machines, as crappy as they are, can be as low as $299.

I am changing my timing from Fall 2009 to Winter 2010, though. I agree with someone that commented that it's too close to their last notebook announcement. They'll probably do an iPod announcement in the Fall and the new MacBook line after the New Year.
 
Gimme a Tablet, with the same specs as the whitebook, the same ports and all, just get rid of the keyboard and get a wacom screen on it. ill buy it for 800, hell even 900 if they do it right.

I could not care less for optical drives since i have a desktop i can borrow it from.
 
I know it's not going to happen...

but at least I can dream.

Needing to brush up on photoshop before I go back to school in the fall, so I threw this together.
 

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matthewscott661 said:
but at least I can dream.

Needing to brush up on photoshop before I go back to school in the fall, so I threw this together.
Click to expand...

Nice scaling job.

There won't be a 15''. It'll dig into MBP sales so much I can't even describe it.

If there are more than one size it'll be 12'' and 14'' (woah, deja vu) or 12'', 13'', and 14''.
 
Shake 'n' Bake said:
Nice scaling job.

There won't be a 15''. It'll dig into MBP sales so much I can't even describe it.

If there are more than one size it'll be 12'' and 14'' (woah, deja vu) or 12'', 13'', and 14''.
Click to expand...

I disagree. If a 15" MB would kill 15" MBP sales, then why doesn't the 13" MB kill the 13" MBP sales?
 
Shake 'n' Bake said:
Nice scaling job.

There won't be a 15''. It'll dig into MBP sales so much I can't even describe it.

If there are more than one size it'll be 12'' and 14'' (woah, deja vu) or 12'', 13'', and 14''.
Click to expand...
A 15" would "dig into MBP sales so much" but a 14" wouldn't?
 
I don't understand why it matters that it would cut into sales of another model. The point should be to give people more of a choice about what kind of computer they want to use.

If Apple is really worried about people always buying the most expensive one, then why don't they just have one laptop and one desktop? Because that's silly.
 
matthewscott661 said:
I don't understand why it matters that it would cut into sales of another model. The point should be to give people more of a choice about what kind of computer they want to use.

If Apple is really worried about people always buying the most expensive one, then why don't they just have one laptop and one desktop? Because that's silly.
Click to expand...

That's why you won't be in charge of a company anytime soon.

Apple needs to go back to the four boxes strategy. Or better yet, do six boxes: A cheap laptop and desktop, a mid-range desktop and laptop (desktop is iMac and mini tower), and a high-end laptop and desktop. The structure fell apart with the G4 Cube.
 
the 15" mb just doesn't make any sense. it cuts into the sales of not only the current 15" mbp but also the 13" mbp, which i think is there best selling laptop right now, since it would be in the exact same price range. the specs would have to differ a lot for someone to pick the 13" mbp over a 15" mb. and they can't go much lower with the base 13" mbp being 2.26ghz with 2gb of ram and 160 of hd space. if you go any lower than those specs apple would need to price it at an even lower price which would cut into their mbp sales even more. apple is all about profit margins. they'll never join what they call the race to the bottom.

i can see them making a netbook/tablet to take over the macbook name. priced some where in the $700-900 range. this wouldn't cut into the mbp sales since it wouldn't have a physical keyboard or lack much power to do anything but surfing the internet, light email and word processing, and media consumption.
 
matthewscott661 said:
but at least I can dream.

Needing to brush up on photoshop before I go back to school in the fall, so I threw this together.
Click to expand...

Nice job on the Photoshop but I also don't think they'll do a 15". It's just not Apple's style to have so much overlap between product lines and they like to keep things "minimal".

I think the main focus of the next gen MacBook will be significantly lower prices and an "answer" to NetBooks...not necessarily a NetBook but something that will attract you away from NetBooks. That's gotta be a 12" device and ONLY a 12" device. Any larger and Apple will want you to go Pro.

Infact.... they may even call it MacBook Mini. They may drop the whole MacBook on it's own. There will the the MacBook Mini, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air.
 
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