MacBook Pro 2011 predictions

[icebiker]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; it-it) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Apple needs not to blur the 3 13" products...i would see it this way:
MB PRO 13": SSD+Discrete GPU
MB AIR 13": like today but with SB
MB 13": cheap with only integrated intel gpu

No ODD in any of them...toughts?

 

[Yin]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; it-it) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Apple needs not to blur the 3 13" products...i would see it this way:
MB PRO 13": SSD+Discrete GPU
MB AIR 13": like today but with SB
MB 13": cheap with only integrated intel gpu

No ODD in any of them...toughts?

since cnet stated that apple will move towards integrated graphic on their 13" mbp, i do not think that it will get a discrete gpu.

 

[Cathode]

I'm considering purchasing a 17-inch MacBook Pro with the next release. I really would love to see some of these rumors come true that have been discussed. However, I really don't see most of them happening with the first refresh of 2011.

I imagine that the 17-inch will probably receive a processor upgrade to Sandy Bridge... and that's about it.

No SSD, optical stays, no USB3/LP, no redesign, etc.

Out of everything, I would LOVE to get rid of the optical drive but I just don't see Apple axing them from their "Pro" lineup just yet. Maybe as we get into or close to 2012. And we will see it with the lower models first, such as the 13 and 15-inch.

I'll keep my fingers crossed. I really want to see a huge refresh but knowing Apple, prepare to be disappointed if you aim too high.

 

[Yinmay]

since cnet stated that apple will move towards integrated graphic on their 13" mbp, i do not think that it will get a discrete gpu.

All that the rumors are saying is that Apple is adopting SB and dropping nVidia integrated graphics. Cnet is speculating as much as anyone else and isn't more reliable than others at this point. It doesn't mean Apple won't use discrete graphics. And whether they manage to fit discrete graphics in any of its three 13" laptop is unknown but possible.

My speculation/hopes?
- MBA with Sandy Bridge only.

- MBP13 base model with SB, discrete ATI graphics, 128 GB flash memory, no optical drive, for $1399.

- MBP15/17 same as current but with SB. All 15" and 17" models with 128GB flash drive + 320GB HDD. BTO 128GB+500GB and 256GB+1TB.

- MacBook either discontinued after the introduction of a $1099 MBA13 in Fall 2011 or SB only, 2GB (BTO 4GB), 250GB HDD (BTO 500GB), with optical drive, for $799 ($999 for the fully loaded 4GB/500GB version).

 

[Yin]

All that the rumors are saying is that Apple is adopting SB and dropping nVidia integrated graphics. Cnet is speculating as much as anyone else and isn't more reliable than others at this point. It doesn't mean Apple won't use discrete graphics. And whether they manage to fit discrete graphics in any of its three 13" laptop is unknown but possible.

My speculation/hopes?
- MBA with Sandy Bridge only.

- MBP13 base model with SB, discrete ATI graphics, 128 GB flash memory, no optical drive, for $1399.

- MBP15/17 same as current but with SB. All 15" and 17" models with 128GB flash drive + 320GB HDD. BTO 128GB+500GB and 256GB+1TB.

- MacBook either discontinued after the introduction of a $1099 MBA13 in Fall 2011 or SB only, 2GB (BTO 4GB), 250GB HDD (BTO 500GB), with optical drive, for $799 ($999 for the fully loaded 4GB/500GB version).

the mba was just updated a few weeks ago. it will NOT get a sb processor for at almost a year.

 

[Richard1028]

All that the rumors are saying is that Apple is adopting SB and dropping nVidia integrated graphics. Cnet is speculating as much as anyone else and isn't more reliable than others at this point. It doesn't mean Apple won't use discrete graphics. And whether they manage to fit discrete graphics in any of its three 13" laptop is unknown but possible.

- MBA with Sandy Bridge only.

Reasonable assumption.

- MBP13 base model with SB, discrete ATI graphics, 128 GB flash memory, no optical drive, for $1399.

One can only hope about the ATI graphics and I'd also hope the 128 SS memory would be an option for $1399. ($1199 for 320gb HDD preferable).

I can live without the ODD and hope in conjunction with ATI Graphics they'd use the extra room for more battery power and/or better heat dissipation.

Again, your assessment is entirely reasonable and "realistic" given a best guess.

 

[Yinmay]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

All that the rumors are saying is that Apple is adopting SB and dropping nVidia integrated graphics. Cnet is speculating as much as anyone else and isn't more reliable than others at this point. It doesn't mean Apple won't use discrete graphics. And whether they manage to fit discrete graphics in any of its three 13" laptop is unknown but possible.

- MBA with Sandy Bridge only.

Reasonable assumption.

- MBP13 base model with SB, discrete ATI graphics, 128 GB flash memory, no optical drive, for $1399.

One can only hope about the ATI graphics and I'd also hope the 128 SS memory would be an option for $1399. ($1199 for 320gb HDD preferable).

I can live without the ODD and hope in conjunction with ATI Graphics they'd use the extra room for more battery power and/or better heat dissipation.

Again, your assessment is entirely reasonable and "realistic" given a best guess.

Thanks. I agree that they could keep the current $1199 starting price on the MBP13 if they used an HDD. But I think flash memory helps maintain that "Pro" status and should be a minimum in all MB "Pro". A $200 price increase would also help differentiate it from other 13".

Yin: agreed they won't update the MBA anytime soon. In my previous post I'm speculating on a Fall 2011 update of the MBA. But you can't really speculate on the next MBP update without putting it in the bigger context of the entire Apple notebook line.

That's why I mentionned the MBA as well. The way I see it, the MBP13 is getting more expensive. And in fall 2011 either the MBA13 gets cheaper and the MB disappears or the MBA13 stays at the same starting price and the MB gets cheaper.

 

[josh2012]

13" MBP:
-SB CPU
-Discrete GPU?
-No Optical Drive
-1440x900 Screen Resolution
-LightPeak?
-Integrated SSD
-Increased Battery Life

15" MBP:
-SB CPU
-Integrated SSD (64GB? instant on and quick app loading)
-500GB HD
-1680X1050 Screen Resolution
-LightPeak?
-Increased Battery Life

17" MBP:
-SB CPU
-Integrated SSD (64GB? instant on and quick app loading)
-500GB HD
-LightPeak?
-Increased Battery Life

 

[ermir4444]

I talked to a friend of mine last night who is an engineer at AMD and he told me they got a sample mainstream Sandy Bridge chip on hand a couple of days ago. He said that the chip was so good that it spanked their high end Llano in CPU performance.

He told me that that was expected but the part that he was surprised about was the integrated GPU which apparently performed almost equally of that of high end Llano. Apparently the high end Llano was already using a GPU based on a low end dedicated 6xxxM. He seemed really worried by thae performance of the SB.

Maybe the integrated SB GPU is really that good that Apple is considering putting it on their new low end offerings. And by considering that it offers equal performance to a dedicated 6xxxM I wont be surprised after all.

 

[fobis]

I talked to a friend of mine last night who is an engineer at AMD and he told me they got a sample mainstream Sandy Bridge chip on hand a couple of days ago. He said that the chip was so good that it spanked their high end Llano in CPU performance.

He told me that that was expected but the part that he was surprised about was the integrated GPU which apparently performed almost equally of that of high end Llano. Apparently the high end Llano was already using a GPU based on a low end dedicated 6xxxM. He seemed really worried by thae performance of the SB.

Maybe the integrated SB GPU is really that good that Apple is considering putting it on their new low end offerings. And by considering that it offers equal performance to a dedicated 6xxxM I wont be surprised after all.

'Cause I'm sure Intel is just shipping their unreleased stuff over to AMD for inspection even though, you know, they're competitors and all.

EDIT: To be fair, I guess I should open myself up to the possibility that
a) Intel is so confident in their latest and greatest that they decided to elicit AMD's greatest fears by letting them know that they beat AMD to their own punch, or
b) AMD is committing industrial espionage, or
c) This is a result of some antitrust litigation and Intel is somehow required to send their largest competitor upcoming products in the spirit of a "free market".

 

[Yinmay]

'Cause I'm sure Intel is just shipping their unreleased stuff over to AMD for inspection even though, you know, they're competitors and all.

EDIT: To be fair, I guess I should open myself up to the possibility that
a) Intel is so confident in their latest and greatest that they decided to elicit AMD's greatest fears by letting them know that they beat AMD to their own punch, or
b) AMD is committing industrial espionage, or
c) This is a result of some antitrust litigation and Intel is somehow required to send their largest competitor upcoming products in the spirit of a "free market".

If the general public can start buying computers with Sandy Bridge in them on January 5th, then it's already a final product and it's already been officially released to "professionals" so that they can start assembling, manufacturing and shipping to retail stores. Of course that's assuming the chips will be available for retail on January 5th.
In other words, I don't find it surprising that AMD, or any other company, have easy access to the chips by now.

I've always find hard to believe those "my insider friend told me" posts (unless of course serious evidence is given, such as pictures of parts and serials), but as an end-consumer I wholeheartedly hope the claims of excellent graphics performance are true.

Wait and see, January 5th is not that far, and more tests should start surfacing soon.

 

[ermir4444]

'Cause I'm sure Intel is just shipping their unreleased stuff over to AMD for inspection even though, you know, they're competitors and all.

EDIT: To be fair, I guess I should open myself up to the possibility that
a) Intel is so confident in their latest and greatest that they decided to elicit AMD's greatest fears by letting them know that they beat AMD to their own punch, or
b) AMD is committing industrial espionage, or
c) This is a result of some antitrust litigation and Intel is somehow required to send their largest competitor upcoming products in the spirit of a "free market".

No-one said that intel shipped them their upcoming processors. They guy said literally "We got our hands on an upcoming mainstream SB chip". To be honest he never mentioned how they got a hang of it. he was more surprised for the fact that the SB GPU was close in performance to their high end llano.

 

[ermir4444]

If the general public can start buying computers with Sandy Bridge in them on January 5th, then it's already a final product and it's already been officially released to "professionals" so that they can start assembling, manufacturing and shipping to retail stores. Of course that's assuming the chips will be available for retail on January 5th.
In other words, I don't find it surprising that AMD, or any other company, have easy access to the chips by now.

I've always find hard to believe those "my insider friend told me" posts (unless of course serious evidence is given, such as pictures of parts and serials), but as an end-consumer I wholeheartedly hope the claims of excellent graphics performance are true.

Wait and see, January 5th is not that far, and more tests should start surfacing soon.

Look this was a bar conversation. I honestly got nothing to prove to you guys. But as you said time will tell.

 

[wizzlez]

Look this was a bar conversation. I honestly got nothing to prove to you guys. But as you said time will tell.

I'll believe you, that's really exciting news. Most reports have stated that SB will be available for public purchase as soon as its presented on the 5th. Another idea I haven't seen brought up is the fact that the MBP is the least customizable for BTO high end laptop on the market. I was just BTOing a Alienware just for fun and there are endless amounts of options. You can order all sorts of RAID set ups, all sorts of GPUs and CPUs and cooling systems, etc. The MBP doesnt even let you customize your GPU!!! I'd love for them to offer the option to remove the ODD and get a RAID setup since its a big move to remove it from the base model. There are a lot of costly upgrades like a higher end GPU and a RAID SSD/HDD setup that they could just introduce as BTO options and I would be satisfied.

 

[Nein01]

iSight cam

ok, i have a problem with the built-in isight camera on the macbook pros..

that thing is so outdated. the resolution and aspect ratio are both horrible, and couldn't they have at least added a little 'un-mirror' button to the photo booth app by now? there's command+F i think, but still yet.. i don't think it should have ever been mirrored to begin with.

also wondering, has the isight cam ever been improved upon since it was originally implemented? if so, when was it?

is it likely that we will finally see a decent webcam in the mbp lineup with this next refresh?

 

[Mabyboi]

any possible chance in a bump in resolution for both the 13" and 15"??

13" to get 1440x900 and the 15" to get 1920x1080?

I know the 15" bump would e unlikely, but it would be WICKED.

 

[jvmxtra]

any possible chance in a bump in resolution for both the 13" and 15"??

13" to get 1440x900 and the 15" to get 1920x1080?

I know the 15" bump would e unlikely, but it would be WICKED.

At this point, 13" w/ 1440x900 would be given; PLEase apple.. make my life complete

I doubt that 15" would get that resolution but higher resolution change would be enough for me to move from 15" to 13"...

Either way, PLEase apple drop me a good news ASAP... I NEED new laptop.. ASAP... <--- me freaking out

 

[twilightrose]

any possible chance in a bump in resolution for both the 13" and 15"??

13" to get 1440x900 and the 15" to get 1920x1080?

I know the 15" bump would e unlikely, but it would be WICKED.

The resolution increase seems likely for the 13" as the the MBA got a resolution bump. As for the 15" going to 1920x1080 is probably not going to happen. For that to take place, they would need to raise the 17" resolution first. Otherwise there would only be a vertical pixel difference is 120 pixels which would kinda defeat the purpose of the 17" all together

 

[miata]

The resolution increase seems likely for the 13" as the the MBA got a resolution bump. As for the 15" going to 1920x1080 is probably not going to happen. For that to take place, they would need to raise the 17" resolution first. Otherwise there would only be a vertical pixel difference is 120 pixels which would kinda defeat the purpose of the 17" all together

It is more likely that Apple adds a higher resolution option. I wouldn't worry about the 17." Both size and resolution are important for optimal viewing.

 

[jnpy!$4g3cwk]

I may be alone here, but I want them to "Air-ize" the Pro, or to extend the Air line. I want a 3.5 pound 15" and 4.0 pound 17". Why does a big screen imply I'm going to be uber-heavy duty processing?

I couldn't give a hoot if it "doesn't look pro". What does that mean, anyway? You can never be too thin or too light!

You are alone.

However, I'm going to agree with you that Apple could actually extend the Air line to 15" (17" is kind of bulky, even if light, for the "Air" niche). If they do, they will no doubt use Sandy Bridge throughout.


That would leave the MBP line strictly for discrete ATI/AMD GPUs only. To fit that in a 13" in Apple's thin profile will require that they do something creative to fit everything in.

 

[jnpy!$4g3cwk]

Another idea I haven't seen brought up is the fact that the MBP is the least customizable for BTO high end laptop on the market. I was just BTOing a Alienware just for fun and there are endless amounts of options. You can order all sorts of RAID set ups, all sorts of GPUs and CPUs and cooling systems, etc. The MBP doesnt even let you customize your GPU!!!

Some of the other BTO options wouldn't cost Apple much to offer, but, I'm guessing that Apple is going to continue to have very limited GPU options forever. Supporting 897 possible CPU/GPU/driver capabilities/options is just not something that fits with Apple's "it just works" development and support models. Heck, Apple doesn't support everything that is in the existing hardware now. People may successfully lobby Apple to provide somewhat higher-performance graphics in certain product lines, but, whatever Apple chooses, there will not be a gazillion different choices. If you want endless tweakable graphics options (and bugs), Windows is your only alternative.

 

[miata]

The MBPs will have to have "power and expandability differentiation" over the MPAs to justify a price premium. That would mean higher performance CPU/GPU, more memory, HDD expansion bay, FW800, ethernet and maybe higher quality displays. Most customers are will to pay extra for that in terms of cost and weight. Since many MBP folks often connect to an external monitor when at the home base there needs to be a range of display sizes for different one the go needs.

 

[Yin]

Some of the other BTO options wouldn't cost Apple much to offer, but, I'm guessing that Apple is going to continue to have very limited GPU options forever. Supporting 897 possible CPU/GPU/driver capabilities/options is just not something that fits with Apple's "it just works" development and support models. Heck, Apple doesn't support everything that is in the existing hardware now. People may successfully lobby Apple to provide somewhat higher-performance graphics in certain product lines, but, whatever Apple chooses, there will not be a gazillion different choices. If you want endless tweakable graphics options (and bugs), Windows is your only alternative.

and linux... as a better alternative

 

[ggg05a]

I realize this thread is old, my predictions.

13" is a goner. You have the standard plastic MacBook and MBA in that size. No need for a "Pro" 13".

15" -

- Removal of the optical drive. I've had my current MBP since Nov. of last year and have the optical drive . . . . once. Its finished.
- Dual 2.5" HDD bays. Configured differently, entry level will have 1 HDD.
- SB
- Higher Res Display
- USB 3.0
- New massive battery. Expect 18 hours out of a single charge.
- 10.7
- Expect air intake to come from one of the sides of the laptop (probably right) and a water tight keyboard.

Just opinion and speculation.

 

[Richard1028]

I realize this thread is old, my predictions.

13" is a goner. You have the standard plastic MacBook and MBA in that size. No need for a "Pro" 13".

But we've had a 13" plastic macbook and a 13" Air for some time now. Why have they kept the 13" MBP around? Maybe because price-wise, the new MBA is now within reach but it still has a long ways to go before it reaches the level of the smaller MBP.

Just opinion and speculation.

Yeah, I know.

I think this thread now has every conceivable concoction of hardware known to man in it. Somebody's bound to be close.