MacBook Pro 2011 predictions

[Windows]

I'm hoping they remove the optical drive, make the battery last 1 or 2 hours longer, use SB processors on high end models and add SSD storage to costumers who want it, or at least offer a hybrid of sorts with HDD for main storage and SSD for faster boot-up times.

And to top things off making it a little bit thinner or tappered at the ends.
That'd would make me buy it in a flash!

 

[axu539]

I'm hoping they remove the optical drive, make the battery last 1 or 2 hours longer, use SB processors on high end models and add SSD storage to costumers who want it, or at least offer a hybrid of sorts with HDD for main storage and SSD for faster boot-up times.

And to top things off making it a little bit thinner or tappered at the ends.
That'd would make me buy it in a flash!

SB processors should show up on ALL models, since they make more sense, and are fairly cheap compared to the previous generation at launch. That being said, everything you said there is pretty much my wish list for the next MBP. I will be first in line if that is the case.

 

[Spor]

i3-2310M isn't an issue for 13" since the 35W includes the IGP as well. Without discrete GPU, the total TDP is around the same as now [35W (CPU) + 3.9W (chipset) and 25W + ~12W].

In IDF 2010, Intel said that computers with Light Peak will be available in 2012 so I wouldn't bet my money on LP

Yes, TDP is more or less the same IF you leave the GPU out. With the i7 it is possible to have power availible for a discrete GPU. Have a BTO option. I believe there is no other new i3 availible. And with a discrete card it is possible to switch off the discrete GPU for power savings.

Then LP will not get my money for now

 

[amarcus]

Any two of the following and I'll upgrade my 15inch:

Quad core processor, IPS screen, USB3 or Lightpeak, Mobility radeon 6830 gpu, 10 hour battery life

Still holding out hope for quads in the new refresh!

Adam

 

[Hellhammer]

Yes, TDP is more or less the same IF you leave the GPU out. With the i7 it is possible to have power availible for a discrete GPU. Have a BTO option. I believe there is no other new i3 availible. And with a discrete card it is possible to switch off the discrete GPU for power savings.

But i7 is way too expensive, let alone with discrete GPU The price would en up being at least as much as the current base 15" is. Besides, it would be possible to have i3 + discrete GPU in terms of TDP because the IGP will be turned off when the discrete chip is in use so the TDP during usage would be similar.

However, the biggest issue is that discrete GPU requires three major chips [CPU+PCH+GPU (+GDDR chips for the GPU)] in the logic board compared to two found in current 13". That means Apple would likely have to take out something (ODD, smaller battery or blade-SSD) in order to make the logic board bigger to fit those three chips in it.

 

[Windows]

But i7 is way too expensive, let alone with discrete GPU The price would en up being at least as much as the current base 15" is. Besides, it would be possible to have i3 + discrete GPU in terms of TDP because the IGP will be turned off when the discrete chip is in use so the TDP during usage would be similar.

However, the biggest issue is that discrete GPU requires three major chips [CPU+PCH+GPU (+GDDR chips for the GPU)] in the logic board compared to two found in current 13". That means Apple would likely have to take out something (ODD, smaller battery or blade-SSD) in order to make the logic board bigger to fit those three chips in it.

IMO Apple is going to have to step it up to keep up with new Windows laptop coming out.
New windows laptop have good battery life, new sandy bridge i7 processors at a good price.
I'm thinking they will definitely include new sandy bridge processors on ALL of their laptops, SSD and possibly introduce lightpeak so it can have the edge of other manufacturers.
Hope apple impresses this time

 

[dtodor]

The entry quad-core Sandy Bridge "Core i7-2630QM" is faster than the high end (fastest) previous generation Clarksfield "Core i7-940XM Extreme Edition":

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Intel-Sandy-Bridge-Quad-Core-processors.43714.0.html

I hope Apple finally starts using quad-cores in the 15 & 17 inch models.

 

[DVD9]

What if apple makes the MBPs premium priced machines again, like, starting at 1399€ for the base 13" model?

You can buy i5 laptops from HP, Dell and Sony at Best Buy for $650. I saw an online deal for an i7 equipped Envy from HP for $849 less than two months ago.

1,200 American dollars IS a premium priced machine. $1,800 is an insane price, even for a 15" laptop.
--

 

[DVD9]

Apple also cares about how average joes PERCEIVE things.
Current MBAs showcased in retail stores FEEL faster than MBPs. They boot faster and load apps faster.

Not my experience.

The 13" MBP is faster than the 13" Air. Except in a boot test.

I then walked over to a couple of HP laptops and played with them, a 14" and 17" Pavillion. The HP laptops were faster than the 13" MBP. Except for touchpad scrolling of course.

Why? Because the HP laptops have far superior processors even though they cost half as much.
--

 

[Hellhammer]

I then walked over to a couple of HP laptops and played with them, a 14" and 17" Pavillion. The HP laptops were faster than the 13" MBP. Except for touchpad scrolling of course.

Why? Because the HP laptops have far superior processors even though they cost half as much.
--

Faster in what? Faster CPU does not make Safari or Mail any faster. It will only help if you actually use, i.e. in tasks like video encoding, gaming, editing, rendering... Faster CPU doesn't automatically equal to better overall performance, other components like RAM and HD/SSD are more important in most cases.

CPUs ain't the bottlenecks in today's computers

 

[Bitmap Frog]

But i7 is way too expensive, let alone with discrete GPU The price would en up being at least as much as the current base 15" is. Besides, it would be possible to have i3 + discrete GPU in terms of TDP because the IGP will be turned off when the discrete chip is in use so the TDP during usage would be similar.

Not really - Apple could EASILY toss in i7's given their phat margins. The problem is, they really like those margins.

 

[Hellhammer]

Not really - Apple could EASILY toss in i7's given their phat margins. The problem is, they really like those margins.

Why would Apple compromise their profits when they can just use i3 and still sell as many Macs? Apple is a company, all they care about is the profit.

 

[DVD9]

Why would Apple compromise their profits when they can just use i3 and still sell as many Macs? Apple is a company, all they care about is the profit.

Which is why I'm looking forward to those new touchpads on Windows machines scheduled to arrive around June. I don't ever want to own an i3 laptop. That is Intel's scam. An i5 processor with features removed.

As for your response to me, I don't believe it's true that the processor does not matter. I saw a clear difference in the general responsiveness between the 13" Air and 13" MBP, and again the same difference between the 13" MBP and two HP Pavillion laptops.

Buyers of i7 quad cores have commented upon the sluggishness of opening programs. Those 720 quad cores run at just 1.7ghz. They are slower than i5 processors at opening programs. The quad cores only show gains when doing something intensive like using an optimized software program to encode a movie. Then they kick the i5 processors butt. But in general use to open programs and surf the Web the i5 will be snappier.
--

 

[Richard1028]

The 13 inch is a problem, but that was also last year the case. I think the main problem is the price of the chip. It is much more expansive then the old processor at introduction.

No, the main problem with the MBP13 is it's just too small for SB + dGPU given the current politics (Nvidia vs. Intel, Nvidia no longer making Intel chipsets). That's just where Apple is at with this thing unless they just stick with the IGP and call it good. (To me, that's a refresh and not an upgrade).

My prediction for the 13MBP is it gets discontinued and Apple starts transitioning 13" die-hards to a more robust and ever-changing MBA. They (Apple) really can't make the same mistake they did with the original Air by just letting it sit idle while competing with it's cheaper and more powerful 13" sibling.

Nix the 13MBP and problems solved. No more comparing the old C2D+320M version with a new SB+IGP (And Steve saying he prefers Graphics over CPU), shut the whiners up about removing the ODD, no worries about maintaining 8-10 hours of battery life, no going "backwards" with storage capacity an SSD would bring, etc, etc.

Just get rid of it already.

Any two of the following and I'll upgrade my 15inch:

Quad core processor, IPS screen, USB3 or Lightpeak, Mobility radeon 6830 gpu, 10 hour battery life

Still holding out hope for quads in the new refresh!

Adam

Looks like you won't be upgrading.

IMO Apple is going to have to step it up to keep up with new Windows laptop coming out.
New windows laptop have good battery life, new sandy bridge i7 processors at a good price.

Apple has made it clear they have no intention of competing with the massive market share of Windows/PC's. MacBooks are the "Sharper Image" catalog version of laptops for those people wanting something unique. And as long as people are willing to pay for subjective differences Apple will always put "form before function".

 

[Hellhammer]

An i5 processor with features removed.

And i5 is just an i7 with features removed...

As for your response to me, I don't believe it's true that the processor does not matter. I saw a clear difference in the general responsiveness between the 13" Air and 13" MBP, and again the same difference between the 13" MBP and two HP Pavillion laptops.

Buyers of i7 quad cores have commented upon the sluggishness of opening programs. Those 720 quad cores run at just 1.7ghz. They are slower than i5 processors at opening programs. The quad cores only show gains when doing something intensive like using an optimized software program to encode a movie. Then they kick the i5 processors butt. But in general use to open programs and surf the Web the i5 will be snappier.
--

Opening apps is dependent on the speed of the HD. My MBA with SSD and 1.86GHz C2D opens Photoshop in less than two seconds, yet it takes nearly 10 seconds to open on my iMac with 2.93GHz C2D and 7200rpm HD. CPU is not the bottleneck when opening apps, otherwise SSD would be useless because CPUs are too slow to take advantage of them.

i7-720QM goes up to 2.8GHz with Turbo which is very close to the Turbo of dual cores.

 

[croooow]

And i5 is just an i7 with features removed...

Then I want an i9

 

[rareflares]

Buyers of i7 quad cores have commented upon the sluggishness of opening programs. Those 720 quad cores run at just 1.7ghz. They are slower than i5 processors at opening programs. The quad cores only show gains when doing something intensive like using an optimized software program to encode a movie. Then they kick the i5 processors butt. But in general use to open programs and surf the Web the i5 will be snappier.
--

Opening programs is almost PURELY a function these days of how fast your hard drive is. My friends' MBA runs circles around my Mac Pro when it comes to booting up the OS and opening applications. Why? Because it has a SSD and my Mac Pro has (boy do I need to upgrade) a traditional 7200RPM HDD.

The Mac Pro's 2.8Ghz 8-Core Xeon processor is meaningless when it comes to this particular task because CPU isn't the bottleneck.

Furthermore, for general use (web surfing, iTunes, Word, etc.), the main bottleneck to almost every user these days is RAM, not processor speed. Having to page out to the HDD when RAM runs out causes the slowdown/sluggishness you feel sometimes (because HDD is a slower form of memory than RAM). More RAM = less chance of pageouts. It's the reason why I can have 20 applications open on my Mac Pro (14GB RAM) but only 5-6 on my friends' MBA (which has only 2GB of RAM) and still have silky smooth performance.

Again, the processor speed, has very little to do with how "snappy" an application feels given these low level tasks.

 

[jvmxtra]

Getting sick and tired of looking at all these new lappie from other company coming up w/ new cpu.

Now that we know these cpu have been available -- must have been since now they will hit production -- I am sure apple had ample time to test it out.
What are the chance that next refresh(in '11) WILL have it utilize?

 

[rareflares]

What are the chance that next refresh(in '11) WILL have it utilize?

Nothing is 100% but this a virtual certainty. Intel isn't producing the older chips any more so if Apple wants to stay in the computer business they have to move to the new CPUs.

The issue most people are debating is the GPU that Apple is going to stick in these things. Whether they stay with Intel's IGP or go with a discrete one is completely up in the air.

 

[Hellhammer]

Nothing is 100% but this a virtual certainty. Intel isn't producing the older chips any more so if Apple wants to stay in the computer business they have to move to the new CPUs.

Even though Intel has stopped manufacturing them, they'll still be available for quite awhile

Last order date for all discontinued microprocessors is April 29 2011. Tray processors will be shipped until October 14, 2011, and the boxed ones will be shipped while supplies last. While all listed consumer CPUs will be discontinued, 5 models will still be available for embedded applications. These processors are Core 2 Duo Mobile SU9300, SL9400, SP9300, P8400 and T9400.

http://www.cpu-world.com/news_2010/2010120703_Intel_discontinues_Core_2_mobile_CPUs.html

 

[ninjaboi21]

I just hope we will see better GPU and 1680x1050 as standard.
I don't believe we will see the removal of ODD, SSD, 8GB of RAM, 6970m ATI, USB3.0, LightPeak, more battery power or SB i7 4-core processor.

It would be awesome if they included it, but I just don't believe they will.

 

[whitedragon101]

Are you into polygamy because that sounds like a dream machine. Price point is way too high on both of those though Hellhammer's got it right we'll probably get the 6350m if we're extremely lucky. I doubt they keep the 330m, it's very outdated at this point and they are parting ways with Nvidia as the Intel lawsuit seems to have pissed Nvidia off to the point that they are leaving the laptop GPU market. If there is a company leaving the market then I doubt would want to stay on with them as it would make them look bad if they introduce a new machine and then all the sudden Nvidia says we're done. I think we're probably looking at 2520m for CPU [2.5~3.2 @ 35W] and then for i7 on the 17" probably the 2649m [2.3~3.2 @ 25W] with a quad core 2630QM as a $200 BTO.

Whatever Apple decides to put in their base model options to appeal to price points. I hope they offer BTO options only limited by what is possible heat wise. Surely that would not only be a good thing for us but also makes commercial sense. If a customer wants higher specs no problem just pay the BTO premium and we'll slot one in.

I am prepared to go to an absolute max £2500 ($3850) for a 17" with a fast Sandybridge Quad core i7-2820QM and Mobility radeon 6830 gpu. That is more than enough to cover the price premium.

 

[Mail503]

I just hope we will see better GPU and 1680x1050 as standard.
I don't believe we will see the removal of ODD, SSD, 8GB of RAM, 6970m ATI, USB3.0, LightPeak, more battery power or SB i7 4-core processor.

It would be awesome if they included it, but I just don't believe they will.

If they were just going to update the gpu and the resolution, why wait so long? This has been one of the longest update intervals.

 

[vipergts2207]

If they were just going to update the gpu and the resolution, why wait so long? This has been one of the longest update intervals.

Because Sandy Bridge was just officially announced a few days ago. Also, the dual core chips, which Apple will probably be using, won't be out until next month.

 

[.MacGirl.]

I seem to be the minority but hoping they don't nix the optical drive, I love to watch DVDs on my laptop and buying them from the iTunes store seems like a waste when I already own them on DVD.

~.MacGirl.