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Macbook Pro design changes (what do you think?)

SerrQ

SerrQ

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 10, 2011
85
0
Iceland, Reykjavík
This is about the Macbook Pro 2011 design, do you think it is gonna change? I know that no one knows except for apple, but the question that I'm asking is "do you think".

Personally I hope they don't make it thinner. I prefer a better performance rather then thinness.
If people want a thin computer, they should get the air.
So, I think apple is gonna keep the old design, maybe change a little bit but nothing that would make the macbook look different.
 
They need to get rid of the black accents on silver, it makes the computer look trashy. And while they're at it, I wouldn't mind a different color than silver, it's getting long in the tooth if you ask me.
 
I wish they would go back to the old design (Trackpad button included) but have it in a brushed black aluminum. Hell, i would even take the older case w/o the brushed black over the current ones.
 
Although I've got used to the black bezel and don't mind it as much, I still think the 2006-2008 MacBook Pro's looked way better. The bezel around the screen was much thinner, and I liked the keys way better.
 
How does this look

How does this look?

Something other than silver...Apple has done it before!!

16.jpg
 
Brushed black aluminum would be awesome, and it would look great with the black keys and bezel they're already using
 
I love the current design. I would not mind if they pulled the optical drive and made it slightly thinner, at the same time freeing up space for more circuit board (dedicated graphics in the 13") and more battery. Solid state blades would help with that as well. It will happen sooner or later, whether with Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, Haswell, Rockwell...
 
Apple has gone with the "silver" look since the Titanium PowerBook G4 in 2001, and gone with the Aluminum since the first Aluminum PowerBook G4 in 2003.

The last Pro-level Apple laptop that was not SILVER was the Black Pismo PowerBook G3, and that model came out in 2000. The original PowerBooks (100-180c) and the Duo line were all grey, as was the PowerBook 500 line. The PowerBook 5300 series was black, as was the 1400 and 3400 and the PowerBook G3. The Macintosh Portable (1989-1990) was Platinum white.
 
I think it will stay the same for at least one more revision. The current design is barely two years old, and it seems to be very popular, so I don't think they will change it just yet.
 
When you say "current" design, I take it you are referring to the aluminum Unibody construction, not just aluminum construction or silver color.

Correct?
 
WardC said:
When you say "current" design, I take it you are referring to the aluminum Unibody construction, not just aluminum construction or silver color.

Correct?
Click to expand...

Indeed. I refer to the unibody design, which I believe was first introduced in October 2008
 
alust2013 said:
I think it will stay the same for at least one more revision. The current design is barely two years old, and it seems to be very popular, so I don't think they will change it just yet.
Click to expand...
They might change the design. The first mbp to the unibody was from 2006 to 2008. We are in 2011 so it would be about 2.5 years. If not this revision definitely the next and I think they will change to the mba style enclosure because Apple keeps saying how the mba is the next generation of laptops. The only problem is the flash memory would be very expensive in a 500 gb option. But that is when we see the end of the optical drive.
 
nunes013 said:
They might change the design. The first mbp to the unibody was from 2006 to 2008. We are in 2011 so it would be about 2.5 years. If not this revision definitely the next and I think they will change to the mba style enclosure because Apple keeps saying how the mba is the next generation of laptops. The only problem is the flash memory would be very expensive in a 500 gb option. But that is when we see the end of the optical drive.
Click to expand...

However, the old MBP design was carried over from the old PowerBook G4, which got it in 03, so the design actually lasted 5 years.

I think eventually we will see the ultra thin versions, but not as soon as most people think. Like you said, the big SSDs are expensive, the small enclosure basically dictates LV or ULV components, which puts a pretty low cap on performance for a "pro" notebook, and battery life and connectivity would decrease. I don't see that happening anytime soon in the pro series, but more likely would be an expansion of the air series.
 
alust2013 said:
However, the old MBP design was carried over from the old PowerBook G4, which got it in 03, so the design actually lasted 5 years.

I think eventually we will see the ultra thin versions, but not as soon as most people think. Like you said, the big SSDs are expensive, the small enclosure basically dictates LV or ULV components, which puts a pretty low cap on performance for a "pro" notebook, and battery life and connectivity would decrease. I don't see that happening anytime soon in the pro series, but more likely would be an expansion of the air series.
Click to expand...

thats true i forgot the design carried over. but i do think that Apple wants to trash the optical and the next design change will look like the mba. it will carry the big flash sticks, will have bumped processor and no optical.

the macbook will be discontinued and the remaining two (air and pro) will get new names with the tapered design. This isnt for a couple of years though.
 
I don't think Aluminum, Unibody or the "buttonless" mulit-touch trackpad are going away for a long time.

OD could go away, but I think it will remain for one more model cycle at least.

I don't think much will change, just advancements under the hood to make it better.
 
i think the unibody enclosure will stay. But maybe no longer out of aluminium. There were rumours of that liquid metal, this lighter and much more durable metal alloy. Maybe they would use that. I guess glass will party stay aswell, as thats what makes the MBP so individal and look really expensive.
 
WardC said:
Apple has gone with the "silver" look since the Titanium PowerBook G4 in 2001, and gone with the Aluminum since the first Aluminum PowerBook G4 in 2003.

The last Pro-level Apple laptop that was not SILVER was the Black Pismo PowerBook G3, and that model came out in 2000. The original PowerBooks (100-180c) and the Duo line were all grey, as was the PowerBook 500 line. The PowerBook 5300 series was black, as was the 1400 and 3400 and the PowerBook G3. The Macintosh Portable (1989-1990) was Platinum white.
Click to expand...

What about the black book?
 
It would be nice if they could round off the sharp edges a little.

I watched the video about how they make the unibody from a single piece of metal and I gotta say...pretty cool.

It would be hard to top that.
 
WardC said:
The last Pro-level Apple laptop that was not SILVER was the Black Pismo PowerBook G3, and that model came out in 2000. The original PowerBooks (100-180c) and the Duo line were all grey, as was the PowerBook 500 line. The PowerBook 5300 series was black, as was the 1400 and 3400 and the PowerBook G3. The Macintosh Portable (1989-1990) was Platinum white.
Click to expand...
adnoh said:
What about the black book?
Click to expand...

The BlackBook was just a MacBook, a consumer-level machine. He was talking about "Pro-level laptops" i.e. Macbook Pros.
 
Darth.Titan said:
The BlackBook was just a MacBook, a consumer-level machine. He was talking about "Pro-level laptops" i.e. Macbook Pros.
Click to expand...

Yes, I was just referring to the Pro-grade (PowerBook/MacBook Pro) machines. If you want to talk about consumer colors (since 1999), we can talk about the iBook and the MacBook

MacBook (2006 - 2011) - White

MacBook (2006 - 2007) - Also offered in Black

iBook (1999) - Tangerine and Blueberry

iBook (2001) - Indigo, Key Lime, and Graphite (iBook SE)

iBook (2002-2005) - White

The iBook flavors (1999-2001):

IBook_flavors.jpg
 
Last edited:
nunes013 said:
thats true i forgot the design carried over. but i do think that Apple wants to trash the optical and the next design change will look like the mba. it will carry the big flash sticks, will have bumped processor and no optical.

the macbook will be discontinued and the remaining two (air and pro) will get new names with the tapered design. This isnt for a couple of years though.
Click to expand...

I don't think it will get the flash sticks until that becomes an industry standard. As fast as they are, people will whine about not being able to use standard parts in a supposedly pro computer. Also, people want a reasonable amount of storage, and often don't have $1400 to shell out on a 512GB SSD, so standard SATA drives are likely to stay for a while. I don't think we will see it thinner for a long time, as current components dictate its current thickness. A standard voltage, competitively fast processor would overheat in a MBA-like enclosure, and eat through the smaller batteries pretty fast. I think we will eventually see it, but not until there is new tech that allows it to be fast, practical, and not prohibitively expensive.
 
I really looove the current design!
They could taper the edges a bit, like the mba, but that's it in my opinion! I have a Dell Inspiron 1720 atm, that's probably why I so drool over those MacBook Pros lol :p

I do hope personally, they keep in the OD and don't implement the SSD as a standard.. I carry my laptop around all the time and it would be a hassle to have to carry the laptop AND an external OD AND an external hard drive..:)
 
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