MacBooks, MacBook Pros, and Pro Apps to See Updates at WWDC?

[iPhoneNYC]

3G in a MacBook

3G would be the coolest think in a MacBook. But many of us have iPhones and want tethering. 3G MacBook would be a separate contract and fees - no one wants that. I guess we assume a tethering option on an iPhone would be 30 bucks a month like a Blackberry. I don't see why I'd pay more than that.

 

[Anuba]

Yep that's what I heard, I don't think it affects all audio interfaces, so it's always worthwhile letting someone else do a bit of beta testing first.

Also if you get a expresscard firewire card with a TI chipset it ain't gonna work too well from what I heard on these and other forums, unless you boot it in windows, then they work fine

For the price one pays the MBPs should not have these issues, but there's always the next rev (Powerbook G5 anyone?)

See this is what I hate about Apple. I don't mind paying the premium, whatever the price discrepancy is between a PC and a similar-specced Mac -- I buy them on my company anyway. But paying the premium AND getting machines where they've sneaked in some inferior crap components to save a few quarters is just wrong. You can't have the cake and eat it too, Apple. Show us that we can trust you to give us the best stuff that's out there, or cut your prices and we'll take out chances.

 

[antominus]

speed bump

The macbook should see a bump from 2.4 to 2.53 soon, posibly 2.66 if intel releases one last 25W penryn (which is not announced or rumored that I know of). The base should get a bump to 2.13 or 2.26 to tide us over until the next rev. Bumps in the 25W penryn chips will come some time this summer inevitably because...

These will be the last thing we see before transition to nehalem which will be released late this year. Either right before or during WWDC would make sense for the last penryn refresh, modest as it is. Apple won't go a full year without updating the shiny new unibodies.

Expect Nehalem pros in November, and I would guess macbooks later, possibly as late as March depending on price and power points versus the existing rigs and most importantly: Nvidia chipsets that can drive Nehalem.

 

[calisurfboy]

*Matte finish option
*Increase Ram
*Increase Processor
*Firewire re-introduced
*Track Pad Mouse Buttons re-introduced
*Blue Ray Added
*Reduction in price between 100$ to 250$
*Option to pre-install Windows XP
*Included Apple Logo sticker will also include rub on tattoos



........ oh sorry I hear something about updates to Mac Laptops and I started to daydream..... the grass is always greener on the other side........

 

[BlizzardBomb]

The macbook should see a bump from 2.4 to 2.53 soon, posibly 2.66 if intel releases one last 25W penryn (which is not announced or rumored that I know of). The base should get a bump to 2.13 or 2.26 to tide us over until the next rev. Bumps in the 25W penryn chips will come some time this summer inevitably because...

These will be the last thing we see before transition to nehalem which will be released late this year. Either right before or during WWDC would make sense for the last penryn refresh, modest as it is. Apple won't go a full year without updating the shiny new unibodies.

Expect Nehalem pros in November, and I would guess macbooks later, possibly as late as March depending on price and power points versus the existing rigs and most importantly: Nvidia chipsets that can drive Nehalem.

Bumps to 2.66 GHz, 25W TDP have been announced and are official.

 

[jnc]

I STRONGLY AGREE with you... The reason my 30" monitors are not being used is because every damn adapter is giving me problems..

And what's with the $100 price tag just for an adapter???

Maybe they hope you'll just spring the extra 800 for the LED ACD instead of 'fussing' with an adapter.

 

[arkmannj]

No 3G in Macbooks for me please. Thats what we now have tethering for.

Exactly,
I think this would be the preferred route for Apple anyways, then they can sell an iPhone and a computer, without adding extra stuff to the mobile computers that many (if not most) users won't use or care about.

I could possibly see adding 3G to a tablet/touch mac, or netbook. but not so much with the current machines.

 

[enfanteribl]

*Matte finish option
*Increase Ram
*Increase Processor
*Firewire re-introduced
*Track Pad Mouse Buttons re-introduced
*Blue Ray Added
*Reduction in price between 100$ to 250$
*Option to pre-install Windows XP
*Included Apple Logo sticker will also include rub on tattoos

........ oh sorry I hear something about updates to Mac Laptops and I started to daydream..... the grass is always greener on the other side........

These would be great, though unlikely. I was hoping to buy an Air, but worry that the 2GB max RAM won't be enough to run 10.6, so I will wait and see what turns up in June. Matte screen would be very nice

 

[dmmcintyre3]

15 inch 1680*1050 matte (free option) screen please
option to have the data plan not in use and unlocked where you pop the bottom off and put in a ATT/TMobile sim.
I want longer battery life as my dad's 15 inch dell lasts 4.5 HRs with a smaller (physically but bigger capacity wise) battery. I like the dell's battery life but longer is better (what happened to the 6-8 hours of the 14 inch iBook's battery)

 

[ksgant]

Always check out the Mac Buyer's Guide before you buy, if you're worried about getting screwed.

I of course was joking, you know, the old joke about buying a brand new computer and it getting upgraded right away with better components and being cheaper than what you paid for it. But from some of the comments, people either haven't heard that joke before or didn't think it's funny, because everyone's taking is seriously.

And also the buying guide says about the MacBook Pro right now:

Recommendation: Neutral - Mid product cycle

 

[butterfly0fdoom]

an external battery pack to plug into the mag port.

That would be really cool, actually, especially if Apple decides to start going with concealed batteries across the board.

 

[enfanteribl]

And also the buying guide says about the MacBook Pro right now:

Recommendation: Neutral - Mid product cycle

Ah, but there are 6 or so weeks to go til the WWDC. A solid 42 days less mid-cycle!

 

[LethalWolfe]

I would love an update to FCP.

The suite really needs a new approach to the management of settings.
I work in film tech support and you wouldn't believe the amount of peeps who are utterly nonplussed by the audio/video settings etc.
Not surprising when one remembers there are up to THREE different places to modify some settings!
Also we need Apple-built break out boxes a la Avid. I have used and supported Black Magic and AJA based systems and they don't compare to Avid systems for simplicity.

Better media management is definitely near the top of my list of things to fix. I'd be fine w/Apple making I/O hardware as long as it was not tied to the software like Avid hardware is tied to Avid software. The options of products you get from AJA, BM, and Matrox is much nicer than being stuck w/Avid's limited hardware options.

ppl keep pointing this out, and yet the rumours keep persisting. I personally think Phenomenon (as it was codenamed) will simply be another app in the suite, which won't be any more powerful than shake was (as most of the shake dev team left a year or so after the announcement), but will be based on motion and will be less buggy. It is hard to imagine Apple killing off their market leading compositing package at a time when vfx are becoming increasingly ubiquitous in just the sort of productions that FCP is so popular with.

Well, Apple did kill off a very popular compositing app, that's still in wide use today, at pretty much the peak of its popularity. I'm very weary of the Phenomenon rumors because Apple doesn't build advanced, high end, very 'niche' software from the ground up. FCP, DVD SP, Logic, Cinema Tools, LiveType, Color, SoundTrack Pro, Motion, etc., are all programs Apple acquired or derived from programs Apple acquired.

Whether or not Apple really wants to go after the high end niches that apps like Color and Shake are aimed at is still up in the air, IMO.


Lethal

 

[Bregalad]

One thing at a time

The new Apple never forces their products to share the limelight. WWDC will be the unveiling of the new iPhone and iPod touch. No Mac updates.

The MacBook is getting due for an update, but I think Apple will wait until after the iPhone and Snow Leopard ship. The MBP got a quiet speed boost when the desktops were refreshed at the beginning of March so it can definitely wait until September.

There was a rumor at the beginning of April about Nehalem processors coming to the MBP in November, but Apple wants their lineup well established and all the stores fully stocked before Thanksgiving. That means no new products after October 31.

Now that the iPhone/Touch platform has usurped the iPod, the annual iPod announcement in September has become a thing of the past.

I predict iPhone/Touch/Nano at WWDC in June, Snow Leopard in August, new MacBooks and MacBook Pros with the non-removable long life battery in September, and a desktop refresh with LED backlit iMacs in October.

It's highly unlikely we'll ever see Nehalem in the MBP or iMac because the Clarksfield tops out at only 2.0 GHz and is priced at an astronomical $1000 per chip. Apple is likely to wait for Westmere chips to arrive in 2010.

 

[MBAir]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/7A280f Safari/525.20)

You guys think that the 17" is getting a bump? I might buy one soon.

I might be buying a 15" though if it ever gets a higher resolution screen th

 

[iMacmatician]

My predictions:

May: MacBook Air (maybe…)

June, week before WWDC: MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro

June: WWDC, iPhone OS, Snow Leopard, pro software (probably…)

After June: Pro software (probably…)

September: iPod event (as usual), new mini-tablet?

H1 2010: iMac, Mac mini, notebooks

 

[podiki]

A quad 1.8 - 2.0 on a Macbook or 15inch Macbook pro would make my dream laptop and i would be willing to pay handsomely for such power.

Would like a 13/15 inch, quad core, 8GB ram, and a good Mobile Ati, or a Nvidia Quadro.

What would you use the quad core for in a laptop?

 

[arkmannj]

I don't really need an upgrade, but it would be very nice to bring back a couple of old features.

* Matte screen option across the board

* Add Firewire back to all models, and an additional FW port on the MBP's (I don't really care if it's 400 or 800 they put on all of them, just get firewire back in there !!)

 

[iMacmatician]

What would you use the quad core for in a laptop?

Video encoding, multitasking, and future-proofing.

 

[ltldrummerboy]

I say no to this rumor. I think that they'll update the MacBooks in September just after the Back-to-School promotion ends.

 

[podiki]

A 15" with 1680x1050 would save me a lot of money as I wouldn't have to buy an ACD straight away or a 17" MBP. 1920x1200 would just be eye-poppingly bad on a 15.4" though. Also on the topic of Blu-Ray, I think it should only be an option should Apple choose to use it. I have no need for a pricier optical drive.

BTW, what with everyone posting in large fonts and all caps. It's annoying.

I have two 15" laptops with 1920x1200 and to me it's the ideal resolution for a 15".

 

[reallynotnick]

If Apple does not update the low end MBP until September I will be pissed, as I need one for college and I don't want to buy something this summer that I could have got in October.

Here's my wishlist/prediction:
2.4ghz > 2.66ghz
250GB > 320GB
9600m GT > GT 130m
2GB 1066mhz > 4GB 1333mhz
Larger built-in battery
Matte screen option

If they come out with this + back to school sale I will flip out!

 

[podiki]

Video encoding, multitasking, and future-proofing.

Is there really software out there that benefits from quad core processors? I still get the idea there isn't.

 

[gmcalpin]

Is there really software out there that benefits from quad core processors? I still get the idea there isn't.

Not at the moment (at least not much), but Snow Leopard opens up that playing field a lot.

Adobe's entire CS5 line-up should take advantages of 4 or more cores, for instance.

 

[BlizzardBomb]

I have two 15" laptops with 1920x1200 and to me it's the ideal resolution for a 15".

Some people can deal with it, but I find it to be a bit awkward. The buttons are a lot smaller and harder to click, text appears smaller etc. Without resolution independence (anyone still remember that? ) it's not ideal for me personally.