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March 1st as Possible Date for New MacBook Pros?
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No? There's the Air. It's a good thing that the different models aren't carbon copies of each other.
i have a question for those who think that there will be a refresh on upcoming Ivy Bridge laptops
why not now? why need to wait for Ivy Bridge then do another refresh with redesigns?
why not now? why need to wait for Ivy Bridge then do another refresh with redesigns?
Let's just hope ExpressCard comes back in the 15, if USB3 and LightPeak aren't ready. A professional computer should have professional I/O, and even if people are prepared to drop upward of $2,000 on a laptop, that does not mean we want to carry a 17 around. I'd entertain losing the optical drive for this, but hope the more compact chipset and the slightly smaller battery that's presumably needed to power it will open enough room anyway.
Oh; and stick with 16:10 screens. Anything less on the vertical is completely aggravating for word processing and internet.
Oh; and stick with 16:10 screens. Anything less on the vertical is completely aggravating for word processing and internet.
It's another die shrink, from 32 nanometers to 22 (i.e. the width of circuit pathways on the chip); Intel's not introducing it until late this year; and it will run at a slightly different voltage in a new type of socket on the motherboard. So definitively, no — we've already waited almost a year for an update, and by the time it comes out it will be the longest gap between refreshes on record as far as I know for a high-end Apple laptop.
To clarify, Intel alternates between a big processor upgrade — for example, this Sandy Bridge update — and then refinement of the manufacturing process, which is what Ivy Bridge will be. "Tick, tock", they call it, and it usually goes on an 18 month cycle but lately that has slipped to almost two years. It alternates between the two.
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The 'high end' and the 'low end' thirteen inch are really not that much different in speed and capability. IMHO you would be better served buying the low end 13 inch from Amazon and saving sales tax. Then really souping up the low end 13 inch by ordering a solid state drive and/or 8 GB of RAM from a third party outfit.
Consider it.
The GPU is going to make or break this thing for me. I know I'm getting my hopes up but I really want (another) 13" MBP. The only other laptop I'm even considering is the Lenovo Y470 with its GT 555M, which doesn't come out until May. I really doubt Apple will put in such a power sucking GPU but... I can dream, right?
I'm guessing the ODD goes in the 13" to make room for a discrete GPU. I think pro users would be disappointed by a return to Intel integrated graphics only, even though the Sandy Bridge is a lot better than Intel's previous attempts.
Yes, but everything would be smaller - so, less scrolling, more squinting. No thanks. A 15" 16:10 display is physically taller than a 15" 16:9 display, so not only are you cramming in more vertical pixels, you have less physical space to put them, resulting in much higher resolution.
Until MacOS X gets resolution independence and UI elements are measured in physical size, not number of pixels, cramming more pixels isn't the answer. Just imagine if the iPhone 4 measured their UI elements in pixels rather than points - the buttons would be too small to click, and the labels would be too small to read. That's what we're trying to avoid on the desktop.
Actually I don't. On my desk at work, my MacBook is parked right next to my external display. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.
Well I have just sold my late 2010 macbook air, so am in position to buy
Me too. Sold my 2010 MBP 13"... now I"m using an old 2006 Dell.. blah. awaiting to see what the 15" MBP has to offer for the pricepoint.. if not I'm looking at SB alternatives.
If you take the Optical out of the Pro, isn't it really an air? If it is really Pro, it should actually have a blu-ray option, as is available on every other major manufacturer. Even Acer has that option. Apple is still more interested in making sure your access to HD is through their iTunes. Why would a Pro want to author or display "defacto" HD content content anyway? Final Cut Pro- not. I have to use Adobe's Suite.
It wouldn't surprise me if they offered an option of a second drive rather than an optical drive.
It's quite plausible given the popularity of Macbook Air and I think people are becoming ready for it. And given they aren't pushing Blu-Ray probably for movies on iTunes gives them more reason to do it.
Personally I don't want one, at all. I never use one anymore and the option to have another drive in RAID 0 would be much preferred. OS upgrades are the only times I use my optical drive so I want OS X Lion on a USB drive rather than a DVD thanks.
I don't think we will see much in the way of case changes for macbook pro. The manufacturing process of current unibody would have been expensive to implement and i really can't see it changing. It will be Sandy Bridge plus more RAM and better Graphics. Possibly SSD as standard but I doubt that given the price.
March 1 seems over optimistic to me too.
It's quite plausible given the popularity of Macbook Air and I think people are becoming ready for it. And given they aren't pushing Blu-Ray probably for movies on iTunes gives them more reason to do it.
Personally I don't want one, at all. I never use one anymore and the option to have another drive in RAID 0 would be much preferred. OS upgrades are the only times I use my optical drive so I want OS X Lion on a USB drive rather than a DVD thanks.
I don't think we will see much in the way of case changes for macbook pro. The manufacturing process of current unibody would have been expensive to implement and i really can't see it changing. It will be Sandy Bridge plus more RAM and better Graphics. Possibly SSD as standard but I doubt that given the price.
March 1 seems over optimistic to me too.
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Inversely, The white Macbook has an optical drive yet it's not a Pro. All I'm saying is that there's really not much meaning with the "Pro" in Macbook Pro.
OK, now we are actually wasting time commenting on BS like this?
As if Denmark was the center of the universe that they would actually have Apple information before the rest of the freakin world? Just because some blogger believes he is on to something? giving the minutiae and trivia a huge platform will be the internets downfall.
As if Denmark was the center of the universe that they would actually have Apple information before the rest of the freakin world? Just because some blogger believes he is on to something? giving the minutiae and trivia a huge platform will be the internets downfall.
Not if you keep the better screen surface of the 13" Pro (I much prefer looking at the glossy screen and I assume they'll be upping the resolution regardless), replace the ODD with more battery, improved graphics, and a small weight reduction. Not to mention the processor power, memory expansion option, usable ports (esp. ethernet) that a slightly larger form factor allows.
I have handled the 13" Air several times and can always resist buying it; I don't like the screen and bezel, lack of ports, (relatively) weak processing power. It almost seems uncomfortably light (if that's possible)--not so much that it's super light, it's that with the screen open it tends to tip away from you when it's on your lap.
The current MBP 13 with no ODD and a 120GB SSD would be near ideal for me, though I would like a bit higher screen resolution. If there's only an incremental update coming I may just pick up a refurb MBP 13 and buy one of those SSD units that installs in the ODD bay.
The March 1st date seems rather unlikely, as it only gives nine days of production ramp following Intel's February 20 re-release of their Sandy Bridge chipset.
Late March/early April would be a more logical release date for new MacBook Pros with Sandy Bridge.
Late March/early April would be a more logical release date for new MacBook Pros with Sandy Bridge.
I thought Feb 20th was when intel allowed companies to start selling them and that they were already available for production?
I highly, highly doubt that Light Peak will ever take off. USB 3.0 is said to currently exceed the speed of Light Peak, which isn't even being produced yet, just developed. Light Peak will use fiber optic cable which is considerably more expensive than the type of cable used for USB.
From what I've seen, Light Peak offers slower performance than USB 3.0 at a higher price. No way would I want that on my machine. At least not yet.
From what I've seen, Light Peak offers slower performance than USB 3.0 at a higher price. No way would I want that on my machine. At least not yet.
But the optical drive is about the only common element, and not the differentiation. It is the difference in processor speed, graphics, ram, HD size, body and many more that make the Mac Book not a Pro. To remove the optical drive is to take out a truly standard feature in 95% of all computers sold. And yes, I've heard the "but we said the same thing with removal of the floppy". But that was because it was replaced with a much higher capacity, better physical media. USB is good, but is not able to affordably replace a 8.5 GB DL DVD that I can get in bulk for 20 cents. And can't touch a 50 GB blu-ray (which Apple is the sole abstainer from). I have Adobe CS5 Design. Downloading that is still not a realistic option for most ISPs (not without doing it over-night), and that would be a lot of USB drives, or one expensive one. And some of the files I created, I am not going to share via email, ISP's are not anywhere near that yet for upload, nor is Mobile BB. You could use an entire year's upload with AT&T with just a few files
Casual users may be able to get by without the Optical, but to me, a "Pro" capability means being able to easily use pro software, author and distribute massive files to co-workers etc. And at times, Optical media is still hard to beat for affordability and capacity. (I recognize I don't set the "casual user" definition- so just an opinion)
In my opinion, a Pro laptop is going to be normally plugged in at a job-site anyway. Sure, you want the ability to work unplugged TOO, but I view that as the Air's position. Ultra-portable, ultra-light and long battery life gained through trade-offs such as no optical, SSD etc. But I don't imagine a lot of people spending the whole day at a desk using an 11 or 13 inch air as their regular "work computer" that is plugged in at home and plugged in at work, with a larger screen/work space. To me, a Pro computer should have the most capability crammed into it, and today, Optical is still a regularly used capability. But that is just me, can't decide other people's use of course, and don't want to offend anyone by saying what is or is not Pro"