More Claims of MacBook Pro Adopting MacBook Air Form Factor in 2012 Redesign

[Jynto]

What does "think different" have to do with Apple's entire laptop line sharing the same aesthetics? Please clue me in to the irony you see because I'm missing it completely. The "Think Different" campaign was about the Mac OS, not any Mac's form factor.

Because different ≠ the same. I'm not sure if I can explain it any simpler. It's basically a double standard if they say that their software is oh so 'different' and embraces a different ideology with its hardware.

Incidentally, I'm not sure what it's supposed to be different to, apart from Windows. Mac OS forces more conformity on its users than most other OSes.

(And cue the downvotes)

 

[flottenheimer]

Can't wait.
Will buy.

 

[Icaras]

It's not going anywhere. Case in point: it hasn't yet.

It's already disappeared in half of Apple's Mac product line, so what does that tell you?

No, see you're confused. That person actually has heard of it, they, like most other MacBook Pro users, prefer to not have to carry around an external device to achieve functionality that previously existed internally and isn't at the cost of the would-be mistakes of Apple's design team to appease all of the MacBook Air obsessed members in these forums.

No, I'm really not confused. You're too focused on the dwindling group of users who are finding it "inconvenient" to carry around a simple, super thin, super light peripheral that weighs less than three quarters of a pound. You can't seem to see more than a couple of generations past you to see that the real future belongs to an ODD-less market.

And how do you know that particular person has heard of it or not? I'm not going to sift through his/her entire post history to determine whether or not he has knowledge of said peripheral, nor am I going to go on epic mega quoted thread vendetta such as yourself just to prove a point.

Your focusing on problems and negative complaints that few people on internet forums are bringing up. It doesn't matter how many people you can keep track here that are getting pissy over the removal of the ODD. Do you not notice that the MBA is the best selling Mac in Apple's lineup? Macbook Air trumps the other Macs when it comes to sales. Customers are indeed voting with their wallets and they're saying that not having an ODD is not that important to them.

Mac Mini was the last one to drop and it and Apple will do the same with the MBP lineup. Its inevitable and the few who do need it are not so important to Apple's bottom line that they'll keep hanging on to it.

 

[swagi]

Yes, Blu-Ray is meaningful only to a minority of the computing population, and an even smaller minority of the Mac buying population.

It should be quite obvious to anyone paying any attention at all to Apple that they want people to download movies and music from iTunes.

----------



Do you mean Windows 8 ARM, which will have a closed ecosystem (running apps only from the Windows Store), be tied to the hardware (no more separate software install media), and break compatibility with the last 26 years of Windows software?

So, as you weigh in your anecdotal evidence I'll weigh in mine. Yes, the current Mac buying population cares about MBAs and no optical. This also may be due to the fact that there are a lot of people in the Mac community like me.

I've been buying Macs for over a decade now. I currently need a new laptop - I also may shell out the money for a new desktop. I will not buy anything not equipped with a BluRay-reading option. Period.

My wallet is more than ready and each and every day I have to stop myself from buying a souped up VAIO. I don't care for the price - but I do care to have my media in the highest available quality on the go.

So - as you seem to have fond inside knowledge on Win8ARM - despite the developer preview not being live - care to elaborate if it's worth the wait for a real souped up ARM-based super-tablet and then get a Win8 desktop to rip the Blus I love without quality loss?

Man - I'm talkin 48kHz PCM sound. Can't live without it on several music Blus I have.

 

[mrbib]

It is pretty obvious that Apple is going to screw us all when it comes to SSD storage on the new Macbook "Air". 256GB is the maximum storage, but I think Apple is going to give all the new Macbook user free iCloud storage service of 50GB+.

Also, no one mentioned anything about USB 3.0 ports. I wouldn't want to stuck with TB and USB 2.0 when all the cheaper peripheral in the WinPC world will be moving to USB 3.0 standard.

 

[Blues003]

This article has so much iff about it I have trouble deciding wheather I should laugh at it (specially when it came from an Appleinsider article which had 0 new sources; how is that considered "More claims"?) or cry at the news it brings.

I know I might get a lot of negative feedback, but in any case, let's analyze all the implications of the hypothetical unification of Apple's laptop lines, or even simply of a more-MBA-shaped MBP.


#1 The Optical Drive

Apple is clearly moving away from the physical media. They eliminated a lot of boxed software from their stores, they presented a Optical Driveless laptop (Macbook Air), and they even removed the Optical Drive from one of their previously Optical Drive-holding desktops (Mac Mini).

As alternative solutions, they started handling out OS X on USB flashdrives and created digital platforms and services which allow downloading and/or streaming of content.

Furthermore, even outside the Apple ecosystem physical media is losing some importance. A common evoked argument is one that "music and video professionals need it." Curiously enough, I've read multiple posts from music and video professionals on this same forum stating they have long ditched CDs/DVDs as a fulcral means of storage.

Removal of the Optical Drive is, as such, a reasonable (and perhaps even likely) expectation to have, regardless of a redesign happening or not. It's not the Optical Drive that's stopping the laptop unification.


#2 Storage

This is where, in my opinion, it starts getting iffy.

As is stands, SSDs are still incredibly expensive. Changing from HDDs to SSDs completely would either imply Apple would a) Lower its profit margins drastically, or b) offer much smaller storage space.

Since the former option is a definite no-go for Apple, one questions how smart it would be for Apple to lower storage space offerings. Let us not forget that taking out the Optical Drive basically means we'd rely more on our laptop's storage space to carry our movies, music or pictures with us. How can Apple do that if they remove the Optical Drive? Apple does not still offer a solution that can comfortably counter this issue. And if your solution is "carry an external HDD", wouldn't that defeat the purpose of a lighter laptop in the first place?


#3 Graphics and Screen

Such a massive redesign would have big implications on graphics. Pro consumers need the graphical power for their work, and such a drastic redesign with GPU-withdrawal would cause serious problems on that area.

Furthermore, there have been rumors about a Retina-display laptops from Apple. They really have to up their game (1200*800? Really?), and good graphical capabilities will seriously be needed. I very much doubt the Intel HD 4000 could comfortably process a retina-display 17" screen.

Finally, it has also been well-established that the MBA has laughable screen quality in comparison to the MBP (I'm not talking resolution).


#4 Heat and Performance

The current MBPs are known for heating substancially. Making MBPs thinner would either increase these problems further, or demand Apple to downgrade their laptops' CPUs, possibly even skipping on the quad-core option for 13"s.

With ULV chipsets the problem would be (partially?) solved, but performance would take an important hit as well.


#5 Connectivity, Battery Life

Finally, these are still other things the current MBP line offers that the MBA does not. Unifying the laptop line would compromise both of them.


In conclusion: The unification of MBPs and MBAs would have important consequences in terms of functionality. We're talking about having less storage space for all your files without an Optical Drive to make up for it, less graphical power (would it even be enough for Retina?), lower processing power, lower-quality screens, more heat problems, worse port-selection and lower battery life.

All of that so we could lose a couple hundred grams on weight (which would easily be gained back if we ever needed an external HDD).

In conclusion, I do believe there could be a redesign on the MBP line in order to make it slightly thinner and lighter (something among the lines of the Lenovo U300/U300S line). I also believe the Optical Drive might be going away next release. What I don't believe is that they will make a radical redesign, unifying their mobile lines and abdicating of the entire prosumer market or of their best-selling laptop (13" MBP).

 

[Mixa]

I have a relatively simple question for all you MacRumors experts. I'm attending university in Holland and am heading back to New York for the first week of March. My 'old school' white 13" Macbook is falling apart and was planning on buying a slightly upgraded 15" Pro or a full-option 13" Macbook Air.

I'm still deciding which is the better option for me, but would like your honest opinion on whether I should buy my new laptop next month, or wait till my next trip back (probably September) to buy the new generation. A 15" air would complete me. I think my current laptop could probably hold out until September but it'll be close... This is quite the dilemma

 

[Maddix]

Who here thinks the current MBP needs to be slimmed down? I actually prefer the size and weight of my 2011 13" MBP over a 13" MBA. If anything, I would like Apple to start using reversed dome shaped keys like ThinkPad Edge laptops use.

 

[KnightWRX]

One more thing I'd like to see: If the new Macbooks are truly "instant on", Apple could ditch the on / off switch altogether. You open it, it's on. You close it, it's off. Don't know why I'm so attracted to this. Maybe because it would make them even more "natural" to use, in a kind of iPad / iPhone-Style.

Love that idea...

You'll be disappointed to learn that the MBA "instant-on" isn't anything new or even magical. It's the same instant on you get on every Apple laptops coming back from sleep.

What's changed is that coming back from hibernation (deep sleep) doesn't show you the grey screen with small white ovals on the bottom and it comes back up in 6-7 seconds instead of about 20.

----------

I can't tell if you're trolling or not. How are optical drives and UNIX even close to the same thing? One has mechanical moving parts because it's hardware and the other is, well, software.

The funny part of your statement and his allusion to Unix is that it seems Apple hasn't registered OS X Lion for the Unix trademark :

http://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/

Only Snow Leopard and Leopard have gone through certification. So in a sense, not unlike the optical drive, it seems Apple is abandoning Unix also (or at least, passing the test suite).

 

[icanhazapple]

This article has so much iff about it I have trouble deciding wheather I should laugh at it (specially when it came from an Appleinsider article which had 0 new sources; how is that considered "More claims"?) or cry at the news it brings.

I know I might get a lot of negative feedback, but in any case, let's analyze all the implications of the hypothetical unification of Apple's laptop lines, or even simply of a more-MBA-shaped MBP.


#1 The Optical Drive

Apple is clearly moving away from the physical media. They eliminated a lot of boxed software from their stores, they presented a Optical Driveless laptop (Macbook Air), and they even removed the Optical Drive from one of their previously Optical Drive-holding desktops (Mac Mini).

As alternative solutions, they started handling out OS X on USB flashdrives and created digital platforms and services which allow downloading and/or streaming of content.

Furthermore, even outside the Apple ecosystem physical media is losing some importance. A common evoked argument is one that "music and video professionals need it." Curiously enough, I've read multiple posts from music and video professionals on this same forum stating they have long ditched CDs/DVDs as a fulcral means of storage.

Removal of the Optical Drive is, as such, a reasonable (and perhaps even likely) expectation to have, regardless of a redesign happening or not. It's not the Optical Drive that's stopping the laptop unification.


#2 Storage

This is where, in my opinion, it starts getting iffy.

As is stands, SSDs are still incredibly expensive. Changing from HDDs to SSDs completely would either imply Apple would a) Lower its profit margins drastically, or b) offer much smaller storage space.

Since the former option is a definite no-go for Apple, one questions how smart it would be for Apple to lower storage space offerings. Let us not forget that taking out the Optical Drive basically means we'd rely more on our laptop's storage space to carry our movies, music or pictures with us. How can Apple do that if they remove the Optical Drive? Apple does not still offer a solution that can comfortably counter this issue. And if your solution is "carry an external HDD", wouldn't that defeat the purpose of a lighter laptop in the first place?


#3 Graphics and Screen

Such a massive redesign would have big implications on graphics. Pro consumers need the graphical power for their work, and such a drastic redesign with GPU-withdrawal would cause serious problems on that area.

Furthermore, there have been rumors about a Retina-display laptops from Apple. They really have to up their game (1200*800? Really?), and good graphical capabilities will seriously be needed. I very much doubt the Intel HD 4000 could comfortably process a retina-display 17" screen.

Finally, it has also been well-established that the MBA has laughable screen quality in comparison to the MBP (I'm not talking resolution).


#4 Heat and Performance

The current MBPs are known for heating substancially. Making MBPs thinner would either increase these problems further, or demand Apple to downgrade their laptops' CPUs, possibly even skipping on the quad-core option for 13"s.

With ULV chipsets the problem would be (partially?) solved, but performance would take an important hit as well.


#5 Connectivity, Battery Life

Finally, these are still other things the current MBP line offers that the MBA does not. Unifying the laptop line would compromise both of them.


In conclusion: The unification of MBPs and MBAs would have important consequences in terms of functionality. We're talking about having less storage space for all your files without an Optical Drive to make up for it, less graphical power (would it even be enough for Retina?), lower processing power, lower-quality screens, more heat problems, worse port-selection and lower battery life.

All of that so we could lose a couple hundred grams on weight (which would easily be gained back if we ever needed an external HDD).

In conclusion, I do believe there could be a redesign on the MBP line in order to make it slightly thinner and lighter (something among the lines of the Lenovo U300/U300S line). I also believe the Optical Drive might be going away next release. What I don't believe is that they will make a radical redesign, unifying their mobile lines and abdicating of the entire prosumer market or of their best-selling laptop (13" MBP).

reasonable analysis. I pray we get a SSD + Platter HDD hybrid like the iMac's. SSD for OS X + Apps, HDD for data storage. Optical drive is out. Retina display in. And discrete graphics. Please let there be discrete graphics.

 

[gnasher729]

Do you think i should wait? any estimated release of the new redesigned MBP?

The only time when you should wait is immediately before some event when Apple is reasonable likely to release something new. At any other time, the fact is that your Mac should last at least three years but more likely five, and you can be sure that for most of the time you will not have the latest model. That's a fact, no matter when you buy. But that is outweighed by the fact that by buying earlier, you can start using the Mac earlier.

And any redesign at the moment is just rumors and might never actually happen.

 

[nelsonammo]

Here's what I see:

The 13 inch MBP's are discontinued and the 11" and 13" MBAs (or MBs if they want to rebrand them) will be dual core with integrated graphics. The 15" and 17" MBPs will be quad core, with discrete graphics, no optical drive and either SSD only or a dual SSD/HDD combo. They will not have firewire either and may or may not have an ethernet slot.

Externally the new MBPs and current MBAs will be so similar that they might even just call the entire line Macbooks and have the 11 and 13 inchs just be less powerful than the 15 and 17 inch ones.

 

[gnasher729]

The only problem with the redesign is the storage space loss with the SSD transition.

Not the only problem. Reduced battery life, reduced maximum RAM, fewer ports, removing the space for optical drive which serves nicely for a second hard drive. Much harder to upgrade.

Processing power is not a problem. Ivy Bridge CPUs have the Configurable TDP feature (linked by me on a previous post, downranked for unknown reason), so the voltage can be tuned down when on battery (resulting on an Air-like CPU), and brought back up when charging (Pro-like power).

So what? No matter what the advance in a small form factor, you can always get significantly more power from a larger form factor. And I like a powerful computer when running on batteries. Which can be a lot larger on the current MBP.

The optical drive will go away, deal with it.

The only proper answer to someone saying "deal with it" is "******* you". In every single case. "Deal with it" is not in my vocabulary.

 

[thekev]

Very curious to see how much GPU and CPU performance they'll be able to keep in a 15". Quite the design challenge...!

Macrumors is trolling you with the images. I'm not sure if there are any available discrete gpu options yet that would work in such a package, and Ivy Bridge cpus still max out at a 45W tdp if they aren't being throttled. Apple uses every ULV cpu available currently. I wouldn't be surprised if it's just a 15" Air tacked on to the line. That's what I'm expecting, with the possible discontinuation of the 13" mbp.

However, if Apple thinned down slightly, removed the optical bay and migrated to a (normal 2.5 "SATA) SSD+HDD setup then I'd call that progress. I mean, who uses optical drives anymore?

The seemingly extreme weight difference isn't so much about thinness. IT drops several heavy parts, and uses lighter versions of a number of things. The shell isn't where they're dropping most of the weight (compared things like typical weights on 2.5" drives and optical drives). People also often compare the 13" air to the 15" pro. I still think they're just adding a 15" Air to the line for now.

Here's what I see:

The 13 inch MBP's are discontinued and the 11" and 13" MBAs (or MBs if they want to rebrand them) will be dual core with integrated graphics. The 15" and 17" MBPs will be quad core, with discrete graphics, no optical drive and either SSD only or a dual SSD/HDD combo. They will not have firewire either and may or may not have an ethernet slot.

Externally the new MBPs and current MBAs will be so similar that they might even just call the entire line Macbooks and have the 11 and 13 inchs just be less powerful than the 15 and 17 inch ones.

Except it doesn't work that way. Even if they spread things out a bit via optical drive removal, thinking in terms of board design and the machine density, I'm not confident that they could get such parts to run in a machine of that size without underclocking them. The current 13" if you upgrade the cpu fully, will have the most powerful 17W cpu that Intel offers. Don't even mention ARM as it doesn't come remotely close.

 

[nelsonammo]

Well if the 15" MBP doesn't have quad core and discrete graphics then what's the point? That's all that seperates the current MBAs from the MBPs (that and more ports/optical drive and a hard drive and once you get the SSDs big enough you don't need the HDD). The new 15" MBP doesn't have to be as thin as the current MBAs. As it is, the 13" MBP is redundant when you can just buy an MBA instead.

 

[gpat]

Not the only problem. Reduced battery life, reduced maximum RAM, fewer ports, removing the space for optical drive which serves nicely for a second hard drive. Much harder to upgrade.


So what? No matter what the advance in a small form factor, you can always get significantly more power from a larger form factor. And I like a powerful computer when running on batteries. Which can be a lot larger on the current MBP.


The only proper answer to someone saying "deal with it" is "******* you". In every single case. "Deal with it" is not in my vocabulary.

Apple educated its customers to deal with design choices for a lot of time now. They'll do whatever is in their projects and the customers will either buy or switch. It happened for the MacBooks lots of times, like with the ExpressCard to SD slot change, or no matte screen on Pro 13", or when they tried to kill FireWire on consumer Macs. The arguings about how right or wrong is to do something on message boards means **** to them.

 

[mdgm]

Really want to keep ethernet (no USB ethernet adapter is not fast enough to do gigabit properly and Thunderbolt display is expensive and better not to need to get another adapter), replaceable 2.5" hard drive and upgradeable memory. If Apple doesn't allow user upgrades of memory that will be really bad. So often Macs can handle more RAM than Apple offers and being able to upgrade extends the usefulness of a Mac. 2.5" hard drives also allow using of HDDs or SSDs (whichever someone prefers).

Would like internal optical drive as well, but Apple wants people to get everything through their low quality iTunes Store

 

[LostSoul80]

#2 Storage

This is where, in my opinion, it starts getting iffy.

As is stands, SSDs are still incredibly expensive. Changing from HDDs to SSDs completely would either imply Apple would a) Lower its profit margins drastically, or b) offer much smaller storage space.

Since the former option is a definite no-go for Apple, one questions how smart it would be for Apple to lower storage space offerings. Let us not forget that taking out the Optical Drive basically means we'd rely more on our laptop's storage space to carry our movies, music or pictures with us. How can Apple do that if they remove the Optical Drive? Apple does not still offer a solution that can comfortably counter this issue. And if your solution is "carry an external HDD", wouldn't that defeat the purpose of a lighter laptop in the first place?

How about a bigger gap between the Pro and the consumer line?
Apple can stop producing 13" MBPros and enhance the 15" and 17", even making them more pricey.
It's about what the executives decide it's better to do. There isn't a clear logic to follow, otherwise everyone would start making the "next big thing".
To me this is to decide: a Pro line up, defenitely aimed at the real Pros (read: more expensive machines), or another approach in linking consumer and Pro segments.
The latter sounds more likely to me, and in this logic we won't see SSDs built in nor more advanced graphics.

 

[iSamurai]

I'd like to see statistics of people actually using their optical drives on a regular basis before they claim the future MBPs should retain the drive (and vice versa). I guess it's up to those who use a MBP-spec'ed machine as a portable DVD player but if you lug those DVD wallets around you probably can also carry a USB-powered optical drive with it. Back in the days CDs held software or music where people went into stores to purchase them - not quite so today anymore anyway.

 

[CASLondon]

Here are my predictions:

MacBook Pro 13, 15, 17 get dropped.

Macbook Air rebranded MacBook

------------

All Macbooks will have:


128GB SSD minimum

4GB Ram minimum (upgradable to at least 8GB)

Thunderbolt port

USB port(s)

SD card slot (except for 11 inch)

Audio In/Out

HD Facetime Camera

Microphone

Backlit-keyboard

----------

What Macbooks will not have:


Firewire, not even twice as fast as USB 2 and a fraction of Thunderbolt speed

Ethernet Port - the majority don't need them and next generation wireless technology is just around the corner.

Traditional hard drives - SSD is the future, especially for laptops.

Internal DVD super drive - if you need one buy external. If you need it on the go, rip the DVD/movie.

------

For those who think Apple cares about its professional market, think again. Look at the Mac Pro. It's the flagship Apple computer, and it hasn't even gotten thunderbolt - a technology that wast touted as being amazing for video editing and the likes. It hasn't been updated in nearly 18 months and it might never see another update. Remember the first thing Steve Jobs did when he came back to Apple. He cut products, afraid the company would become too fragmented. The Mac Pro no longer first on Apple's business concept. (Plus, they will need more room in the Apple Stores for all those ixxxxxx products and MacBooks.)

I'm sure you're right about optical drives, ssds, and firewire, but I don't see at all how or why they would lose an ethernet port. There are lots of reasons why people want and need the option to wire into a network, even if wifi goes gigabit this year.

Also, i go back n forth about your comment on the pro users. When I think you are right about that, I think they are being strategically dim even if the cash makes that make sense for now.

 

[bushido]

a 17 mbp with an air design will be better than any guiottine (is that how you spell it?) and will also serve as a pan for my eggs on the go

 

[justperry]

a 17 mbp with an air design will be better than any guiottine (is that how you spell it?) and will also serve as a pan for my eggs on the go

Guillotine

 

[thekev]

What Macbooks will not have:


Firewire, not even twice as fast as USB 2 and a fraction of Thunderbolt speed

Ethernet Port - the majority don't need them and next generation wireless technology is just around the corner.

Traditional hard drives - SSD is the future, especially for laptops.

Internal DVD super drive - if you need one buy external. If you need it on the go, rip the DVD/movie.

------

For those who think Apple cares about its professional market, think again. Look at the Mac Pro. It's the flagship Apple computer, and it hasn't even gotten thunderbolt - a technology that wast touted as being amazing for video editing and the likes. It hasn't been updated in nearly 18 months and it might never see another update. Remember the first thing Steve Jobs did when he came back to Apple. He cut products, afraid the company would become too fragmented. The Mac Pro no longer first on Apple's business concept. (Plus, they will need more room in the Apple Stores for all those ixxxxxx products and MacBooks.)

Predictions are fine, but you're pretty ignorant on facts. Usb2 doesn't necessarily outperform firewire. I don't really like firewire, and I ditched it long ago, but usb2 was always spiky and firewire was generally the superior choice. The advantages of usb were always price and availability of a wide range of devices. Ethernet is still used where wireless isn't available, and we don't need more flakey dongles that die at random times. Thunderbolt is actually outperformed by other technology currently available for the mac pro. It's obvious that it's been ignored, and they could have bumped some things, but Apple has gone to a trend of basically never doing mid cycle refreshes, so without new cpus, you don't see a new machine.

 

[justperry]

The things which are important to Me in a new MacbookPro are IvyBridge Full speeds, dedicated Graphics higher than the last one and Ports.
Don't ditch the Ethernet Port, it is by far more important than ODD(to Me), there are still lots of times I use it.
For instance when My Airport Express acts up or when My AppleTv(1 Gen) OSX install can't connect wirelessly.

 

[pmz]

I'm sure you're right about optical drives, ssds, and firewire, but I don't see at all how or why they would lose an ethernet port. There are lots of reasons why people want and need the option to wire into a network, even if wifi goes gigabit this year.

Also, i go back n forth about your comment on the pro users. When I think you are right about that, I think they are being strategically dim even if the cash makes that make sense for now.

Because you are not up to date on the capabilities of Thunderbolt.

1. Most owners of MOBILE Macs use wireless far more often than Ethernet.
2. For when you're at your home/office desk, the new Thunderbolt hubs have an Ethernet, FireWire, and USB ports for you to plug everything in. That hub connects by a single cable to your Thunderbolt port. All the benefits of Ethernet, FireWire, and more, over one cable. Nice, eh?