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

[RBR2]

Awhile back, Apple signed a deal with Liquidmetal Technologies for exclusive use of their metal in computers. Just wondering if any of those early rumors might come into fruition where the traditional MacBook and MacBook Air models machined out of a solid piece of aluminum might be replaced with a LiquidMetal model?

That's a good question. I have my doubts that we will see it in the next release because it will probably consist mostly of the Ivy Bridge CPU update with TB ports added where they had not been previously. There may be some graphics changes, but I am not expecting much. The big question for a lot of people is the status of the Mac Pro. It is looking more and more like it is approaching the end of the trail. It is widely suspected that, if Apple releases a new Mac Pro at all, this may be the last one. It is decision time for people who want a tower by whatever name.

But, as to the LiquidMetal, if it saves Apple money and/or speeds the design and manufacturing process, we should see it and sooner than later. If it saves some weight, so much the better.

 

[KnightWRX]

But, as to the LiquidMetal, if it saves Apple money and/or speeds the design and manufacturing process, we should see it and sooner than later. If it saves some weight, so much the better.

Apple uses LiquidMetal for the SIM ejection tool of iPhones.

 

[tigress666]

That's what the Internet is for. I have access to all my files at home from anywhere in the world. The NAS does have a configuration for a "default gateway" and thus can access the Internet (and the reverse is true).

Not to mention why would I want to drag along all my data (huge anime collection, pictures, TV series) when I travel and risk losing them due to damaging the laptop or losing it ? That's just ridiculous. They're safer at home and if I really do absolutely have to have a few of them, I can just pull them over the net.

Again, most versatile and flexible solution and safest one to boot.

I'm sorry, even if you are going to say I should sit there and juggle around what files I want to bring with me so that I can deal with the smaller storage, how about this:

I don't want to trust all my files to one company's servers. I want them on my computer (and on a backup) and maybe on their servers as well. But what happens if something happens to the company? Or if for some reason there is some sort of mis understanding and they think I violated some term and suddenly cut me off of my files when I need access to them (Google for example has cut off all google services to people if they violate G+'s terms or here is the important part, *think* they violated G+'s terms, it's why I won't use their cloud system cause they believe everything should be on their servers and not on my computer which means they could easily totally f** me over if they for some reason decide to block me access all the sudden).

It's why I don't like Google's idea of a chrome book and yes, I'd be upset if Apple decides that is the way to go (right now I don't have something against their cloud cause it is more of a synching service, not a keep all my stuff there and I just use my computer to connect to get access to my info and applications).

No, what's versatile is having my files with me and also using the cloud to synch changes when I am connected to internet. And not having to move around files. Or hope that I will always have access to them (I will long as my computer works and even if the hard drive dies, synching to the cloud when I get a chance will fix that).

So yes, the cloud does offer versatility, but it's not a replacement for having hard drive storage!!!

 

[KnightWRX]

So yes, the cloud does offer versatility, but it's not a replacement for having hard drive storage!!!

I never talked about Cloud Storage. Re-read my post. I don't trust "Cloud Storage" myself and would never use it.

 

[deconstruct60]

Most folks have singles. However, as written, it implied someone couldn't do two connectors. Sorry about that.

However with modern drives ExpressCard is a limited solution .........

Sonnet Tempo
6Gb/s eSATA ExpressCard Host Adapter
RAID 0 and 1 | Up to 2 eSATA devices

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/SATAIIIE2E34/

Given PCI-e v1.0 is 2.5 Gbit/s and ExpressCard is only one lane ..... exactly how do you get 6Gb/s performance out of this card????
Even ExpressCard v2.0 with a single PCI-e v 2.0 at 500MB/s (4Gb/s)
is a deep curiosity on how to deliver that kind of performance.

So the reality is that it is not a 6Gb/s card. The most commonly deployed ExpressCard slots actually can't even keep up with 3Gb/s SATA let alone 6. It will work if drop two 3Gb/s HDDs on it. However if try to pair up two 6Gb/s SSDs (that can actually sustain at over 3Gb/s speeds ) in RAID 0 it will cap the drives. Thunderbolt won't.

So yes vendors have sold them. If want to run drives from 2-3 years ago might even want to leverage one. However, drives from the 6Gb/s era... that's just money could have spent on a TB solution that will actually keep up.

 

[deconstruct60]

Right now, with tapeless cameras beginning to dominate, my macbook pro goes in the field on shoots, P2 and XDCAM cards are popped out of cameras and into the expresscard slot, the data cloned to 2 external hard drives (moving to thunderbolt these days),
....
There is no point to have even a faster, quad core MBA in the field and a docking station at home.

The "docking station" doesn't have to be that large (no bigger than a portable HDD box ). A small box that had:

2 Thunderbolt connectors
1 PC-Card (PCMCIA )
1 ExpressCard
1 eSATA port

would satisfy all of the folks with legacy drives. There wouldn't be a need for "TB only" storage and could just leverage the legacy storage already have. Bluntly, most of the storage used by "Pro Video" is lagging behind the current faster and more affordable options. It is coupled to equipment with large sunk costs so folks have a strong motivation to cling to it, but that doesn't necessarily mean the MBP needs a ExpressCard socket. It just needs to be able to provide a reasonable solution for connecting. Thunderbolt certainly can deliver legacy connectivity. That's one of its primarily target markets.

Similarly, it wouldn't hurt if the camera companies came out with some kind of "combo multislot " box that had something like:

1 TB port
1 socket for every somewhat proprietary card they ever shipped.
1 forward looking socket which they'd be getting off the proprietary card cycle. (SDXC or XQD or SATA USM module )

 

[RBR2]

Apple uses LiquidMetal for the SIM ejection tool of iPhones.

Apple does not use special SIM ejection tools anymore. They use paperclips.

 

[KnightWRX]

Apple does not use special SIM ejection tools anymore. They use paperclips.

Uh ? My iPhone 4S came with the same old liquidmetal SIM ejection tool that my 3GS had.

 

[xumax]

I dont think so ...

They wouldn't be so crazy to put the pro in the Air form factor.

Have you ever realized that the form factor of a 15 pro is near to perfect?

And what happens if you change something perfect?

Right, you will mess it up.

Just my 2 cents.

Uma

 

[KnightWRX]

They wouldn't be so crazy to put the Mini in the Nano form factor.

Have you ever realized that the form factor of a iPod Mini is near to perfect?

And what happens if you change something perfect?

See how changing a few things around makes it a whole new game ? Apple can and does "change perfect" sometimes.

 

[RBR2]

Uh ? My iPhone 4S came with the same old liquidmetal SIM ejection tool that my 3GS had.

Neither the iPhone 4 or 4S I got came with one and when the Apple Store had to replace the iPhone 4 because of a dead home button the Genius got a paperclip to take the SIM card out of the old one. I asked and was told they were no longer provided or used.

I can't tell you when they stopped doing it, but the iPhone 4S I got was a first day one.

[Edit] In any event, I think the discussion is more about the use of LiquidMetal for cases rather than a key to eject SIM cards.

Cheers

 

[Cubytus]

the only reason the MacBook Unibody got renamed to MacBook Pro was so Steve wouldn't lose face backing out from his statement.

Hehe so true. But it's still itching that Apple tends to lose what they consider "legacy" when some of us finally made the jump to these pretended legacy technologies as they become more affordable, such as is the case, to a limited extent, with FireWire and (data) DVD burning.

Can you find me a slim notebook that matched the specs of mine, back in October 2010, for the same or lower price ? Because I sure as heck couldn't. The 2010 MBA was darn cheap when it got introduced for the specs it had. It is just a laptop, it just happened to be exactly what I wanted for the best price out there for the specs.

Looks like a netbook on steroids for me. Sure it has SSD and 4GB RAM, but what else?

The "docking station" doesn't have to be that large (no bigger than a portable HDD box ). A small box that had:

2 Thunderbolt connectors
1 PC-Card (PCMCIA )
1 ExpressCard
1 eSATA port

would satisfy all of the folks with legacy drives. There wouldn't be a need for "TB only" storage and could just leverage the legacy storage already have.

Where is the ****ing FW 800 port? Even a HDD box is one box too much to haul, let alone with cables to lose along the way.

Bluntly, most of the storage used by "Pro Video" is lagging behind the current faster and more affordable options. It is coupled to equipment with large sunk costs so folks have a strong motivation to cling to it, but that doesn't necessarily mean the MBP needs a ExpressCard socket. It just needs to be able to provide a reasonable solution for connecting. Thunderbolt certainly can deliver legacy connectivity. That's one of its primarily target markets.

And what if the "Pro Video" crowd actually needs low-latency options that don't load the CPU that needs t be available for better tasks than I/O ? As in meatspace, it's more economical to do everything yourself, but more efficient to delegate tasks that could be better done by a specialist, even if it costs slightly more.

 

[JoeG4]

The paperclip seems more Apple-ish anyway XD

What about being a professional necessitates firewire, ethernet, an optical drive, or a hard drive on the go?

(saying all those things makes it feel like the MBA has nothing XD). They might be a lousy choice for a video editing machine if you're dealing with 100+GB videos, but you're "supposed" to use scratch disks for that and on any laptop those will usually be external drives anyway.. and if you use external drives you can.. just.. plug them into another machine when you're done with them

There are many professions where having an i7 quadcore with dedicated GPU is not required. I'd guess that many of the ones that are, are best served by a desktop anyway.

 

[CASLondon]

The "docking station" doesn't have to be that large (no bigger than a portable HDD box ). A small box that had:

2 Thunderbolt connectors
1 PC-Card (PCMCIA )
1 ExpressCard
1 eSATA port

would satisfy all of the folks with legacy drives. There wouldn't be a need for "TB only" storage and could just leverage the legacy storage already have. Bluntly, most of the storage used by "Pro Video" is lagging behind the current faster and more affordable options. It is coupled to equipment with large sunk costs so folks have a strong motivation to cling to it, but that doesn't necessarily mean the MBP needs a ExpressCard socket. It just needs to be able to provide a reasonable solution for connecting. Thunderbolt certainly can deliver legacy connectivity. That's one of its primarily target markets.

Similarly, it wouldn't hurt if the camera companies came out with some kind of "combo multislot " box that had something like:

1 TB port
1 socket for every somewhat proprietary card they ever shipped.
1 forward looking socket which they'd be getting off the proprietary card cycle. (SDXC or XQD or SATA USM module )

Pro video storage was digital betacam tapes not very long ago. One hour of HD video is a lot of data, let alone the data from new cameras like Red and Alexa, and tape is robust. The move to tapeless was not done lightly.

The hardiness, bandwidth and storage capacity needs required to move to tapeless cameras made this only recently possible. If you look at Sony and Panasonic they've now committed to these form factors throughout the product lines, and you're right, there is a lot of capital involved with moving to new ways of storage. There are now 3rd party storage add ons for cameras which allow capturing uncompressed data in large quantities, which have been taken up the last year or two. Remember, these cameras go for 5-50k dollars, they don't upgraded by users every 6 months.

You're right, an external TB box is fine, but its another thing to carry with a lots of other expensive and breakable stuff in the field.

 

[morespce54]

I feel this update will be worth the wait!

Yeah but will it make Safari snappier?

 

[MorphingDragon]

I never talked about Cloud Storage. Re-read my post. I don't trust "Cloud Storage" myself and would never use it.

We talking Private Cloud or Public Cloud.

 

[Tadros]

What point are you making?

Not that means much, but I've had two MBP's in the past...

And I have had two MacBook Pro's as well, want a cookie?

Your opinion is based solely on YOUR needs. You obviously aren't using your laptop for professional use in which you need it to be powerful, contain functionality, flexibility and compatibility. When you're someone who needs a MacBook Pro to run your business, then come and talk about them, but until then, enjoy your internet surfing on your MacBook Air. You sure can't run Pro apps on it! (Final Cut, Avid, Logic, ProTools, Photoshop, etc.) It's easy for someone to talk about things they don't understand/don't need.

 

[morespce54]

From the article...



With the switcheroo GPU trick added in, then, it might actually be possible. I suspect Apple would only do this if they also designed the "cooling dock" - can't wait to see what that might look like!

I don't know... dropping the "bulkier" MBP for a thinner MBA than add a docking station to make it run like a MBP... doesn't make much sense to me...

 

[Tadros]

I wouldn't bet the farm on that. There are lots of useful things Apple could do with that space and for the users who still need one ... an external SuperDrive will still work.




With 2 Thunderbolt (TB) ports Apple would most likely kill the Expresscard port. Think about it. ExpressCard provides a 1x PCI-e lane or USB 2.0. That is largely redundant in the context of 3 USB ports (at least one or two being USB 3.0. I doubt Apple will do 3 SuperSpeed ports) and two, 4 times faster, PCI-e delivering TB ports. The only thing the ExpressCard is doing is delivering a quirky connector to legacy equipment and at a much slower speed. All of the data stream functionality is delivered by other ports. Reusing legacy equipment is the only function.

I don't see VGA , serial ports , ADB , SCSI ports on Macs these days. ExpressCard is extremely likely to join that group.

LaCie has a TB to eSATA adapter coming.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1305703/

You could hook up two external SATA drives to it (which is more than your ExpressCard can do). Other vendors will probably offer something cheaper (with just one eSATA connector) with just one TB connector. Having 2 TB connectors means you can hook the monitor and eSATA dock rather easily.

Apple is highly unlikely to throw their design under the bus so that you can leverage the sunk costs of a ExpressCard eSATA card. Bumping up the TB port count does have benefits. If that means a purely legacy port losses its real estate spot on the side of a Mac Pro ... it will probably be toast.



If there was a larger enough market some vendor might even come up with a eSATA + BluRay/SuperDrive combo dock. All the more likely if Apple nukes the SuperDrive from every Mac. The writing is written in neon bright paint on the wall folk. Lion OS not shipping on DVD. Other Apple software not shipping on DVD. Other Mac App store software not shipping on DVD. Small (8GB) USB Flash Thumb drives being extremely affordable and larger than a DVD.

I understand that asking for 3 USB 3.0 ports is asking a lot, for now... Notice current Macs have tons of USB 2.0 slots? I just want them to start adapting USB 3.0 so eventually USB 3.0 will become the new standard and their products will contain multiple ports. Hence why it was a "Dream" lol

I can see if Thunderbolt were more popular and more products were released sooner that the need for an expresscard slot would be null, but for now I still need it to run my hardware. I was going to replace my 2007 MBP with a 15 2011 MBP but when I noticed it lacked the express card slot, I had to bump up to a 17 inch.

As for Apple not including the SuperDrive, I can see this happening for all their products except for the Pros. Maybe not the iMac at least for another 2-3 years. I know THEIR products are all digital downloads, but other companies products aren't. It'd be foolish to do away with them so soon. And I am already paying $2000 + for the notebook, it should at LEAST come with a DVD Burner if not a BluRay! I can understand if the laptops were cheap, but come on! You can't not include the current media while your competitors are...

Also, I don't think Apple went digital to get rid of the DVD Rom drive, they went digital to control their product sales without having serial numbers and to lessen costs of production of DVD Roms.

 

[Renzatic]

I never talked about Cloud Storage. Re-read my post. I don't trust "Cloud Storage" myself and would never use it.

Eh. I think the cloud is great for redundant storage, and being able to access all my files conveniently from all my various devices. But would I trust it exclusively, like in lieu of a harddrive? Not until whatever service I use plus my ISP can guarantee 100% uptime and a steady 15 meg a second (minimum) download rate.

 

[ipedro]

Sorry, you're not really looking for portability - you're looking for power, in a barely portable form.

I'm looking for both. My 17" MacBookPro is portable. I can take it with me, that's the definition of "portability". However, right now, I take it to jobs that would benefit from having a computer on site but I do avoid it because it's still a bit heavy when added to all my photo equipment. A lighter and thinner MacBookPro (air) would make that a lot more convenient.

 

[MattInOz]

although im all for a thinner macbook pro and updated screen i dont think turning everything into a macbook air is the answer. If you look at the pc ultrabooks they are not taking off really. they kinda spiked and now everyones seen it before. I think eventually this ultrabooks "fad" will pass. I dont think its wise for apple to go that route and focus on a design that is like a loud firecracker. it gets your attention but after youve seen it before its nothing special. I think eventually if they go this route folks will move away from this design in favor of expandability to either another mac or a change to a windows device. I believe air has its place but as a separate line.

The sort of unit numbers Apple is moving per quarter and in the past the number of models has grown as to keep the average unit per model in what apple must consider it's ideal range.

I think your right this will be new models additional. Maybe the Pro line will pear back to a single Factory Option for each, but i just don't think Apple will cut the number of models that dramatically, with unit number growing so strongly.

 

[KnightWRX]

Hehe so true. But it's still itching that Apple tends to lose what they consider "legacy" when some of us finally made the jump to these pretended legacy technologies as they become more affordable, such as is the case, to a limited extent, with FireWire and (data) DVD burning.

If you've just "made the jump" to DVD burning, you're about 10 years late. DVD burners have been cheap forever. Same for FW really. And they are all still available for the MBA through external options/adapters.

Looks like a netbook on steroids for me. Sure it has SSD and 4GB RAM, but what else?

A decent GPU (nVidia's 320m integrated graphics), a laptop class CPU (instead of netbook class Atoms and AMD APUs), a screen with high resolution (1440x900), all in a 2.9 lbs package with SSD and 4GB of RAM.

What else do you want really ? Again, go back to October 2010, find me such a computer for cheaper than the MBA. I couldn't.

Neither the iPhone 4 or 4S I got came with one and when the Apple Store had to replace the iPhone 4 because of a dead home button the Genius got a paperclip to take the SIM card out of the old one. I asked and was told they were no longer provided or used.

I can't tell you when they stopped doing it, but the iPhone 4S I got was a first day one.

Again, they never stopped. Did you get a Verizon (CDMA) iPhone 4S per chance ? Those don't have a need for SIMs. Anyway, to prove I'm not lying here :



It even has a nice little drawing of a iPhone 4/4S with the SIM ejection tool being used.

[Edit] In any event, I think the discussion is more about the use of LiquidMetal for cases rather than a key to eject SIM cards.

Yes it was, and in case you missed my point, it was this : There are no "Liquid Metal cases". The liquid metal deal was for the SIM ejection tools. What properties does Liquid Metal bring to the table above and beyond what aluminum does ? No one can ever answer that. Everyone has a hard-on for it because they think it's black. It's not, it's the same grey color as what we have now.

Your opinion is based solely on YOUR needs.

So are all the so called "Pros". What's your point ? I think his point was that you're no more a Pro because you need a big CPU to compensate for something else than someone that can make do with a lesser CPU. And I tend to agree. The size of your CPU does not dictate your level of "Proness".

Eh. I think the cloud is great for redundant storage, and being able to access all my files conveniently from all my various devices. But would I trust it exclusively, like in lieu of a harddrive? Not until whatever service I use plus my ISP can guarantee 100% uptime and a steady 15 meg a second (minimum) download rate.

Forget reliability and connectivity issues, I have privacy issues with cloud storage. I don't like people having access to my files unless I give them access.

 

[MorphingDragon]

Forget reliability and connectivity issues, I have privacy issues with cloud storage. I don't like people having access to my files unless I give them access.

Private Cloud, jeez.

 

[KnightWRX]

Private Cloud, jeez.

It's not a cloud if I know how it's composed. A cloud is a network diagram drawing to represent a network for which you don't have implementation details. I know perfectly how my own LAN is setup, thus it's not a cloud. Hence why I didn't reply to you the first time.