I'm sure I will end up terribly disappointed with the announcements tomorrow. Even though Sony's current Vaio Z model covers the majority of things on my wishlist, meaning that it's possible Apple could make something comparable/superior, I don't have much confidence in that happening.
What I expect will probably happen:
What I would like to see:
I do not expect all of those things to be cheap, but I would happily pay a premium for an actual 'pro' 13" machine that is almost as capable as the 15/17" models. I wouldn't expect the CPU to be clocked as high, and the GPU would certainly be less powerful, but the screen is the biggest issue with the current models by far. The 1280x800 panels they're using right now are awful. I can buy a netbook for 1/3 the price with a higher resolution 13" screen. Even the 1440x900 resolution that the 15" offers is very cramped when trying to work on images/video.
If text size is the concern (it shouldn't be, as any modern web browser, and most applications let you increase it) have a glossy low resolution screen as standard and a matte high resolution option instead of simply glossy/matte as we have now.
Because of the long delay, I am hoping Apple will actually be doing something more interesting than simply adding Core i3/5/7 options, possibly a new GPU and calling it a day.
If it is just a simple spec bump like that, then Apple may as well have given up on their notebooks. The screens they are using are horribly outdated, the port selection is extremely limited (with the current design, only one USB2 port is accessible with many devices plugged in) and there is no option to add more to most systems with only the 17" having expresscard.
It seems more and more these days that Apple is becoming a 'mobile devices' company rather than a computer one, and they are mostly concerned about maximising profit margins rather than catering to high-end users.
I have a fair bit of money invested in Mac software, and I much prefer using OSX to Windows, but Apple are so far behind the competition in many aspects, I may be forced to consider other options. (like the Vaio Z)
What I expect will probably happen:
- Dual-Core i3/i5/i7 CPUs.
- 13" i3 standard, i5 option.
- 15" i5 standard, i7 option.
- 17" i7 standard, quad core option. May just have a higher clock dual-core i7 option instead of quad though.
- Updated GPUs. Hopefully nVidia Optimus for improved battery life and seamless GPU switching.
- Larger hard drive options.
- Updated displays, possibly IPS panels. I do not see the appeal of 16:9 unless they are significantly higher resolution. Considering that most films are 2.37:1 anyway, I don't see it as being an advantage, you just have less workspace for computer tasks.
What I would like to see:
- Core i5 processors standard, i7 as an upgrade option for all sizes. (including 13") Clockspeeds vary depending on size of course. Quad core as an option on 17" (possibly even 15")
- Modern display options:
- 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 options for all display sizes - the panels do exist.
- IPS panels for improved viewing angles. (the 13" is particularly bad)
- Wide gamut displays making them better suited for photo editing.
- Matte option for the 13" or at least the option to remove the glass.
- USB3. After seeing some of the product announcements from NAB, I'm not sure I would buy a computer without USB3 support now - it's not just about faster data transfer off external drives. (though with the lack of eSATA it would be the best option)
- Lose the battery indicator and SD card slot if it would allow for more USB ports on all machines and a separate audio input jack on the 13". Even though the SD slot is convenient, another USB port would be much more useful, especially when large devices can block off the second port. (at least pre-unibody the ports were on either side and you always had access to both)
- Blu-ray drive. I'm not bothered about whether or not OSX has support for playing back films (though it would be nice) but being able to read the discs would save buying an external drive or transferring data over my network from a Blu-ray equipped machine. If drives are not thin enough yet, I would put up with a slightly thicker machine for one.
- nVidia's Optimus for seamless GPU switching and extended battery life.
- A new keyboard, or even the return of the old one. The chiclet keyboards are horrible to type on and look pretty ugly in my opinion. (at least when you have the matte screen option) The only good thing I can think about with it, is that you're not going to have paint wearing off like you had with the old Powerbook/MBP keyboards.
- HDMI instead of DisplayPort - this is unlikely as it's a larger connector and I believe there are more license fees to pay. It's one less adapter to buy and carry around though. With the exception of Apple's own, any display I've seen with DisplayPort has also had an HDMI port, and there are lots of displays with HDMI and no DisplayPort connector. (virtually any television, for example)
- Video in. If HDMI is not an option, what about this? We've seen it with the 27" iMacs, why not let you use the screen with an external source? It's not something I would expect to use often, but I can think of times where using my MacBook's display as an external monitor would have been handy.
- Larger screen on the 13". It certainly looks like there's space for a larger display if they would shrink the bezel to be the same as the 15/17" models.
- Black anodised aluminium case. Never going to happen, but I saw someone mention it recently and I think it would look great - better than the black/silver mix they have now anyway.
- Really wishing here (never going to happen) the ability to disable the hardware sleep light, or at least stop it pulsing.
I do not expect all of those things to be cheap, but I would happily pay a premium for an actual 'pro' 13" machine that is almost as capable as the 15/17" models. I wouldn't expect the CPU to be clocked as high, and the GPU would certainly be less powerful, but the screen is the biggest issue with the current models by far. The 1280x800 panels they're using right now are awful. I can buy a netbook for 1/3 the price with a higher resolution 13" screen. Even the 1440x900 resolution that the 15" offers is very cramped when trying to work on images/video.
If text size is the concern (it shouldn't be, as any modern web browser, and most applications let you increase it) have a glossy low resolution screen as standard and a matte high resolution option instead of simply glossy/matte as we have now.
Because of the long delay, I am hoping Apple will actually be doing something more interesting than simply adding Core i3/5/7 options, possibly a new GPU and calling it a day.
If it is just a simple spec bump like that, then Apple may as well have given up on their notebooks. The screens they are using are horribly outdated, the port selection is extremely limited (with the current design, only one USB2 port is accessible with many devices plugged in) and there is no option to add more to most systems with only the 17" having expresscard.
It seems more and more these days that Apple is becoming a 'mobile devices' company rather than a computer one, and they are mostly concerned about maximising profit margins rather than catering to high-end users.
I have a fair bit of money invested in Mac software, and I much prefer using OSX to Windows, but Apple are so far behind the competition in many aspects, I may be forced to consider other options. (like the Vaio Z)
