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New MacBook Pro Part Numbers Suggest Updated Models Coming Soon
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imagine 30% faster at the same temperature/watts, or just as fast but a lot cooler.
Either apple releases a thinner Macbook Pro to go with lower temperatures that's also faster, or keeps the same design but significantly faster.
Awesome! My predictions ...
It would be outright SELFISH of Apple to not match the Air's screen resolutions with the next MBP 13" refresh. Just wouldn't make sense that a "pro" labelled laptop is outdone by a "non-pro" version of itself. It would be outlandish, unacceptable, and contradictory to the nth degree.
That said, I do agree that the optical drive may not be removed until NEXT year's refresh. They'll need all the "splash" they can get with that redesign. Removing the optical drive in this refresh would take some of the spotlight away from next years event. But yes, Apple is obviously going 100% zero physical media (at least with all portable hardware). So the iMac's and definitely the Mac Pro's may very well sport them for a few more updates to come.
And I also happen to agree that they've nailed the size/weight ratio with the current gen MBP's. Having a paper thin 15"/17" laptop would just seem ridiculous. No need to "try to get EVEN thinner" if the trade off means less processing power. This is NOT what the professional scene is looking for. We want portable power .. not EXTREMELY portable (and therefore restricted) power. The MBP's are already wonderfully thin. Maybe a TAD heavy if anything, but definitely the right thinness. And no, I don't need anyone telling me the current MBP's are "bulky". Strip out the optical and go with SSD's - done.
Anyway, what WOULD make sense ...
THIS YEAR:
- Updated processors (MBA's generation i5's + i7's)
- Updated displays (MBA's resolution & quality)
- Updated Bluetooth
NEXT YEAR (further updates):
- Updated shell (not "Air thin" though of course)
- Optical replaced with system SSD (+ maybe secondary "high capacity" HDD)
- Longer battery life (due to both CPU efficiency plus larger battery)
- USB 3
- Updated cooling mechanism
- Updated sound mechanism
- Updated camera
- Updated gfx
- MAYBE standard 8GB and expandable up to 16GB (seeing as all Air's come with 4GB's minus the entry level one with 2GB's of course).
- And obviously, updated CPU/Mainboard with quads possible in 13" units
~
Yes, most of next year's updates are small .. but as a whole, will offer a significant boost to the Pro line mostly due to Apple leveraging the optical drive pull.
For this year, it will mostly be a "catch up to the Air and make the Pro line relevant again" refresh. Nothing more. That should be more than enough for the holiday season. No need to outdo themselves just yet.
Either way, I'm eagerly awaiting this mini refresh. If they don't at least match the Air's screen and processor generation ... to me, it'll signal the decline in Apple's "caring about their pro costumers" attitude. It just seems like it's been all iPhone/iPad/iPod/iCloud/iMac/Mac Mini, and Macbook Air ... literally EVERYTHING and the kitchen sink but the "Pro" line for the longest time now.
PS: I'm not pissed or anything, I'm just overly excited as I've been waiting for news like this for the longest time now! Awesome! Let's just hope this isn't a glitch or something!
Cheers!
It would be outright SELFISH of Apple to not match the Air's screen resolutions with the next MBP 13" refresh. Just wouldn't make sense that a "pro" labelled laptop is outdone by a "non-pro" version of itself. It would be outlandish, unacceptable, and contradictory to the nth degree.
That said, I do agree that the optical drive may not be removed until NEXT year's refresh. They'll need all the "splash" they can get with that redesign. Removing the optical drive in this refresh would take some of the spotlight away from next years event. But yes, Apple is obviously going 100% zero physical media (at least with all portable hardware). So the iMac's and definitely the Mac Pro's may very well sport them for a few more updates to come.
And I also happen to agree that they've nailed the size/weight ratio with the current gen MBP's. Having a paper thin 15"/17" laptop would just seem ridiculous. No need to "try to get EVEN thinner" if the trade off means less processing power. This is NOT what the professional scene is looking for. We want portable power .. not EXTREMELY portable (and therefore restricted) power. The MBP's are already wonderfully thin. Maybe a TAD heavy if anything, but definitely the right thinness. And no, I don't need anyone telling me the current MBP's are "bulky". Strip out the optical and go with SSD's - done.
Anyway, what WOULD make sense ...
THIS YEAR:
- Updated processors (MBA's generation i5's + i7's)
- Updated displays (MBA's resolution & quality)
- Updated Bluetooth
NEXT YEAR (further updates):
- Updated shell (not "Air thin" though of course)
- Optical replaced with system SSD (+ maybe secondary "high capacity" HDD)
- Longer battery life (due to both CPU efficiency plus larger battery)
- USB 3
- Updated cooling mechanism
- Updated sound mechanism
- Updated camera
- Updated gfx
- MAYBE standard 8GB and expandable up to 16GB (seeing as all Air's come with 4GB's minus the entry level one with 2GB's of course).
- And obviously, updated CPU/Mainboard with quads possible in 13" units
~
Yes, most of next year's updates are small .. but as a whole, will offer a significant boost to the Pro line mostly due to Apple leveraging the optical drive pull.
For this year, it will mostly be a "catch up to the Air and make the Pro line relevant again" refresh. Nothing more. That should be more than enough for the holiday season. No need to outdo themselves just yet.
Either way, I'm eagerly awaiting this mini refresh. If they don't at least match the Air's screen and processor generation ... to me, it'll signal the decline in Apple's "caring about their pro costumers" attitude. It just seems like it's been all iPhone/iPad/iPod/iCloud/iMac/Mac Mini, and Macbook Air ... literally EVERYTHING and the kitchen sink but the "Pro" line for the longest time now.
PS: I'm not pissed or anything, I'm just overly excited as I've been waiting for news like this for the longest time now! Awesome! Let's just hope this isn't a glitch or something!
Cheers!
The 2010 models already have the latest generation of i5/i7, the only thing they can do is include the 100mhz speedbump intel introduced a month or so ago.
Regarding the resolution, they haven't "fixed" it for quite a while, not sure if they will even for the next one, unless the standard 15" gets bumped to the hi-res option as well as the 17".
Apple lowered the price of the Mini when it dropped the optical drive this summer. That said, it ought to be pretty clear by now that Apple sees the optical drive as a drag on its App Store and iTunes. It isn't just Apple, however. The business model for the Kindle Fire, for instance, depends on streaming and downloads. That's the future, and it's better for Apple to nudge people along.
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Exactly. There won't be a major update this year. The earliest will be next year with the Ivy Bridge model. This will be minor, such as replacing the 2.3GHz i5 in the 13" base with the 2.5GHz i5 that Intel recently started selling.
I'm glad to see some are understanding about the sheer dichotomy that we have in the US.
Apple wants you to stream music. So they push cloud based offerings and iTunes.
Your internet provider wants you to limit how much data you consume. So they cap you heavily, and charge you out the ream.
If I didn't know any better I'd swear there was some collusion there. Trick people into going over caps so they pay overage fees? Kickbacks? Certainly not Apple. But it does beg the question of Apple, ISPs, and even people here:
What is your rush to dump optical?
If your answer is "I don't like the extra weight", that's a fickle reason.
If your answer is "I want an extra hard drive", you can buy Optibay for that. What? "I don't want to have to buy an accessory to do that!" SO then why are you telling people to buy the external SuperDrive? Double standard much? Or maybe you're just selfish. You want what you want, others be damned.
Realistically, Apple's BEST direction would be to add a Blu-ray SuperDrive to the Pro. Do you realize how much extra sales that one small move would spur? Jobs may have been anti-Blu-ray, but Tim may see the light. As mentioned, people don't want to exceed caps and they don't want overly compressed garbage, either. They also want to keep their Netflix subscriptions or whatever. I know that if I want to watch an HD movie for its picture quality, I'm buying it on Blu-ray. Even though I can stream it free on Amazon, it's not the same. Plus I'm not trying to get reamed over caps.
The other problem is internal. I DO NOT want soldered RAM. I DO NOT want non-standard drives. What appeals to me about the Pro is the flexibility to add whatever RAM I want, whatever drive I want, without being reamed by Apple. Now maybe some of you guys don't care. That's what the Air is for.
Smart money: Go ahead and make a 15" Air to make those people happy.
For the Pro, leave it alone - optical intact - or make it a Blu-ray compatible drive. I guarantee people will flock to that machine if they did that.
Apple wants you to stream music. So they push cloud based offerings and iTunes.
Your internet provider wants you to limit how much data you consume. So they cap you heavily, and charge you out the ream.
If I didn't know any better I'd swear there was some collusion there. Trick people into going over caps so they pay overage fees? Kickbacks? Certainly not Apple. But it does beg the question of Apple, ISPs, and even people here:
What is your rush to dump optical?
If your answer is "I don't like the extra weight", that's a fickle reason.
If your answer is "I want an extra hard drive", you can buy Optibay for that. What? "I don't want to have to buy an accessory to do that!" SO then why are you telling people to buy the external SuperDrive? Double standard much? Or maybe you're just selfish. You want what you want, others be damned.
Realistically, Apple's BEST direction would be to add a Blu-ray SuperDrive to the Pro. Do you realize how much extra sales that one small move would spur? Jobs may have been anti-Blu-ray, but Tim may see the light. As mentioned, people don't want to exceed caps and they don't want overly compressed garbage, either. They also want to keep their Netflix subscriptions or whatever. I know that if I want to watch an HD movie for its picture quality, I'm buying it on Blu-ray. Even though I can stream it free on Amazon, it's not the same. Plus I'm not trying to get reamed over caps.
The other problem is internal. I DO NOT want soldered RAM. I DO NOT want non-standard drives. What appeals to me about the Pro is the flexibility to add whatever RAM I want, whatever drive I want, without being reamed by Apple. Now maybe some of you guys don't care. That's what the Air is for.
Smart money: Go ahead and make a 15" Air to make those people happy.
For the Pro, leave it alone - optical intact - or make it a Blu-ray compatible drive. I guarantee people will flock to that machine if they did that.
Apple is never going to put a BluRay drive in a Mac. Forget about it. They'll release a G5 Powerbook before they do that.
Tim isn't the design guy. He's the operations guy, and like Ive or Forstall will take up the mantle (and be given a C-level title to match). I don't see either of them backtracking on the streaming/downloading strategy. By and large, people don't tinker with their PCs anymore. Witness the evolution of the Pro line so far. They all now have non-removable batteries. Only the 17" has an ExpressCard slot (and I wouldn't be surprised to see that go now that there are third party Thunderbolt ExpressCard adapters).
Tim isn't the design guy. He's the operations guy, and like Ive or Forstall will take up the mantle (and be given a C-level title to match). I don't see either of them backtracking on the streaming/downloading strategy. By and large, people don't tinker with their PCs anymore. Witness the evolution of the Pro line so far. They all now have non-removable batteries. Only the 17" has an ExpressCard slot (and I wouldn't be surprised to see that go now that there are third party Thunderbolt ExpressCard adapters).
It seems pretty clear that apple is moving away from the optical drive. We won't see it with a minor speed bump this year but I don't doubt that it'll be gone within the next 12 months.
Apple adding blu-ray would be nice, but Apple doesn't tend to follow trends, it starts them. The trend Apple is going to push is away from the optical drive. Adding blu-ray now while at the same time phasing out the optical drive on their other machines would be illogical.
Apple adding blu-ray would be nice, but Apple doesn't tend to follow trends, it starts them. The trend Apple is going to push is away from the optical drive. Adding blu-ray now while at the same time phasing out the optical drive on their other machines would be illogical.
Definitely skipping this update. Don't see a reason to update if u own a 2011 or even a 2010 MBP to be quite honest.
I just want a 13 inch MBP with a 21 inch screen.
_______
How about a SSD boot drive and a spinning HD for the big files?
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I would not be surprised if they did not have some kind of recorded message from Jobs at the next big event.
_______
How about a SSD boot drive and a spinning HD for the big files?
_______
I would not be surprised if they did not have some kind of recorded message from Jobs at the next big event.
Lion added the ability to resize from any corner of a window. You know, that feature that EVERY OTHER OS has had for decades?
iOS5 allegedly adds notifications (don't use those devices)? You know...the kind that webOS and Android have both had for YEARS? The kind that PalmOS had nearly a decade ago?
iTunes eventually removed all DRM from its music. You know, since Amazon MP3 had been DRM free for the longest and all.
Cloud iTunes allows you to re-download music and books and stuff. You know, like Amazon has for YEARS?
iOS5 adds Newsstand. You know, since Kindle LAUNCHED years ago with that feature?
iPhone eventually added Mobile Hotspot capabilities. Palm Pre had that feature nearly half a decade ago.
Apple is just as much a follower as anyone else. Some of you guys are really clouded to the reality of things. I stick to what I said - if Tim Cook is smart, he will push to add Blu-ray to the Pro, and basically tell users who want "thin is in" to buy the Air, because that's what it's for. If they gut the Pro the way people are talking about here, there might as well not even be a Pro line, because it will no longer be "Pro".
Wish it were true
Apple is greedy, they'll sell optical drive separately for $80
Regarding update, I think it'll be minor spec update (more BTO options) like they did sometime back..
Apple is greedy, they'll sell optical drive separately for $80
Does all your equipment have to be Apple? You can easily get a decent external drive for a lot less than that.
'Pro' using BlueRay... sure.
I'm all for gutting the optical disk from the mbp as there are better solutions. (It shouldn't have been removed from the mini or should have been at least a configuration option.) Then bigger batteries can be put in the space as replacement. But not wanting it to be thinner as you are correct about the mba.
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I'm not sure what to expect from these updates. I'm hoping for them but... I dunno. I don't think there's anything new out there to get excited about just yet.
I have the last C2D 13" MBP and it's still a champ. The 13" Air is actually 4GB short on RAM from being the PERFECT machine for me. I do enough virtualization that RAM is a big deal, so 8GB is what I like to have.
The 13" needs a bump in resolution. It really does. The optical drives also need to go the way of the floppy. It's time. They're not heavy, but they do take up a lot of spacespace I'd rather see go to more battery, dedicated graphics on the 13" or really... basically anything but an optical drive.
I'm always excited about new Mac releases, far more than I am about new iPhones (although if I ever own one I might change my tune). I still think we're one more generation from a drastic design change though. I've read about lower power quad cores down the pike, but I think that might be Ivy Bridge. A quad in the 13" would be fantastic (again, for virtualization).
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Why include something at all the fewer and fewer people are using? Should they include an external floppy too?
I have the last C2D 13" MBP and it's still a champ. The 13" Air is actually 4GB short on RAM from being the PERFECT machine for me. I do enough virtualization that RAM is a big deal, so 8GB is what I like to have.
The 13" needs a bump in resolution. It really does. The optical drives also need to go the way of the floppy. It's time. They're not heavy, but they do take up a lot of spacespace I'd rather see go to more battery, dedicated graphics on the 13" or really... basically anything but an optical drive.
I'm always excited about new Mac releases, far more than I am about new iPhones (although if I ever own one I might change my tune). I still think we're one more generation from a drastic design change though. I've read about lower power quad cores down the pike, but I think that might be Ivy Bridge. A quad in the 13" would be fantastic (again, for virtualization).
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Wish it were true
Apple is greedy, they'll sell optical drive separately for $80
Regarding update, I think it'll be minor spec update (more BTO options) like they did sometime back..
Why include something at all the fewer and fewer people are using? Should they include an external floppy too?
Exciting news and great timing. As the weather cools Apple thins the MBP so it's higher temps will keep us warm. I'm going to keep my 2011 as well so I have a Winter MBP to keep me warm & a Summer MBP that runs cooler. Perfect
The Pro would still be Pro as long as it had the quad-core CPU and discrete GPU (in the case of the 15" and 17"). If Tim Cook is smart, and I think he is, he is going to stay away from Blu Ray. Apple has a good thing going with iTunes, much the same way that Amazon has with Kindle. Thin is in, and it isn't a matter of being fickle. Thinner devices are more portable, even in a 13" or 15" design.
First off, Tim Cook IS smart. I think this is already a given.
Second, I think people probably give Jobs WAY too much credit for the decisions that Apple made. I seriously doubt the rest of the execs were like, "Steve can we pleaeaeaeaeaeaeasssssse put Blu-Ray in Macs? Pleeeeeeeeeease?"
"NO!"
Apple has consistently been moving in the right direction in regards to Blu-ray and optical in general: away from it.
aghhhh
I'm now expecting a small bump, and if that's the case, I'm just getting a thinkpad. I'm on a 5-year-old cheap Lenovo right now, and I desperately need a new computer. I can get a new thinkpad with nvidia graphics, a 500gb 7200 rpm hd, a spill-proof keyboard and a 1600x900 screen for $1000 with tax and with a 3-year warranty, which covers spills.
The only reason I've been considering a mac is for logic express, but I'm not a pro musician and I just don't think I could justify the cost. My brother and dad have tried to convince me to go mac, and I love the trackpad and gestures on macs, but I'm just not sure I can justify that cost for a computer that apparently heats up with just a minor bump in specs.
A redesign closer to the mba with mbp's price, though, would make my decision hard. I'm just not expecting anything huge, though.
TMI, I know.
I'm now expecting a small bump, and if that's the case, I'm just getting a thinkpad. I'm on a 5-year-old cheap Lenovo right now, and I desperately need a new computer. I can get a new thinkpad with nvidia graphics, a 500gb 7200 rpm hd, a spill-proof keyboard and a 1600x900 screen for $1000 with tax and with a 3-year warranty, which covers spills.
The only reason I've been considering a mac is for logic express, but I'm not a pro musician and I just don't think I could justify the cost. My brother and dad have tried to convince me to go mac, and I love the trackpad and gestures on macs, but I'm just not sure I can justify that cost for a computer that apparently heats up with just a minor bump in specs.
A redesign closer to the mba with mbp's price, though, would make my decision hard. I'm just not expecting anything huge, though.
TMI, I know.
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While I can agree with you, this brings to mind this story I read recently of Noah Wyle meeting with Steve Jobs.
I'm really not that concerned if Apple releases a new model of the MBP, my current Feb 2011 model is still perfectly fine and up-to-date with its current hardware. If it eventually needs an update all I would do is put in another 4GB of RAM and possibly a 256GB Sata 3 SSD.
If they do release a new model I could see a possibility of a CPU clock update, 6GB or 8GB RAM standard and maybe sata 3 HDD's for a small speed increase across the board. I doubt that a brand new model would be released as the current model is selling really well.
If they do release a new model I could see a possibility of a CPU clock update, 6GB or 8GB RAM standard and maybe sata 3 HDD's for a small speed increase across the board. I doubt that a brand new model would be released as the current model is selling really well.