New PowerMac (Mac Pro) and MacBook Pro Enclosures

[arsonata]

The next MBP needs to adopt the magnetic latch and hopefully the MB's keyboard.

Also, I think it might be a good idea to have plastic underneath instead of aluminum so that it dissipates the heat better. I don't think it would cheapen the design at all if the plastic matched the tone of the aluminum casing and was only visible if you lifted the computer up to look at the underside.

But I'm really not expecting much of a change.

 

[generik]

This would be nice...especially for a base model priced at $2899.

• Dual Dual-Core chips at 2.1ghz
• 1 gig RAM
• Dual 80gig HDD's
• Dual x1800 GPU's (upgradable)
• DVD+RW
• Modular CD-RW/DVD
• 6 USB Ports
• 2 Firewire 400
• 1 Firewire 800
• Airport Ultra/BT 2.0
• 6 Hour battery life.

HAHAHAHAHA. 6 HOURS?!???!???

Try 3 minutes.

You have any idea how much the X1800 sucks up? O.O

Hint, when an electronic component consumes electricity, it doesn't just consumes it and have it vanish.. it also ***** heat! That laptop won't even power up before it melts into goob

 

[AidenShaw]

disproof by counter-example

Hint, when an electronic component consumes electricity, it doesn't just consumes it and have it vanish.. it also ***** heat! That laptop won't even power up before it melts into goob

How about this laptop with a 115 watt TDP chip?

If those innovators at Dell/Alienware can figure out how to cool a laptop, certainly those clever folks at Apple could too....

(Oh wait, gotta go - this MBP is starting to melt )
.
.
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[3CCD]

I've been reading posts and trying to get up to speed on everything. I'm a videographer and trying to plan out the best time to invest in my summer savings in a new Mac laptop. I need the portability and I'm excited about all the rumors on Mac's new upgrades to current MacBook Pros. Looks like I might have to wait till January of '07 before we see a new OSX thats 100% universal to the new intel chip setups? Tons of good info on here thanks for people's time it really helps!

 

[aly]

the time to buy

It a bit of a toughy, when to buy stuff from apple, especially now that the processors will be updated more regularly, but this also helps as the steps between upgrades are smaller. I reckon the MBPs will be updated at WWDC, but i doubt OS X will see its upgrade till next year as you point out. Don't let this put you off though, apple have offered free upgrades if you bought your computer within a certain time range of the new OS being released. If you need the computer, buy it and hope you fall in to that range. And hey what £100 when youve just bought your £1800 laptop, that £500 Apple cinema display you always wanted and blah blah blah . hmmm.

Also to the best of my knowledge, OS X has always had a sister version that ran on intel chips, they jsut didnt tell us this till last year! So it should in theory fly aswell on intel as it does on powerpc. Though if you eman software for it, then yeah its gonna be a while for the majority of things to be universal, though its happenign faster than I think most of us imagined it would!

 

[Evangelion]

Looks like I might have to wait till January of '07 before we see a new OSX thats 100% universal to the new intel chip setups?

OS X is already universal, the apps are not (some are)

 

[supremedesigner]

This would be nice...especially for a base model priced at $2899.

• Dual Dual-Core chips at 2.1ghz
• 1 gig RAM
• Dual 80gig HDD's
• Dual x1800 GPU's (upgradable)
• DVD+RW
• Modular CD-RW/DVD
• 6 USB Ports
• 2 Firewire 400
• 1 Firewire 800
• Airport Ultra/BT 2.0
• 6 Hour battery life.

Of course, it would have to look something like this..

OMG!!!one11!! That is freakin' fulgly! No way ima ever gonna buy it!

 

[auxplage]

It might be superior functionally (more drivebays, more accessible components, more expansion-slots etc.), but the G5-case is miles ahead in overall refinement .

I just really like the look of the G4 case.

 

[3CCD]

I just read that Final Cut Pro HD and Final Cut Express HD are now universal. I can hold off until the new OS X update. You think it will be longer than January of '07? I think a firewire 800 port on the 15.4 would be wonderful if they could include that in the upcoming MBP.

 

[zero2dash]

Makes sense to me that the case would be smaller considering Conroe/Woodcrests excellent low-heat and voltage requirements compared to a PPC G5 cpu.

A year ago I would've never considered purchasing a Mac again (I've been a strict PC buyer/user since owning a 7100/100). After more than a year at my current job using a G5 running Panther (despite it being a weak G5...the 1.8), I've grown to absolutely love OSX and I can't wait to buy a Mac Pro when they're released. Even though I can (and have) run OSX86 on my P4 desktop...I can't wait to get an Apple machine at home.

 

[Silentwave]

They might maintain a similarly sized case, however, considering we will have 4 core most likely at introduction and probably 8 core 3-6 months after, and they could use the space for more expandability instead of reducing the size and keeping the same amount of add on space.

 

[generik]

I just read that Final Cut Pro HD and Final Cut Express HD are now universal. I can hold off until the new OS X update. You think it will be longer than January of '07? I think a firewire 800 port on the 15.4 would be wonderful if they could include that in the upcoming MBP.

I for one would not be standing outside Apple's store buying Leopard when it comes out in Jan, I just have a feeling that Apple would do more of a rush job this time to launch right alongside Vista to steal some of Microsoft's thunder.

Remember how buggy Tiger was at release? You don't want to use Leopard just yet!

 

[wkhahn]

Cost of Hardcoat

That is partially true. Standard anodizing is clear until a color tint is added. The tint can be scratched, sometimes quite easily. The purpose of anodizing is to prevent the aluminum from oxidizing. Even though the tint is scratched, and looks bad, the protective layer may be fine. There is also a 'hard coat' anodize. This comes out as a dark grey color and almost seems to be a painted surface. It does stand-up to wear pretty well as sulfuric acid attacks the surface of the metal and forms the protective shell. It has been seven years since I left aerospace, but at the time hard coat was rather expensive.

Just checked with one of our suppliers. The cost per piece to hardcoat some 7075-T76 aluminum is about $12/sqft. And this is assuming the order is for 30 pieces, not the thousands. So this wouldn't be totally out of line for a $2000 laptop.

 

[3CCD]

I for one would not be standing outside Apple's store buying Leopard when it comes out in Jan, I just have a feeling that Apple would do more of a rush job this time to launch right alongside Vista to steal some of Microsoft's thunder.

Remember how buggy Tiger was at release? You don't want to use Leopard just yet!

Wonderful point you brought up. I'll have to see how the next month or two goes. I might or might not invest before Jan '07. Since the new operating system is on the horizon I'll have to see if its worth the wait. Thanks for everyone imput.

 

[MacinDoc]

I for one would not be standing outside Apple's store buying Leopard when it comes out in Jan, I just have a feeling that Apple would do more of a rush job this time to launch right alongside Vista to steal some of Microsoft's thunder.

Remember how buggy Tiger was at release? You don't want to use Leopard just yet!

You mean you really think Vista will launch in January? Talk about an optimist!

 

[emotion]

This http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32842 might throw some release schedules out, particularly for the MacPro

 

[generik]

You mean you really think Vista will launch in January? Talk about an optimist!

Anything is possible with Apple!

 

[zagato27]

Can't wait to see a new enclosure, the G5 case was just way too big!

I like the enclosure on my G5 . The upcoming change will bring mixed emotions. Happy that things evolve and excited to see the "new" but sad that I'll be behind with the "old" enclosure. Well, just have to look at it as having an antique car. Yeah, yeah. An old Road Runner with a 383 (I've got the 1.6 not the 1.8)
Cheers

 

[Orange-DE]

OK, dad will now explain how it will be like :

First there will be introduced the new PowerMac with following specs:
- smaller than today, metal inclosure
- dual woodcrest processor
- up to 64 GB (!) RAM
- 3 HD slots, 1 occupied
- 2 optical slots, 1 occupied
- FireGL graphics
- 250GB+ HD
- 1GB RAM installed
Price: 2500,- minimum

according to a gap in apples product lineup and mac mini price drops plus apple wants to gain marketshare like they never did before- there will be a home-mac:

- plastic enclosure, smaller
- single Conroe whatever
- up to 8GB ram
- 1 HD slot, occupied
- 1 optical drive
- passively cooled ATI graphics
- 160GB HD
- 1GB RAM installed
- remote control
- 1100,- (because of the 1250,- imac including a monitor)

I am sure those two configurations above will be diversified by price and parts installed.

i think thats realistic, opinions?

 

[fastlane1588]

that sounds pretty good as far as the desktops go, but what about the mbp?

 

[zero2dash]

OK, dad will now explain how it will be like :

First there will be introduced the new PowerMac with following specs:
- smaller than today, metal inclosure
- dual woodcrest processor
- up to 64 GB (!) RAM
- 3 HD slots, 1 occupied
- 2 optical slots, 1 occupied
- FireGL graphics
- 250GB+ HD
- 1GB RAM installed
Price: 2500,- minimum

according to a gap in apples product lineup and mac mini price drops plus apple wants to gain marketshare like they never did before- there will be a home-mac:

- plastic enclosure, smaller
- single Conroe whatever
- up to 8GB ram
- 1 HD slot, occupied
- 1 optical drive
- passively cooled ATI graphics
- 160GB HD
- 1GB RAM installed
- remote control
- 1100,- (because of the 1250,- imac including a monitor)

I am sure those two configurations above will be diversified by price and parts installed.

i think thats realistic, opinions?

I can see a Quad Woodcrest for $2500, that's feasible. Considering the Core 2 Duo E6700 (2.67GHz/4M cache) is reportedly retailing around $530 and the highest end one, the Core 2 Extreme X6800 (2.93GHz/4M cache) will retail at $999... considering the bulk price Apple will get...yes I can see the top of the line Mac Pro running around $2500 and a baseline entry level one for $1200. Granted, what potential buyers get this time around will be 1000x better than what they've gotten before; not that I'm trying to rib on G5 prices, but you are primarily paying for CPU + brand name with those because they're (on base models) very underwhelming on other specs (especially RAM). Meanwhile the new Mac Pros will most likely be pretty loaded, for a little cheaper. (couple hundred bucks sounds about right)

Man I can't wait for WWDC.

 

[CommodityFetish]

that sounds pretty good as far as the desktops go, but what about the mbp?

I bet it will just be the new MB keyboard and magnetic enclosure... They probably don't want to mess with a good thing...

 

[AidenShaw]

Dell's quad Woody available now for $2300 (1.6 GHz) to $4200 (3.0 GHz)

I can see a Quad Woodcrest for $2500, that's feasible.

A Dell Precision Workstation 490 (mini-tower) with 1 GiB 1333MHz FB-DIMM (dual channel 667 MHz), 250 GB SATA drive, DVD-RW and 128 MiB Quadro NVS card is:

• $2300 - 1.60 GHz
• $2800 - 2.33 GHz
• $4200 - 3.00 GHz
• $8200 - 3.00 GHz w/ 16 GiB FB-DIMM
• $34,400 - 3.00 GHz w/ 32 GiB FB-DIMM

Add about $500 for a 256 MiB Quadro FX graphics card.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=555&l=en&oc=MLB1725&s=biz
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In contrast a PW 380 with a single socket dual-core is about $1900 for the top speed processor (not Conroe yet, but the prices should be similar).

That makes a Conroe about $350/GHz, and the 1.6 Woody about $360/GHz (5.32 GHz vs 6.4 GHz) at theoretical perfect scaling. In real life, most applications would be quite a bit faster on the Conroe.


So, will Apple sell a really slow Woody at a price that's much higher than a much faster Conroe?

 

[IlluminatedSage]

In terms of the MacBook Pro, I'd like to see how they can improve upon perfection. I'm a little nervous as to how it will look... but I guess each successive PowerBook revision looked snazzier than the one before it.

Hah! i have a powerbook, there are alot of things they can improve at apple:

1- Blu-Ray Drive So we can read and write HD, with dvd+/-R burning capability.
(if you think this is far fetched, Sony has already released a laptop with this)

2- Bigger hard drive option for purchase. I need as much room on my laptop in storage as possible, so i really want and need to upgrade to a 160gb drive. Apple should make this happen and allow the custom apple building with 160GB Seagate Momentus Hard Drive 2"5

3- faster wifi with better range

4- 2 mouse buttons. a right and a left one. cmon at this point this is just dumb.

5- the fastest available laptop graphics chips. the current ones are a bit slower than the best ones on the market. so cmon apple.

6- laps that don't burn cause of the heat! it is a known fact that the current macbook pro's run HOT as hell.

7- battery life that runs a bit better.

8- firewire 800

9- cheaper market priced additional ram for the computer. so i dont have to buy ram elsewhere and not have it covered by apple warranty

Don't get me wrong i love my computer, but the new macbook pro should offer cutting edge technology. The tech we have grown to love from apple.

These are the options i really want and need.

Apple, please listen

 

[Mord]

A Dell Precision Workstation 490 (mini-tower) with 1 GiB 1333MHz FB-DIMM (dual channel 667 MHz), 250 GB SATA drive, DVD-RW and 128 MiB Quadro NVS card is:

• $2300 - 1.60 GHz
• $2800 - 2.33 GHz
• $4200 - 3.00 GHz
• $8200 - 3.00 GHz w/ 16 GiB FB-DIMM
• $34,400 - 3.00 GHz w/ 32 GiB FB-DIMM

Add about $500 for a 256 MiB Quadro FX graphics card.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=555&l=en&oc=MLB1725&s=biz
___________________

In contrast a PW 380 with a single socket dual-core is about $1900 for the top speed processor (not Conroe yet, but the prices should be similar).

That makes a Conroe about $350/GHz, and the 1.6 Woody about $360/GHz (5.32 GHz vs 6.4 GHz) at theoretical perfect scaling. In real life, most applications would be quite a bit faster on the Conroe.


So, will Apple sell a really slow Woody at a price that's much higher than a much faster Conroe?

no, they would just not use the 1.6GHz woody,

probably a single 2.33GHz woody at the low end a quad 2.66GHz in the middle and a high end 3GHz quad.