Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
New PowerMac (Mac Pro) and MacBook Pro Enclosures
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Well, if it's anodized aluminum, then it's not silver. The link was to a polished silver (as in 'Ag') PowerBook design.extraextra said:
azzurri000 said:
you are both wrong. it will be an inch thinner than it already is. thus, sucking it out of existance only to be replaced by-- something.
I hope the MacBook Pros get a significant revamp. The last thing I want my Merom MPB to look like is an ageing and outdated PowerBook.
Hmm...I don't reallty wanna see a new enclosure for the mac book pro...I love the silver look to it. I definitely don't wanna see it black or white...or made out of plastic. The one thing i absolutley love about my aluminum powerbook, is the solid feel of it when i carry it around. I use to have a 17" dell laptop and it was soooo flimsy. I couldn't take it anywhere, but these aluminum laptops are rigid and tough. A plastic casing would sadden me soooo much. Keep the aluminum apple, please!!!
Collin973 said:
The MacBook's plastic enclosure is impressively stiff though.
They did a nice job on that... making it significantly thinner than the iBook, while increasing its stiffness to be about on par with the MacBooks. A plastic doesn't necessarily make the computer flexible.That said, there's no equal to the solid feel of the aluminum PowerBook & MacBook Pro.
Good Things Happen For Those Who Wait
Another good reason to wait for Merom. I expect they will make it easy to upgrade the HD like they did with the new MacBook design although it is hard to understand how they could improve on the MacBook Pro design as it appears to me to be already perfect - save for the poor HD upgrade process. I do hope they retain the Aluminum body.
Another good reason to wait for Merom. I expect they will make it easy to upgrade the HD like they did with the new MacBook design although it is hard to understand how they could improve on the MacBook Pro design as it appears to me to be already perfect - save for the poor HD upgrade process. I do hope they retain the Aluminum body.
As mentioned above, I think the MBP case will be quite similar to the current model, but with easy access to HD and ram a la MacBook. Don't expect anything too revolutionary.
Still dreaming of my Merom 13" MBP...
Still dreaming of my Merom 13" MBP...
Although it looks the same, the MBP is a completely new "design" compared to the PBs before it. It isnt even like the imacs where the internals are the only change. I am not sure how many machines apple has to produce to cover the tooling cost, but I cant believe the MBP is only going to have a 9 month lifespan in its current config.
In terms of macpro, Aiden is on track, and I dont understand why everyone is in the tizzy about using Conroe in the low end. They will be Woodcrest, throughout the line. Keep in mind that these are, and still will be, the top, most expensive machines Apple produces. There is no reason to believe that the new "Quad" wont be at least 3300, perhaps even 100 or so more. And the low end machines could start over 2K, which is reasonable for a single Woodcrest machine (you can go order a Dell 2x Xeon machine and they are not THAT expensive)
Its right in line apples workstation machines get workstation processors!
In terms of macpro, Aiden is on track, and I dont understand why everyone is in the tizzy about using Conroe in the low end. They will be Woodcrest, throughout the line. Keep in mind that these are, and still will be, the top, most expensive machines Apple produces. There is no reason to believe that the new "Quad" wont be at least 3300, perhaps even 100 or so more. And the low end machines could start over 2K, which is reasonable for a single Woodcrest machine (you can go order a Dell 2x Xeon machine and they are not THAT expensive)
Its right in line apples workstation machines get workstation processors!
Dual Woodies On Top, Single Conroes For The Other Two - Black Enclosures
On the enclosure front, I'm thinking Black would be beautiful.
Yes. Dual Conroes are not possible. Conroes are missing the tech to be mounted in pairs on a motherboard. They must be dual Woodies, as we like to call them, to get four cores on one motherboard.Mr. DG said:
On the enclosure front, I'm thinking Black would be beautiful.
Ill be happy to see a new PowerMac enclosure. Quicksilver was so sweet to open,it took a whole second. I want something like that and going back to a neat design rather then the radiator look they have going now. Apple made some neat stuff with plastic. Iam expecting a brandnew enclosure that doesnt have any roots in the aluminim radiator that they needed to cool those hot G5s. This is Apple afterall.
I want something like that and going back to a neat design rather then the radiator look they have going now. Apple made some neat stuff with plastic. Iam expecting a brandnew enclosure that doesnt have any roots in the aluminim radiator that they needed to cool those hot G5s. This is Apple afterall.
BLACK Anodized Aluminum Is Probably Next MacBook Pro Enclosure
azzurri000 said:
I think BLACK Anodized Aluminum would be the next logical advancement. I would find that more attractive than the current look. Black is the new IN (non) color. Just look at Steve's Turtlenecks, the success of the Black iPod and the Black MacBooks to see where the line is going.azzurri000 said:
For economies of scale, it makes sense to transition all Power Macs and XServes to Woodcrest. It makes no sense to put a Conroe into a Power Mac when they can go all Woodcrest, thereby increasing volume shipments and bringing down the overall cost for each chip. If I were Apple, I certainly wouldn't split the line with a Conroe in the low end Power Mac and Woodcrests in the higher end -- it creates a marketing dilemma that would most likely result in end user confusion.
This will also give them an opportunity to distinguish processors between the "pro" and consumer lines. What is the official name of the Woodcrest -- is it a "Core 2 Duo" brand?
This will also give them an opportunity to distinguish processors between the "pro" and consumer lines. What is the official name of the Woodcrest -- is it a "Core 2 Duo" brand?
I was thinking (not a good sign) that the G5 was the beast of the computer world, and the PC industry's top end is mostly for gamers (yeah it is!) so a logical step might be to have the power mac replacements and a lesser tower that is about the same form factor.
For example, processing power is required for "pro" apps, eluding to woodcrest. Not to mention they have to beat out the current quad.
But graphics power is required to compete with PC specs...
Consumers read lables, and gamers don't need dual woodcrests.
I think there will be a Core 2 duo extreme tower and a dual woodcrest tower. Maybe a 44" ACD too. Yeeeaaahhhh.
Either way, I wanted a G5 quad but held out for Intel. I got 10 g's on a new one now! Quad processor, dual core woodcrest! I want the Octo!
For example, processing power is required for "pro" apps, eluding to woodcrest. Not to mention they have to beat out the current quad.
But graphics power is required to compete with PC specs...
Consumers read lables, and gamers don't need dual woodcrests.
I think there will be a Core 2 duo extreme tower and a dual woodcrest tower. Maybe a 44" ACD too. Yeeeaaahhhh.
Either way, I wanted a G5 quad but held out for Intel. I got 10 g's on a new one now! Quad processor, dual core woodcrest! I want the Octo!
Oooh I hope they have at least ten fans. Because after experienced the thrill of nine, nothing less than ten will do when I upgrade.
Woody = Conroe EXCEPT for Dual Socket Capability
PLUS:
You are clearly in a deluded state as to the difference between Conroe and Woody processors - IE NONE save Dual Socket Capability in Woody and not in Conroe. You are trying to find other differences that do not exist. There is not the logic you use to justify using Woodies for anything other than Quads.sonnys said:
PLUS:
ktlx said:
I hope Apple dont change the MBP too much cos i love it as it is and want one for Uni in september!
The problem with this is that the Conroe CPU, supporting chipsets and memory are all the commodity parts and have significant cost savings over a single socket Xeon system. The Woodcrest Xeons use a lower volume chipset and FB-DIMMs compared to Conroe which should have a high volume chipset in the P965 series and use much cheaper DDR2 DIMMs. Since the Woodcrest chipset is limited to 667Mhz speeds while the Conroe P965 chipset can support 800Mhz speeds, it's even possible the Conroe could be faster than an equivalently clocked Woodcrest.sonnys said:
I'd be curious to see if Apple even designs and builds the motherboards any more. I'd be willing to bet Apple could create a case design that accepts either an Intel-designed Conroe or an Intel-designed Xeon motherboard. If not Intel, there are like six or seven Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers with tons of experience building Intel-based motherboards who I'm sure would design and manufacture them for Apple.
The dual dual is always going to be low volume compared to their single socket, dual core offerings, it makes no sense to punish your lower end offerings by forcing the unnecessary expense of Woodcrests and FB-DIMMs.
Fully Buffered DIMM Memory - An Explanation Of What Woody Wants That Costs A Lot More
Then early next year Quad Conroes (Kentsfield) will come to market and pairs of Quad Woodies (Clovertown & Tigerton) will serve us 8 core Mac Pros. I am hoping we'll see four mobile cores in MacBook Pros by early 2008 at the latest.
Sometimes I get the feeling that almost no one here reads anyone else's posts. This stuff has been gone over time and again for the last six months of posts here.
I could not find an explanation for FB-DIMMs in any of the MacRumors Guides.
Here is a 13 month old full explanation of what FB-DIMMS are: Fully Buffered DIMM Memory. They are much more expensive than Conroe DDR2 RAM and a prime reason you will not be seeing any single processor Core 2 Duo Woodies in Apple's line but rather Conroe will perform that role.ktlx said:
Then early next year Quad Conroes (Kentsfield) will come to market and pairs of Quad Woodies (Clovertown & Tigerton) will serve us 8 core Mac Pros. I am hoping we'll see four mobile cores in MacBook Pros by early 2008 at the latest.
Sometimes I get the feeling that almost no one here reads anyone else's posts. This stuff has been gone over time and again for the last six months of posts here.
I could not find an explanation for FB-DIMMs in any of the MacRumors Guides.