New 'Ultra-Thin' MacBooks Launching in Second Half of 2016 May Sport Metal Injection Mold-Made Hinges

[djlythium]

I don't want thinner if I have to sacrifice any more ports or battery life. As a matter of fact, the (perhaps sketchy) rumors from a few weeks back of a new, thinner MacBook Pro redesign coming this summer cemented my decision to go with the current-gen machine... which I'm enjoying very much, by the way!

The current 13" rMBP only weighs 3.5 pounds. I can comfortably hold it by the corner with one hand, just like I did with my second-gen MacBook Air. It's plenty light.

Stop with the thinner. Give us better performance and increased battery life in the same size package, please.

Dude, this!

I love my 13" rMBP! Perfect size, weight, and power for what I do (everything but video editing & gaming). I actually sold a MacBook Air to get it. I'll take more battery life (which is still pretty good, for today's standards) and a smoother OS any day of the week.

 

[Mac 128]

not until the next redesign...iphone will be the first...ipad in 2017, and the mac probably with the 12" Macbook pro but in 2018 and followed by MBP in 2019...so until then the world will adapt there is a lot of time...3-4 years is a lot in tehnology

Well the iPad already has a lightning port, so the only change there is whether they remove the 3.5mm Jack when they don't have to to make room for something else. I disagree about the Macs. Apple will likely make updating the Macs with a Lightning port as quickly as possible a priority since delaying it will require customers who use lightning headphones with their iPhones, to buy an adapter to use them with their Macs. It's going to be hard enough to drop the headphone jack to begin with, Apple is not likely going to inconvenience customers by forcing them to use an adapter with their own new proprietary technology on their own new devices -- so they're probably going to roll this change out as quickly as possible, within a year of the iPhone 7 across the board.

 

[R3k]

MacBook Pro~

I want it both thinner and lighter. Reduce the display bezels so we can have 16" screens within the typical 15" form factor, or go the other way and have the 15" screen in a new 14" form factor.

Eg, making the books smaller then they currently are, or keeping the size and packing bigger displays in them.

Maintain battery life
Port ports ports, been discussed to death, won't go there.
Aesthetic and design- make us something fresh and awesome please. With a black option, heh

Regular MacBook~

If they were to make a 13" or even 14" regular (non pro) Macbook that has decent performance, then I'd seriously consider using that as my main system, The 12" seems pretty underpowered to me however, so they'd have to beef that up some. Not sure how much they can push this with their power and thermal balancing act

All my heavy lifting I'm now doing on a MacPro

 

[applesith]

Second half of 2016! Feels like updates are never coming!

 

[citysnaps]

Always cracks me up seeing so many people here pleading/demanding that Apple move away from producing thinner products (as an aside, it's actually about making products lighter). Just astonished how much POWER Apple has over the lives of those getting so worked up about this. Amazing.

 

[1129708]

Funny isn't it that this forum constantly bemoans apple and its thinness obsession when lo and behold Amazon have just made their Kindle the thinnest ever and all the current tV manufacturers are obsessed too...

Amazon and the TV manufacturers didn't remove all the ports or capabilities from those devices in an effort to make them thinner.

In fact, the new Kindle even brings back the page turn buttons (w00t).

 

[RogerWilco]

And truth be told, the reasons for this ridiculous multi-year delay in updates for the MBP are:

1) Ive's designs keep getting thinner -- too thin and light to dissipate the heat
2) intel's latest 14 mm CPUs are still too hot for Ive's skimpy chassis

A circular firing squad.

 

[Havok83]

if this is for the Air then fine, but a replaement for Pro Retina? Dont do it

 

[SpiderDude]

Oh boy. Finally.
I am so tired of carrying this hefty Macbook.
The other way a draft of wind hit the screen and it toppled. I sincerely hope the next laptop Apple develops actually gets taken away by the wind.

 

[RubberShoes]

How many times do people have to complain that they want better battery life and not a thinner device before Apple actually gets it?

The iPhone SE in my pocket right now

 

[ftaok]

Using your very quaint old fashioned units MBA=2.96 pounds, rMBP = 3.48 pounds, that's 0.52 lb, not much, but a (small) difference..

OK, so it's half a pound. Not arguing that it's that big of a difference. I'm saying that the rMBP feels a lot heavier.

I just want the power/specs/ports of a rMBP in the form of an MBA. Is that too much to ask for?

 

[jedifaka]

Dell has what we on this site call a confusing product line. Which is to say they sell a range of models of which only one is XPS. If you want a power machine, they still make a Precision line of laptops and desktops. On the other end, they sell some really inexpensive, entry-level systems that wouldn't appear on any technology fanatic's wish list.

So possible Apple is doing the same thing like dell with their xps series? No power machines any more just ultrabooks.

 

[peterh988]

Second half of 2016! Feels like updates are never coming!

Yep, I recall agonising over which one I'd get first when the new MBP's were supposed to be released around the same time as the iPhone 6s. Then it was Q1, when the SE came out, then it's WWDC, now it looks like being even later!

 

[maxsix]

I've always wanted a laptop with Razor Thin Edges.

One that will double as a self defense weapon when moving through crowded groups of protesters at airports and other high risk urban environments.

 

[yanksrock100]

At this point I just want some sort of update...hopefully before summer ends. Traditionally, laptops announced at WWDC are released shortly after, right?

 

[Zimmie]

I just got my introduction to metal injection molding about two months ago, with a razor. Those need to be built with very exacting tolerances to hold the blade at the right angle relative to your skin. It's an interesting process, and vastly less expensive than the CNC milling that Apple uses to make the MacBook unibody panels, for example.

 

[Doc C]

The XPS series effectively spans the spectrum from devices under $800 to the Precision 5000 series http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/precision-m5510-workstation/pd?ref=PD_OC which is really just a 15.6" mobile workstation in an XPS body. 45w quad-core processors, dedicated video cards, Xeon processor options, up to 32GB RAM. All in a device nearly 60% thinner than today's 15" MBP, .6 pounds lighter, in a smaller overall footprint.

If Dell can put that together, hopefully Apple can do it even better.

I would expect that Apple would make it thinner, but not necessarily more powerful (or even equally powerful), given their recent history. It's unfortunate, as the future demands (for example, VR) are only going to grow.

My personal use case would certainly benefit from the above build specs, however I can't see Apple doing anything like that. For some reason, Apple seems to be ignoring the user with higher-end demands. It's frustrating to think that Apple may be designing in rapid obsolescence as part of their business plan.
[doublepost=1460731507][/doublepost]

Hey MR, you do realise you are writing a story about "hinges".
Get a grip.

An article about grips is coming next week...

 

[rdlink]

ehhh. Some people never calm down right? I have an airprint printer which cost me £30 like 4 years ago so no need to physically connect it. Get to 2016 standards and drop your wired stuff...

Keep in mind that this guy was probably screaming when Apple dropped the floppy...

 

[Glassed Silver]

Is it just me or is the tide turning on Apple. As a long time user I am getting sick of the give less and make you pay more. Eg MacBook with 1 USB port and a dongle to expand to more than 1. Or the iPad's now where you have to buy the front cover and the back cover and if you want the pen that is extra too. I priced it up in Australia and it was like $400 for those 3 things.
The big thing for me was when they cancelled Aperture which I used from version 1. Now everything is starting to get to me...

I agree entirely.

Apple has turned into a fashion brand and customers reward them for that, their old demographic is too small compared to the new one, so there's little reason for Tim "maximize profits" Cook to care.

I dearly hope this fails one day, the loyalty Apple has always enjoyed with its customers came from GIVING THEM a lot for their money. Quality, pretty fair service to some extend, top-notch design, durability, repairability even, solid software and hardware quality assurance, amazing pro applications, a healthy ecosystem with leading vertical integration, ...

As they slowly scale back on various advantages that drove quality-concerned people to buy Apple they lose on them, but gain what I would call the "real sheeple" that many of the non-fanboy users were called for years already.
I see a lot of those more critically thinking folks slowly not leave Apple, but mix their devices and services they use.
No longer is it a no-brainer to use all-Apple wherever possible for your consumer or pro-sumer needs.
Even professionals have less and less reason to shop Apple products, but that's not news of course.

The problem with all that is, the fashion crowd will stick as long as Apple is trendy, still just enough different, their products manage to be thin while usable, the competition doesn't suddenly change fashion-wise and a critical mass is moving there, etc...
This demographic is a lot more volatile than the older, harder core of Apple users.

I can only hope this crashes and burns and the conscious buyer gets to see an as viable Apple again as before.

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[Doc C]

I remember when Jonny Ive was a good, fit average healthy build, and not the porker he's turned into today.

perhaps not the most PC statement...
(not arguing facts though...)

 

[zhenya]

I would expect that Apple would make it thinner, but not necessarily more powerful (or even equally powerful), given their recent history. It's unfortunate, as the future demands (for example, VR) are only going to grow.

My personal use case would certainly benefit from the above build specs, however I can't see Apple doing anything like that. For some reason, Apple seems to be ignoring the user with higher-end demands. It's frustrating to think that Apple may be designing in rapid obsolescence as part of their business plan.
[doublepost=1460731507][/doublepost]

An article about grips is coming next week...

I'm not sure. Until about a year ago the only way to get anything similar to the 15" MBP in a PC laptop was to get a behemoth of a workstation that weighed about 8lbs. Apple has let their MBP line get a bit dated, but I fully expect them to offer something competitive within the next few months.

 

[Saturn1217]

Most people who want a thinner macbook pro, just seem to want a beefed up Macbook Air with a retina display and thinner bezels.....

You got me! This is probably true. Is that so wrong? The Macbook Air is literally the perfect computer for me. Neither the 12" rMB or the 13" rMBP serve my needs as well as the current macbook air. When I need to upgrade, I don't want to downgrade in either performance or weight from a computer made in 2013. Since part of laptop progression is fitting more and more performance into smaller packages (while maintaining battery life), I don't see why I should have to settle for less in either of those metrics when Apple is clearly able to make a <3lb laptop with enough performance to serve as a semi-power users only machine right now.

 

[Doc C]

This wouldn't be a 69Mustang mac quote without me railing about the want of a proper mac mini. Gimme one Apple. That last turd you intro'd was a turd.

Steaming giant turd...

For the first time, I am seriously considering a hackintosh, even knowing how much of a PITA they can occasionally become
[doublepost=1460732090][/doublepost]

Is it just me or is the tide turning on Apple. As a long time user I am getting sick of the give less and make you pay more. Eg MacBook with 1 USB port and a dongle to expand to more than 1. Or the iPad's now where you have to buy the front cover and the back cover and if you want the pen that is extra too. I priced it up in Australia and it was like $400 for those 3 things.
The big thing for me was when they cancelled Aperture which I used from version 1. Now everything is starting to get to me...

It wouldn't be Apple if you didn't have to spend more on the accessories than on the device - look at the prices for the watch straps.

On the other hand, at least the watch accessories don't double the carry weight, like the laptops...

 

[Elijen]

Thinner, thinner, thinner.. Oh, come on, Apple. I need powerrr inside my rMBP and not a thinner design with less power.

"Shut up! You don't know what you want!"
Regards
Tim Cook

 

[dabirdwell]

+1

And I would go one step further: why not simplify the MacBook lineup?

The MacBook Retina would replace the old Air, as it is already much lighter and the MacBook Pro would slim down because technology has advanced to allow for a slimmer design.

Get the Macbook 12 a more powerful CPU and make another model with a 14" screen. That won't be the way to recreate the Air with Retina.

The MacBook Pro would drop the weight (like the Dell Precision) but have the latest CPU/GPU combos in two models 13" and 15".

So 4 MacBooks would suffice: 2 New MacBook, and 2 slimmer MacBook Pros. All with 8Gb Ram and SSDs standard. All with 2 or 3 USB-C / TB3 power/ports.

One can dream.

I've been thinking along these lines for a while, but might go a little farther and say that it's a three notebook lineup. The release of the 12, to me, suggested that it might be possible to satisfy demand for everything from a super thin and light MacBook all the way up to an oversized Pro with a single lineup. All MBPs, perhaps all simply labeled MacBook, 12, 14, 16-17. And that's it.