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Next-Gen 15" MacBook Pro specs

C

Candyman87

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 16, 2009
16
0
Hello forum!

I was wondering if anybody knows how the technical specs of the next generation 15" MacBook Pro (talking about the ones that come out this January) are going to be.

Any chance of getting...
-a quad core processor
-MORE USB 2.0 ports (two ports are really LOUSY for a professional machine)
or at least a second FireWire port
-a blue ray Super drive option
-an iSight cam with higher picture quality

I want HARD FACTS or at least realistic expectations.

Further does anybod know WHEN they will be released (Should I wait?!)?
 
Quad core at some point is virtually guaranteed.

I wouldn't expect more USB ports since it is a laptop and there is only a limited amount of space for ports. Frankly, with wireless devices it is less of an issue these days anyway. Hopefully they will bring USB3 on board sooner or later and that may allow them to drop the Firewire port although there will be lots of screaming I'm sure even if USB3 is much faster.

I am past caring about having an optical drive in my laptop and basically see no reason to worry about having an BD drive. I don't want to carry discs and I like the fact that many BDs these days come with SD digital copies which are perfectly acceptable for use on my MBP and it keeps the CPU usage down and gives longer battery life. In fact, bumping the optical disc in favour of more onboard storage or a bigger battery would be fine by me.

My main complaint with the MBP is the glossy screen but they've at least got the option for matte screens on the 15 and 17" models so the same for the 13" would be nice.

Basically, I'm sitting on my original Core Duo 15" MBP for a bit longer since it doesn't strike me that the new ones are that much of an advance yet but I think a quad core and say 8GB of RAM would be enough to make it worth my while.
 
Candyman87 said:
Any chance of getting...
-a quad core processor
-MORE USB 2.0 ports (two ports are really LOUSY for a professional machine)
or at least a second FireWire port
-a blue ray Super drive option
-an iSight cam with higher picture quality
Click to expand...

Yep, all possible.

I want HARD FACTS or at least realistic expectations.
Click to expand...

Ask Steve Jobs.

Further does anybod know WHEN they will be released (Should I wait?!)?
Click to expand...

Ask Steve Jobs.
 
GreatDrok said:
Quad core at some point is virtually guaranteed...
Click to expand...

HOORAY!!!



I was bitching about the port limitations because as Musician you always have tons of stuff hooked up (like Midi Keyboard, External Hard drive(s), audio interface, a USB mouse.
Hello- a THIRD port should be possible....

What date do they usually release them?
Any chance it will be before the 8th of January?
I don't like these mysteries!!!! :eek::confused:

(Leaving the U.S. on the 8th for work and would like to get the new machine there as I won't be back so soon)
 
Candyman87 said:
Hello- a THIRD port should be possible....
Click to expand...
A third port was possible YEARS ago. Yet Apple CHOOSES to leave it out.

What date do they usually release them?
Click to expand...
There isn't a regular release date.
Any chance it will be before the 8th of January?
Click to expand...
There's a chance. There's a chance they'll be released tomorrow. There's a chance that the whole line will be discontinued. There's a chance that Apple won't update the machines for another ten years. We have absolutely no idea.
I don't like these mysteries!!!! :eek::confused:
Click to expand...
Then you chose the wrong company to wait for an update from.
 
Candyman87 said:
HOORAY!!!
I was bitching about the port limitations because as Musician you always have tons of stuff hooked up (like Midi Keyboard, External Hard drive(s), audio interface, a USB mouse.
Hello- a THIRD port should be possible....
(Leaving the U.S. on the 8th for work and would like to get the new machine there as I won't be back so soon)
Click to expand...

jeebus.

Get a USB hub for free in a box of Captain Crunch.

Try a firewire external drive and bluetooth mouse.

The 17" MBP has 3 USB 2 ports on it, so if you want one with 3, then buy that one. Dont cheap out on a 13 or 15.

Odds are if you cant afford a 17" now, you arent going to be able to afford the quad core option on a 15" when it does come out.

Oh, and no chance in hell a 13" is gonna get a quad anything.
 
Candyman87 said:
HOORAY!!!



I was bitching about the port limitations because as Musician you always have tons of stuff hooked up (like Midi Keyboard, External Hard drive(s), audio interface, a USB mouse.
Hello- a THIRD port should be possible....

What date do they usually release them?
Any chance it will be before the 8th of January?
I don't like these mysteries!!!! :eek::confused:
Click to expand...

Sounds like you need a PC man. They offer 3+ USB ports, BD drive, and quad core. AND they let you know when stuff will come out. ;)
 
Hmmmm Why do I smell a slight breeze of sarcasm here?! :)

It's not about the money I worry - it's that the 17" still has the Express port instead of the SD card slot which for a card reader would take ANOTHER USB port *ARGL*

FireWire port is already in usage for Audio interface.

I love my current Mac but it's too slow for some applications and I agree on my things but 2 USB ports is really, really not enough nowadays. :cool:
 
I hope the 13" and 15" models will get decent screen resolution. A 15" notebook with 1440x900 is a joke.

As for the optical drive, I hope they drop it all together. It is as obsolete nowadays as floppies were a few years ago.
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7D11 Safari/528.16)

The nly thing I can promise you is that it will be pretty. I have no hard facts. All mine are rather flaccid. ;)

Personally, I think we'll see Arrandale processors, but no quad core. The 15" will probably have 2 USB ports, and they won't be USB 3.0.
 
Abstract said:
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7D11 Safari/528.16)

The nly thing I can promise you is that it will be pretty. I have no hard facts. All mine are rather flaccid. ;)

Personally, I think we'll see Arrandale processors, but no quad core. The 15" will probably have 2 USB ports, and they won't be USB 3.0.
Click to expand...

do you think there'll be Arrandales on the whole line including the 13" and the base 15". What about the BTO 15" and 17", from a cost point of view, if I'm not mistaking Clarksfield would correspond to the Penryns they have now, of course they'd consume more..
 
Candyman87 said:
Hmmmm Why do I smell a slight breeze of sarcasm here?! :)

It's not about the money I worry - it's that the 17" still has the Express port instead of the SD card slot which for a card reader would take ANOTHER USB port *ARGL*

FireWire port is already in usage for Audio interface.
:cool:
Click to expand...

With the ExpressCard slot in the 17" you can get a card for $30 (SanDisk & Belkin make one) that will read SD cards and still save that 3rd USB Port for something else. Really the versatility of the ExpressCard slot and the 3rd USB Port should make the 17" a no brainer for you.
 
GreatDrok said:
Quad core at some point is virtually guaranteed.

I wouldn't expect more USB ports since it is a laptop and there is only a limited amount of space for ports. Frankly, with wireless devices it is less of an issue these days anyway. Hopefully they will bring USB3 on board sooner or later and that may allow them to drop the Firewire port although there will be lots of screaming I'm sure even if USB3 is much faster.

I am past caring about having an optical drive in my laptop and basically see no reason to worry about having an BD drive. I don't want to carry discs and I like the fact that many BDs these days come with SD digital copies which are perfectly acceptable for use on my MBP and it keeps the CPU usage down and gives longer battery life. In fact, bumping the optical disc in favour of more onboard storage or a bigger battery would be fine by me.

My main complaint with the MBP is the glossy screen but they've at least got the option for matte screens on the 15 and 17" models so the same for the 13" would be nice.

Basically, I'm sitting on my original Core Duo 15" MBP for a bit longer since it doesn't strike me that the new ones are that much of an advance yet but I think a quad core and say 8GB of RAM would be enough to make it worth my while.
Click to expand...

True.

Of course, if the HP Pavillion dv7-3085 is of any reference point, an i7 CPU will generate TONS of heat and cause early thermal death. People have complained... How to fit all that in a current MBP case will be interesting... :D Not to mention the nvidia video chipset, the 230, is apprently just a rebranded 9400 but with more RAM...
 
dampfdruck said:
I hope the 13" and 15" models will get decent screen resolution. A 15" notebook with 1440x900 is a joke.

As for the optical drive, I hope they drop it all together. It is as obsolete nowadays as floppies were a few years ago.
Click to expand...

1920x1200 (or 1920x1080) on a 15" is a joke. Some complain about 1920x1200 on a 17" MBP monitor... :D (not me, it's not THAT small and it works rather better...)
 
Candyman87 said:
Hello forum!

I was wondering if anybody knows how the technical specs of the next generation 15" MacBook Pro (talking about the ones that come out this January) are going to be.

Any chance of getting...
-a quad core processor
-MORE USB 2.0 ports (two ports are really LOUSY for a professional machine)
or at least a second FireWire port
-a blue ray Super drive option
-an iSight cam with higher picture quality

I want HARD FACTS or at least realistic expectations.

Further does anybod know WHEN they will be released (Should I wait?!)?
Click to expand...

Here are the facts. These are the final specs for next gen MBP as approved by steve jobs:

- Reverting back to PPC architecture. The chip is called the G6.
- USB is being phased out, so there will be *zero* usb ports. You'll have to buy an ExpressCard to get some USB ports if you want them.
- Instead of blu-ray, Apple has purchased the rights from Toshiba for the HD-DVD standard and will be using that instead.
- iCam will become stereo-3D which means everyone will need to wear those red and blue 3D glasses to make it work.

This is all that is known at this time, but trust me, these specs are final and correct.
 
Express card slot not evil

Ohhhhh OMG Express card slot is the new blue! :)

Didn't know this little port is that versatile - I love that! screw the SD card slot! :))

hail Express card! :D


@milton.sheaf:
Those changes (not sure if you were serious or not) sound kind of scary...

Let's hope they make some sane improvements!

Pe:apple:ce!
 
milton.sheaf said:
Here are the facts. These are the final specs for next gen MBP as approved by steve jobs:

- Reverting back to PPC architecture. The chip is called the G6.
- USB is being phased out, so there will be *zero* usb ports. You'll have to buy an ExpressCard to get some USB ports if you want them.
- Instead of blu-ray, Apple has purchased the rights from Toshiba for the HD-DVD standard and will be using that instead.
- iCam will become stereo-3D which means everyone will need to wear those red and blue 3D glasses to make it work.

This is all that is known at this time, but trust me, these specs are final and correct.
Click to expand...

omg... you have no idea... you seem to forget that the macbook wheel technology ( you in case you have never seen it in action:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BnLbv6QYcA ) will come to the macbook pros, finally, with the awesome hummingbird battery, a body which is virtually unbreakable unless dropped or hit, and and and.... :eek: wow
 
thermodynamic said:
1920x1200 (or 1920x1080) on a 15" is a joke. Some complain about 1920x1200 on a 17" MBP monitor... :D (not me, it's not THAT small and it works rather better...)
Click to expand...

Not if Apple had delivered on resolution independence.

Also, Dell offeres notebook with 1920 X 1080 in a 15 inch format. I don't recall hearing jokes about that model.
 
Ok now I'm going to sound like a total noob but will the Arrandale processors be a big step up from the current?
 
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