Unlikely to happen except for maybe the Mac Pros. Apple wants you to get your media from iTunes.
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Production of New Thunderbolt-Equipped MacBook Airs Set for Next Month?
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Unlikely to happen except for maybe the Mac Pros. Apple wants you to get your media from iTunes.
The MacBook Pro design hasn't changed since 2008. I'd bet money that the next time they do a redesign an optical drive won't be present.
what's the difference in the screen specs? i saw the air's screen at the apple store and it looked pretty nice to me
True, but I doubt Apple will put them in their machines and/or peripherals. I'd love to keep a third offsite backup of my information with BDXL, and I can with 3rd party hardware.
I think one of the biggest things holding me back though is the price of the discs.
Same here! 100% same here!
I have been holding back on buying a 13" Air for the backlit keyboard and Thunderbolt.
If I get both it'll be a definite buy. If I get just TB, then I may just consider the MBP.
sigh... I haven't even seen cable adapters, I kinda expected a ThunderBolt to eSATA adapter quickly...
Taiyo Yuden bd-r are under 2 bucks for 25GB. That's not a big deal in my opinion.
BDXL is very new. There's just one drive model.
After they are done adding layers to BD, it will be time for the holographic disks.
Specs? I have no idea, but from using both I can tell you that when it comes to viewing angles, colours, brightness, blacks and whites that the 13" MBP is superior in every way. (And I supposedly had the better part number for the screen in the MBA)
Agreed. Though I thought SB was roughy 10% more efficient in regards to TDP, than previous core gens...thereby making it a thermal improvement. Also, no cooling requirements for a 320m...all on the SB chip.
If you make the MBP thinner, it will just be a big MBA.
The right way is to make bigger MBAs, not to make thinner MBPs.
A more powerful competitor to 15" Zacate netbooks.
You don't think ? Seriously people, we had 1440x900 displays 10 years ago, on GPUs that had about 1% the graphics processing power of today and about a tenth of the RAM.
Heck, the 9400M could power external 30" monitors at their native resolution of 2560x1600 at the same time it powered in the laptop's internal display of 1280x800 without breaking a sweet.
What's so hard to grasp that the MBP's resolution staying at 1280x800 has nothing to do with the GPU in SB ?
Have you guys never used computers 10 years ago ? CRT monitors at 1600x1200 ring a bell to anyone but me here ?
Because part of releasing a new, backwards approaching, IGP in the 13" MBP required saving face for both its MacBook "PRO" name and Intel's IGP capabilities itself.
If the resolution is upgraded to 1440x900, the IGP is going to perform worse in comparison to the prior 13" MBP...
I also fear Apple's ridiculous 10.6.7 downgrade was somehow to show the MBA's IGP isn't as bad as it is going to be with SB IGP. Look at OpenGL performance on it, as it dropped 30% from 10.6.6. Now, we have seen Apple screw these things up before, but they also market their new products based upon prior products and list an OS X version tested on the prior gen. If they reverse course with 10.6.8 or 10.7, in the new MBA, then they might show only a 20% loss in IGP performance vs. the prior Nvidia 320m... when in reality, it might be more like a 50% plus loss in performance.
The big thing here, that NOBODY likes to think about is the 13" MBP uses a standard voltage CPU, while the MBA will use either ULV and LV or just ULV depending on who we believe. The ULV SB IGP operates at a greater than 50% loss than the Nvidia 320m. We can see this from competing products, that yes are running Windows but still have better OpenGL capabilities in the first place.
I think the big advantage to this downgrade will be buying clearance and refurbished Nvidia-based MBAs for 25% discounts... Unless Apple somehow fits a standard voltage SB CPU in the 13" MBA, I think most will be better off with C2D and Nvidia 320m at discounts.
Apple has been down the path of using a low voltage Intel CPU and IGP in the MBA before, and it was the worst Mac created since the Intel transition. It wasn't until Nvidia 9400m that the MBA became even usable. Yes, the SB IGP is better than prior Intel IGPs, but it's still utterly disappointing in LV/ULV variants. I guess the smart buyers will be buying clearance MBAs with Nvidia 320m and skip Sandy Bridge for a more reliable Ivy Bridge model. It depends on how each person uses the MBA, but I believe the vast majority are much better off with Nvidia and C2D. I just hope Apple doesn't destroy the MBA brand to try to make Intel's inferior IGP work... especially in LV and ULV variants.
Uhh, no, it won't. As long as the logic board is at the thickest point then they will be able to house the same power components as the current Pro.
Making the Pro thinner and removing the optical drive does not make a big MBA. Not in the slightest.
This may have been asked and answered before, but is the common belief that USB and Firewire will be completely gone soon? For example, my Macbook Air has room for only two ports - a mini-display drive, and a USB drive. Is the idea that the Thunderbolt drive will replace the USB, and that purchasers of the new Air will use an adapter of some sort for "old" USB peripherals moving forward?
Battery and Backlit
If ditching the 320M and switching to an i-processor boosts battery life even 10%, I think it will be worth it.
People who want to play modern games on these systems should already be aware of their limitations; sure, a graphics downgrade is a bummer, but the Intel IGP is good enough for most general productivity needs. And it's already been proven to handle 1080p out.
The general sentiment that the 2012 will be an improvement on 100% of the internals is likely accurate. However, there are four changes that will make this a 100% buy for me:
1) Backlit keyboard (my biggest hope).
2) Larger SSD. 90+ GB base (128 would be most likely, I reckon), 380+ GB BTO.
3) +10% Battery life. An extra 30 minutes to an hour would be spectacular.
4) Core i ULM processor.
If ditching the 320M and switching to an i-processor boosts battery life even 10%, I think it will be worth it.
People who want to play modern games on these systems should already be aware of their limitations; sure, a graphics downgrade is a bummer, but the Intel IGP is good enough for most general productivity needs. And it's already been proven to handle 1080p out.
The general sentiment that the 2012 will be an improvement on 100% of the internals is likely accurate. However, there are four changes that will make this a 100% buy for me:
1) Backlit keyboard (my biggest hope).
2) Larger SSD. 90+ GB base (128 would be most likely, I reckon), 380+ GB BTO.
3) +10% Battery life. An extra 30 minutes to an hour would be spectacular.
4) Core i ULM processor.
Even the 15" Zacates have optical drives. An MBP without optical drive would look bad.
I hope to see the backlit keyboard back also. It should be a standard MacBook feature.
I think I'll be satisfied with gaming on an Air thanks to OnLive. In fact, it's the perfect machine for it. Just plug in a wireless 360 controller (and optionally an external monitor/HDTV) and play.
I think I'll be satisfied with gaming on an Air thanks to OnLive. In fact, it's the perfect machine for it. Just plug in a wireless 360 controller (and optionally an external monitor/HDTV) and play.
If Apple has this expectation, they had better at least sell an appropriate adapter/hub. I've long thought a thin, form-matching hub that connects to all of the ports on one side of an Apple portable would be a great idea. If Apple can make a 2- or even 3-port USB hub off of the Thunderbolt port (especially if a Mini Display-Port is also available) for ~$50, that would be golden for this type of MBA plan.
Just like all of the netbooks with optical drives make the MBA look bad?
Netbooks do not have optical drives. Ultraportables do.
The MBA looks good as a netbook. It looks bad as an ultraportable.
MBA and MBP are two different markets.
MBA is for people that want light. MBP is for people that want a full featured notebook.
So you want a big MBA.
If they could have the same processors, that would happen already at 13".
Hum... that's the point, you wouldn't even notice that in regular desktop usage, only in gaming and then only if you usually game on the internal display.
The framebuffer resolutions required for desktop usage have been pushed by GPUs much less than the SB graphics. Again, my Matrox G200 could power a 1600x1200 monitor with ease with about 1% of the processing power of a 9400M, much less that of the 320M or the Intel 3000HD.
These GPUs can power 30" monitors at 2560x1600 and their internal display on the laptops without breaking a sweat, at the same time. You wouldn't notice a degradation in performance. I'm writing this right now with my MBA connected to a 2048x1156 monitor and it's also powering its own 1440x900 display where iTunes is displayed. I'm not seeing this "degradation" you speak of.
This, again, only applies to 3D gaming. We don't know why the MBP didn't get the resolution upgrade and I can garantee you it has nothing to do with the GPU.