Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Slimmer 13-Inch and 15-Inch MacBook Pros Reportedly in Production

I recently returned my MBP 13" purchase after hearing this news. I'm pretty excited about the new form factor. Some realistic things that I think will be in the new MBP 13" aside from the new CPU are:

- 1920x1080 display
- dedicated GPU
- USB 3.0

If they include these 3 things, I will be quite the happy camper. I'm sorry about the ODD for those who need it, but with the loss of the ODD may bring things that many people have been craving for in the 13" (a dedicated GPU).
 
I personally favor the removal of the ODD as well to be make more space for a better GPU or a larger battery (though I think the 6 hours of a MBP are already pretty good and I would love to see an improvement in the GPU area- but thats just a personal preference).

What would be the best solution (but may not be worth for Apple to do so) would be the customization ability to choose between an ODD or a larger battery instead (better GPU).

That would make everybody happy.

But I dont think that this will happen, because they might need to offer two different kind of unibodies which is just not gonna happen...

Well, lets hope that the rumor is really true and we see MBPs hitting the shelves in April!

Good luck everyone! ;-)
 
Mr.MBP said:
I recently returned my MBP 13" purchase after hearing this news. I'm pretty excited about the new form factor. Some realistic things that I think will be in the new MBP 13" aside from the new CPU are:

- 1920x1080 display
- dedicated GPU
- USB 3.0

If they include these 3 things, I will be quite the happy camper. I'm sorry about the ODD for those who need it, but with the loss of the ODD may bring things that many people have been craving for in the 13" (a dedicated GPU).
Click to expand...
I agree with the 2nd two, but a 1920x1080 resolution on a 13" screen is just way too tiny for me. Everything would be far too small, and since LCDs always look best at their native resolution, decreasing the resolution is not really an option.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B179 Safari/7534.48.3)

Bubba Satori said:
Tinyluph said:
Laptops are for adults. That's why I want it to come with inferior hardware so I can use it as a facebook machine. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Hipster style and anorexia trumps functionality every time.
How can the poor dears be expected to be burdened with more than 5 pounds of sleekness?
Click to expand...

It's not that 5 lbs is heavy, but if you're like me and have a bag full of product samples, files and proposals, it's no longer just 5 lbs you're carrying.

After doing this for 20+ years, my shoulders are screwed up and my choice is to not carry that much weight. When I got my old 15" mbp, I thought it was heaven sent given it replaced a 9 lb HP laptop. Now with the air, I'm blown away that I can even move down to a smaller bag, saving even more weight.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B179 Safari/7534.48.3)

If you replace cd rom or DVD with 8 track or VHS or floppy, you'll understand why the argument for keeping cd/DVD drives won't hold water. I'm sure there are a great many people still using CDs but you also realize that DVD and blue ray are not exactly lighting the world on fire. There is a reason that blockbuster and even Netflix aren't the businesses they once were.

Times they are a changin and the lifespan of the cd and DVD are at their end. I've said it before, there will be those people that fight the change kicking and screaming, but the change will happen regardless.
 
jmgregory1 said:
There is a reason that blockbuster and even Netflix aren't the businesses they once were.
Click to expand...

That also has a lot to do with DVDs being so cheap to purchase that it is not worth renting them as that is almost as expensive in many cases.

Optical discs still have a place, but their use on computers is waning. There is no need for everyone to carry around an ODD inside their computer for the relatively small number than use them regularly. A small external drive is already available for them.

I use the ODD on my iMac and Macbook occasionally. They could easily be sharing an external drive, freeing the computers them from the cost, space and heat of an internal drive.
 
wikus said:
Again, its the TERM and the perception of its meaning that bothers mean. Jobs compared the iphone retina display to a book, basically 300dpi implying it'd be 300dpi or more (since the human eye cant see past that). Now you have the iPad thats LESS than 300dpi and the term *still applies* even if they had that math formula.. it doesnt mean anything because its been voided by their inconsistency. So... its marketing BS.
Click to expand...


Actually, you're right it is marketing BS. When you buy a TV, there is a different recommended viewing distance for 40, 46 and 50 inch etc... to a distance where you can NOT distinguish the pixels.

So, that makes every 1080p TV a retina display if you sit far away enough.
 
Mr.MBP said:
I recently returned my MBP 13" purchase after hearing this news. I'm pretty excited about the new form factor. Some realistic things that I think will be in the new MBP 13" aside from the new CPU are:

- 1920x1080 display
- dedicated GPU
- USB 3.0

If they include these 3 things, I will be quite the happy camper. I'm sorry about the ODD for those who need it, but with the loss of the ODD may bring things that many people have been craving for in the 13" (a dedicated GPU).
Click to expand...

I don't think you're going to see a MBPro 13" anymore. I think the new MBPro is going to be 15" & 17" only.
 
InuNacho said:
Removing the optical drive from the iMac would be just plain stupid. The thing is supposedly a full fledged desktop (well by Apple standards) and it should be treated as such.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. In particular because the last inches of thickness doesn't matter. Contrary to the MBP.

----------
Carouser said:
Are we just making up stuff now? I'd like to see the data on why people selected their Apple products and just how many did so because some geek advised them to.

Not to mention that self-identified 'power users' and the rest of the neckbeard community have been the first and last ones to sneer at Apple products in general and iOS devices in particular, yet Apple is making more money than you can imagine. If a bunch of geeks jump ship to linux no significant number of consumers are going to care one bit.

The opinions of this self-appointed pseudo-elite aren't as important as they wish they were.
Click to expand...

In my view everyone on this forum is a geek. If you post on topics like what this thread is about you know for sure you are one.
 
towely said:
Do you even have a use for ODDs in the 15th century?
Click to expand...

Nice. I see respect hasn't much improved since the 15c century anywhere. funny that.

Going back to someone elses' post. Can anyone clarify what "in production" might mean? To me that term just means they are working on it.
 
Moonjumper said:
That also has a lot to do with DVDs being so cheap to purchase that it is not worth renting them as that is almost as expensive in many cases.

Optical discs still have a place, but their use on computers is waning. There is no need for everyone to carry around an ODD inside their computer for the relatively small number than use them regularly. A small external drive is already available for them.

I use the ODD on my iMac and Macbook occasionally. They could easily be sharing an external drive, freeing the computers them from the cost, space and heat of an internal drive.
Click to expand...

Maybe some people are buying dvd's and obviously some are buying music cd's, but I don't think that explains what has happened with BlockBuster and Netflix. People are moving to digital download. Same with NetFlix. I know there are areas of the country where the traditional video store is still the go-to place to get movies to watch at home and certainly RedBox has done a commendable job winning a piece of the pie, but for me personally, I can't remember the last dvd or even music cd I purchased.

I live in Chicago and perhaps the urban setting makes my situation different given I have cable internet speeds that make large file downloads take seconds and I know that isn't the case even in some mid-sized markets (at least without paying through the nose for the speed).

I just find it funny how there are those that talk about abandoning Apple if they drop the ODD. Go ahead, buy yourself another year or two, until the pc manufacturers make the switch as well.
 
no ODD, slimmer machine, and I was just about to go for the Air

Gah! The moment I'm determined my next mac will be an Air the useless part in the MBP is rumoured to be going.

I so rarely use optical media these days that I won't miss the ODD. About the only time I pull out my external Pioneer drive is to back up a DVD before the kids mangle it.

But this potential change puts me back in a tricky place. I was all set to get an Air with the nest update. Now I'll have to balance the exciting possibilities of a proper GPU, bigger screen, better processor and maybe SSD+HDD onboard Vs more weight, size and that pesky reality-check, price. Now I'll have to decide on the balance of what I need, what I'd like and what I can honestly afford.
 
jmgregory1 said:
Maybe some people are buying dvd's and obviously some are buying music cd's, but I don't think that explains what has happened with BlockBuster and Netflix. People are moving to digital download. Same with NetFlix. I know there are areas of the country where the traditional video store is still the go-to place to get movies to watch at home and certainly RedBox has done a commendable job winning a piece of the pie, but for me personally, I can't remember the last dvd or even music cd I purchased.

I live in Chicago and perhaps the urban setting makes my situation different given I have cable internet speeds that make large file downloads take seconds and I know that isn't the case even in some mid-sized markets (at least without paying through the nose for the speed).

I just find it funny how there are those that talk about abandoning Apple if they drop the ODD. Go ahead, buy yourself another year or two, until the pc manufacturers make the switch as well.
Click to expand...

In the UK, digital downloads of films have not taken off. Prices are not great, many people haven't made the mental switch of buying something without getting anything physical, and other reasons. The number of people I can borrow DVDs and Blu-Rays from suggest a lot are staying with discs.

I am disagreeing on the death of optical media, but agreeing on the removal of the ODD.

Much of the use for an optical drive on a computer was data backup, most of which has moved to the cloud. Media consumption of CDs can be served by an external drive as many rip their music to iTunes, and the same is possible with DVD. The power consumption of an ODD does make a big difference of how long you can watch a DVD for. Have it stored digitally and you can watch much more.
 
Psychj0e said:
Come back and give us your opinion when you're doing a real degree.
Click to expand...

I have the same opinion, and have a whole slew of "real" degrees. I just don't use ODDs. The last time I used one was to install some software, months ago. I'd gladly exchange having to use an external drive once in a blue moon to lugging around a ODD all the time.

jmgregory1 said:
It's not that 5 lbs is heavy, but if you're like me and have a bag full of product samples, files and proposals, it's no longer just 5 lbs you're carrying.

After doing this for 20+ years, my shoulders are screwed up and my choice is to not carry that much weight. When I got my old 15" mbp, I thought it was heaven sent given it replaced a 9 lb HP laptop. Now with the air, I'm blown away that I can even move down to a smaller bag, saving even more weight.
Click to expand...

This. It's not just the laptop you're carrying - and if it is, then you need to stop being smug about hipsters and weaklings. It's papers and notebooks and dozens of other things. You start noticing the differences.
 
jmgregory1 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B179 Safari/7534.48.3)



It's not that 5 lbs is heavy, but if you're like me and have a bag full of product samples, files and proposals, it's no longer just 5 lbs you're carrying.

After doing this for 20+ years, my shoulders are screwed up and my choice is to not carry that much weight. When I got my old 15" mbp, I thought it was heaven sent given it replaced a 9 lb HP laptop. Now with the air, I'm blown away that I can even move down to a smaller bag, saving even more weight.
Click to expand...

I understand. I've got tendinitis in both my rotator cuffs.
That's what the MacBook Airs are for. The lightest possible weight
for people like yourself who carry around their laptops a lot

But please, Apple, make the MacBook Pro a high end laptop.
You can still have two different laptop lines and give customers
the choices they need to have the computing tools they need.
 
cjmillsnun said:
If you're constantly having to connect an external optical drive because your work demands it, then that isn't convenient. Some people at this time still require a built in optical drive.
Click to expand...

With this type of thinking, technology would never advance. Sometimes you have to lose things. Apple is known for doing so as well.
 
Pro31 said:
With this type of thinking, technology would never advance. Sometimes you have to lose things. Apple is known for doing so as well.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

I expect that some people are going to be disappointed in the not-too-distant future. I foresee non-ODD laptops will dominate Apple's offerings.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B179 Safari/7534.48.3)

Bubba Satori said:
jmgregory1 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B179 Safari/7534.48.3)



It's not that 5 lbs is heavy, but if you're like me and have a bag full of product samples, files and proposals, it's no longer just 5 lbs you're carrying.

After doing this for 20+ years, my shoulders are screwed up and my choice is to not carry that much weight. When I got my old 15" mbp, I thought it was heaven sent given it replaced a 9 lb HP laptop. Now with the air, I'm blown away that I can even move down to a smaller bag, saving even more weight.
Click to expand...

I understand. I've got tendinitis in both my rotator cuffs.
That's what the MacBook Airs are for. The lightest possible weight
for people like yourself who carry around their laptops a lot

But please, Apple, make the MacBook Pro a high end laptop.
You can still have two different laptop lines and give customers
the choices they need to have the computing tools they need.
Click to expand...

Yep, both my rotator cuffs are shot. I cant tell you how many bags i drstroyed because I was just carrying too much stuff. I have colleagues that went even further with the amount of crap they carried, just in case.

And I agree that Apple should stick with a pro line with distinctly professional grade screen (read matte finish), discrete graphics and bigger ram and ssd options.
 
hillsandvalley said:
Nice. I see respect hasn't much improved since the 15c century anywhere. funny that.

Going back to someone elses' post. Can anyone clarify what "in production" might mean? To me that term just means they are working on it.
Click to expand...

"In production" means that the MBPros are actually being produced on the assembly lines.

Remember, if these do have Quad Core Ivy Bridge like everyone believes, then Apple had first dibs at these chips for a while..which would mean they have been getting the shipments ready of the MBPro.
 
I'm one of the few people who still collects CDs, which is why I would prefer to have an optical drive. However, an external one would be acceptable. Having an HDD is pretty important for those of us with big music collections though.
 
Ed A. said:
Good point. "Pro" should mean pro features, like something that is used by the video, photography or audio industry, not just something to play Angry Birds on.
Click to expand...

What about IT, software design, business, financial, law "Pros" that have much different needs ?

What about architecture, building inspections. What about...

There's more to "Pro" than audio/video.
 
Ed A. said:
Good point. "Pro" should mean pro features, like something that is used by the video, photography or audio industry, not just something to play Angry Birds on.
Click to expand...

I'm in the "pro" industry and our post house does all you listed above....we do not want optical drives in our portables....that is what USB sticks are for now. Optical drives & stock are a waste of time and money...plus think about how much crap you are saving the environment from with all these optical discs people just throw away after delivery of assets.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back