Just wondering what you guys think? If the new macbook pros get slimmed down to "air-like" thinness, does that mean that everything will be soldered onto the motherboard like they are on the air, or do you think users will still be able to upgrade the RAM and such themselves still?
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So if the New MacBook Pros are slimmer, willt ehy still be user upgradeable?
- Thread starter Smiller4128
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not sure, i guess the question is if its possible why is the MBA the way it is for RAM and SSD?
I would guess that it depends on how much they slim them down. Although I can't see making memory non-upgradable in a "Pro" machine.
Actually in the Air the SSD plugs in and can be replaced/upgraded.
User upgradeable is an expression that makes Apple shudder in fear. All one has to do is look at the trends of the last few years.
From the captive battery that first appeared in the MacBook Pro (even though a tech savy user can replace it) Apple has slowly marched towards making their hardware like semi-sealed appliances.
Soon "upgradeable" will no longer apply towards any Apple computers, or other devices.
From the captive battery that first appeared in the MacBook Pro (even though a tech savy user can replace it) Apple has slowly marched towards making their hardware like semi-sealed appliances.
Soon "upgradeable" will no longer apply towards any Apple computers, or other devices.
I hope not. I really hope they don't have that "blade" SSD crap bc I plan on upgrading that feature myself.
7.5mm? Do you mean 2.5mm?
I think the MBP wills remain user upgradable. Upgradability is one of the big differences between a MBP and MBA. Many MBP users, myself included upgrade their machine. I put in 8GB of RAM and a 240GB SSD, if I could no longer upgrade myself I would seriously have to think about looking elsewhere for my next machine. On another note I think the MBA will remain as is and not be upgradable as its a consumer machine.
It's actually 7 mm. My bad. It's down from the normal 9.5 mm. The new designs are supposed to be more "ultrabook friendly". I don't see the Pro going the way of the Air. I think Apple will ditch the disc drive and make the Pro thinner, but not Air thin. They'll use the extra space for battery and nice GPUs (at least in the 15, the 13 will have Intel graphics and the 17 may keep the SuperDrive).
so make it thinner, gain extra space, bigger battery, more powerful GPU
im confused how removing the optical drive make it thinner creates extra space, isn't making it thinner negating the extra space gained?
better battery equals bigger and heavier, nothing wrong with 6-7 hours of current battery to make it bigger and heavier
more powerful GPU equals 200 threads a week about how hot the 2012 mbp gets
I very much doubt it will be non-ram upgradeable or even difficult to upgrade.
If it is, then there's basically no differentiation between the Pro and the Air, and I would consider the pro line EOL'd at that point.
I don't think there are many (if any) pro users (as in, people who need the features of the pro, not just facebook/email) out there who have a major problem with the size of the machines, and would be more interested in more features in a similar form factor than sacrificing upgradability simply so have a little bit of weight.
If you want an air, buy an air - I don't want apple to turn the pro into a clone of it.
If it is, then there's basically no differentiation between the Pro and the Air, and I would consider the pro line EOL'd at that point.
I don't think there are many (if any) pro users (as in, people who need the features of the pro, not just facebook/email) out there who have a major problem with the size of the machines, and would be more interested in more features in a similar form factor than sacrificing upgradability simply so have a little bit of weight.
If you want an air, buy an air - I don't want apple to turn the pro into a clone of it.
You are assuming that the new MacBook Pro will be all SSD, which it probably won't be.
A lot of people would appreciate storage over speed, and since there is no 7.5mm hard drive in the market, I'd predict that the new MacBook Pro will not be slimmer in any way.
Do not worry; customizability and upgradeability are the MacBook Pro's main selling points, and Apple will not be stupid enough to diminish these points with a design upgrade.
Maybe, maybe not. We'll see. I'd like to see them shave some mm and some lbs personally. Maybe they'll go the SSD/HDD combo and use the SSD as a cache drive like everyone thought they were going to do last year. I'm interested to see what Apple does though. I think the Pro is up for a makeover (I still love the way they look now).
Which isn't necessarily a bad thing (not that I'm assuming you were implying it was). As technology gets cheaper, smaller, and faster, it only makes sense that "user upgradable" would fade out, as it would no longer be a viable or cost effective method of keeping technology strong.
On a machine like the Mac Pro, it makes sense for it to be upgradeable, since one customer may need a specific I/O versus another customer, and can install it themselves. With the MacBook line, the specs you purchase it at will most likely be good enough to carry you to your next MacBook purchase without need to upgrade.
In my case, I run my machines into the ground, so yes, I'll upgrade my RAM, please.
a few mm's does not weigh lbs
...wasn't being literal. Ounces would be more appropriate. Overall point still the same. Make it a little thinner and lighter.
My guess is the RAM is not upgradeable in the Air because they didn't really have the room to stick in the SODIMM sockets you find on the Pros. It takes up less room just to solder them to the logic board (and they don't then have the height issue either). I guess they didn't do the same with the SSD as it would have meant keeping a huge number of permutations of hardware in stock (plus the blade SSD is a single, smaller socket).
Could move to adapters right? Not that it would necessarily be the best thing to do, but Apple seems to be moving towards this idea that Wi-Fi is King so to speak. Hence, the Mac App Store, MacBook air has no Ethernet, etc...
If those adaptors are available. I already use a USB ethernet adaptor with my MBA and it's terrible since it only does Ethernet 100 mega bits as opposed to giabit Ethernet. Also, because it's USB it uses a fair amount of your CPU.
The other adaptor that does offer full gigabit Ethernet via Thunderbolt happens to be attached to a 27" screen and costs $999 so it's not really a convient solution for everyone.
Sure, the Belkin Thunderbolt thing does promise this connectivity, but when will it actually come out?
so that means we have to pay $2500 or £2099 for a 17" macbook pro if we needed portability and/or/maybe a superdrive?
either way, i highly doubt that apple will turn the MBP into an ultrabook. they have the macbook air for that. all appple need to do is add 15" and 17" models to thier air line of macbooks if they really want to accomplish bigger screen size in a slimmer form factor. Now i know that apple so make seperate superdrives, but would it add extra clutter? will it be more of a pain to carry around with that attached to your macbook pro? wouldn't it easily get lost or left behind if you took your MB out with you? I really think apple should pick up on the latter 2.
Hold on a sec, I'll just check with m'boy Timmy Cook...
...Apparently, the new macbook pro is going to have a completely see-through unibody made entirely of gorilla-glass, with two green-ray drives (to support the upcoming 5 petabyte disc standard), and an Atomic battery with a half-life of 50 years. It's also got a 17-core i12 processor and 93.6 terabytes of RAM. The best part? There's even a built in hair drier!