The Future of the MPB?

[phaedarus]

I've been saving up to buy a MBP for some time; but now following the doubtful future of the Mac Pro and with the speculations that the MBP and Macbook Air may be merged, I'm back on the fence waiting to see what Apple does next.

Apple really does not seem to be too keen on keeping the professional/prosumer customer base despite how good the sales of MBPs are.

As much as I would like to think that Apple will likely just remove the optical drive from the MBP to bring its weight down, I have a feeling it will be "consumerized" to the extent the iMacs are when compared to the Mac Pros.

I suppose Apple's thinking is that Thunderbolt will address all of our needs.

Anyone else who is caught in the buying cycle a tad frustrated at all this uncertainty?

 

[varunsanthanam]

I've been saving up to buy a MBP for some time; but now following the doubtful future of the Mac Pro and with the speculations that the MBP and Macbook Air may be merged, I'm back on the fence waiting to see what Apple does next.

Apple really does not seem to be too keen on keeping the professional/prosumer customer base despite how good the sales of MBPs are.

As much as I would like to think that Apple will likely just remove the optical drive from the MBP to bring its weight down, I have a feeling it will be "consumerized" to the extent the iMacs are when compared to the Mac Pros.

I suppose Apple's thinking is that Thunderbolt will address all of our needs.

Anyone else who is caught in the buying cycle a tad frustrated at all this uncertainty?

I sincerely doubt that the MBP and MBA will be merged. At least not for some time. The most powerful MBA pails in comparison to the last powerful MBP, and the MBP accounts for most of the Mac sales. It's also been regularly updated in the last few years, unlike the other parts of the apple Lineup.

 

[Liquinn]

I've been saving up to buy a MBP for some time; but now following the doubtful future of the Mac Pro and with the speculations that the MBP and Macbook Air may be merged, I'm back on the fence waiting to see what Apple does next.

Apple really does not seem to be too keen on keeping the professional/prosumer customer base despite how good the sales of MBPs are.

As much as I would like to think that Apple will likely just remove the optical drive from the MBP to bring its weight down, I have a feeling it will be "consumerized" to the extent the iMacs are when compared to the Mac Pros.

I suppose Apple's thinking is that Thunderbolt will address all of our needs.

Anyone else who is caught in the buying cycle a tad frustrated at all this uncertainty?

I'm in the market for a MBP but yeah, I do agree. All the rumors, and uncertainty is what is putting me off at the moment. I wonder if Apple will drop the Macbook Pro and Mac Pro though, I hope not.

 

[edk99]

I highly doubt they will drop the MBP. I do think they will drop the optical drive in not so much for weight savings but just because it takes up a lot of room and is very useful. I can't remember the last time i put something in my optical drive. For the few times I do need it I would much rather have an external drive then a built in drive that takes up room and is hardly used.

I'm not sure how much smaller they will make the MBP in a redesign. I'm hoping to distinguish the MBA from the MBP thew will still offer in the MBP faster processors, upgradable memory and hard drive and better graphics. I'm also hoping with the added space from removing the optical drive a second hard drive option with a 128 or 256gb SSD as standard OS drive. SSD is the future but still the price is high for the capacity so it makes sense on a pro machine to offer a higher capacity second drive for data.

 

[thundersteele]

Well, you can buy a MBP now, and get a very good product.

The only slight hint that apple might be abandoning power users is the lack of updates for the Mac Pro. But it's not yet confirmed that they will really abandon it. All the rest is based on rumors.

Comparing the 13'' MBA and MBP, things seem a bit wrong. The MBP is the "pro" product, however the base MBA is better in some features, i.e. SSD, screen resolution. If Ivy Bridge is as energy efficient as people expect, they might be able to put more powerful chips in the MBA, without heat problems. If the integrated graphics has the same expected performance boost, the need for a dedicated graphics card will go away (and the 13'' MBP has none anyways).


People are willing to give up the optical drive (many are looking forward to it's removal). That frees up some space. If SSDs become default storage, this will maybe free up some more space. The new intel chips are supposed to be more energy efficient and have much improved integrated graphics. So less space for cooling needed, and maybe no dedicated graphics.
Now some want to use this extra space for more battery capacity or a second HDD. I think that's stupid. Within a year 256GB SSDs will be affordable as standard configuration, and external HDDs are very convenient and affordable, for those who need more. If the power consumption goes down, the current batteries are more than enough for 7-10 hours. I don't need more, and I think very few do.

So we end up with a compact (Air design?) 15'' MBP with 4lbs. If more is needed, thunderbolt opens the possibility to external RAM, GPU, storage, maybe all combined in an iMac like external display. Why not.

 

[i4Collin]

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I am also stuck in the buying cycle, and since I have been waiting so long, the uncertainty frustrates me. I think Apple will do away with the 13 inch MacBook Pro, give the MacBook Air a power boost, and roll out new 15 and 17 inch MacBook Pros. The 13 inch Air has a better screen, a standard SSD, and seems to be pointing towards the direction Apple wants to be moving. Only time will tell what Apple will do.

 

[Steve's Barber]

I think it's hard to say whether the MBP line gets merged with the Air. Under Steve, maybe. He seemed to favor sleek and thin over power. No telling what Cook will do. (If anything).

With $80 billion in cash Apple is kind of hard to predict. They aren't exactly a fledgling company on the throes of death which would require them to pull a rabbit out of a hat or the burning need to trim some fat.

Personally, I think for the next 3 years both product lines will stay independent. Even if you were to get one of the very last versions of the MBP it would still outperform it's "Air" counterpart for years to come.

But really... I don't think the hardware is the thing to worry about. It's where OSX is headed that bothers me.