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Thinner 15-Inch MacBook Pro Coming with Retina Display and USB 3.0?

miniroll32 said:
USB-to-Firewire interface.
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To the best of my knowledge, such a beast does not exist. There are some USB-to-Firewire charging adaptors (which must necessarily fall short of Firewire's voltage and current ratings), but I've never heard of a functional USB-to-Firewire data transfer adaptor.

A Thunderbolt-to-Firewire adapter is a solution, since PCIe-to-Firewire adaptors are well established, and Thunderbolt is essentially an extension of the PC's internal PCIe bus. They'll be prohibitively expensive, though.
 
dampfdruck said:
I already carry in addition to my 15" MBP:

- Power supply
- VGA adapter
- HSPA modem
- Mouse

Now, I'm also supposed to carry a Ethernet adapter? The add-ons become more bulky and cumbersome to carry than the computer itself. I don't see how that can be beneficial.

If anyone from Apple reads this: I want all important components built into the machine. If you don't know how to do this, then get a Thinkpad and reverse engineer.
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Few people need all the attachments. For example, assuming the power supply is the standard cable that comes with the computer (which, if it is, is a little bit silly to even list considering you're not gonna find some "pro" laptop that magically lasts forever), then that's the only thing you list that I need in my day to day activities. Before you attack me with the whole well not everyone has the same needs, I realize that. That's exactly the point I'm making. Apple just sees the majority NOT needing the ports or the extra weight and is designing their laptops towards them.


I HOPE they drop the Pro moniker, so that people don't arrogantly talk about how "pro" their work is compared to others. Pro can mean professional ANYTHING and it's stupid to assume that if X port is missing or x gpu isn't very powerful, that Apple isn't catering to a professional market anymore.
 
No fw or ethernet port needed

....because this will have USB3. Faster than FW and simply use the dongle when you want Ethernet. The Ethernet dongle with the old USB2 is bad, slow, but with USB3 it's fine. Why keep a thicker case full time just to accommodate an ethernet port when you can use an adapter occasionally? Smart trade off.
 
Fishrrman said:
USB3 (as I've predicted in previous postings) eclipses firewire, just as firewire ended SCSI.

Perhaps there will be a "thunderbolt-to-firewire" adapter available for a while...
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Can still do things with FireWire USB-3 cant.

Besides, Intel themselves are not that hot over USB 3

Would rather take eSATA III over USB 3 any day.
 
mabhatter said:
I'd point out USB2 only has 480Mbps of throughput. Gigabit Ethernet is 1000Mbps. There's no point in a GigaBit dongle. Now with USB3 it might be close enough to justify a new dongle, but it's still not FASTER to account for overhead in drivers.
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USB 3 has more than enough bandwidth to be able to create a USB 3 to Gigabit Ethernet dongle. Driver overhead? Seriously?
 
If it's true and the optical drive is gone, do you guys think dual hard drives is still possible? Like 1 SSD + 1 HHD? Thanks for the input:D
 
I like the design to start with! It doesn't look like an Air.

On my shoppinglist:
- MBP 17"
- External ODD (maybe even now an external Blu-Ray..I can dream, can't I :) )
- USB-2-Ethernet toggle
- USB-2-Firewire Toggle (if this even exists, but all my Firewire hardware has also USB 3.0)
- external keyboard with seperated numeric keypad

Just need to find a decent "Pro" laptogbag where everything fits in and I'm happy. :D
 
Hmm i'm not a Mac expert but what about HDMI port? Still need to get a converter/adapter?
 
i was hoping to NOT make it thinner...and instead use the regained space to house multiple SSD drives and a lot more RAM (32 gig or 64 gig)

ohhhh well
 
Thunderbolt makes it all alright. The problem when they've removed Firewire on existing machines has been that for a few models there was nothing to replace it or allow the possibility of adding it back if you really need it.

When space is at a premium, it makes total sense to have a port that everyone can use for anything instead of a port that only some people will ever use for specific things.
 
what about the putative GPU?

Have not seen much discussion about relative merits to existing 15" discrete GPUs?

comment away please...


best
BK
 
If they get rid of the Ethernet port, i'm saying bye to Apple laptops for good. That may sound melodramatic, but us video professionals not only need gigabit, which the current USB to Ethernet converter would not supply, but we need Jumbo Frame support, which again it does not supply. Plus i'm fed up of buying multiple converters just to get my bloody laptop to have the same ports that most PC laptops have as standard, and having to pay a premium for the privilege. Imagine if they did get rid of the ethernet port, i'd need my Thunderbolt-VGA converter, my USB-Ethernet converter. I'll probably need a Thunderbolt-Firewire converter too. It's stupid.

By all means keep the amount of ports low on the MacBook Air. But a 'Pro' machine requires a dedicated Ethernet port, there is no question.
 
good lord, noooooooo

I am really losing all faith in Apple as a pro company. I have about 48 500GB and 1TB drives. I access these for my work every single day, and yes, a firewire-connected AtoD convertor as well. If this is true I have to ask, why are Apple making such trouble for the creative pros?
Freeks said:
No Firewire????

All PRO audiointerfaces use FW connection. There is no way that i would take USB audio interface to stage.

Grr! I was waiting next MPB line to update, but now i need to buy current model just to have FW.

I also have 10+ FW hard drives that would become obsolete with this.
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A lack of ethernet would be incredibly disappointing. It's probably a 15 cent part that is takes up a tiny amount of space, just include the damn thing.
 
Quu said:
I hope if this is the true design that they sell a USB3.0 to 10/100/1000 adapter. The current USB to Ethernet adapter that they sell is only 10/100 which is too slow in my opinion.

I don't use the Ethernet on mine much but when I do I need it to be fast. I'd be willing to use an adapter as long as it provided high throughput.
Click to expand...

But then you give up your USB 3 port to use ethernet it's not the best solution. Unless they put 3x of them on there to make up for it.
 
Ryth said:
Yes...because the Pro's won’t go out and buy the USB to Ethernet adapter.
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Correct.

I've rocked up loads of times with my MacBook Air only to find that the WiFi available is rubbish/VLAN restricted/non-existent, I then realise that I've not brought my bag with me that has the USB NIC in it, or I've brought the wrong bag.


Don't get me wrong, I love the whole docking station idea. Dell Latitude E6420 is great to use as a notebook out and about, and then dock to run in clamshell with dual external monitors, keyboard, mouse etc.
But guess what, I don't carry the dock around with me. It lives on the desk.
 
8CoreWhore said:
....because this will have USB3. Faster than FW and simply use the dongle when you want Ethernet. The Ethernet dongle with the old USB2 is bad, slow, but with USB3 it's fine. Why keep a thicker case full time just to accommodate an ethernet port when you can use an adapter occasionally? Smart trade off.
Click to expand...

Rather have a thicker case then no Gigabit Ethernet port.

Simple reason, a lot of companies refuse to allow Wi-Fi on internal networks, and using dongles not only add expense and mass, but you do loose performance every time you convert protocols.
 
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