Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Thinner MacBook Pro Models in 13-Inch and 15-Inch Sizes Coming in April?
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If they remove the optical drive and replace the hard-drive with blade SSDs, both are possible.
At the rate DigiTimes has been cranking out "reports", it is starting to look like they are going for the shot-gun theory approach - make guesstimates about as much as possible and hope something sticks so they can have an "I told you so" moment.
If you want a paper thin model get the air, A pro machine should not be undercut by features just to make it thin. Apple needs to keep their models separate, why bother at all making a pro line if it will be identical to the air. Pro's don't want light weight and thinner. I don't undertand Apple's fixation on making everything look the same.
Then there is a good chance that you will never be buying a mac laptop again.
I am sure they won't get rid of the option to buy an external anytime soon.
April, eh? Well, I sure hope so! My MacBook Pro is fine, but I'd love to get a new one with a quad-core processor and some 1 GB graphics. The current lineup is nice, but a thinner design is what I'm really looking forward to.
How often do you use your superdrive, and out of curiosity what do you use it for?
What about the 17" model. Surely they could easily make that one thinner too.
Considering it's a "shortage", I think Apple will get Ivy Bridge before others.
I really hope this comes in April as I'm desperate for a new laptop!
I really hope this comes in April as I'm desperate for a new laptop!
What I'd really care for is weight reduction. Although, not sure how possible this is.
So what are you going to do when all other PC makers stop selling PCs with optical drives about 2-3 years after Apple finally takes this step?
It's inevitable that it's going to happen, just like it happened to the punched card, LP, cassette and floppy drive. Get used to it.
What about boxed software? Much of the Pro software still sold only comes boxed and on DVD, look at like Pro audio software for instance, Reason, Ableton Live, Komplete, etc...there are many Pro software apps and suites that are not featured on the App store and are not downloadable, you have to have a CD/DVD drive to install them.
I know all the Adobe apps are available from adobe.com as downloads, as well as Microsoft Office from Microsoft, but much of this software is still bought and installed via optical drive, and NOT available on the Mac App Store at all.
Also, some people still like to rip CDs to iTunes, etc, and watch the occasional DVD. I have two MacBook Airs, but I also own a SuperDrive for installing those specific software suites I have on DVD, etc. I think we still haven't completely made the transition to a "No need, Optical-Drive-less" world, yet. A few more years, but many companies are still putting out their software exclusively on DVD in boxed physical packages that you must buy at a store and install on a Disc. So, we aren't there yet.
It is a pro machine, it will need to have weight, if you want something light just get the Air.
Yea I agree. It's still too soon to kill off the media. Downloading content is still not up to par, and I am one of those people that rather have a physical copy than a digital. I just ordered their Final Cut Pro X and Logic Pro textbooks and they even come with DVDs of lessons. It's stupid to get rid of the current media, especially when CDs still sound better, people still use their DVD drive to watch movies/burn files, and no other laptop that is aimed toward the "Pro" market has gotten rid of theres. Maybe when faster internet becomes more affordable and more companies went toward digital downloads this would be plausible, but right now it's just too early. I still say to all those people that say "get an external DVD burner" - you're part of the problem. Even if Apple gets rid of the SuperDrive, you will still be paying current prices for the Macbook. I can see if they at least dropped the price by $100 it would make more sense to just take that extra $100 and put it towards and external burner, but asking me to pay the same price for less features? It just angers me...
BTW - I have download speeds of 42Mbs and Protools still took an hour to download off of their site. Normal people don't have 42Mbps download speed. I imagine it would take hours to download and install, instead of 30 minutes from the disc. It's just more convenient.
It'll propel the few companies that don't offer downloadable copies of their software into the 21st century. That's a good thing.
USB3 devices are far cheaper and far more available than TB devices. Even when TB becomes more mainstream, I'd still expect USB3 to remain cheaper.
For the average Mac user, USB3 is good enough.
Reminds me of Bill Gates saying "640K [RAM] ought to be enough for anyone."
Thinness is relative, I'm sure people saw relatively thin laptops 10 years ago and thought the same. Today we consider that those laptops are way too bulky. Technology evolves quickly and so do our standards towards electronics, and it's perfectly normal.
What's so bad about a thinner MBP? Why would you not want a portable computer to be more compact, lighter and more portable?
The weight is not awful or anything. I like the MacBook Pro, but the 17-inch is kind of hefty at 6.6 LBS.