I rebuilt one for the T60 which wasn’t too difficult. Hardest bit was getting into it and doing the BMS reset.
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What do you want the new Macbook to realistically be?
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I rebuilt one for the T60 which wasn’t too difficult. Hardest bit was getting into it and doing the BMS reset.
I’d love the 12” MacBook reborn. Fix the keyboard, obviously, drop in the most recent AxPro chip and good enough! Would be over the moon with some cellular love but have to keep my unreasonable dream reasonable!
Okay, so there’s a boatload of unsaids there. For example, Thunderbolt 4+, tandemOLED, storage levels… all the other needs and wants that will impact an actual purchase. Price, for another example.
Okay, so there’s a boatload of unsaids there. For example, Thunderbolt 4+, tandemOLED, storage levels… all the other needs and wants that will impact an actual purchase. Price, for another example.
Sat and thought about this a bit more. What I want:
1. Non HDR display option. Just give me a decent P3-600 display like the studio display.
2. Better keyboard. It's not bad just a bit soggy. Prefer some keys with proper travel.
3. 2x USB-A ports. I still have a boat load of USB-A things which I have to adapt that aren't going to ever die.
4. Soldered in storage replaced with standard replaceable NVMe.
5. magnesium / carbon fibre / plastic / rubber coated chassis as mentioned earlier.
6. battery on replaceable cartridge so I can swap it out myself without dealing with adhesive.
7. Come in black but not the ****** black that the anodisation wears through to alu after a few months.
There's a whole load of macOS changes I want as well but that's another thread.
1. Non HDR display option. Just give me a decent P3-600 display like the studio display.
2. Better keyboard. It's not bad just a bit soggy. Prefer some keys with proper travel.
3. 2x USB-A ports. I still have a boat load of USB-A things which I have to adapt that aren't going to ever die.
4. Soldered in storage replaced with standard replaceable NVMe.
5. magnesium / carbon fibre / plastic / rubber coated chassis as mentioned earlier.
6. battery on replaceable cartridge so I can swap it out myself without dealing with adhesive.
7. Come in black but not the ****** black that the anodisation wears through to alu after a few months.
There's a whole load of macOS changes I want as well but that's another thread.
I live in 2025. I just don't live in usual mediocre utility computing wank space.
A macbook pro should be a portable workstation.
NVMe is faster than any macbook at the moment for storage. Over twice as fast. 14800MB/sec read in a Samsung 9100 Pro is cheaper than Apple's storage options. This would shave a few minutes off here and there for me working with large mmap'ed datasets (100Gb a pop). Plus you can change them if they crap out or you find your requirements change without having to buy a whole new machine.
There's a hell of a lot of USB-A hardware out there still too which hits 10Gbit/sec fine (USB 3.1 gen 2). Plus USB-A is mechanically superior to USB-C (that is a hill I will die on). In front of me I have a DSLR which only has a USB-A cable, a dev kit that has USB-A and I can't charge my (new) toothbrush off it because it needs USB-A 🤣. I have to carry around 2-3 small USB-A adapter dongles all the time.
Having just set up my ipad pro with the keyboard and mouse…. i’m not sure who the macbook (non air, non pro) is for.
If it is for the casual home user…
If it is for media consumption and casual use…. i’d suggest the ipad is actually more flexible - with the pencil you can work on it like you would with paper, and you don’t even need an ipad pro for that. Any ipad will do, and they all work with bluetooth keyboards and mice.
SOC wise, an A16/A17 Pro is more than enough for this purpose.
If it is for the casual home user…
If it is for media consumption and casual use…. i’d suggest the ipad is actually more flexible - with the pencil you can work on it like you would with paper, and you don’t even need an ipad pro for that. Any ipad will do, and they all work with bluetooth keyboards and mice.
SOC wise, an A16/A17 Pro is more than enough for this purpose.
As some have pointed out, this is a Macbook section of Macrumors. I am sure you are not aware of this, but the "latest" Macbook model had a single USB-C port back in 2015. No other ports, besides a headphone jack. So you see, this is why it is absolutely ridiculous to expect a 2026 Macbook model to have a USB-A port. Apple hasn't made a USB-A laptop in 9 years (13 inch Macbook Air from 2017 was last) and you are expecting them to put it in a new device? LOL.
Furthermore, Apple has never ever used NVMe hard drives in their laptops. Never. Ever. Exchangable hard drive adds mass and volume to, again, educate yourself what a Macbook is, the smallest and thinnest and lightest laptop Apple has ever produced (maybe besides the ancient 11'' Macbook Air). The last Macbook weighted less then 1kg, which is ironically less than an iPad Pro 11inch (smaller screen!) with a Magic Keyboard.
By that logic BluRay in 2028 and RS-232 COM port in 2030?
HDMI is also questionable (I am absolutely sure that if Jobs was around, this wouldn't happen). Probably the issue are business people, who travel and give presentations. The screen-cast part is something they don't control. Cables, flash drives... they can get those in USB-C variant. But video port / cable is there "as is" and most of the time these things get upgraded far less often, meaning that HDMI is still king and probably will be until the next decade.
USB-A on the other hand... there are almost zero new devices coming out today. So yeah, putting USB-A on a new laptop (not desktop) would be quite unreasonable.
One of the things I need to plug in is an RS232 adapter. Which is already a dongle manufactured in 2023 that has a USB-A on it. Now I need a dongle for my dongle. My 2025 built desktop PC has plenty of USB-A on it.
Not only that the mechanical design of USB-C is **** so hot plugging stuff all day does destroy the connectors. I literally have multiple cables and machines now where the port only works in one orientation due to the undercroft solder joints on the board crapping out.
Exactly but make it a “fold”. But no permanent keyboard needed - current Magic Keyboard is excellent. Use with external monitor when necessary.
Fold won't work, the mass ratio is borderline unacceptable as it is, iPads are wobbly because keyboard is so light. The weird hinge mitigates that. A normal fold wouldn't work.
I'm in the camp that I want this to be ultraportable and the perfect netbook.
Retina MacBook 12" sized. Aluminum or even iPhone 5c plastic reinforced with metal in spots
cellular on the chip
no thunderbolt needed. Let someone connect to a screen, but basic USB-C is fine
1 USB-C and MagSafe are perfect, maybe 2 USB-C
I liked the 2017 rMB keyboard, but I'm sure they would have made improvements by now
nice retina screen, but not newest tech needed
colors are nice. make it light. as close to 2lbs as possible.
Retina MacBook 12" sized. Aluminum or even iPhone 5c plastic reinforced with metal in spots
cellular on the chip
no thunderbolt needed. Let someone connect to a screen, but basic USB-C is fine
1 USB-C and MagSafe are perfect, maybe 2 USB-C
I liked the 2017 rMB keyboard, but I'm sure they would have made improvements by now
nice retina screen, but not newest tech needed
colors are nice. make it light. as close to 2lbs as possible.
When you think about it - it's kind of head-scratching to justify an M chip in an iPad Air... and an A chip in laptop.
I would like a lighter 16" option, so that I did not need to buy the smaller Pro (14") in order to have a convenient carry around Pro laptop. The Air does not have the ports (only 2 TB ports and no SD card slot) or the sustained performance delivery of the Pro (due to the lack of a fan) hence the request for a lighter Pro. The Air is a superb machine within the limits set by the design and I would not hesitate to recommend it to people who do not have my requirements, but the screen, sustained performance and ports of the Pro make it my choice. Just wish it was not so heavy in 16" form.