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What those the next MacBook Pro need?

S

striverdon

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 7, 2008
10
0
With the big wait for Apple's re-emergence into the "serious" laptop game (sorry MacBook Air) soon coming to an end. Consumers and enthusiasts everywhere are sizing up whats already on the market and questioning whether Apple still have the might to match or better the competition.

The question sways from the fan boy design conundrum and is more spec based. From what I've seen and want mainly as an architecture student and pro video maker is;

*3Ghz processor
*4Gb memory
*17in Widescreen 1920X1200(full HD) monitor
*500GB 7200RPM hard drive
*1GB NVIDIA Quadro FX3700M (with 1GB dedicated memory) graphics card
*blu-ray writer/burner combo

Now if Apple come out with a laptop of this spec as standard then I'll be more than happy as long as it doesnt break into £2000.

What spec would u guys like? and what do think their likely to deliver?
Peace
 
striverdon said:
*3Ghz processor
*4Gb memory
*17in Widescreen 1920X1200(full HD) monitor
*500GB 7200RPM hard drive
*1GB NVIDIA Quadro FX3700M (with 1GB dedicated memory) graphics card
*blu-ray writer/burner combo
Click to expand...

1. NOT happening.
2. It'll have BTO of up to 8GB.
3. They already have that.
4. Not standard, though. BTO if at all.
5. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Nice try. They won't have any better than the 9650M GT.
6. Not happening. Not even as BTO. You can already use Blu-ray in OS X for video and data. The ONLY thing you can't do is watch movies from film studios.

And don't even get me started on the "doesn't break £2,000" bit. Granted, that's $4,000, but it'd still be over.
 
Even a PC laptop with that kind of GPU configuration will cost big bucks. That's NVIDIA's flagship workstation GPU for notebooks. A Dell Precision Mobile notebook configured similarly to the specs you posted costs well over $4,000 (about 2,000 GBP). And it weighs over 8 lbs....

In the history of their metal-clad notebooks, Apple has 1) has never used workstation GPUs; and 2) has never used bleeding-edge GPUs.

I doubt Apple even pretends to compete with the high-end mobile workstation PC market. Besides, it's almost impossible to do these kinds of things in a chassis that's less than an inch thick.

I'd like to see the Pro laptops play the workstation part just as much as the next guy, but Steve Jobs has a different point of view. Most of the people I know that require workstation power use desktops anyway - better CPU options, more memory expansion, faster hard disks, etc.
 
Hmmm...

I use Maya & After Effects for Pro Film production & VFX. I usual work in full HD at 50fps so ideally I would want something to match the new XPS:

(in addition to what they currently have)
Quad core 2.8GHz + ...
8 or more GB ram
1gb GPU
500gig + HDD (pref with fast speed)

But.... Its not going to happen in a MBP case... That's near the specks of my G5's at work!

Unless the 'brick' Rumor relates to a new laptop...

The Mack Book Extreme! (ahh California Dreaming!) :D:D
 
There's no doubt that we'll see a speed bump to the CPU, but with all the progress being made in GPU utilization, I hope that they include a powerful GPU as well.

How about extending Magsafe beyond the power cord, if that's at all possible. I would love to see a mag safe DVI port, or a magsafe headphones jack.

And last, perhaps a small solid state memory partition used almost exclusively for the boot sector so the thing can start up and shut down in an instant?
 
I don't see why Apple shouldn't feel obligated to meet these bench marks in a world were;
* HD is now booming for both professionals and consumers(look at the latest digital stills cameras, even their coming with full HD capture ability).
* Inevitably meaning bulkier files(500GB Hd) and more speed needed to run processes smoothly(3GHz).
* Not forgetting the demands of the programs dealing with bulky content which can only get bulkier (2GB of RAM more RAM recommended when running multiple components)
* 20GB hard disk space for installation of (Adobe CS4 production premium + Maya + Autocad)
* A dedicated graphics chip able to handle the demands of 3D modelling, HD video and much more(1GB NVIDIA Quadro FX3700M)
* Blu-ray is a must have if anything is skipped this can't be, back up ability, movies and for being the future.

The current top spec MacBook Pro is dwarfing due to the ground the competition has been allowed to make surely the innovation and design pro-ess of the boys at Apple can make this happen. I really don't want to buy a Dell.
 
8GB'd be more like it but it ain't going to be 3ghz and i'm in absolute agreement with Tallest Skil the power draw would be WAY too much for the MBP to handle, not to mention cooling would make it sound like a ****ing helicopter.. As for blu-ray, i'm reasonably convinced slot-loading drives cost around $900 so there's no chance of that either.
 
I guess I have to go for a Dell then..they've clearly got something close to that NOW....No wait!!

I'll just have to be 'the guy that looks like I'm doing book keeping' at the coffee shop instead of 'the trendy designer dude'.
 
2.8 GHZ Core 2 Duo with a Quad Core BTO option could happen.
As will 8gb RAM
500gb HDD. Probably not but then you can just buy it yourself and install it.
Quadro, no. This card uses to much power, murders battery life, and will be too noisy. Expect an ATI 3 series card, or an Nvidia 9 series.
Blu Ray, no, unless they implement some kind of hot swappable drive system so you can pop in a Blu Ray drive only when you need it.
Full HD, already happened.

Under £2000, yes, not including the RAM, HDD, screen, and Blu Ray upgrades of course.
 
striverdon said:
With the big wait for Apple's re-emergence into the "serious" laptop game (sorry MacBook Air) soon coming to an end. Consumers and enthusiasts everywhere are sizing up whats already on the market and questioning whether Apple still have the might to match or better the competition.

The question sways from the fan boy design conundrum and is more spec based. From what I've seen and want mainly as an architecture student and pro video maker is;

*3Ghz processor
*4Gb memory
*17in Widescreen 1920X1200(full HD) monitor
*500GB 7200RPM hard drive
*1GB NVIDIA Quadro FX3700M (with 1GB dedicated memory) graphics card
*blu-ray writer/burner combo

Now if Apple come out with a laptop of this spec as standard then I'll be more than happy as long as it doesnt break into £2000.

What spec would u guys like? and what do think their likely to deliver?
Peace
Click to expand...

ROTFLMAO!! :D

No chance.
 
I'm glad Apple has held out on Blu-ray. I don't want all of that AACS and BD+ junk in the OS X kernel—Microsoft spent too long meticulously designing tilt bits instead of developing all of the cool features Windows Vista promised, like a new file system. Besides, Apple's position on media is clear: they want to deliver it through iTunes. It's not nearly the quality of Blu-ray, but it's good enough to watch on a latop display.
 
striverdon said:
I guess I have to go for a Dell then..they've clearly got something close to that NOW....No wait!!

I'll just have to be 'the guy that looks like I'm doing book keeping' at the coffee shop instead of 'the trendy designer dude'.
Click to expand...

Get what you need for work, not what looks cool. It's too bad that Apple doesn't offer what you need, but since 95% of the population doesn't care, they'll stick with their physics-defying powerfully-thin machines.
 
striverdon said:
With the big wait for Apple's re-emergence into the "serious" laptop game (sorry MacBook Air) soon coming to an end. Consumers and enthusiasts everywhere are sizing up whats already on the market and questioning whether Apple still have the might to match or better the competition.

The question sways from the fan boy design conundrum and is more spec based. From what I've seen and want mainly as an architecture student and pro video maker is;

*3Ghz processor
*4Gb memory
*17in Widescreen 1920X1200(full HD) monitor
*500GB 7200RPM hard drive
*1GB NVIDIA Quadro FX3700M (with 1GB dedicated memory) graphics card
*blu-ray writer/burner combo

Now if Apple come out with a laptop of this spec as standard then I'll be more than happy as long as it doesnt break into £2000.

What spec would u guys like? and what do think their likely to deliver?
Peace
Click to expand...

1) I really don't see a 3Ghz CPU. You're way more likely to see a quad-core mobile chip in the mid-2 range, and that won't happen until next year at the earliest.
2) That won't be standard, but I think DDR3 is more important since I think DDR2 has pretty much maxed out at 2GB modules. If they adopt DDR3, then you could theoretically have an 8GB option (depending on circuitry supporting it).
3) That's already there as BTO. I'll also just slap Sony instead of you for using that "full HD" term. "Full" implies it doesn't get any better. Well, wait a couple of years when they double or triple the lines. OK, I'm just being picky. For my sake, we can just call it 1920x1200 or 1080 (can these display people all get on the same resolutions with the TV people???).
4) You can get either 500GB or 7200rpm. I don't think you can get 7200 in a 320GB drive, so you're a little wishy.
5) Eh, I don't know about all the darn chip numbers but the top of the line MBP now just has 512. I haven't heard of a desktop 1GB card, so I'm doubting there will be a mobile one.
6) If Apple doesn't get on this bandwagon, they're borderline retarded. It would be like them not including firewire ports because, well, most everybody is happy with USB and only a few people use firewire, so why bother?

I don't know the conversion rate of 2,000 pounds (that's a ton of money..........), but if I'm right and a dollar is about 2 pounds, that would be about how much I could see such a setup costing. I would also suggest a Mac Pro if you need that much juice.
 
Tallest Skil said:
It very much would........ what's the power draw? If it's over the 9650M GT, we can forget it.
Click to expand...

haven't you heard of switchable graphics? you could have intel integrated chip for battery and quadro fx3700 for when you're plugged in, thus you can have the best performance and battery life in one
 
Okay it won't have Quadro/FireGL graphics simply because AutoCAD, Maya, etc. are WINDOWS ONLY, so why should Apple care? As with a 500GB 7200 RPM drive, well considering said drives don't exist, it would quite difficult to include them wouldn't it? Assuming it came out today, it wouldn't have enough quantities to satisfy demand the price would be too expensive for most people. Again with Blu-ray, there is only one drive that exists that is slot-loading, slimline, and burn capable. Unfortunately it is also 12.7mm, so it only fits the 17" MBP. Considering this drive costs $900+, even as a BTO it's not worth offering. 3GHz is just not viable on a 1-inch thick slab. Maybe when Nehalem reduces the die size, it might be possible.

And this theretical computer, assuming they used currently available parts:
3.0GHz X9000 Core 2 Extreme - $900
4GB DDR3 - $200
500GB 7200RPM - $350 (Based on price of 5400RPM when it was released)
QuadroFX 3700M - $500 (Based on upgrade price on a W700)
Blu-ray burner - $950

Base model price $2000. So add all those options nets you $5900.

Convert that to your currency, gets you £3300. Add VAT… you get the idea.
 
jaytv111 said:
haven't you heard of switchable graphics? you could have intel integrated chip for battery and quadro fx3700 for when you're plugged in, thus you can have the best performance and battery life in one
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter. Graphics intesive operations (thus, switching to dedicated) would cause the gpu with a greater power draw to run too hot anyway.
 
Solid Raven said:
Doesn't matter. Graphics intesive operations (thus, switching to dedicated) would cause the gpu with a greater power draw to run too hot anyway.
Click to expand...

So? if Apple is so innovative, then they can manage to cram a card in that Dell and Lenovo have already (at least in their 17 inchers). Then again I don't expect them to have the Quadro FX anyway, but at least hopefully they'll offer something powerful and offer switchable graphics too.
 
alphaod said:
Again with Blu-ray, there is only one drive that exists that is slot-loading, slimline, and burn capable. Unfortunately it is also 12.7mm, so it only fits the 17" MBP. Considering this drive costs $900+, even as a BTO it's not worth offering.
Click to expand...

it can't be that much, Dell offers that drive as a $470 upgrade over DVD, so it's probably in the $500 range (look at the m1530)
 
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