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That's the spirit, that's the conversation we should be having.

How Apple can make this lighter.

BJ

Holographic screen, remove the physical one, actually scratch that, insert the computer chip in people's brains, people can execute programs directly from there
 
I meant they'd remove the headphone jack, leaving just the USB-C port behind. Bluetooth or a dongle or Apple's rumored Lightning port would be potential solutions.

I'm all for a single port for power and all other legacy connections, but connecting the RMB to an external display is again counter to its mission of portability, HDMI is good enough.

BJ

Removing the headphone jack sounds great to me. It's an outdated port for several reasons, and it takes up a good chunk of internal space. If apple goes forward with removing the headphone jack from the iPhone as rumored, perhaps we can start to see the end of that port. Another plus: the removal of the headphone jack would free more than enough internal space to replace the current usb c port with thunderbolt 3.

I definitely disagree, however, that the ability to connect to high resolution external displays is something that needs to be sacrificed for the sake of mobility. Apple has for some time been moving the entire industry toward extremely high bandwidth I/O (thunderbolt in particular) in large part to enable devices to be thinner and lighter while remaining extremely powerful productivity devices.

Instead of carrying the baggage that comes with power (size, weight, heat, etc.), we can have all of the benefits available through a single port. My large, heavy monitor and external storage stay at home and my bag stays light, but when I want to, I can have all of their benefits by plugging in a single cable (in the case of the MacBook, a single cable that also provides power).

Certainly this isn't something the entire user base requires, but it is something that Apple clearly sees the utility of. It would be a shame for them to not continue their vision (and to not make thunderbolt 3 standard across all Macs).
 
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Removing the headphone jack sounds great to me. It's an outdated port for several reasons, and it takes up a good chunk of internal space.

I believe Apple will keep the headphone jack around for another gen of iPhones seeing how there are no Lightning cans out there now and the industry needs time to get its supply chain ready. I can see Apple releasing the Lightning HD Audio standard with the iPhone 7, keeping the analog jack, and moving away from it with iPhone 8. The RMB would follow suit thereafter.

I definitely disagree, however, that the ability to connect to high resolution external displays is something that needs to be sacrificed for the sake of mobility. Apple has for some time been moving the entire industry toward extremely high bandwidth I/O (thunderbolt in particular) in large part to enable devices to be thinner and lighter while remaining extremely powerful productivity devices.

The decision to use a 480p cam talks against this argument quite clearly, just like all the legacy ports and size and processing power found in the Pro, connectivity to advanced displays seems to be something for the more fully-featured notebooks in the line.

If you are into considering all that crap this might not be a laptop for you.

The RMB is the perfect notebook for me, it's the lightest and coolest Windows 10 machine in the world thank you very much. But after using it for 10 months now I can say that if Apple could keep the weight the same but offer a 14" screen I'd prefer that. I can live with the 12", but would prefer a bigger viewing surface after all these years with Sony VAIO 13" product.

BJ
 
I can see them removing the headphone jack on the iPhone because on a device that size it will give them a bit more useable space and Bluetooth headphones have matured a lot over the last few years. If they then include a pair of lightning/Bluetooth headphones with each phone, that would soften the inevitable complaints.

On the laptop side, I'd have thought they would keep the jack so people can use external speakers. I know there's a lot of Bluetooth options there as well now, but given the space saving they'd make by ditching it, I'm guessing it would be negligible in the scheme of things so there's less incentive to do it.

Powering external displays is an interesting one because having listened to Daring Fireball, they've mentioned on there a couple of times things along the lines of the majority of Apple users with laptops don't connect them to external displays - but the majority of people who post on forums and listen to these podcasts do care about being able to do stuff like this. I know when I work from home I have a nice large monitor and set of speakers and that's part of the joy of using a laptop which is so portable and powerful at the same time.

I'll definitely be replacing my MacBook Air with the next MacBook when its updated as the MBA has been one of the best and most productive, flexible devices I've ever owned.
 
So when are we seeing an update to rMB or MBP? i seriously doubt the rMB will receive any forms of alterations to the design (no extra ports) just some new adaptor gizmo that you need - so they can get the rest of your lunch money.. So why is apple so secretive about this, when their competition have showed of their new products at CES? is it a secret that rMB and MBP will get a chip upgrade.

Anyway besides being pissed about not being in the "know" i sort of need a new laptop this month. Obvious i dont know if there will be an update within the foreseeable future or if the rMB will have an initial 500days update cycle.
so i wrote post on https://discussions.apple.com/welcome - well lets just say my question wasn't welcome and was deleted 10min after posting. My post only mentioned the possibility of an update and i asked the question if the consumers have an option to return a two-three week old product in light of a update.
- unfortunately we dont have a official apple shop my country so i can't really ask the minions. Therefor i dont know the actual return policy is in such a situation in EU.

But as apple is famously secretive about it´s product updates i imagine that current buyers might end up disappointed if their 3 week old laptop receives an update. Does anyone know if apple has a return policy for this? or is that the whole point of the hush hush strategy
 
But as apple is famously secretive about it´s product updates i imagine that current buyers might end up disappointed if their 3 week old laptop receives an update. Does anyone know if apple has a return policy for this? or is that the whole point of the hush hush strategy

Since almost every meaningful Apple product has been copied and cloned since 2001 it makes sense to keep quiet and keep competitors at bay as long as they can.

But more importantly, Apple likes to make announcements and then have products in stores within weeks, it makes people count the days until the keynote, it's simply good marketing.

BJ
 
So when are we seeing an update to rMB or MBP? i seriously doubt the rMB will receive any forms of alterations to the design (no extra ports) just some new adaptor gizmo that you need - so they can get the rest of your lunch money.. So why is apple so secretive about this, when their competition have showed of their new products at CES? is it a secret that rMB and MBP will get a chip upgrade.

Anyway besides being pissed about not being in the "know" i sort of need a new laptop this month. Obvious i dont know if there will be an update within the foreseeable future or if the rMB will have an initial 500days update cycle.
so i wrote post on https://discussions.apple.com/welcome - well lets just say my question wasn't welcome and was deleted 10min after posting. My post only mentioned the possibility of an update and i asked the question if the consumers have an option to return a two-three week old product in light of a update.
- unfortunately we dont have a official apple shop my country so i can't really ask the minions. Therefor i dont know the actual return policy is in such a situation in EU.

But as apple is famously secretive about it´s product updates i imagine that current buyers might end up disappointed if their 3 week old laptop receives an update. Does anyone know if apple has a return policy for this? or is that the whole point of the hush hush strategy

I'm pretty sure there's a 15 day return policy, no questions asked. Maybe 30 for computers being updated like this but I doubt it.

At this point I am looking forward to March 15th. Maybe wishful thinking but I can see Apple having an event theme about "small" and introducing the small 5se, the (now) smaller iPad Air 3 and having a portion of the keynote dedicated to the rMB gaining TB3. I don't think they'll just throw the rMB with TB3 up on the site without some kind of introduction. Remember, if it does gain TB3 (and let's be real Apple was a key player in the design of USB-C and pushed Intel hard for TB3 to be incorporated in it instead of Mini DisplayPort) it'll be the first Apple product to have it and that will require some sort of announcement.

What scares me is the lack of any cinema display updates. The first TB3 product, to me, would be a great way to introduce 4k and 5k displays and show how the rMB needs a single cable to power some giant fancy display. But again, wishful thinking :rolleyes:
 
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I hope that Apple will add a 14" rMB at the same time that they will update the 12" rMB to have a Skylake processor. I also hope they will add a 2nd USB-C port on the right side to match the one on the left side. Sometimes it's terribly inconvenient to have to plug in on one particular side. Other times it's nice to have a 2nd USB port. Go ahead and drop the 20th century audio port.
 
720p FaceTime camera is coming, don't kid yourselves. 480p is used right now due to power requirements and the need to keep it to a minimum so as not to drastically effect battery life in a negative fashion.

It's a balancing act to choose what to use and how to use it. You make one decision in one component and it can have a snowball affect on battery use. 720p camera right now would require more power than 480p, in addition to more CPU cycles (which would also negatively impact battery life.)

They'll put a 720p camera in eventually.
 
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If you think we are getting anything other than minor upgrades you are kidding yourself.

-better cpu and gpu
-better cam 720p
-better battery life
-lower starting price point
-possible new configurations of ram/cpu/hd

No new ports or crazy design mods. Sorry.
 
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If you think we are getting anything other than minor upgrades you are kidding yourself.

-better cpu and gpu
-better cam 720p
-better battery life
-lower starting price point
-possible new configurations of ram/cpu/hd

No new ports or crazy design mods. Sorry.

What about another screen option, 14" 15" maybe? Or that the MacBook Air gets a complete redesign and new screen options.
 
What about another screen option, 14" 15" maybe? Or that the MacBook Air gets a complete redesign and new screen options.

I don't think the mb will come in other sizes. I'd say there's a greater chance in a mb air upgrade with retina and different sizes. Mb will always be about portability imo which involves a small shell no bigger than we see now.
 
I don't think the mb will come in other sizes. I'd say there's a greater chance in a mb air upgrade with retina and different sizes. Mb will always be about portability imo which involves a small shell no bigger than we see now.

If we see a retina MacBook Air in 13" or 15" I would be willing to consider it over the MacBook. I have the iPad Pro and have been thinking that the MacBook would be great companion for writing and OSX tasks.
 
Holographic screen, remove the physical one, actually scratch that, insert the computer chip in people's brains, people can execute programs directly from there
But, but, but... I am fat.. Can Ivy fix that???

If you think we are getting anything other than minor upgrades you are kidding yourself.

-better cpu and gpu
-better cam 720p
-better battery life
-lower starting price point
-possible new configurations of ram/cpu/hd

I agree with the above, apart from the lower price - I think you are kidding yourself on that one. ;)
 
Can't wait to grab 3rd generation when it's time to move on from my current next year. Was playing with one in the store, and they'd be awesome for a writer.
 
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