Which features would you like to see in the forthcoming MacBook Pro?

[TSE]

Don't you prefer a resolution higher than 1080p?

Eh, not really. Yeah, everything would be clearer, but my notebook screen (1680x1050) is clear enough and to even see the pixels I need to move my eye an inch from the screen... the only thing I want is more screen real estate, not clearer images.

And besides, for Apple to go Retina in the iPhone and iPad, they had to basically double the size of the battery and even then it didn't get good enough battery life. Battery life is one of the most important things for me when it comes to buying a notebook.

I can definitely see why people would want retina display, I mean, the display looks GORGEOUS. Just not for me.

 

[skaertus]

Eh, not really. Yeah, everything would be clearer, but my notebook screen (1680x1050) is clear enough and to even see the pixels I need to move my eye an inch from the screen... the only thing I want is more screen real estate, not clearer images.

Well, I'm very picky and I can see the pixels on the display and that bothers me... But I see your point. I want more screen real estate too! Hopefully OS X will have an option where we are able to use the full resolution without doubling the size of the pixels.

 

[skaertus]

This is a cool poll, but can you limit choices? It would have been better if you limited to maybe 3 or 4 features. To prevent people from just clicking all. Right now the results are a little unimpressive because of this very thing, everything has been voted a lot of time.

I thought of that. But unfortunately I'm not able to limit choices. A poll may created with the possibility of selecting one choice or multiple choices, and, in this case, the user may choose as many options as he wants. It is not possible to limit the options to 3 or 4, as you mentioned.

Don't mean to be picky, just saying haha. But great choices for the poll, I am PRAYING for a smaller bezel, because, even if there is a redesign its going to be pretty minor, and i hope that one of this minor adjustments is a thinner bezel.

Also HD cam, higher resolutions, don't care if retina or whatever. USB, FW and TB. And please don't merge lines or make the mbp thinner, just for the sake of it being thinner.

Thank you for the compliment. I would go for Retina!

 

[ixodes]

Improved thermal management.

I'll trust Apple to take care of the rest, they create very good MBP's.

 

[definitive]

I'd like for it to be lighter, thinner, higher resolution for the 13" (like Air), 2-3xUSB3, 2xThunderbolt, memory card slot, no DVD, at least 128SSD standard (500+/500+ speeds), 8gig RAM standard on 15", NVidia GT640M (if possible or some Radeon that's faster than Intel's 4000) on 13", and NVidia GT650M on base 15". I don't really care much for Retina display. The biggest thing I care about is pricing. Have just three models - 13", 15", and 17". Start 13" at $1200, 15" at 1500-1700, and 17" at $1800-$2000. None of this 15" with AMD 6750 for $1700, and 15" with 6770 for $2000... They should just have the higher-end card as a BTO, and not have two separate systems.

 

[mfuchs88]

At the prices Apple charges, and for the presumed quality, they should give 3 years Applecare standard. Not likely to happen.

If that was true, there's no way I'd ever go back to a PC ever again.

Not that I will at this point either

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A larger Battery Is Huge For Me. Some Of my Activities On The Lappy Can Take Longer Than 7 Hours.

Now I know why your wife sticks around. For my "activities" I only need about 15 minutes....

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This poll adds up to a lot of "percent" if you look at the chart.

 

[Haarith :)]

I just want a good graphics card and a better cooling system

 

[Kraznoff]

How do only 40% of you want it to be cheaper?

 

[talmy]

How do only 40% of you want it to be cheaper?

I don't want it cheaper if it means dropping features.

 

[skaertus]

I don't want it cheaper if it means dropping features.

Apple will not drop features to make it cheaper. Apple may drop features if it thinks these features are not necessary anymore, or if they don't fit the design.

 

[JesseW6889]

According to the poll results, it sounds like everyone just wants a spec bump...

 

[DoFoT9]

Great website!

And your predictions seem to be in line with the wishes of the users who voted in this poll: redesign (58% of votes so far), Ivy Bridge (77%), high resolution display (69%), NVIDIA graphics (34%, much higher than voting for AMD graphics), good battery life (67%), USB 3.0 (77%), SSDs or hybrid HDD/SSD solutions (40% and 32%, respectively). You mentioned that the optical disk drive and Firewire and Ethernet ports will be dropped. 10%, 19% and 32% of users, respectively, voted for keeping these components. While the Ethernet port is still somewhat popular, the optical disk drive is not anymore.

i think they are pretty standard upgrades, especially given the adaption of features like Retina in the iDevices, SSDs in the MBAs, etc. i think this (combined with ML) will be a fairly decent combination of iOS + desktop OS products.

I don't want it cheaper if it means dropping features.

oh I completely agree with this - not willing to lose features or product quality for price drops.

According to the poll results, it sounds like everyone just wants a spec bump...

probably because the majority of people just hear about Ivy Bridge, and think automatically that it's the latest and greatest. that's the way it goes, unfortunately.

 

[talmy]

According to the poll results, it sounds like everyone just wants a spec bump...

58% want a new design, which wouldn't be just a spec bump. Frankly, I don't see what is wrong with the current design, but if they were to go with something radical like the original iBook was it would throw all those Apple copiers off-guard.

 

[skaertus]

58% want a new design, which wouldn't be just a spec bump. Frankly, I don't see what is wrong with the current design, but if they were to go with something radical like the original iBook was it would throw all those Apple copiers off-guard.

I guess there's no room for these kinds of radical design changes anymore. Laptops are becoming so thin that they are starting to look all the same.

 

[skaertus]

Almost 200 votes!

 

[Kyllle]

I feel like it will either be SSD or retina screen, not both at the same time. Apple likes to spread out major upgrades so maybe we will see retina this year and SSD next year.

But I definitely think they will drop the SuperDrive and make it a bit thinner.

 

[dusk007]

I think SSD are this year. So many other manufactures put SSD in just about anything that costs more and especially the small notebooks. A proper expensive workstation should come with a hybrid SSD + HDD rack by default.
One more year with still either big HDD or small fast SSD just would be ridiculous at the price point that MacBook Pros target.

I thought of that. But unfortunately I'm not able to limit choices. A poll may created with the possibility of selecting one choice or multiple choices, and, in this case, the user may choose as many options as he wants. It is not possible to limit the options to 3 or 4, as you mentioned.

What it would need was some grading of importance.
Would result in an even longer list.
Probably should use an external poll and redit the thread frequently with current results.

I could have clicked a lot but only limited myself to the ones that are important. Some other I like but will get anyway like Ivy Bridge or USB 3.0. Some I don't give anything about like Firewire.

The most important thing that may not show but really should is the standard hybrid SSD+HDD option. The next would be a matte panel default, larger battery and the third a retina screen. All else I think is either not that important or will show anyway.

 

[skaertus]

I think SSD are this year. So many other manufactures put SSD in just about anything that costs more and especially the small notebooks. A proper expensive workstation should come with a hybrid SSD + HDD rack by default.
One more year with still either big HDD or small fast SSD just would be ridiculous at the price point that MacBook Pros target.
What it would need was some grading of importance.
Would result in an even longer list.
Probably should use an external poll and redit the thread frequently with current results.

I could have clicked a lot but only limited myself to the ones that are important. Some other I like but will get anyway like Ivy Bridge or USB 3.0. Some I don't give anything about like Firewire.

The most important thing that may not show but really should is the standard hybrid SSD+HDD option. The next would be a matte panel default, larger battery and the third a retina screen. All else I think is either not that important or will show anyway.

I couln't find a way to do the poll in any other way... perhaps MacRumors could give us more features to make the polls.

For me, the killer features would be Ivy Bridge + Retina display + IPS display + thinner and lighter + SSD instead of HDD + battery life.

 

[pacman7331]

increased durability.

i want it to able to withstand a dump truck running into it at 60mph in the rain.

 

[skaertus]

increased durability.

i want it to able to withstand a dump truck running into it at 60mph in the rain.

Err... Unlikely to happen...

 

[Riemann Zeta]

My ideal design would be (obviously) 4-core/8-thread Ivy Bridge that actually still featured ports (FW800, Ethernet, USB2/3), as opposed to the likely single-plug thunderbolt and a box of dongles config they are going with. Also, I would prefer if they kept a real HDD as an option, as SSDs lack the ability to perform a "secure empty trash / srm" operation and having multiple partitions (for Mac OS / Win 7 boot camp config) doesn't seem possible due to random write amplification and leveling. One thing Apple could do is finally ditch their crappy, slow default 5400rpm drive and install a decent stock HDD for a change.

I would also rather not have it be thinner/lighter, as that means: (1) no ports other than Tb, (2) low-voltage Ivy Bridge only and (3) low-end GPU, like the NVIDIA GT620m. Super thin means no room for heatsinks or fans, so low-power components only.

Instead of dropping the 17" Pro and turning the 15" Pro into an ultralight machine, I don't understand why Apple wouldn't just merge the 13" Macbook Pro and 13" Macbook Air together, keeping the 15" and 17" design as-is. The 13" Pro is too small to have a discrete GPU anyway (just like the Air, it's Intel HD graphics only) and someone buying a 13" laptop is clearing going for portability, not speed. The 13" Air even has a much higher resolution display than the 13" MBP.

 

[dusk007]

Err... Unlikely to happen...

Easy all you need is cut back on some other features.
Take some foam rubber. Print a static picture on top and you got a notebook that can be run into by a truck. It won't take notes anymore or anything.

 

[derickdub]

Eh, not really. Yeah, everything would be clearer, but my notebook screen (1680x1050) is clear enough and to even see the pixels I need to move my eye an inch from the screen... the only thing I want is more screen real estate, not clearer images.

And besides, for Apple to go Retina in the iPhone and iPad, they had to basically double the size of the battery and even then it didn't get good enough battery life. Battery life is one of the most important things for me when it comes to buying a notebook.

I can definitely see why people would want retina display, I mean, the display looks GORGEOUS. Just not for me.

1080p would give you less vertical to horizontal real estate though. It's more, but not efficiently so. 1920x1200 would be a much better choice, or anything that sticks to the 16:10 aspect ratio. 16:9 is for televisions, it blows my mind that PC manufacturers use it on high-end screens.

 

[TSE]

I'm just being realistic. I would love it if they kept the 16:10 aspect ratio and put in 1920x1200.... but they will most likely go 16:9 as that is what basically the whole industry BESIDES apple has gone towards.

 

[derickdub]

I'm just being realistic. I would love it if they kept the 16:10 aspect ratio and put in 1920x1200.... but they will most likely go 16:9 as that is what basically the whole industry BESIDES apple has gone towards.

Only low-end (what I would call low end anyways, i.e. not professional) screens have gone to 16:9. If apple were to go to 16:9 on the MBP they would have to essentially redesign the whole laptop around it. Otherwise just increase the bezel around top and bottom of the screen. You still see all "pro" monitors using 16:10, and still a lot of laptops other than Apple's. With the exception of 27" monitors, which I believe is really due to the cost to manufacture them since they're so few.

1680x1050 is better than 1920x1080 IMO. I think you'll notice more screen real-estate with 16:10 vs 16:9, regardless of resolution. I would anyways, but a majority of apps I use have toolbars along the horizontal part of the screen and I use split screen a lot.