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Will MBP go one more year without a design change?

K

Kendo

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Apr 4, 2011
2,363
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If you had to guess, do you think the MBP will go through a design change this year or next year? The Retina design came out in 2012 and it is starting to look a little stale, mainly because it still follows the same overall unibody and black bezel design that came out in 2008.

With the release of the new MacBook, you notice a real advancement in technology (the logic board being 1/3 the size, the new keyboard, and the stacked batteries).

I have a 2011 MBA with a cracked screen (still usable) and need to upgrade this year or next. If the MBP keeps the same design this year, I think I'll just buy a 13" MBP. But if the 15" changes its design (notice how it didn't refresh a single thing internally), I might wait until next year and buy the 13" once it adopts the 15" design.

Is it possible the next MBP refresh will keep design elements of the new MB (like a smaller logic board) but because it is a Pro line, it'll add new elements like removing the bezel like the Dell XPS 13?
 
If any line is looking "stale" it is the Macbook Air - unchanged since its introduction in 2010.

That said...Apple is in a very weird place with their laptop lineup naming/models.

Look at iPad:

iPad Mini - cheaper, smaller, slower.
iPad Air - top of the line, thinnest model.

And laptops:
11" MBA: $899 cheapest
13" MBA: $999 cheapest "normal size" laptop
12" rMB: $1299, smallest, slowest, newest technology
13" rMBP: $1299 more powerful, smaller footprint than the 13" Air
15" rMBP: $1999 most powerful, largest display

So it is really weird at the moment. My guess is that the MBA line is on its way out, the retina Macbook becomes $999 in its v2 iteration, and both rMBP's get a redesign next year.
 
jclardy said:
So it is really weird at the moment. My guess is that the MBA line is on its way out, the retina Macbook becomes $999 in its v2 iteration, and both rMBP's get a redesign next year.
Click to expand...

I think that this is probably the best guess at the moment; I really thought that the 12" MB would become the new MacBook Air and that they would rename the current MBA model the "MacBook"; that to me makes a lot more sense and is more in-line with how the product line looked when the first MBA was introduced. They could have even gotten rid of the 11" MBA model and just stuck with the 13" as the "new" MB.

But I can't see what Apple's roadmap looks like so it's hard to second guess.
 
Here is my uneducated guess to what will happen:

The 13" and 15" models will be redesigned late 2015/early 2016. They will have a slightly tapered edge (like the MBA), but will remain thicker at the end so that they can accommodate Thunderbolt ports. The USB ports will be replaced by USB-C. In addition, they will offer the three color options.
 
Only new hardware features would warrant change in the shell design in the next mbp (I think), I would guess the wireless charging in skylake (if apple implement this) would make a design change.
 
Mr. Retrofire said:
Why does the MBP need a design change!?
Click to expand...

Looking at how the MB's logic board is 1/3 the size of the MBA, it should show you how far technology has come in just a few years. Yes the outside design shouldn't change just for the sake of changing, but the Retina MBP came out in 2012. In 3 years, the 2015 MBP has the same logic board as the 2012 model. CPU and graphics cards get twice as powerful in 3 years, you don't think the same holds true for chip components? What if they can reduce the motherboard size and fit more battery life? Or add USB-C? So it might not need a design change per se, but it does need a change.
 
Skylake will introduce Thunderbolt 3 ? with a smaller connector i think.

This means they can make the macbook pro thinner and we all know if they can do it they will do it.

I really dont care about wireless charging but i hope they dont drop the magsafe charging port.

Edit:

And with Skylake they get a new mainboard (pc name dont really know, the apple name right now)
this means they have to do a new design for the internals as well and to save cost they will also change the design.

This means the Macbook Pro will get the new thinner keyboard and new trackpad with the Skylake update (late 15/early 16)

So we might still have to wait about 1 year (early 16) but the design will change.

This is simply explained by the cost for the design change, because if they have to redesign the whole mainboard and change the production process they will also change the keyboard/trackpad thunderbolt port because if they do it later it would cost more.
If they only have to order 1 type of keyboard and trackpad they price will be lower and the margin will be higher.
 
Last edited:
Depends what you mean by a 'year'.

If late Q3/early Q4 2015 is 'a year', then yes, it'll be a year without a design change.

The 14" redesigned MacBook Pro is coming. Just wait for the 12" MacBook to get released, enjoy its time in the limelight, before rumours about the MBP 14" start appearing in the press.
 
rekhyt said:
Depends what you mean by a 'year'.

If late Q3/early Q4 2015 is 'a year', then yes, it'll be a year without a design change.

The 14" redesigned MacBook Pro is coming. Just wait for the 12" MacBook to get released, enjoy its time in the limelight, before rumours about the MBP 14" start appearing in the press.
Click to expand...

I don't think you'll see a Skylake-based redesign this calendar year. The next MBP update will be the 15", and then next year we'll get the redesign along with whatever changes Apple plans to make to the while MB lineup, which I suspect will change the paradigm a bit.
 
ZombiePete said:
I don't think you'll see a Skylake-based redesign this calendar year. The next MBP update will be the 15", and then next year we'll get the redesign along with whatever changes Apple plans to make to the while MB lineup, which I suspect will change the paradigm a bit.
Click to expand...

What makes you think there won't be a redesign this year for the 15"? They could've refreshed the 15 with the Force Touch trackpad and the CPU like the 13" but they didn't. It makes me wonder if they purposely didn't refresh it because they have a redesign coming.
 
Kendo said:
What makes you think there won't be a redesign this year for the 15"? They could've refreshed the 15 with the Force Touch trackpad and the CPU like the 13" but they didn't. It makes me wonder if they purposely didn't refresh it because they have a redesign coming.
Click to expand...

CPUs for the 15" aren't available until at least June. That's why they didn't update it with the 13".
 
Kendo said:
What makes you think there won't be a redesign this year for the 15"? They could've refreshed the 15 with the Force Touch trackpad and the CPU like the 13" but they didn't. It makes me wonder if they purposely didn't refresh it because they have a redesign coming.
Click to expand...

Anything is possible. But I can't imagine why Apple would refresh the hardware on one variant of the MacBook Pro line and leave the other one out. OTOH, it could also be that Apple is giving up on the 15" rMBP like the 17". Anyone with "pro" use aspirations may as well buy up to the real deal - the MacPro.
 
I hope that Apple goes the same way as Dell with skipping out Broadwell on the 15" altogether. Skylake is scheduled for 2H 2015 so they might be able to squeeze it in. I wouldn't mind waiting a little longer and getting a Skylake CPU, especially if it has DDR4 and wireless charging (however it may be very expensive with DDR4).
 
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