Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook
macrumors.comI think they will call it an MBP and completely phase out built-in optical drives on Macs. After all, Apple was the first major OEM to phase out floppy drives (when floppies were still very common). Now that the Mac App Store has been launched, the timing is perfect.
However, it would be really nice if the new Thunderbolt displays had built-in Blu-ray/DVD/CD-RW drives. That would make it possible to use an optical drive at home (where I, in any case, would most likely need one) without having yet another peripheral to clutter things up. Since the purpose of Thunderbolt is to create One Connector to Rule Them All, we shouldn't have to connect a separate optical drive when the new Cinema Display is essentially a docking station and monitor in one.
Aside from the fact that no Apple product will ever have a Blu-ray drive (Jobs: "a bag of hurt"), it wouldn't make sense to phase out optical media on their computers but give the displays built-in drives. The future is digital distribution and I'm certain Apple is 100% committed to that.
(If you need to use "legacy" media for the time being, Apple will be happy to sell you an add-on drive.)
some more context from http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/14/steve-jobs-calls-blu-ray-...
"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace."
I wouldn't take that as apple never supporting blu-ray. Although given the quote is three years old, I wouldn't say it's likely either.
I have a very hard time believing that licensing blu-ray would be anywhere near as complex as the content and patent negotiations that Apple is involved with on a daily basis.
I suspect that the real sticking points are the DRM certification process the movie studios demand to ensure that Bluray-compatible PCs can't rip the video stream, and the need to develop a new, considerably more complex version of DVD Player capable of playing BD 2.0.
Well, without a Blu-ray drive (or a TV to watch movies with a regular Blu-ray player) and a deep-seated loathing of streaming, that leaves me up shit creek with piracy as the only option when it comes to watching HD movies. Maybe I'll just stick to DVDs.
Perhaps you should consider a non-Apple product? Blue-ray appliances and PCs are not exactly hard to find or expensive.
There are also HD rentals/purchases available in the iTunes store. I've been using that quite a bit when working out.
Oddly enough, the deciding factor on my previous laptop from two years ago (Dell Studio 14z) was that it didn't have an optical drive where the other two I was considering (13" MacBook, ThinkPad T-something?) did.
If you've got a Thunderbolt display as a docking station then you could just connect a DVD drive to one of its USB ports - even the "Macbook Air" SuperDrive addon, if you want to keep everything Apple-styled.
Except the MBA SuperDrive only works with an MBA.
Or a drive-less Mac Mini. But your point still stands.
It will also work with a Mac Mini. The trend here is it will work with any Apple computer that does not have an optical drive. Assuming the new MBP's are sans optical drive, it will probably work with them, too.
That is a power issue. I'd be surprised if Apple doesn't include the over powered USB ports in the display since they use that for charging iPads and iPhones as well.
As I said in the other thread, I like that it doesn't because there are actually better options than Apple is willing to sell. I like the OWC Mercury Pro (blu-ray, dvd, cd). It is a nicer option and can sit on the edge of the desk. On the new display, hooking it up to to the firewire 800 is a good option.
This is what I've been expecting. I used to think I was unique, but looking at the forums, I realize there's a whole cadre of people who buy MacBook Pros, take out the optical drive, and replace it with an SSD, so they run with both an SSD and a hard drive. The SSD runs the OS and has your code and apps on it, the hard drive has your Big Media.
I hope, when Apple gives up the optical media drive, they will still continue to have a hard drive slot.
I'd much rather just buy the machine configured this way from Apple than have to rework the internals of my laptop (And undo everything if I have to take the machine in for support.)
No you're definitely not alone.
Most of the people I know in the tech and creative industries rarely use their optical drive, downloading instead and viewing media through consoles/players connected to their TV.
I assume that they won't have the extra hard drive slot because the majority of consumers don't need to have two hard drives. But I'd be happy if Apple proved me wrong because that's exactly what I'd like.
> they will still continue to have a hard drive slot.
Not gonna happen. Even if they decide to save the current form-factor, they will fill the empty space with something actually useful, like battery.
Like the way they filled the original iPad with batteries and didn't leave empty space?
http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp43/zuo_2008/07393211888...
I do this also, and I would be pretty miffed if it becomes impossible in the future to buy a new MBP without two drive bays.
I wonder if this new crop of ultra-thin Macbooks is going to threaten iPad sales. Certainly the iPad is half the price of the low-end MBA, but the MBA isn't that much harder to lug around and it's so much more capable. Lately I find myself reaching for my 2010 MBP more than the iPad and that's a beast compared to this year's crop.
I think most people use the ipad to view content or play games. see: http://mashable.com/2010/07/08/ipad-usage-report/ It not so much about lugging a computer around, but using the ipad while you're on the move. The Ipad is so much easier to use in that way. There are plenty of photographers and videographers who use it to show their work. People are using it to replace e-readers (like me). Restaurants are using it to manage their living social deals, loyalty programs and square credit card processing. And I notice the form factor(touch screen no keyboard) makes it simple for them to use while moving around. Most non technical people won't pay more for Macbook if ipad is good enough for their needs. So I don't see ultra thin Macbooks threaten ipad sales. For me I love using both. Ipad for magazines, books, portfolios, casual games, occasional web browsing. And Mac book pro for everything else, coding, writing music, editing pictures.
I prefer using the Macbook Air for both content consumption and creation. For reading, resting a laptop on my lap and paging with an occasional tap of a key or brush of the touchpad is far easier than supporting the entire weight of the device and swiping the screen on occasion. For website viewing, I need the freedom to have 10 or so tabs open without the iPad's annoying reload when you try to enter an old tab.
I'm probably not a typical user, but over and over again I find that while browsing on the iPad that I want to comment at length on something I read, which I hate doing on the touch keyboard. I also tend to browse the web with a bunch of tabs open and switch around quickly and this also isn't so pleasant on the iPad. Something like the 11" MBA with Ableton Live, Adobe CS, XCode, Terminal, Chrome, and Transmit could be all the computer I need and would be no trouble to port around.
At this point the only thing I strongly prefer to do on the iPad is read ebooks. I wonder how many people there are like me that love the portability and convenience of a tablet but would be happy to put up with a slightly larger device if it meant they could do real work with it as well.
iOS 5 will solve at least part of this for you: The new Safari will have tabs and the touch keyboard will be "split"
http://www.geek.com/articles/apple/apples-ios-5-finally-brin...
I think that depends on how we define "capability," and for which segment of hypothetical users. Over the long run, I could just as easily see cannibalization's moving in the opposite direction.
To wit: there's probably at least one big segment of the population that just doesn't seem to need laptops all that often, if at all. Even ultralight ones. Give them an iPad, and they can do their web surfing, media consuming, emailing, Facebooking, and fowl-slinging all day long. My girlfriend and my parents fall into this category, for instance; they own MBAs and iPads, and the former are usually collecting dust -- perhaps occasionally used for word processing only.
I really hope it doesn't have the wedge shape, they're so hard to get open. What I'd really like to see is for them to ditch the optical drive, make it ~40% thinner or so (but with the same thickness throughout) and to fill the rest of the space with a bigger battery.
…and a flying pony.
You want a 40% space reduction and room for more batteries in exchange for losing an optical drive that accounts for 10% of the original volume.[1]
[1] The MacBook Pro has a volume of 2175cc. An internal optical drive is about 200cc.
Overall volume perhaps, but the optical drive takes up a lot more than 10% of the internal volume.
I've never had the slightest bit of trouble with opening my wedge-shaped Air - there's a large cutout of the bottom panel to allow your finger to fit underneath and get a grip on the lid...
And just like that my plans to by the 13 inch MBA have been thrown into dissaray
I hope this is true. The revamped MBA is very attractive, but the 13" screen kills it for me. I'm ready to say goodbye to my optical drive.
Remember, the 13" MBA has the same res as the regular 15" MBP (although it doesn't match the MBP 15 HD or the MBP 17).
I'd go with a MBP15HD as my only laptop, but instead I do mba13 + mbp17.
Apparently the quality (colour reproduction, etc) of the Macbook Air screens is significantly worse than that of the Macbook Pro.
There's also the tragic lack of an antiglare option (rather, the mandatory presence of a glare-inducing piece) on the mba vs. mbp15hd/mbp17.
I wish they'd fix that for the ACD 27 and iMac, too. I've been using Dell U-series IPS panels (U2410, U2711, U3011) for everything due to being matte and cheap ($400, 750, 1k!), but the new Apple display with the docking is pretty awesome, so I ordered one. Sadly, the glossiness means never using it in a room with external lighting :(
Have you checked one out at a store? It's actually very useable, I was surprised.
could it be possible that they end up with just one line of products, like the current air and in 11, 13, 15 and 17" formats?
Doubtful, the segmentation and price anchoring effects of multiple lines are too important to ignore.
I disagree. The 13" MBA is available for $1299 and $1599 whereas the 13"MBP is available for $1199 and $1499. The tradeoff used to be performance vs portability, but the benchmarks on the new MBA look like there isn't much performance difference anymore.
I am using a 13" MBP right now, but there is no way I would buy one today. I could see the MBP line going away and the MBA line replacing it completely. Not sure if they would stick with the "Air" name though.
I could definitely see them getting rid of the 13" MBP, but it has been positioned as the model you're pushed to via anchoring, as it seems like a deal (if that makes any sense). It does seem like the MBAs are filling in this role, but I don't really see how turning every model into a variant of the MBA would match up with Apple's standard product strategy.
Agree that there likely will be some changes to the larger models along the lines you're proposing, but I think they will still be somewhat distinct from the Air.
Well, if multiple lines were really that important, does that mean Dell, HP, Lenovo etc. all get it right?
I am willing to let the optical drive go in my next computer, but what I'm not willing to let go of is the storage capacity. Right now I can buy a laptop with 500GB of storage for less than $2,000. Or I can get a MacBook Air with half that. I understand that for the average consumer that 256GB of memory is plenty but I'm willing to exchange weight for storage capacity. And for everyone saying iCloud will eliminate the need for a lot of storage ask yourself if you really want to have to connect to the internet and burn up bandwidth every time you want to access your stuff? In the days of data caps, I don't.
Related: Ford begins to kill off CDs too http://www.neowin.net/news/ford-motor-company-begins-to-kill...
I don't understand why these companies are providing USB/iPod ports. Hats off to the ones that provide 1/8" audio jacks, but I don't get why they don't just provide a 1/8" audio cable that comes out of somewhere.
Every audio device since the dawn of time has a 1/8" audio jack in it. Why not interface with the technology that's already omnipresent?
Because you can't charge the device through the 1/8" jack. The devices would also need something to plug into to be used for any length of time.
Probably because most people who want external input have iPods. I recently got a new stereo in my car explicitly so I could get a USB input port - I just picked the cheapest stereo that had one.
That's really fascinating. I'm not sure anyone will be surprised if Apple drops the optical drive from their laptop lineup. Ford dropping it from vehicles is a surprisingly progressive move. Ford really seems to be the "one to beat" in the auto-maker scene these days, and I mean that globally.
Somewhat related, but the Asus Ultrabook mentioned in the article looks fantatic: http://www.macrumors.com/2011/05/30/intel-outlines-ivy-bridg...
I'm as unhappy as anybody else about Apple's latest raft of lawsuits but that's about as blatant a ripoff of the MBA design as I can imagine.
Have HN come so far as to upvote an Apple rumor story? wow..
Also, plastic macbooks in delectable colors, starting at $799, coming this xmas.