Redesigned MacBook Pro, iMac may come in first half of 2011

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
A new report out of the Far East claims Apple plans to launch redesigned MacBook Pro and iMac models in the first half of 2011.



Taiwanese industry publication Digitimes reports that sources from "upstream component makers" indicate that Apple will introduce the upgraded models in the first half of next year.



The Mac maker reportedly plans to launch "at least four upgraded MacBook Pros" with a "slight change" in chassis design and an upgrade to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. The upgraded iMac is expected to feature "a new panel size and a price point for the mainstream market," according to the report.



Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled Mac OS X 10.7 Lion at the "Back to the Mac" event in October. Mac OS X 10.7 Lion will incorporate features brought back to the Mac from iOS, such as App Home Screens, full-screen apps, and expanded multi-touch gestures. According to Jobs, Apple will release Mac OS X 10.7 Lion in the summer of 2011.



The first day of summer in 2011 is June 22, which would fit within the first half of 2011 timeframe from Digitimes' most recent report. The report's sources believe that the MacBook Pro upgrades will help Apple's notebook shipments grow 30-40 percent year over year in 2011.



Other details were sparse in the Digitimes report. However, next year's Macs are generally expected to utilize Intel's Sandy Bridge processors. Intel reportedly plans to formally unveil the new processors at the Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 5th, 2011.



Intel CEO Paul Otellini announced in July that the company had decided to accelerate production in response to the "very strong reception" of Sandy Bridge CPUs by the chipmaker's vendors.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 126
    Apple wasn't going to update Macs and just sell iPods from now on?
  • Reply 2 of 126
    New panel size?

    16:9 perhaps?

    Would that signal Blu-ray finally, like the rest of the free world?
  • Reply 3 of 126
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iLiver View Post


    New panel size?

    16:9 perhaps?

    Would that signal Blu-ray finally, like the rest of the free world?



    The "panel" is referring to the iMac:





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    The Mac maker reportedly plans to launch "at least four upgraded MacBook Pros" with a "slight change" in chassis design and an upgrade to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. The upgraded iMac is expected to feature "a new panel size and a price point for the mainstream market," according to the report.

    .




  • Reply 4 of 126
    ".....However, next year's Macs are generally expected to utilize Intel's Sandy Bridge processors. Intel reportedly plans to formally unveil the new processors at the Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 5th, 2011."





    Ah, yes... a 4 core 15" MBP with 8 GB RAM and a big, fat solid state drive... a fine upgrade path to replace the aging 2.66 GHz MacPro at work; I can use the extra room in the cube. Just waitin'...
  • Reply 5 of 126
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    The upgraded iMac is expected to feature "a new panel size and a price point for the mainstream market," according to the report.



    New price point for the mainstream market? Interesting phrase, that. Maybe it means that Apple has decided that they are ready to make an aggressive push for market share...

    Quote:

    The first day of summer in 2011 is June 22, which would fit within the first half of 2011 timeframe from Digitimes' most recent report.



    Sweet! It has been over a year since we have had a thread devoted to the different world perspectives on just exactly when the seasons begin and end...
  • Reply 6 of 126
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iLiver View Post


    New panel size?

    16:9 perhaps?

    Would that signal Blu-ray finally, like the rest of the free world?



    Nope.



    Apple has made their stance. They are unlikely to jump into the whole blu- ray thing at this point. Not after all the work to develop the iTunes store



    Now what they might do, and could already be doing, is work on new codecs that would allow for true blu-ray video and audio quality with out a major increase in file size. They might also be working on improving the whole extras package and encouraging studios to make extras and have them match the physical disk packages. Perhaps even to the point of trying to replicate some of the more sophisticated options in the near future
  • Reply 7 of 126
    i've been waiting for this so eagerly... i need 13" macbook pro with:

    i5 2540m or i5 2520m sandy bridge

    ssd 256 or 512 gb hard drive

    13-15 hours battery

    8GB or 16GB RAM (4gb will also be sufficient)

    LightPeakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightpeak (hope it is finally here)

    either BLUE-RAY or NO OPTICAL DRIVE

    1080p full HDD

    HDMI OUTPUT

    IPS LCD Retina display screen (i can dream, right?)
  • Reply 8 of 126
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    I wonder if Apple will forgo standard hard drives in their iMacs and install the same PCIx SSD drives used in their Macbook Airs. It would certainly remove yet another source of heat and give it a more thinner profile. With network drives being used more and others using cloud services, having an internal, mechanical hard drive is becoming less of a requirement.



    I store almost no local data on both my i7 iMac and my MBA. I am toying with the idea of replacing my 1TB internal hard drive on my iMac with an SSD drive as I love the performance of my SSD-based MBA. I'm just waiting for the cost do drop a bit more.



    Will be interesting to see what comes out. This is a great time me think for Apple as they are really pushing the boundaries of computer design and performance.
  • Reply 9 of 126
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    The upgraded iMac is expected to feature "a new panel size and a price point for the mainstream market," according to the report.



    I would love to have a 17" iMac with the same high rez display available on the 17" MBP. $999
  • Reply 10 of 126
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    I wonder if Apple will forgo standard hard drives in their iMacs and install the same PCIx SSD drives used in their Macbook Airs. It would certainly remove yet another source of heat and give it a more thinner profile. With network drives being used more and others using cloud services, having an internal, mechanical hard drive is becoming less of a requirement.



    I store almost no local data on both my i7 iMac and my MBA. I am toying with the idea of replacing my 1TB internal hard drive on my iMac with an SSD drive as I love the performance of my SSD-based MBA. I'm just waiting for the cost do drop a bit more.



    Will be interesting to see what comes out. This is a great time me think for Apple as they are really pushing the boundaries of computer design and performance.



    My guess would be no for this round of updates, mainly because of the cost factor of a fully SSD based system with the storage capacities you would want in the iMac line. The Air with 256gb starts at $1600. For a notebook, you can get away with the that limited amount of storage but on the more consumer orientated iMac, that might be a tough sell. Although the price on SSD's is falling just about everyday, I think you have at least another year before capacities of 500mb to 1gb will be affordable, if not longer.



    Another guess for now would be as what is offered in the high end iMac, an SSD boot drive and a secondary standard hard drive. Another option would be what Seagate has with it's Momentus XT hard drives which are hybrid drives with a 4gb SSD cache married with a 500gb hard drive. You sort of get the best of both worlds but your cost is only marginally higher than a standard hard drive.



    sNf
  • Reply 11 of 126
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cutykamu View Post


    i've been waiting for this so eagerly... i need 13" macbook pro with:

    i5 2540m or i5 2520m sandy bridge



    Maybe..



    >>ssd 256 or 512 gb hard drive

    Not without paying thousands



    >>13-15 hours battery

    That's pretty unrealistic. Apple is pushing current battery tech to its limits.



    >>8GB or 16GB RAM (4gb will also be sufficient)

    16GB is a lot of RAM, especially for a laptop, more so for a 13" one.



    >>LightPeak

    Probably the next round of updates. The industry isn't ready yet.



    >>either BLUE-RAY or NO OPTICAL DRIVE

    No optical drive is far more likely.



    >>1080p full HD

    Not on a 13 inch screen, but even if it was, you wouldn't notice the difference unless you used your laptop inches from your face.



    >>HDMI OUTPUT

    Already has it. (adapter)



    >>IPS LCD Retina display screen

    A Retina display would be less useful, and far more expensive, (I think screen costs increase geometrically with size...) than on the iPhone, due to the fact that you rarely hold a laptop a few inches from your face.



    >>(i can dream, right?)

    Just like your entire post?
  • Reply 12 of 126
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    According to Jobs, Apple will release Mac OS X 10.7 Lion in the summer of 2011.



    The first day of summer in 2011 is June 22, which would fit within the first half of 2011 timeframe from Digitimes' most recent report.



    You've got to be kidding me.

    That leap of logic is the equivalent of jumping the Grand Canyon on a tricycle.



    EXHIBIT A) Digitimes is highly prone to "pull stuff out of their ass"

    EXHIBIT B) When Steve Jobs says "summer of 2011" he means December 31st, 2011(it's summer somewhere).

    EXHIBIT C) Its Digitimes!
  • Reply 13 of 126
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shapesNforms View Post


    My guess would be no for this round of updates, mainly because of the cost factor of a fully SSD based system with the storage capacities you would want in the iMac line. The Air with 256gb starts at $1600. For a notebook, you can get away with the that limited amount of storage but on the more consumer orientated iMac, that might be a tough sell. Although the price on SSD's is falling just about everyday, I think you have at least another year before capacities of 500mb to 1gb will be affordable, if not longer.



    Another guess for now would be as what is offered in the high end iMac, an SSD boot drive and a secondary standard hard drive. Another option would be what Seagate has with it's Momentus XT hard drives which are hybrid drives with a 4gb SSD cache married with a 500gb hard drive. You sort of get the best of both worlds but your cost is only marginally higher than a standard hard drive.



    sNf



    Apple will include a 64GB SSD + 1TB HDD standard.

    Lion will natively support SSD boot drive + HDD home folders.

    Hybrid drives have poor performance.
  • Reply 14 of 126
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JakeTheRock View Post


    >>13-15 hours battery

    That's pretty unrealistic. Apple is pushing current battery tech to its limits.



    Steve has been pushing to achieve the 20 hour battery.

    The average person sleeps 8 hours, but Steve sleeps only 4.

    He wants a battery that will last all day and recharges in 4 hours while he sleeps.
  • Reply 15 of 126
    Physical media is dead...didn't you notice? The rest of the world did...
  • Reply 16 of 126
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slang4Art View Post


    Apple wasn't going to update Macs and just sell iPods from now on?



    Nah, they're just gonna sell iPhones, iPads, and MacBook Airs.



    Frankly, their gross margins would be incredible if they only sold iPhones, however, you can't use an iPhone to do everything, so it makes sense to have a broader product line.



    If you look at MacRumor's buyer's guide, you'll note that Apple actually refreshes their MacBook, MacBook Pro, and iMac product lines pretty frequently (like 180-200 days), whereas the iPhone only gets updated annually.



    As an AAPL shareholder, I'm pretty happy with their performance. As a matter of fact, I'm wondering why other Fortune 500/Russell 2000 companies can't perform like Apple.
  • Reply 17 of 126
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


    I wonder if Apple will forgo standard hard drives in their iMacs and install the same PCIx SSD drives used in their Macbook Airs. It would certainly remove yet another source of heat and give it a more thinner profile. With network drives being used more and others using cloud services, having an internal, mechanical hard drive is becoming less of a requirement.



    I store almost no local data on both my i7 iMac and my MBA. I am toying with the idea of replacing my 1TB internal hard drive on my iMac with an SSD drive as I love the performance of my SSD-based MBA. I'm just waiting for the cost do drop a bit more.



    Will be interesting to see what comes out. This is a great time me think for Apple as they are really pushing the boundaries of computer design and performance.



    I would like to see a 128GB SSD boot drive like the MacBook Air combined with a traditional 1-2TB hard drive, but at MacBook Air type prices not the incredibly inflated ones they currently charge for iMacs with that type of setup.



    I store almost nothing in the cloud where it's open to the abuses of hackers and the very companies storing the data whose only motivation for keeping your data somewhat safe is so their competition doesn't get a hold of it. Google and many others want your data so they can sell it. Don't give it to them unless you want to be bought and sold like a commodity.



    Please can we stop obsessing about thin. The iMac is a desktop computer FFS. It doesn't need to be thin it needs to be able to keep cool while pushing desktop CPUs and GPUs into Turbo mode.



    A new consumer panel size, if true (this is Digitimes we're talking about here!), could mean that worldwide demand has made some size other than 21.5" the best value in an HD display. If you surf the PC world you'll see that a large number of 1920x1080 displays are 23". A 23" display size would open up a little more room inside the case for a MacBook Air type SSD along side a traditional HD. hmmmm that would be nice.



    Having just introduced the 27" Cinema Display using the same panel as the iMac I would be shocked to see Apple change the size of their larger iMac this time around.



    I hope they add the video in feature to the 21.5", 23" or whatever size iMac. It would be nice to be able to use it as a second display when I bring the MacBook home from work and would definitely help extend the usefulness of the machine years in the future when the Core i3 is about as obsolete as the original Pentium is today. There's no reason to scrap/recycle a working LCD panel until it's at least 10 years old.
  • Reply 18 of 126
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella View Post


    Apple will include a 64GB SSD + 1TB HDD standard.

    Lion will natively support SSD boot drive + HDD home folders.

    Hybrid drives have poor performance.



    Care to explain why hybrid drives "have poor performance"? I'm running the Momentus XT in one Macbook Pro and have a 256gb SSD in another. The SSD based Macbook Pro boots in around 15 seconds, the Momentus is around 25 seconds and the old, standard hard drive was close to 50 seconds...
  • Reply 19 of 126
    I'm really hoping the new MacBook Pros and iMacs don't have to wait for Lion. That would make the interval between MBP upgrades one of the longest in the history of the company. February would be a good time to put Sandy Bridge into the iMac.



    I have a second selfish reason. I can't afford both an iMac and to replace the last few software packages I have from the PowerPC era like Photoshop 8.



    I know SJ dissed USB 3.0, but Light Peak may not be ready until fall and all the external hard drives these days feature USB 3.0 so I hope the next Macs ship with it. FireWire 800 is expensive and staring to look slow compared to USB 3.
  • Reply 20 of 126
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cutykamu View Post


    IPS LCD Retina display screen (i can dream, right?)



    erm that "retina" thingy on the iphone has close to 300ppi, to get that on a MBP 15" you'd need WQUXGA - no did't make that up :^D - which is 3840x2400 =0



    Think how much would it cost, don't even know if they make them at all, then think about the battery drain and the graphic power required to drive it.

    And as others said you don't even need 300dpi if you look at the screen from 15+ inches.



    Besides, on OS X text gets tiny very fast upping the resolution on a laptop screen, unless 10.7 has a resolution independent UI you won't see any more than 1080p at max on a 15".





    Now, IPS would be sweeeet instead.

    Not see that happening anyway, people is ok with 6bit TN and no manufacturer offer any better, why bother to increase the BOM?
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