Apple to debut thinner Retina Display MacBook Pros at WWDC

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Apple will reportedly debut multiple new MacBook Pro models at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, each said to sport Retina Display-like screens and high-performance Intel Ivy Bridge processors.

According to Bloomberg sources, the refreshed lineup will indeed feature the widely rumored slim design that will bring the laptop more inline with Apple's popular MacBook Air series.

The sources also mention that flash memory will be used to decrease boot times and extend battery life, though it was not made clear if the new MacBook Pros will rely on pricey solid state drives exclusively as does the MacBook Air.

While the exact dimensions of the supposed next-generation laptop went unreported, rumors have suggested that the design will take cues from the MacBook Air and may do away with the existing optical drive in an effort to give the machine a slim, tapered appearance.

Also "confirmed" was the implementation of Intel's new Ivy Bridge processors which were recently unveiled in April. Built on "the world's first 22nm process" and boasting new 3D transistor technology, the chips are said to be highly-efficient and powerful enough to support 4K resolutions. Intel is initially rolling out the silicon as part of the Core i5 and Core i7 families.

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The inclusion of Intel's powerful new processors could allow for screens with resolutions rivaling those seen on the current iPhone 4 and 4S as well as the new iPad, and rumors have persisted since last year claiming that Apple was working on a Retina Display laptop. Offering further evidence to a possible Retina Display MacBook are the latest OS X Lion updates which brought Hi-DPI UI assets in 10.7.3 and doubled icon resolution in 10.7.4.

Reports from upstream supply chain sources said that mass production of new MacBook Pro models would ramp up starting with the 15-inch model in April followed by a June manufacture for the smaller 13.3-inch unit. No mention of the 17-inch MacBook Pro was made and some predict that Apple will discontinue the large-screened model due to declining shipments.

WWDC 2012


Apple is also said to be showing off the "future of iOS and OS X" at WWDC 2012, alluding to a possible unveiling of iOS 6 and more Mountain Lion details. The conference will take place from June 11 through the 15 at Moscone West in San Francisco.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 37
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Where's the mileage in that? As tasty as the idea of being able to say, "As of today, we're updating ALL of our Mac models!" is, I just don't see it, particularly when WWDC SHOULD be about OS X and iOS.


     


    Oi, anyone who's paying attention, are the MacBook Air chips out yet?



    Because I'm PRETTY sure I've been right all along about what Apple is planning to do, but if the MacBook Air chips have been out for a little while, then I could still be wrong.

  • Reply 2 of 37
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    So we'll have a demo of iOS 6, OS X Mountain Lion, and the new SDK with 3rd-party vendors demonstrating what they've done in a just a week at Apple, and a release of new MBPs and new AirPort routers? That seems like a lot to me.
  • Reply 3 of 37


    Intel hasn't released the ULV chips yet. They released the Quad-Core i5 and i7s first, then they will release the ULV and Dual-Core i5 and i7s and then the i3s.

  • Reply 4 of 37
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

    So we'll have a demo of iOS 6, OS X Mountain Lion, and the new SDK with 3rd-party vendors demonstrating what they've done in a just a week at Apple, and a release of new MBPs and new AirPort routers? That seems like a lot to me.


     


    I figure the 802.11ac AirPort family can come along at any point in a silent update, though. Unless they get a nice new case redesign with LiquidMetal, that is. Then I'd want to see them highlighted.


     



    Quote:


    Originally Posted by Eric Litvin View Post

    Intel hasn't released the ULV chips yet.



     


    Cool, thanks! Do you have a date on that? All I can find is "June 2012".

  • Reply 5 of 37
    rokradrokrad Posts: 143member


    The Verge is reporting Nvidia cards not AMD cards...


     


     


    Source- http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/14/3020483/new-macbook-pros-confirmed-to-have-nvidia-graphics

  • Reply 6 of 37
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rokrad View Post

    The Verge is reporting Nvidia cards not AMD cards...


     


    Froosh… ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????


     


    Oh, that's just their desktop stuff; never mind. Does anyone think that Apple is going to trust nVidia again, particularly since they lied twice about the quality of the 8600M?

  • Reply 7 of 37
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I figure the 802.11ac AirPort family can come along at any point in a silent update, though. Unless they get a nice new case redesign with LiquidMetal, that is. Then I'd want to see them highlighted.

    I probably shouldn't have thrown that in with my main point because without going over 802.11ac and new AirPort routers the amount of stuff they need to cover seems excessive for trying to fit into a 1.5 to 2 hour event. Of course, they can go longer than 2 hours if they want.

    As for 802.11ac, I seem to recall Apple being fairly on top of the new standards with new products which are now available. They could release the new MBPs with 802.11ac chips without any new AirPort routers but I hope it's at the same time. If they do that they don't even have to ship them without the 802.11ac drivers, they just have to not advertise that feature until there routers are ready to go. The issue with the 802.11n drivers was that it simply wasn't completed, which may or may not be the case this time.
  • Reply 8 of 37
    alanskyalansky Posts: 235member
    So are these new MacBook Pros with the retina display going to come with matching magnifying glasses to help users read the tiny drop-down menus?
  • Reply 9 of 37


    I just got my 13" MacBook Pro about 7 months ago but I will definitely get this if it has that gorgeous retina display that is on the iPad and better graphics than the HD 3000 graphics card.

  • Reply 10 of 37

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by alansky View Post



    So are these new MacBook Pros with the retina display going to come with matching magnifying glasses to help users read the tiny drop-down menus?


     


    Sounds like a personal thing. I see the drop down menus clearly. 

  • Reply 11 of 37
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    alansky wrote: »
    So are these new MacBook Pros with the retina display going to come with matching magnifying glasses to help users read the tiny drop-down menus?

    Are you under the impression that everything will be half the size it currently is on displays?
  • Reply 12 of 37

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    So we'll have a demo of iOS 6, OS X Mountain Lion, and the new SDK with 3rd-party vendors demonstrating what they've done in a just a week at Apple, and a release of new MBPs and new AirPort routers? That seems like a lot to me.


    Yeah.  iOS 6, ML, and (the rumored HW redesign of) MBPs are big enough news to carry their own discreet events.

  • Reply 13 of 37
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Why does it seem odd that Apple would announce new hardware at WWDC? The iPhone 4 was announced there in 2010. People are clamoring for Mac updates so why not announce them then? I'm curious how much of iOS 6 will be revealed since we probably won't see the new iPhone until October.
  • Reply 14 of 37
    suddenly newtonsuddenly newton Posts: 13,819member
    Froosh… ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

    Oh, that's just their desktop stuff; never mind. Does anyone think that Apple is going to trust nVidia again, particularly since they lied twice about the quality of the 8600M?

    Did Apple blacklist nvidia? If that were the case, I'm sure it'd have been mentioned on this site.

    That's in the past. If nvidia has their act together, it isn't something that'll happen again with their new chips.
  • Reply 15 of 37
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    rogifan wrote: »
    I'm curious how much of iOS 6 will be revealed since we probably won't see the new iPhone until October.
    Most of it. Developers need time to adapt, which includes Apple's testing of iOS 6.0 via paid developers for stability issues. Typically we've been given 2-3 months of iOS betas before we get an event that demos the new iPhone.
  • Reply 16 of 37
    cvaldes1831cvaldes1831 Posts: 1,832member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by alansky View Post



    So are these new MacBook Pros with the retina display going to come with matching magnifying glasses to help users read the tiny drop-down menus?


     


    Er no, Apple figured this stuff out in 2010 when the Retina Display enabled iPhone 4 replaced the iPhone 3GS and the user interface elements remained reasonable.


     


    What happens is that the operating system doubles the resolution of user interface elements (fonts, menus, buttons, etc.) when it senses that it is connected to a Retina Display.


     


    Note that a Retina Display equipped Mac would probably spend months and months as a prototype in a secret lab, so Apple would have time to identify the major usability issues. My guess is that they have had Retina Display enabled prototypes for well over a year, to assess the usability and performance both of the hardware and software, before they make the commitment to move forward in launching it as a real shipping product.

  • Reply 17 of 37
    rainrain Posts: 538member

    Quote:


    Oh, that's just their desktop stuff; never mind. Does anyone think that Apple is going to trust nVidia again, particularly since they lied twice about the quality of the 8600M?



     


    Both parties were at fault over that crap. nVidia for a half baked attempt at the cards - Apple for not even giving a half baked attempt to resolve the issue.


     


    Anyways, if Apple can strike up multi-billion dollar deals with a company it's suing for multi-billions... nothing surprises me anymore.

  • Reply 18 of 37
    kpluckkpluck Posts: 500member


    I would love to see Apple ditch the optical drive and go with an SSD + HD type set up for the 15" MBP. I am hoping to be able to get a 120GB SSD plus a 750GB HD. If they dump conventional HDs entirely, I will have a problem because I need the extra space. Adding an external HD isn't an option for me because I want a portable system without having to drag around external devices.


     


    -kpluck

  • Reply 19 of 37
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:



    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

    Are you under the impression that everything will be half the size it currently is on displays?


     


    I don't think he thought this through very well. Or maybe he just doesn't know about HiDPI mode.


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by cvaldes1831 View Post


    My guess is that they have had Retina Display enabled prototypes for well over a year, to assess the usability and performance both of the hardware and software, before they make the commitment to move forward in launching it as a real shipping product.



     


    And that would explain why we're already seeing retina icons in Mountain Lion.


     



    Quote:

    Originally Posted by rain View Post

    Both parties were at fault over that crap. nVidia for a half baked attempt at the cards - Apple for not even giving a half baked attempt to resolve the issue.



     


    All I'm reading is your usual anti-Apple crap. Given that Apple gives repairs to faulty machines and replacements for ones that continuously fail, I can't for the life of me figure out how that's a "half-baked attempt". Mind clarifying?

  • Reply 20 of 37
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    Most of it. Developers need time to adapt, which includes Apple's testing of iOS 6.0 via paid developers for stability issues. Typically we've been given 2-3 months of iOS betas before we get an event that demos the new iPhone.
    But surely they'll save some 'wow' for the actual event (besides unveiling the new form factor).
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