New MacBook and MacBook Pro to get 'SAME' aluminum & glass design?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
May sound crazy, but what if the next new MacBoooks and MacBook Pros come out the same time, and get the same modern aluminum and glass design. Heck, what if Apple dropped the 'Pro' moniker completely?









This design seems perfectly fitting to me.



You choose your size, 13", 15" or 17" and regardless you get this sleek new design. You also get the ability to make any size MacBook (including the 13") as powerful as a Pro machine would be. Goes without saying the 17" wouldn't have an integrated graphics card as an option. So the Pro's get their 13" beast (with overdue, updated keyboard), and consumers can finally get a 15" MacBook. Apple drops the Pro moniker from their notebooks completely. You choose your size, your specs, and you pay accordingly. Possibly too fair for Apple I would imagine though. Giving the consumer what they want? How dare you Ireland.



Before people jump in and tell us why 13" is still too big, Apple also releases their 10" (ultra-portable) multi-touch tablet 2008.



Aluminum and glass, notebooks and tablet. Welcome to 2008. Not saying it's definitely going to happen, by any means, but I do think it would be good if it did.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 80
    akacakac Posts: 512member
    I would detest having the "new" keyboard...
  • Reply 2 of 80
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Akac View Post


    I would detest having the "new" keyboard...



    Curious, did you use it? Personally I'm in the 'I hate the MacBook Pro keyboard' camp.
  • Reply 3 of 80
    Would glass be too heavy for a portable?
  • Reply 4 of 80
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cutemartin View Post


    Would glass be too heavy for a portable?



    No...
  • Reply 5 of 80
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    No...



    the mockup looks like good work, but it does not look like an apple product. sure it looks like a macbook pro/ imac/ new keyboard all melded, but that is what HP and toshiba are doing nowadays. it looks a little busy and doesn't have the class the current MBP does.



    it will be awfully hard to top the current design, but when apple finally does it, I expect it will be something really special, much like the first PB aluminum was.
  • Reply 6 of 80
    Macbooks/(Pro) are still heavy as hell.
  • Reply 7 of 80
    When; been trolling about these for years - bring it!
  • Reply 8 of 80
    Glass would be stupid in a notebook... heavy, delicate and no purpose. I think it's even stupid in the iMac.



    Yeah... why not take out the optical drive to put some glass in?
  • Reply 9 of 80
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kmhtkmhtkmht View Post


    Macbooks/(Pro) are still heavy as hell.



    You serious? They are among the lightest in their category.
  • Reply 10 of 80
    I actually think that mockup is plausible, though there probably wouldn't be a need for the Apple logo on the inside. The company would probably still be comfortable with the backlit Apple logo on the outside of the lid.



    Whether Apple can really revamp its line that way is another matter, though. Apple currently likes it its normal/pro dichotomy and would probably want to distinguish its lines a little more conspicuously. I can imagine Apple having a 13-inch/15-inch MacBook line that looks like a portable aluminum iMac, though, and a 15-inch/17-inch MacBook Pro line closer to what we have today.



    And maybe, just maybe, the 15-inch consumer MacBook could have lower-end dedicated graphics, like a 128MB GeForce 8400M GS.
  • Reply 11 of 80
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cutemartin View Post


    Would glass be too heavy for a portable?



    The LCDs have used glass since the original Mac Portable.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KennyWRX View Post


    You serious? They are among the lightest in their category.



    And yet are still about 2lbs to heavy to be a real subnotebook. A Macbook sized notebook with all the ports and drives should weigh about 4lbs. Sony can do it, why can't Apple?
  • Reply 12 of 80
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Commodus View Post


    I actually think that mockup is plausible, though there probably wouldn't be a need for the Apple logo on the inside.



    Point taken, not my mock-up, but adjusted accordingly anyway.
  • Reply 13 of 80
    Don't worry too much... I'm sure the new Al craze will give us a lighter Macbook. Hopefully with 10.5 launch.
  • Reply 14 of 80
    sennensennen Posts: 1,472member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by infinitespecter View Post


    The LCDs have used glass since the original Mac Portable.







    And yet are still about 2lbs to heavy to be a real subnotebook. A Macbook sized notebook with all the ports and drives should weigh about 4lbs. Sony can do it, why can't Apple?



    are any of the current mac portables meant to be sub-notebooks?



    nice mockup, ireland, tho' not sure about the size/width of the black frame. looking forward to seeing mbp's loaded with the penryn...
  • Reply 15 of 80
    No they are not.



    But I understand the point that the MB is a bit heavy at 5.1lb when the bigger MBP 15" weighs 5.4lb. When and if they move the MB to Al they should tip in the high 3's to low 4's.
  • Reply 16 of 80
    My response from the last time you raised this:



    As Ireland says a unified design language would be very interesting. Notably the iMac has always represented the consumer section, and this update dumps their consumer styling. Likewise it now makes their Pro styling look outdated. Apple could: unify their computer design language along the iMac's lines and toss the difference between pro/non-pro. Use the iMac's language for MacBooks, and establish a new Pro language. Use the iMac's language for MacBook Pro's, and establish a new consumer language. Those, as I see it, are their main options in computer design going forward.



    So what if they do actually unify their language? Offer a MacBook at 11" (subnotebook), 13" (current MacBook), 15" and 17" (current MacBook Pro). As it is the differences between the regular and Pro models are pretty darn slim at this point (GPU, mainly) so why not just offer a models a base model that can be specced upwards?



    Perhaps, because of the GPU, a base model and top-end model at each size (perhaps tag the 13", 15", 17" top-end models with the Pro tag, and give the 11" model a Nano tag or something). Top-end model gets the niceties (keyboard lighting) and the features (top-end CPU/GPU) and the base model doesn't have that. Both models can be BTO'd upwards or downwards in RAM/HDD but if you want to switch GPUs or CPUs you're automatically upgraded/downgraded to the relevant model.



    The subnotebook would likely be the least configurable and perhaps the 17" model would lack a low-end version. That way stores get two SKUs for 13" and 15", and one SKU for 11" and 17" (6 SKUs in total, compared against 6 SKUs now if you go by the Apple Store online).



    No additional shipping complexity in return for a laptop line that adds non-Pro 15" model and an 11" subnotebook, and unifies Apple's design language going forward.



    ----



    I'd add today a 7" Newton/UMPC device though Ireland would argue for the 10" tablet version .
  • Reply 17 of 80
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by infinitespecter View Post


    And yet are still about 2lbs to heavy to be a real subnotebook. A Macbook sized notebook with all the ports and drives should weigh about 4lbs. Sony can do it, why can't Apple?



    except your first post was in reference to the macbook pro. which was never intended to fulfill any sub-note categories.
  • Reply 18 of 80
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Electric Monk


    I'd add today a 7" Newton/UMPC device though Ireland would argue for the 10" tablet version



    You know, never say never. Would you care to discuss this a bit?
  • Reply 19 of 80
    I stopped using keyboards like that when I left the TRS-80 COCO.
  • Reply 20 of 80
    mcarlingmcarling Posts: 1,106member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KennyWRX View Post


    You serious? They are among the lightest in their category.



    They weigh twice what comparable notebooks sold in Japan weigh.
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