Placeholders for new Macs showing up in retail systems?

[AppleInsider]

Some Apple Authorized Resellers may be getting the nod from their Apple reps to begin preparing their inventory systems for the arrival of several new Mac models, according to a new rumor.

A screenshot submitted anonymously to MacRumors claims to show place holders for six new Macs listed in the inventory system of Canada's FutureShop, a subsidiary of Best Buy.

No further details are available and the image has not been independently verified. That said, Best Buy has been notorious in recent years for providing advanced notice of new Apple products through updates to its internal systems, which inevitably get leaked on the Web.

The most recent incident took place this past February when the retailer's system revealed precise part numbers and pricing for the current generation of MacBooks and MacBook Pros ahead of Apple's official announcement.

If genuine and taken at face value, FutureShop's inventory system would suggest the release of six new Macs, which would likely coincide with three new models of MacBooks and three new models of MacBook Pros (two 15-inch, one 17-inch).

An image reportedly taken of FutureShop's inventory system | Source: MacRumors.

A recent report has suggested October 14th as a likely announcement for the new notebooks, which falls inline AppleInsider's previously-published 2008 hardware roadmap.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[zinfella]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Some Apple Authorized Resellers may be getting the nod from their Apple reps to begin preparing their inventory systems for the arrival of several new Mac models, according to a new rumor.

A screenshot submitted anonymously to MacRumors claims to show place holders for six new Macs listed in the inventory system of Canada's FutureShop, a subsidiary of Best Buy.

No further details are available and the image has not been independently verified. That said, Best Buy has been notorious in recent years for providing advanced notice of new Apple products through updates to its internal systems, which inevitably get leaked on the Web.

The most recent incident took place this past February when the retailer's system revealed precise part numbers and pricing for the current generation of MacBooks and MacBook Pros ahead of Apple's official announcement.

If genuine and taken at face value, FutureShop's inventory system would suggest the release of six new Macs, which would likely coincide with three new models of MacBooks and three new models of MacBook Pros (two 15-inch, one 17-inch).

An image reportedly taken of FutureShop's inventory system | Source: MacRumors.

A recent report has suggested October 14th as a likely announcement for the new notebooks, which falls inline AppleInsider's previously-published 2008 hardware roadmap.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

Maybe, but Best Buy missed on the current model iMacs, so they ain't perfect.

[shanmugam]

13" - $899 - $1099 - Good and best one
15"- $1299 - $1599 - Good and best one
17" - $1599 - $1999 - Good and best one

Macbooks, macbooks, macbooks

[eAi]

I imagine we're expecting at least a speed bump for the iMac, Mac Pro and Mac Mini (assuming it survives!)... Plus, the MacBook Air could probably do with an update...

[amac4me]

Bring it on, these things are WAY overdue

[str1f3]

i think they will hold off until macworld for desktops. they still have to find a way to incorporate multitouch for them.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by shanmugam

13" - $899 - $1099 - Good and best one
15"- $1299 - $1599 - Good and best one
17" - $1599 - $1999 - Good and best one

Macbooks, macbooks, macbooks

You really think they will forego the MBP altogether for 6 MacBooks in three sizes with only 2 CPU choices in each? None of that sounds feasible to me from a sound business standpoint or looking at Apple's history.

Originally Posted by eAi

I imagine we're expecting at least a speed bump for the iMac, Mac Pro and Mac Mini (assuming it survives!)... Plus, the MacBook Air could probably do with an update...

The MBA will get the SFF Montevina/Penryn, which will lower the TDP, increase the L2 and FSB, but will keep the CPU speed the same if they keep it that same chip category.

The Mini has been without an update for so long that I think it will be replaced with an entirely new product in that category.

[Yebot]

1. Consumer level portable
2. Consumer level portable (bigger & faster)
3. Pro level portable 15"
4. Pro level portable 15" (bigger & faster)
5. Pro level portable 17"
6. Whatever this Brick thing is.

[wizard69]

Guys it is no time to get wildly excited about 6 new macs if these are indeed SKU's. It is not uncommon for Apple to have at least 3 SKU's for each model of Mac. So this could be a MacBook update along with a MINI update or any combination of other platforms that end up in a 2 x 3 arraignment.

Of course there is a high probability of two models of portables but even here Apple has three distinct models in the line up. So maybe we will see a MacBook and a AIR update. Then you have the possibility that All three get updated to have two SKU's each.

The thing is this the AIR and to a lesser extent the MacBook are in greater need of an update than the MBP. Well that and the Mini which more of an update than any of them.

Dave

[Leonard]

Originally Posted by eAi

I imagine we're expecting at least a speed bump for the iMac, Mac Pro and Mac Mini (assuming it survives!)... Plus, the MacBook Air could probably do with an update...

We're expecting Macbook and Macbook Pro updates.

It's very unlikely the Mac Pro is going to be updated anytime soon, and unlikely the iMac is going to be updated. Desktops will likely wait till next year.

We might get a Mac Mini update.

[Captain Jack]

Sweet, curious as to what the brick is though.

[zinfella]

Originally Posted by solipsism

You really think they will forego the MBP altogether for 6 MacBooks in three sizes with only 2 CPU choices in each? None of that sounds feasible to me from a sound business standpoint or looking at Apple's history.



The MBA will get the SFF Montevina/Penryn, which will lower the TDP, increase the L2 and FSB, but will keep the CPU speed the same if they keep it that same chip category.

The Mini has been without an update for so long that I think it will be replaced with an entirely new product in that category.

Stories earlier this year about new Mini proved to be false, at least to date. They were the same stories that talked about the iMac update which did occur. Things don't look real bright for the Mini, IMO.

[jdavy]

Originally Posted by wizard69

Guys it is no time to get wildly excited about 6 new macs if these are indeed SKU's. It is not uncommon for Apple to have at least 3 SKU's for each model of Mac. So this could be a MacBook update along with a MINI update or any combination of other platforms that end up in a 2 x 3 arraignment.

Of course there is a high probability of two models of portables but even here Apple has three distinct models in the line up. So maybe we will see a MacBook and a AIR update. Then you have the possibility that All three get updated to have two SKU's each.

The thing is this the AIR and to a lesser extent the MacBook are in greater need of an update than the MBP. Well that and the Mini which more of an update than any of them.

Dave

I am still dreaming about a Blu-Ray drive for a MBP. A faster processor, more ram, or a bigger hard drive is only incremental. We want a real upgrade before we spend money on a newer laptop. BLU-RAY please. Any idea of when the next Apple presentation will be? Last rumor was sometime in October.

[somethinbaloo]

The funny thing is that Futureshop is owned by Best Buy, I hope people know that and dont over look it....gotta love the shot from Futureshop aka Best Buy's Inventory system which is RSS, which could be anyone in their company.

[wheelhot]

I think its going to be a MacBook. Apple is not using Montevina right?

Honestly, I dont know how Apple is going to make the MacPro design better because its very neat and everything it so easy, not to mention very powerful.

[somethinbaloo]

Originally Posted by wheelhot

I think its going to be a MacBook. Apple is not using Montevina right?

Honestly, I dont know how Apple is going to make the MacPro design better because its very neat and everything it so easy, not to mention very powerful.

The Macbook Pro will most likely have an update to the locking system like the Macbooks and most likely blu-ray/superdrive.

[rangerdon]

I'd guess a new version of the MacMini, which will somehow be connectible to a dock....

[grahamw]

We can stop the presses on this right now. These were set up at the same time at the iPod skus in order to have them available for the inevitable Apple launches that will happen sometime in the future. They are not indicative of any new shipping skus.

[zinfella]

Originally Posted by grahamw

We can stop the presses on this right now. These were set up at the same time at the iPod skus in order to have them available for the inevitable Apple launches that will happen sometime in the future. They are not indicative of any new shipping skus.

Neener, neener, I knew it!

[Dunks]

Originally Posted by Captain Jack

Sweet, curious as to what the brick is though.

I'm guessing that the power brick for the macbooks will turn into something more like an airport express. Moving ports for printers, internet, speakers etc. onto the power brick with built in wifi would make Apple computing more about portability than ever before.

I remember last year sometime that Steve was very interested in the concept of shareable wireless connections - even having a private interview with the maker of "fon". Maybe by including similar technology (enabling users to piggy back off each others wifi) in the power brick that sells with every mac laptop would allow for fast market penetration (compared to selling it as a new airport express separately) making the technology more useful and would introduce another point of difference between macs and PC's.

[Joe_the_dragon]

to bad that will piss off IPS and comcarp.

[pixelcruncher]

Does Best Buy sell Mac Pros? Really need a bump in the Mac Pro line. GPU is ancient (the 2600 was released in June 2007), really could use Blu-ray option (even if the discs are still expensive). When you buy a tower, you're really looking for something that will be on the high end of a product cycle with tech that will last a couple years. Hope Apple refreshes it soon so that we can buy, buy, buy.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by jdavy

I am still dreaming about a Blu-Ray drive for a MBP. A faster processor, more ram, or a bigger hard drive is only incremental. We want a real upgrade before we spend money on a newer laptop. BLU-RAY please. Any idea of when the next Apple presentation will be? Last rumor was sometime in October.

I wonder if Apple will ever bother, as they're trying to push their HD download service. Not that I think both formats serve the same market beyond a bit of an overlap. I don't watch what's available yet either, last I saw, slot loading blu-ray drives only existed in 12mm high drives, and Apple needs the 9mm high drives to fit their form factor.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Dunks

I'm guessing that the power brick for the macbooks will turn into something more like an airport express. Moving ports for printers, internet, speakers etc. onto the power brick with built in wifi would make Apple computing more about portability than ever before.

The term 'brick' can only refer to very things in computing and not have a negative meaning, so I think an evolved power brick would be one of them The VooDoo Envy 133, like the MBA, has no Ethernet port, but it does have one built into its powerbrick, with an 802.11b WiFI access point built in so you can get WiFi at hotels that only cabled internet. That is certainly something that I seems very Apple-ish. What I wonder is if Apple would use a thicker cable to connect the powerbrick and computer so high-speed Ethernet data (and possibly other wired data) can traverse the DC end of the powercord.

I remember last year sometime that Steve was very interested in the concept of shareable wireless connections - even having a private interview with the maker of "fon". Maybe by including similar technology (enabling users to piggy back off each others wifi) in the power brick that sells with every mac laptop would allow for fast market penetration (compared to selling it as a new airport express separately) making the technology more useful and would introduce another point of difference between macs and PC's.

Could you elaborate on that. I'm not really getting the gist of what you are saying.

[zinfella]

Originally Posted by pixelcruncher

Does Best Buy sell Mac Pros? Really need a bump in the Mac Pro line. GPU is ancient (the 2600 was released in June 2007), really could use Blu-ray option (even if the discs are still expensive). When you buy a tower, you're really looking for something that will be on the high end of a product cycle with tech that will last a couple years. Hope Apple refreshes it soon so that we can buy, buy, buy.

There is nothing preventing you from buying a MacPro and installing a Blu-Ray drive in the second DVD drive location.

[TenoBell]

Originally Posted by jdavy

I am still dreaming about a Blu-Ray drive for a MBP. A faster processor, more ram, or a bigger hard drive is only incremental. We want a real upgrade before we spend money on a newer laptop. BLU-RAY please. Any idea of when the next Apple presentation will be? Last rumor was sometime in October.

Blu-ray is only 8% of physical media sales. Which means nearly 90% of the market isn't using Blu-ray. There isn't much reason to include it right now today.

Blu-ray stutters in face of tough economy, HD downloads

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by rangerdon

I'd guess a new version of the MacMini, which will somehow be connectible to a dock....

Why would a desktop computer need a dock?

Originally Posted by somethinbaloo

The Macbook Pro will most likely have an update to the locking system like the Macbooks and most likely blu-ray/superdrive.

I'm still waiting for someone to point out how Apple is going to add a BrD, that doesn't seem to exist and whose 12.7mm variety would cost at least $700, to a machine that has used 9.5mm slot-loading drives for years.

Originally Posted by TenoBell

Blu-ray is only 8% of physical media sales. Which means nearly 90% of the market isn't using Blu-ray. There isn't much reason to include it right now today.

Blu-ray stutters in face of tough economy, HD downloads

This Holiday season will be interesting for Blu-ray. The shelf life for this format for media is much more limited than DVD was as digital downloads and streaming are already competing in this segment. Not with the same quality, but convenience is more important to most. I imagine that the ad supported TV shows that show up the day after an airing will hurt the DVD rental for TV Shows.

PS: I just noticed that IMDb is now hosting full episodes of TV Shows, and even some movies, on their site from the major sites.

[FuturePastNow]

Originally Posted by zinfella

There is nothing preventing you from buying a MacPro and installing a Blu-Ray drive in the second DVD drive location.

Yes indeed. You can find BD-ROM drives under $100 now, and burners under $250. Internal SATA drives, should fit perfectly in a Mac Pro.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by FuturePastNow

Yes indeed. You can find BD-ROM drives under $100 now, and burners under $250. Internal SATA drives, should fit perfectly in a Mac Pro.

But don't they prevent from you from playing BrD video in HD because of the lack of end-to-end HDCP?

[mbmcavoy]

Originally Posted by zinfella

There is nothing preventing you from buying a MacPro and installing a Blu-Ray drive in the second DVD drive location.

No, but what if you want to use it?

The Blu-Ray DRM specs are pretty brutal. Not only do you need the drive, but you need a video card with the decryption in hardware, HDMI connector (DVI w/HDCP might be allowed), and an HDCP-compatible display. I could be wrong, but I don't believe any Mac cards have that yet.

Next, the OS and drivers do need special features to pass the encrypted data stream "securely" from the drive to the video card.

I'm under the impression that Windows Vista is the only OS that supports Blu-Ray playback on a computer. XP is a no-go. You could probably Boot Camp into Vista, maybe even do it on a VM? Anyone have Blu-Ray working under OS X or Linux?

[solipsism]

Removed for making a speculative remark without a shred of evidence to support it.

[Zandros]

Originally Posted by Leonard

It's very unlikely the Mac Pro is going to be updated anytime soon[…]

Gainestown (Nehalem DP) will be available in Q4. It's not a stretch imagining the Mac Pro being updated before Macworld.

/Adrian

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by mbmcavoy

No, but what if you want to use it?

The Blu-Ray DRM specs are pretty brutal. Not only do you need the drive, but you need a video card with the decryption in hardware, HDMI connector (DVI w/HDCP might be allowed), and an HDCP-compatible display. I could be wrong, but I don't believe any Mac cards have that yet.

Next, the OS and drivers do need special features to pass the encrypted data stream "securely" from the drive to the video card.

I'm under the impression that Windows Vista is the only OS that supports Blu-Ray playback on a computer. XP is a no-go. You could probably Boot Camp into Vista, maybe even do it on a VM? Anyone have Blu-Ray working under OS X or Linux?

WinDVD 9 Plus supposedly supports Blu-Ray on XP:

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satelli...0&tabview=tab5

It does require HDCP for digital panels.

Originally Posted by solipsism

I find it ironic how people complain so much about Apple's the iTunes Store DRM even though they are not the reason for the DRMed audio, but then also complain about Apple not yet supporting the most DRMed and overly protected media we've seen with Blu-Ray AACS and HDCP.

Sounds like a ripe chance for false generalization. Do you know anyone that is holding both positions? Are you certain they aren't different groups of people?

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

Sounds like a ripe chance for false generalization. Do you know anyone that is holding both positions? Are you certain they aren't different groups of people?

You make an excellent point. I could swear their are at least a couple on this forum that hold both positions, but since I have no direct links or the desire to look for them I withdraw my previous comment, as stated, for being without merit.

[FuturePastNow]

Originally Posted by mbmcavoy

No, but what if you want to use it?

The Blu-Ray DRM specs are pretty brutal. Not only do you need the drive, but you need a video card with the decryption in hardware, HDMI connector (DVI w/HDCP might be allowed), and an HDCP-compatible display. I could be wrong, but I don't believe any Mac cards have that yet.

Next, the OS and drivers do need special features to pass the encrypted data stream "securely" from the drive to the video card.

I'm under the impression that Windows Vista is the only OS that supports Blu-Ray playback on a computer. XP is a no-go. You could probably Boot Camp into Vista, maybe even do it on a VM? Anyone have Blu-Ray working under OS X or Linux?

Oh, I bet the cards in the Mac Pro have HDCP. The cards are just commodity hardware, after all. With special firmware, but the HDCP keys aren't stored in the card's firmware. Apple's Cinema Displays don't support HDCP, but every other new monitor with a DVI port does.

And Blu-Ray playback does not require Vista. It works fine on XP. There is no operating system DRM, it's just a matter of having a software player that supports the encryption.

[FuturePastNow]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

WinDVD 9 Plus supposedly supports Blu-Ray on XP:

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satelli...0&tabview=tab5

It does require HDCP for digital panels.

As does Cyberlink PowerDVD.

[cummje]

Originally Posted by shanmugam

13" - $899 - $1099 - Good and best one
15"- $1299 - $1599 - Good and best one
17" - $1599 - $1999 - Good and best one

Macbooks, macbooks, macbooks

Can anyone explain to me why their 13 inch laptops cost less than the 15 inchers and why the 15 inchers are overpriced? Every other company pretty much lists a 13 inch laptop at a higher price than a 15 inch due to the materials needed to make the laptop light and strong. Don't get me wrong, I welcome a decently specced 13 inch laptop at these prices--especially if it is powerful, but bigger screen doesn't necessarily mean bigger price. I'm really hoping they release a 15 inch at a competitive price.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by cummje

Can anyone explain to me why their 13 inch laptops cost less than the 15 inchers and why the 15 inchers are overpriced? Every other company pretty much lists a 13 inch laptop at a higher price than a 15 inch due to the materials needed to make the laptop light and strong. Don't get me wrong, I welcome a decently specced 13 inch laptop at these prices--especially if it is powerful, but bigger screen doesn't necessarily mean bigger price. I'm really hoping they release a 15 inch at a competitive price.

1) Check the specs of the MB and MBPs and you'll see why the MB cost less. There are also things not listed like the quality of the display used for each of notebook classes.

2) The 15" is not only competitive, but often cheaper than other OEMs for the same specs.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by solipsism

You make an excellent point. I could swear their are at least a couple on this forum that hold both positions, but since I have no direct links or the desire to look for them I withdraw my previous comment, as stated, for being without merit.

Maybe, maybe not. I do know that I tend to confuse certain people with certain other people, some have similar antics, others have slight similarities in their user names.

[FuturePastNow]

Originally Posted by cummje

Can anyone explain to me why their 13 inch laptops cost less than the 15 inchers and why the 15 inchers are overpriced? Every other company pretty much lists a 13 inch laptop at a higher price than a 15 inch due to the materials needed to make the laptop light and strong. Don't get me wrong, I welcome a decently specced 13 inch laptop at these prices--especially if it is powerful, but bigger screen doesn't necessarily mean bigger price. I'm really hoping they release a 15 inch at a competitive price.

I think Apple prices smaller laptops lower because it has always done so. The 12" Powerbook was always cheaper than the 15", even when other companies that had an ultra-portable model always charged a premium for it. Apple's philosophy is simple- you get less, you pay less. If you want more you pay more.