Looking for new iPads. Would really love one with cameras on the front and back. Hopefully with more memory and faster CPU package.
While I'm making my wish list out - new content for the AppleTV would be nice. More networks, Hulu, Safari, and an app store too would be good additions.
But in reality I think we'd see info from developer seeds of OS X with drivers & such before Light Peak appears - but I can dream.
- Jasen.
And HW for LightPeak. I haven?t read about Intel incorporating it into chipsets, other vendors making chipsets for it, or even what the port will be like, not to mention the complete lack of devices to connect to LightPeak. It?s not like you can just plug in an iPhone which has cooper ports out to LightPeak simply because they both can use the USB protocol to transfer data. You still need a convertor from cooper to optical if you are going to make them work.
I think laptops need to be updated more often than once a year. Tech moves faster than that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bregalad
It's not as important as it used to be.
--------
I think the future is annual updates for all computers.
--------
Now that Macs have become a fraction of their business having one release date for all mainstream notebooks and desktops and a second date for the Air and Mac Pro should be fine.
edited for brevity
I think Macs' relatively high resale value correlates directly to the languid update policy.
Based on Apple's release history, it is more likely that we will see the iPhone 5 in June.
I just don't see an iPhone 5 coming this year. The development of the IP4 for Verizon had to have chewed up many resources. I see the IP5 coming next year that will work on CDMA/LTE/GMS.
I hope the new unibody design gets some clues from the Macbook Air:
1. No optical drive.
2. Tilted keyboard.
3. The power button as part of the keyboard.
But please keep ?
1. The ambient keyboard lighting. (Dropped in the Macbook Air)
2. The external battery indicator. (Dropped in the Macbook Air)
Why is everyone trying to turn the MacBook Pro into a slightly upgraded MacBook Air? If you don't want an optical drive, buy an Air. I, for one, still want and need an optical drive in there for a variety of reasons. Other people have proposed that the MacBook Pros should only come with SSDs, but it's far cheaper to include a regular HD and you can't get an SSD with the same capacity. I don't want my future computers to have less -- I want them to have more. And not that it makes a difference to me either way, but what difference does it make if the power button is part of the keyboard or as it is now?
I'm not sure whether a titled keyboard would be ergonomic or not. Seems to me that if it was tilted up (the number keys higher than the spacebar) it would put more pressure on the wrists, no?
I hope the new unibody design gets some clues from the Macbook Air:
1. No optical drive.
2. Tilted keyboard.
3. The power button as part of the keyboard.
But please keep ?
1. The ambient keyboard lighting. (Dropped in the Macbook Air)
2. The external battery indicator. (Dropped in the Macbook Air)
IMO, if I could get any proof that Apple was going to drop the optical drive, that would be enough for me to buy it no matter what. Taking the OD out can mean a whole lot of good things may happen to the MBPs.
First, all of them could get thinner. How much thinner depends on the size of the HDD.
If Apple is feeling generous (hint: NOT) they could also implement multiple SSD Sticks Slots like on the MBAs and get them really thin. Considering how MacBooks already have relatively low storage comparing to even cheapo Dells and etc, were Apple manage to get 256Gb on them without burning their profits they could have a real jewel in their hands.
That's not going to happen in this generation, but surely until next year. The MBA is the future of notebooks, and Apple is surely checking the feasibility of further "airing" the Pro line at all times.
Also, the 13" MacBook Pro would probably get dedicated graphics (due to extra motherboard space). This would be wonderful because I want Apple to keep pushing better graphics on their Macs (along with up-to-date OpenGL compliance on Lion of course), and the Sandy Bridge IGP is barely as good as the 320M.
I just don't see an iPhone 5 coming this year. The development of the IP4 for Verizon had to have chewed up many resources. I see the IP5 coming next year that will work on CDMA/LTE/GMS.
A fair amount of radio, antenna and component engineering, but hardly anything to constrain a company with all of Apple's cash and talent from longer-term goals.
And there's the whole slew of new Androids and Pres whose momentum needs blunting as their market share increases. I would expect BOTH an iPhone 5 and v5 of iOS. They might call it a 4S or something if a minor refresh in comparison to 2012's likely LTE models, but if there's an iOS 5, an iPhone 5 makes sense.
Plenty of room for improvement: dual core, maybe 8MP cam, more antenna/radio work (expect CDMA and GSM to stay forked for another year or so at least, tho', and no LTE this year), possibly 4" screen, and I understand there could be a tweak-around for the no simultaneous phone and data on Verizon. (If nothing else, an update that doesn't throw your multi-device data sessions off until you choose to take the call)
Also time for a new Ivie form factor take to make all those Galaxies and HTC's look more plastic. Given Apple's prime demos, they'll want their 2011 model to be identifiable as the "new iPhone."
Possible: another bump up the memory road if the price of chips allows it, since many Droids take memory cards and iPhone likely never will, and photo and especially vid files are so big.
Intriguing but maybe premature: the appearance of a "family" of models (like iPods). And while it runs against their aesthetic, they could opt to pick up another 20-30 M customers who would only switch if they get something resembling a physical keyboard.
Why is everyone trying to turn the MacBook Pro into a slightly upgraded MacBook Air? If you don't want an optical drive, buy an Air. I, for one, still want and need an optical drive in there for a variety of reasons. Other people have proposed that the MacBook Pros should only come with SSDs, but it's far cheaper to include a regular HD and you can't get an SSD with the same capacity. I don't want my future computers to have less -- I want them to have more. And not that it makes a difference to me either way, but what difference does it make if the power button is part of the keyboard or as it is now?
I'm not sure whether a titled keyboard would be ergonomic or not. Seems to me that if it was tilted up (the number keys higher than the spacebar) it would put more pressure on the wrists, no?
Buy an external drive. Seriously. Its presence is a waste comparing to what else Apple could do to the MBPs if they were not there.
Think about this, if they take the drive out you can just buy an external for the rare moments you will use it. If they don't, other people won't be able to buy thinness, a better battery or a dedicated GPU (for the 13"s)
Why is everyone trying to turn the MacBook Pro into a slightly upgraded MacBook Air? If you don't want an optical drive, buy an Air. I, for one, still want and need an optical drive in there for a variety of reasons. Other people have proposed that the MacBook Pros should only come with SSDs, but it's far cheaper to include a regular HD and you can't get an SSD with the same capacity. I don't want my future computers to have less -- I want them to have more. And not that it makes a difference to me either way, but what difference does it make if the power button is part of the keyboard or as it is now?
I'm not sure whether a titled keyboard would be ergonomic or not. Seems to me that if it was tilted up (the number keys higher than the spacebar) it would put more pressure on the wrists, no?
Couldn't agree more. If someone wants a slow, featureless MacBook that's of little use outside of updating your Facebook status, get the Air.
How about blu-ray and Quad-core processors? Even the fastest MacBook Pro money can buy is way, way behind a Mac Pro in terms of performance. It'd be nice to see that gap closed considerably.
Buy an external drive. Seriously. Its presence is a waste comparing to what else Apple could do to the MBPs if they were not there.
Think about this, if they take the drive out you can just buy an external for the rare moments you will use it. If they don't, other people won't be able to buy thinness, a better battery or a dedicated GPU (for the 13"s)
I agree Lukeskymac...The MBA is the future of laptops. I could see Apple introducing a 15" MBA and letting the "Market" decide.
I'm inclined to suggest the same for the iMacs. Thinner, less moving parts and cheaper too.
Best
Ps. I'd like to see the frames around the screens of both the MBA's and MBP's to be way thinner. Perhaps just as thick as the camera lens
Why is everyone trying to turn the MacBook Pro into a slightly upgraded MacBook Air? If you don't want an optical drive, buy an Air.
Not a wise statement. You are suggesting that the only difference between the MBAs an MBPs is the removal of the optical drive, but not of other major things like the processor performance/TDP, storage capacity and number and types of ports.
If you want/need an optical drive then choose a machine that has one but optical drives will be going away like floppy drives and serial ports and parallel ports did. Have you not wondered why Apple hasn?t added Blu-ray by 2011 or did that fact slip your mind?
Face it, the number of people who use an optical drive has dropped significantly, and the number of people who are realizing they haven?t used one in a long time are rising every day. It?s a waste of space for most people. I certainly don?t want 25% of my MBP to be taken up by a optical drive I simply don?t need inside my machine so don?t push your agenda on the world simply because you can?t deal with inevitable change.
Why is everyone trying to turn the MacBook Pro into a slightly upgraded MacBook Air? If you don't want an optical drive, buy an Air. I, for one, still want and need an optical drive in there for a variety of reasons. Other people have proposed that the MacBook Pros should only come with SSDs, but it's far cheaper to include a regular HD and you can't get an SSD with the same capacity.
There is clearly a place for both a full featured (with optical drive and high performance) and super-light weight systems. I don't see any need for the Pro to look any more like the Air.
I would, however, like to see at least a 15" MBA model. It would obviously have to be built a little stronger and thicker than the 13" MBA, but could still be much thinner and lighter than the 15" MBP. I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by storneo
I just don't see an iPhone 5 coming this year. The development of the IP4 for Verizon had to have chewed up many resources. I see the IP5 coming next year that will work on CDMA/LTE/GMS.
That's ridiculous. Apple can easily product an iPhone 5 without even breaking a sweat. The Verizon phone didn't require all THAT much in the way of resources.
Apple has released a new phone every year since the start. It would be foolish not to do so this year.
Good question, the iMacs average refresh cycle is 228 days, and we are at 206 days right now. Internal components on the iMac are very similar to MacBooks, so we should expect sandy bridge to make an appearance.
The iMacs use desktop chips so the components could have been upgraded and they could use the lower powered 65W chips like the i7-2600s.
In fact, with the lower power chips, they could possibly go back to the lamp design. Imagine if they got a super thin and light 24" touch-enabled OLED display on the arm with a silver base that had the same footprint as the Mini.
I'm not a fan of the iMac but I'd probably get one of them if they went back to that design. The latest design has very little character about it.
In addition, the display would fully detach and leave just a mini. This means you can buy a Mini with/without a screen and change it into an iMac whenever you wanted.
Anyway, as to the update rumour, it makes perfect sense. Intel are launching their new chips tomorrow and the soonest Tuesday after it is the 22nd next week. The MBP line is a very important one and this will possibly be the longest refresh gap it's ever had so it needs to come ASAP.
I suspect that this is when the white Macbook is killed off to be replaced by the Air with bumped up storage capacities and probably why Apple will continue to use the 320M.
Couldn't agree more. If someone wants a slow, featureless MacBook that's of little use outside of updating your Facebook status, get the Air.
How about blu-ray and Quad-core processors? Even the fastest MacBook Pro money can buy is way, way behind a Mac Pro in terms of performance. It'd be nice to see that gap closed considerably.
Really? Taking out the DVD drive would make it slow and featureless? Just because taking out the DVD drive would take away ONE less feature and allow it to be thinner it becomes exactly like an Air?
In fact, in my comment I suggested that Apple would increase performance because the extra space could be used for a larger motherboard and/or battery to contrast with the "compact no matter the cost" Air.
Quote:
Originally Posted by christopher126
I agree Lukeskymac...The MBA is the future of laptops. I could see Apple introducing a 15" MBA and letting the "Market" decide.
I'm inclined to suggest the same for the iMacs. Thinner, less moving parts and cheaper too.
If Apple does take out the OD a 15" Air would be unnecessary.
Also, the iMac DOES NOT need to be any thinner. When Apple stopped compacting the iMac and switched to desktop-grade parts I considered it a great step forward. Going back to notebook parts would be just stupid IMO (unless there was an "xMac"... but we know that's just a dream )
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin
In fact, with the lower power chips, they could possibly go back to the lamp design. Imagine if they got a super thin and light 24" touch-enabled OLED display on the arm with a silver base that had the same footprint as the Mini.
Agree about the lamp design, but disagree with the Mac mini-ish part.
But that's because I don't want the iMac to go backwards performance wise. The good part of the behind-the-screen current design is that it is much easier to actually have a computer back in there. With the spherical design things get a bit complicated... If they manage to make a base that is both elegant and allows for desktop parts...
Besides, wouldn't a slightly modified iMac lamp design allow a multi-touch iMac like in the patents?
Quote:
I'm not a fan of the iMac but I'd probably get one of them if they went back to that design. The latest design has very little character about it.
Agreed
In addition, the display would fully detach and leave just a mini. This means you can buy a Mini with/without a screen and change it into an iMac whenever you wanted.[/quote]
errr...
Quote:
Anyway, as to the update rumour, it makes perfect sense. Intel are launching their new chips tomorrow and the soonest Tuesday after it is the 22nd next week. The MBP line is a very important one and this will possibly be the longest refresh gap it's ever had so it needs to come ASAP.
I suspect that this is when the white Macbook is killed off to be replaced by the Air with bumped up storage capacities and probably why Apple will continue to use the 320M.
Face it, the number of people who use an optical drive has dropped significantly, and the number of people who are realizing they haven?t used one in a long time are rising every day. It?s a waste of space for most people. I certainly don?t want 25% of my MBP to be taken up by a optical drive I simply don?t need inside my machine so don?t push your agenda on the world simply because you can?t deal with inevitable change.
If I may add a data point. I use the CD/DVD drive in my MacBook Pro a lot. My wife has a string quartet and we create a lot of content. Samples and full length songs are regularly distributed and handed out on CD. The prospect of another dangling piece of gear for the roughy handled gig bag is less than desirable.
All this means is that for the time being, an integrated optical drive is important to us and any purchase decision would tend to be for a portable computer with one.
Comments
While I'm making my wish list out - new content for the AppleTV would be nice. More networks, Hulu, Safari, and an app store too would be good additions.
How about iWork 11.
But in reality I think we'd see info from developer seeds of OS X with drivers & such before Light Peak appears - but I can dream.
- Jasen.
Light Peak, Light Peak, Light Peak...
But in reality I think we'd see info from developer seeds of OS X with drivers & such before Light Peak appears - but I can dream.
- Jasen.
And HW for LightPeak. I haven?t read about Intel incorporating it into chipsets, other vendors making chipsets for it, or even what the port will be like, not to mention the complete lack of devices to connect to LightPeak. It?s not like you can just plug in an iPhone which has cooper ports out to LightPeak simply because they both can use the USB protocol to transfer data. You still need a convertor from cooper to optical if you are going to make them work.
I think laptops need to be updated more often than once a year. Tech moves faster than that.
It's not as important as it used to be.
--------
I think the future is annual updates for all computers.
--------
Now that Macs have become a fraction of their business having one release date for all mainstream notebooks and desktops and a second date for the Air and Mac Pro should be fine.
edited for brevity
I think Macs' relatively high resale value correlates directly to the languid update policy.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/New...eak,12215.html
Based on Apple's release history, it is more likely that we will see the iPhone 5 in June.
I just don't see an iPhone 5 coming this year. The development of the IP4 for Verizon had to have chewed up many resources. I see the IP5 coming next year that will work on CDMA/LTE/GMS.
Gotta keep those profit margins above 30% if at all possible!
In Apple's case, above 50% is more like it.
I hope the new unibody design gets some clues from the Macbook Air:
1. No optical drive.
2. Tilted keyboard.
3. The power button as part of the keyboard.
But please keep ?
1. The ambient keyboard lighting. (Dropped in the Macbook Air)
2. The external battery indicator. (Dropped in the Macbook Air)
Why is everyone trying to turn the MacBook Pro into a slightly upgraded MacBook Air? If you don't want an optical drive, buy an Air. I, for one, still want and need an optical drive in there for a variety of reasons. Other people have proposed that the MacBook Pros should only come with SSDs, but it's far cheaper to include a regular HD and you can't get an SSD with the same capacity. I don't want my future computers to have less -- I want them to have more. And not that it makes a difference to me either way, but what difference does it make if the power button is part of the keyboard or as it is now?
I'm not sure whether a titled keyboard would be ergonomic or not. Seems to me that if it was tilted up (the number keys higher than the spacebar) it would put more pressure on the wrists, no?
I hope the new unibody design gets some clues from the Macbook Air:
1. No optical drive.
2. Tilted keyboard.
3. The power button as part of the keyboard.
But please keep ?
1. The ambient keyboard lighting. (Dropped in the Macbook Air)
2. The external battery indicator. (Dropped in the Macbook Air)
IMO, if I could get any proof that Apple was going to drop the optical drive, that would be enough for me to buy it no matter what. Taking the OD out can mean a whole lot of good things may happen to the MBPs.
First, all of them could get thinner. How much thinner depends on the size of the HDD.
If Apple is feeling generous (hint: NOT) they could also implement multiple SSD Sticks Slots like on the MBAs and get them really thin. Considering how MacBooks already have relatively low storage comparing to even cheapo Dells and etc, were Apple manage to get 256Gb on them without burning their profits they could have a real jewel in their hands.
That's not going to happen in this generation, but surely until next year. The MBA is the future of notebooks, and Apple is surely checking the feasibility of further "airing" the Pro line at all times.
Also, the 13" MacBook Pro would probably get dedicated graphics (due to extra motherboard space). This would be wonderful because I want Apple to keep pushing better graphics on their Macs (along with up-to-date OpenGL compliance on Lion of course), and the Sandy Bridge IGP is barely as good as the 320M.
I just don't see an iPhone 5 coming this year. The development of the IP4 for Verizon had to have chewed up many resources. I see the IP5 coming next year that will work on CDMA/LTE/GMS.
A fair amount of radio, antenna and component engineering, but hardly anything to constrain a company with all of Apple's cash and talent from longer-term goals.
And there's the whole slew of new Androids and Pres whose momentum needs blunting as their market share increases. I would expect BOTH an iPhone 5 and v5 of iOS. They might call it a 4S or something if a minor refresh in comparison to 2012's likely LTE models, but if there's an iOS 5, an iPhone 5 makes sense.
Plenty of room for improvement: dual core, maybe 8MP cam, more antenna/radio work (expect CDMA and GSM to stay forked for another year or so at least, tho', and no LTE this year), possibly 4" screen, and I understand there could be a tweak-around for the no simultaneous phone and data on Verizon. (If nothing else, an update that doesn't throw your multi-device data sessions off until you choose to take the call)
Also time for a new Ivie form factor take to make all those Galaxies and HTC's look more plastic. Given Apple's prime demos, they'll want their 2011 model to be identifiable as the "new iPhone."
Possible: another bump up the memory road if the price of chips allows it, since many Droids take memory cards and iPhone likely never will, and photo and especially vid files are so big.
Intriguing but maybe premature: the appearance of a "family" of models (like iPods). And while it runs against their aesthetic, they could opt to pick up another 20-30 M customers who would only switch if they get something resembling a physical keyboard.
Why is everyone trying to turn the MacBook Pro into a slightly upgraded MacBook Air? If you don't want an optical drive, buy an Air. I, for one, still want and need an optical drive in there for a variety of reasons. Other people have proposed that the MacBook Pros should only come with SSDs, but it's far cheaper to include a regular HD and you can't get an SSD with the same capacity. I don't want my future computers to have less -- I want them to have more. And not that it makes a difference to me either way, but what difference does it make if the power button is part of the keyboard or as it is now?
I'm not sure whether a titled keyboard would be ergonomic or not. Seems to me that if it was tilted up (the number keys higher than the spacebar) it would put more pressure on the wrists, no?
Buy an external drive. Seriously. Its presence is a waste comparing to what else Apple could do to the MBPs if they were not there.
Think about this, if they take the drive out you can just buy an external for the rare moments you will use it. If they don't, other people won't be able to buy thinness, a better battery or a dedicated GPU (for the 13"s)
Why is everyone trying to turn the MacBook Pro into a slightly upgraded MacBook Air? If you don't want an optical drive, buy an Air. I, for one, still want and need an optical drive in there for a variety of reasons. Other people have proposed that the MacBook Pros should only come with SSDs, but it's far cheaper to include a regular HD and you can't get an SSD with the same capacity. I don't want my future computers to have less -- I want them to have more. And not that it makes a difference to me either way, but what difference does it make if the power button is part of the keyboard or as it is now?
I'm not sure whether a titled keyboard would be ergonomic or not. Seems to me that if it was tilted up (the number keys higher than the spacebar) it would put more pressure on the wrists, no?
Couldn't agree more. If someone wants a slow, featureless MacBook that's of little use outside of updating your Facebook status, get the Air.
How about blu-ray and Quad-core processors? Even the fastest MacBook Pro money can buy is way, way behind a Mac Pro in terms of performance. It'd be nice to see that gap closed considerably.
Buy an external drive. Seriously. Its presence is a waste comparing to what else Apple could do to the MBPs if they were not there.
Think about this, if they take the drive out you can just buy an external for the rare moments you will use it. If they don't, other people won't be able to buy thinness, a better battery or a dedicated GPU (for the 13"s)
I agree Lukeskymac...The MBA is the future of laptops. I could see Apple introducing a 15" MBA and letting the "Market" decide.
I'm inclined to suggest the same for the iMacs. Thinner, less moving parts and cheaper too.
Best
Ps. I'd like to see the frames around the screens of both the MBA's and MBP's to be way thinner. Perhaps just as thick as the camera lens
That's three new 15" models. and two new 17" models.
The 13" MacBook Air is the "new" 13" model.
(...as people scream bloody murder...)
That's three new 15" models. and two new 17" models.
The 13" MacBook Air is the "new" 13" model.
(...as people scream bloody murder...)
The pro's are refreshed on a different cycle than the Air, maybe it will be 2 13's, 2 15's, and 1 17.
Why is everyone trying to turn the MacBook Pro into a slightly upgraded MacBook Air? If you don't want an optical drive, buy an Air.
Not a wise statement. You are suggesting that the only difference between the MBAs an MBPs is the removal of the optical drive, but not of other major things like the processor performance/TDP, storage capacity and number and types of ports.
If you want/need an optical drive then choose a machine that has one but optical drives will be going away like floppy drives and serial ports and parallel ports did. Have you not wondered why Apple hasn?t added Blu-ray by 2011 or did that fact slip your mind?
Face it, the number of people who use an optical drive has dropped significantly, and the number of people who are realizing they haven?t used one in a long time are rising every day. It?s a waste of space for most people. I certainly don?t want 25% of my MBP to be taken up by a optical drive I simply don?t need inside my machine so don?t push your agenda on the world simply because you can?t deal with inevitable change.
Why is everyone trying to turn the MacBook Pro into a slightly upgraded MacBook Air? If you don't want an optical drive, buy an Air. I, for one, still want and need an optical drive in there for a variety of reasons. Other people have proposed that the MacBook Pros should only come with SSDs, but it's far cheaper to include a regular HD and you can't get an SSD with the same capacity.
There is clearly a place for both a full featured (with optical drive and high performance) and super-light weight systems. I don't see any need for the Pro to look any more like the Air.
I would, however, like to see at least a 15" MBA model. It would obviously have to be built a little stronger and thicker than the 13" MBA, but could still be much thinner and lighter than the 15" MBP. I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
I just don't see an iPhone 5 coming this year. The development of the IP4 for Verizon had to have chewed up many resources. I see the IP5 coming next year that will work on CDMA/LTE/GMS.
That's ridiculous. Apple can easily product an iPhone 5 without even breaking a sweat. The Verizon phone didn't require all THAT much in the way of resources.
Apple has released a new phone every year since the start. It would be foolish not to do so this year.
Good question, the iMacs average refresh cycle is 228 days, and we are at 206 days right now. Internal components on the iMac are very similar to MacBooks, so we should expect sandy bridge to make an appearance.
The iMacs use desktop chips so the components could have been upgraded and they could use the lower powered 65W chips like the i7-2600s.
In fact, with the lower power chips, they could possibly go back to the lamp design. Imagine if they got a super thin and light 24" touch-enabled OLED display on the arm with a silver base that had the same footprint as the Mini.
I'm not a fan of the iMac but I'd probably get one of them if they went back to that design. The latest design has very little character about it.
In addition, the display would fully detach and leave just a mini. This means you can buy a Mini with/without a screen and change it into an iMac whenever you wanted.
Anyway, as to the update rumour, it makes perfect sense. Intel are launching their new chips tomorrow and the soonest Tuesday after it is the 22nd next week. The MBP line is a very important one and this will possibly be the longest refresh gap it's ever had so it needs to come ASAP.
I suspect that this is when the white Macbook is killed off to be replaced by the Air with bumped up storage capacities and probably why Apple will continue to use the 320M.
Couldn't agree more. If someone wants a slow, featureless MacBook that's of little use outside of updating your Facebook status, get the Air.
How about blu-ray and Quad-core processors? Even the fastest MacBook Pro money can buy is way, way behind a Mac Pro in terms of performance. It'd be nice to see that gap closed considerably.
Really? Taking out the DVD drive would make it slow and featureless? Just because taking out the DVD drive would take away ONE less feature and allow it to be thinner it becomes exactly like an Air?
In fact, in my comment I suggested that Apple would increase performance because the extra space could be used for a larger motherboard and/or battery to contrast with the "compact no matter the cost" Air.
I agree Lukeskymac...The MBA is the future of laptops. I could see Apple introducing a 15" MBA and letting the "Market" decide.
I'm inclined to suggest the same for the iMacs. Thinner, less moving parts and cheaper too.
If Apple does take out the OD a 15" Air would be unnecessary.
Also, the iMac DOES NOT need to be any thinner. When Apple stopped compacting the iMac and switched to desktop-grade parts I considered it a great step forward. Going back to notebook parts would be just stupid IMO (unless there was an "xMac"... but we know that's just a dream
In fact, with the lower power chips, they could possibly go back to the lamp design. Imagine if they got a super thin and light 24" touch-enabled OLED display on the arm with a silver base that had the same footprint as the Mini.
Agree about the lamp design, but disagree with the Mac mini-ish part.
But that's because I don't want the iMac to go backwards performance wise. The good part of the behind-the-screen current design is that it is much easier to actually have a computer back in there. With the spherical design things get a bit complicated... If they manage to make a base that is both elegant and allows for desktop parts...
Besides, wouldn't a slightly modified iMac lamp design allow a multi-touch iMac like in the patents?
I'm not a fan of the iMac but I'd probably get one of them if they went back to that design. The latest design has very little character about it.
Agreed
In addition, the display would fully detach and leave just a mini. This means you can buy a Mini with/without a screen and change it into an iMac whenever you wanted.[/quote]
errr...
Anyway, as to the update rumour, it makes perfect sense. Intel are launching their new chips tomorrow and the soonest Tuesday after it is the 22nd next week. The MBP line is a very important one and this will possibly be the longest refresh gap it's ever had so it needs to come ASAP.
I suspect that this is when the white Macbook is killed off to be replaced by the Air with bumped up storage capacities and probably why Apple will continue to use the 320M.
Not a wise statement...
Face it, the number of people who use an optical drive has dropped significantly, and the number of people who are realizing they haven?t used one in a long time are rising every day. It?s a waste of space for most people. I certainly don?t want 25% of my MBP to be taken up by a optical drive I simply don?t need inside my machine so don?t push your agenda on the world simply because you can?t deal with inevitable change.
If I may add a data point. I use the CD/DVD drive in my MacBook Pro a lot. My wife has a string quartet and we create a lot of content. Samples and full length songs are regularly distributed and handed out on CD. The prospect of another dangling piece of gear for the roughy handled gig bag is less than desirable.
All this means is that for the time being, an integrated optical drive is important to us and any purchase decision would tend to be for a portable computer with one.