Apple's new MacBook Pros rumored with 16GB SSD boot disk, white model could be axed
With the expected launch of new MacBook Pro models on Thursday, a new report claims Apple's hardware will come with 16GB solid-state drives to quickly boot the operating system, and also says the company plans to discontinue its white polycarbonate entry-level MacBook.
Citing a "trusted source," French Apple site MacGeneration reported Tuesday a number of alleged details about Apple's forthcoming MacBook Pro refresh. The site claimed that Apple sees its $999 11-inch MacBook Air as its new entry-level notebook, replacing the current $999 plastic MacBook.
As for the new MacBook Pros, it was said that the notebooks will feature 16GB Go SSD mSATA drives that will store the Mac OS X operating system. This separate internal drive would allow the devices to boot faster from solid state memory, much like with the new all-flash MacBook Air models. Similar details were claimed in a separate report on Monday.
The 13-inch model will also reportedly abandon the Core 2 Duo processor and make the move to Intel's Core i3 chip. The report also said that the 13-inch MacBook Pro will also have a screen resolution of 1,440-by-900 pixels, and will feature three USB ports.
The new 13-inch MacBook Pro is also believed to offer 12 hours of battery life, and will allegedly weigh 200 grams less. And it said users will have the option to add a matte screen to the high-end 13-inch MacBook Pro. Prices for the two 13-inch models were said to be €1,199 and €1,499.
On the larger 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro models, MacGeneration claims that Apple will offer customers the option to replace the SuperDrive with a solid-state drive. The 15-inch model was said to be lighter at 2.3kg, while the 17-inch model will weigh 2.65kg. It also said the 15-inch MacBook Pro will offer 10 hours of battery life.
In addition, it was said that the 17-inch MacBook Pro will have 8GB of RAM, while the 15-inch model was said to have a screen resolution of 1,680 by 1,050 pixels.
Finally, the site heard from another source that Apple is expected to debut "new technology" in the new MacBook Pro models, a tidbit that implies the inclusion of Intel's high-speed Lightpeak technology. Last week, a separate report claimed that Apple is on the verge of announcing the new connector for its Mac lineup.
MacGeneration has a respectable track record with Apple-related product leaks. Last year, ahead of the annual Worldwide Developers Conference, the site revealed details about the Safari 5 Web browser before it was announced.
Citing a "trusted source," French Apple site MacGeneration reported Tuesday a number of alleged details about Apple's forthcoming MacBook Pro refresh. The site claimed that Apple sees its $999 11-inch MacBook Air as its new entry-level notebook, replacing the current $999 plastic MacBook.
As for the new MacBook Pros, it was said that the notebooks will feature 16GB Go SSD mSATA drives that will store the Mac OS X operating system. This separate internal drive would allow the devices to boot faster from solid state memory, much like with the new all-flash MacBook Air models. Similar details were claimed in a separate report on Monday.
The 13-inch model will also reportedly abandon the Core 2 Duo processor and make the move to Intel's Core i3 chip. The report also said that the 13-inch MacBook Pro will also have a screen resolution of 1,440-by-900 pixels, and will feature three USB ports.
The new 13-inch MacBook Pro is also believed to offer 12 hours of battery life, and will allegedly weigh 200 grams less. And it said users will have the option to add a matte screen to the high-end 13-inch MacBook Pro. Prices for the two 13-inch models were said to be €1,199 and €1,499.
On the larger 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro models, MacGeneration claims that Apple will offer customers the option to replace the SuperDrive with a solid-state drive. The 15-inch model was said to be lighter at 2.3kg, while the 17-inch model will weigh 2.65kg. It also said the 15-inch MacBook Pro will offer 10 hours of battery life.
In addition, it was said that the 17-inch MacBook Pro will have 8GB of RAM, while the 15-inch model was said to have a screen resolution of 1,680 by 1,050 pixels.
Finally, the site heard from another source that Apple is expected to debut "new technology" in the new MacBook Pro models, a tidbit that implies the inclusion of Intel's high-speed Lightpeak technology. Last week, a separate report claimed that Apple is on the verge of announcing the new connector for its Mac lineup.
MacGeneration has a respectable track record with Apple-related product leaks. Last year, ahead of the annual Worldwide Developers Conference, the site revealed details about the Safari 5 Web browser before it was announced.
Comments
FWIW, the plastic enclosure on my 2-year-old MacBook has not been anywhere near as durable as my warhorse aluminum PowerBook G4.
users directory being on a different volume than the boot volume? I have played with that and its a pain in the a** no matter how you do it. Its not just files, its the whole user directory library which contains caches, prefs, app support etc.
I agree the standard install for apps as well as users folder would change. An OS update would be needed. I dont see this rolling out right now. Not this close to ( far from?) 10.7 coming out
I already use an SSD, was early on the bandwagon, so would love to keep the one I have.
Guess this suggests these wont be using any defective intel chips if these have more than one sata drive...
Defective chips can use 2 SATA devices without any problems, not one.
But the Apple white motif had its day, I guess. For a long time I preferred the white so much more than the corporate colors of funeral black and pallbearer gray of the PC world. It was so bright, clean and fresh. Chicks would come up to me like it was a cute little puppy or something.
So long old friend!
I do now prefer the cool aluminum look of the MBA's and MBP's, iMacs and the iPad, iPhone 4, etc. Especially because of the recyclable qualities of the aluminum and glass.
Go Apple!
Best
Until one of the rumors comments on the GPU, I'll remain skeptical on any details I see......
FYI- I've never owned a Mac, and plan to buy one as soon as the new generation is launched. Depending on the new specs I'll either get a new one, or one of the numerous used ones that will end up on ebay and Craigslist once the new ones are announced.
Will the new MacBook Pro roll out across the world at midnight local time or will we all have to wait for the US to wake up?
It will be like Christmas, you must wait for Mommy and Daddy to wake up before you can open your presents.....that's a good boy.
I agree the standard install for apps as well as users folder would change. An OS update would be needed. I dont see this rolling out right now. Not this close to ( far from?) 10.7 coming out
Users directory AND applications. Thats nothing to sneeze at in terms of gigs of space used, thank you for mentioning it! My own app folder exceeds that 16 gigs by itself.
Then there are the application support files in the root library itself, some of which can add up to mega gigs. Then files like voices and dictionaries. They are nothing to sneeze at either.
Then there are the invisibles. The sleep image, the swap file, the temp files. The umpteen million printer files that are never used.
Then you cannot repair permissions on a not-boot volume.
If you are doing a 16 gig boot volume, there is some serious rearranging in order.
Users directory AND applications. Thats nothing to sneeze at in terms of gigs of space used, thank you for mentioning it! My own app folder exceeds that 16 gigs by itself.
Then there are the application support files in the root library itself, some of which can add up to mega gigs. Then files like voices and dictionaries. They are nothing to sneeze at either.
Then there are the invisibles. The sleep image, the swap file, the temp files. The umpteen million printer files that are never used.
Then you cannot repair permissions on a not-boot volume.
If you are doing a 16 gig boot volume, there is some serious rearranging in order.
I keep all my data in a separate partition with only bare essentials in my home folder. Yet my boot partition already exceeds 60GB. 16 is worthless.
How are they dealing with the users directory being on a different volume than the boot volume?
It doesn't sound very difficult for the unix engineers at Apple to do this. Unix has long been able to mount a partition at any arbitrary location, e.g. 2nd hard disk mounted at /Users. OS X can do this.
The "new technology" could be the 16GB boot disk, if that's real. Though I would hope it's LightPeak.
That's not what it says. It's not a 16 GB Boot disk, it's an SSD/platter hybrid disk - like the Seagate Momentus. Seagate claims that they obtain 83% of the performance of a true SSD at only a modest cost premium. That makes infinitely more sense than for Apple to add a 16 GB SSD to a separate hard disk - and then try to educate users to keep their frequently used files on the SSD and their archives on the hard disk.
They're discriminating on white now? What's up with that?! jk..
That's plasticism!
Exciting times for those looking to buy or upgrade. My one and a half year old 17" mbp is still going strong, but I'm seriously thinking about swapping out the superdrive for an SSD to give it a little bit of a boost (and to help relieve the feeling of being left behind!).
How do you do that? Are there optical drives shaped SSD's? Would be cool. I upgraded my MBP years ago with a 256GB SSD, the unit rocks now, and no vibrations from the drive.