Apple rumored to eventually introduce ultra-thin 15-inch notebook
With Apple's new family of MacBook Airs gaining considerable traction in the marketplace over the past nine months, the company is believed to be working to introduce 15- and 17-inch models with a similar minimalist design to capitalize on the trend towards ultra-mobile computing.
The notebook is believed to be in the late testing stages, says a report over at MacRumors, though no further details were provided. It's therefore unclear at this time whether the device will be marketed under the MacBook Pro brand or arrive as an extension of the MacBook Air line.
A move away from the hefty, optical- and hard disk drive-equipped MacBook Pros and towards a family of notebooks based exclusively on thin, ultra-lightweight designs is something AppleInsider's sources first began alluding to back in February. At the time, the transition was expected to take between 12 to 18 months.
The latest report may suggest Apple has ambitions of easing the transition by first introducing a 15-inch MacBook Air as an intermediate step. A jump towards an ultra-thin MacBook Pro before year's end could ultimately prove burdened by too many sacrifices, given that existing technologies and componentry may not allow Apple to deliver a design as thin and lightweight as the existing Airs but powerful enough to replace the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
Nevertheless, people familiar with the matter have said that MacBook Air features such as instant-on, standard SSD drives, slimmer enclosures, and the omission of optical drives should begin making their way to the remainder of Apple's notebook offerings over the course of the next 12 months.
For its part, TUAW says it has also heard rumors of an ultra-thin 17-inch Apple notebook and believes both models could potentially turn up ahead of the holiday shopping season under the MacBook Pro moniker.
The notebook is believed to be in the late testing stages, says a report over at MacRumors, though no further details were provided. It's therefore unclear at this time whether the device will be marketed under the MacBook Pro brand or arrive as an extension of the MacBook Air line.
A move away from the hefty, optical- and hard disk drive-equipped MacBook Pros and towards a family of notebooks based exclusively on thin, ultra-lightweight designs is something AppleInsider's sources first began alluding to back in February. At the time, the transition was expected to take between 12 to 18 months.
The latest report may suggest Apple has ambitions of easing the transition by first introducing a 15-inch MacBook Air as an intermediate step. A jump towards an ultra-thin MacBook Pro before year's end could ultimately prove burdened by too many sacrifices, given that existing technologies and componentry may not allow Apple to deliver a design as thin and lightweight as the existing Airs but powerful enough to replace the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
Nevertheless, people familiar with the matter have said that MacBook Air features such as instant-on, standard SSD drives, slimmer enclosures, and the omission of optical drives should begin making their way to the remainder of Apple's notebook offerings over the course of the next 12 months.
For its part, TUAW says it has also heard rumors of an ultra-thin 17-inch Apple notebook and believes both models could potentially turn up ahead of the holiday shopping season under the MacBook Pro moniker.
Comments
So the question is: will they be able to keep a dedicated gpu? If so, I'm sold.
With the ODD removed there is plenty of room to maneuver a dGPU. My wish is they will offer at least* a 7mm 2.5" HDD/SSD option, but will use the SSD card for fast booting.
* The 2.5" HDD/SSD space in MBPs currently support 12.5mm drives.
So the question is: will they be able to keep a dedicated gpu? If so, I'm sold.
Agreed. It's all about the gpu.
I think the day they can market it as a true FCPX machine, it'll be the day they launch it.
Apple will not think discreet graphics are needed in an Air as long as they are selling Pro's.
An ultra thin 17" would be the killer desktop replacement.
If it's supposed to be a desktop replacement, why in the world would it need to be thin?!
"It's therefore unclear at this time wether the device will be marketed under the MacBook Pro brand or arrive as an extension of the MacBook Air line." .... How about... er, duh, it being the new "Macbook" !!??? doesn't take a genius....
If it's supposed to be a desktop replacement, why in the world would it need to be thin?!
Big desk, low ceiling?
Big desk, low ceiling?
Reminds me of this.....
http://contest.newyorker.com/Caption...ate=ny-caption
1) The optical drive will be removed - it's a foregone conclusion at this point. The Mac Mini got rid of it, and you can't make a thinner laptop if there are already parts with pre-defined sizes like an optical drive. This leads to point #2...
2) Apple will switch from standard 2.5" sized drives to MacBook Air-style SSDs, which sit on a single piece of silicon without any extraneous housing to save space. People will definitely be kicking and screaming about this one (The good thing is that the MacBook Air probably has the easiest HD to remove based on the number of screws you have to take out).
3) FireWire 800 will be removed from the laptop completely. Few people ever use it and for those that do, I'm sure there will be a Thunderbolt->FireWire 800 adapter out by then.
4) Ethernet port will either be moved to the opposite side of the laptop or removed completely. If I had to guess, it's probably going to be the latter since Apple assumes most people use their laptop wirelessly. As an appeasement, they'll likely create their own Thunderbolt->Gigabit Ethernet adapter to prevent a huge uproar.
5) Expect USB ports on both sides because of tapering of the design.
6) Additional Thunderbolt port for 20Gbps simultaneous transfer.
Looking at this iFixIt photo, you can see that getting rid of the ODD and HDD gives you about 40% of space back:http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/m...nQWANeF.medium
And the current MacBook Air has batteries that go almost all the way to the tapered edge: http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/w...ixqZwxJ.medium
The main question is with these changes, will the internal volume of the laptop still be the same (minus HDD and ODD space) so that a) battery life doesn't decrease and b) a quad-core CPU and dedicated GPU can be cooled effectively? Will you be able to get a 3rd party SSD for greater storage? Will you still be able to add RAM yourself or are user-serviceable parts gone?
While there's no doubt that any radical change will result in much grumbling, one thing is for sure: Apple will take us into the future, regardless of the number of people who kick and scream about user-serviceable hard drives, batteries, and the need for DVDs.
Big desk, low ceiling?
A desktop replacing notebook doesn't necessarily have to always live on the desk. I'm just tired of dragging my 27" iMac to Panera Bread to play WoW.
If they go for the 'Air' moniker, they'll go 2-core with integrated graphics and shoot for low weight.
If they go for the 'Pro' moniker, they'll go for performance, and basically you'll just get a sleeker look, but it'll essentially be a Super Drive delete and will still weigh in the high-3-pound range, maybe 4, because it'll need a big battery to power it.
All I know is that I want a matte screen Air. 13" or 15" doesn't matter.....gimme a matte screen option and I'll buy either one.
If it's supposed to be a desktop replacement, why in the world would it need to be thin?!
Indeed - the 17inch needs maximal power, I think it can lose the ODD without too much complaint, but there's no point trying to slim it down to Air levels if it comes at the cost of components.
Maybe this is the September "Product Transition" that Oppenheimer spoke about in the quarterly earnings report last week?
That's iPhone 5.