I'm really disappointed that they seem to be going to the Macbook/Air keyboard. Although it looks a lot better than the existing Macbook pro keyboard, I find it pretty cheap feeling and less tactile in comparison.
I totally agree. Keyboards in general are substantially inferior to the keyboards made two or three decades ago, but the present crop of Apple keyboards is unbelievably awful. The new iMac keyboard is the worst ever. That slab of aluminum looks very cool, but there is virtually no tactile sensation other than the dull thunk that you feel when the key hits bottom. The Macbook Pro at present is the exception. It actually has a decent keyboard for a notebook. I've been waiting for the new ones to arrive, but if they switch to the inferior keyboard of the Macbook and Macbook Air, I may well end up trying to pick up a 15" Macbook Pro from the present generation at a discount during the first couple of weeks after the new ones come out.
Although, until the OS supports scalable system fonts so that the physical size of the fonts that are not readily controllable by the application can be decoupled from the native screen resolution by a means other than setting the screen resolution to something other than its native resolution, I won't be buying one at all.
I believe it's simply a water flowjet cutter. This process has been around for years!
This looks like a great tool for doing low-volume custom fabrication. The same would apply to virtually all other types of cutting tools, i.e., laser and electric arc. For an application such as this, it is hard not to visualize a machine that punches out the holes in the plate simultaneously.
I totally agree. Keyboards in general are substantially inferior to the keyboards made two or three decades ago, but the present crop of Apple keyboards is unbelievably awful. The new iMac keyboard is the worst ever. ....
Most people who actually use them think pretty much the opposite. Not trying to invalidate your position, but you gotta realise you are definitely in the minority on this issue.
I too was a big fan of the clickity keyboards in the old days, but they have been gone for over a decade now. Perhaps it's time to move on.
As a user/owner of a PowerMac G4, iMac, Mac Pro w/wireless keyboard, and MacBook Air, my opinion is (with the majority) that the new thin keyboards have far better action than the older PowerMac laptop keyboards. Once you let go and actually try them, the newer ones are far better.
The new wireless Apple keyboard is probably the best I have used since the old IBM ones.
Come on all, this one is easy. These pictures are the new, fabled 15" Macbook. Of course you can tell from the size of the speaker grille that this is a 15" notebook, but as someone else mentioned, where is the Expresscard slot? I highly doubt that Apple would move to mini-DVI on a pro notebook as well. What you see is what you get in terms of ports; the Superdrive will be on the right side. Magsafe, ethernet, 2x USB, mini-DVI and audio in/out. Though, I will be extremely sad to see the end of Firewire on the Macbooks if this is indeed true.
This could be all about further differentiation of product lines.
The new wireless Apple keyboard is probably the best I have used since the old IBM ones.
Yep I agree with the liking of the new wireless keyboard. I prefer it to my MBP keyboard and would be perfectly happy to have chicklets in the new one.
As for the photos, I still think that the new one is of a pro, or maybe something in between. If they had both 13" and 15" options for both ends it would be nice.
And the other mockups with the glassed over screen like would be really nice. I find I get a lot of dust behind the edges on the MBP. Somehow this was nowhere near as true for my old 12" PowerBook, which like so many I consider one of the best form factors we've had.
This line from the Mini-DVI article on Wikipedia should pretty much disprove any reason of using Mini DVI on a MacBook Pro: "Mini-DVI does not support dual-link connections and hence cannot support resolutions higher than 1920x1200 @60Hz.";
That would be TOTAL step backwards, effectively killing off the ability to use Apple's 30" Cinema Displays. For a laptop that's technically supposed to be a mobile workstation, that's 100% unacceptable in the real world.
Production is said to have been underway for quite some time, though last minute glitches have reportedly caused some minor setbacks, the source said.
Build your own factory Apple, this won't happen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wobegon
If Apple is moving all the ports to the left side, what does that mean for the right side? Will there simply be nothing on the right side?
Doubt it. I think they're moving the slot-loading SuperDrive to the right side, just like the MacBooks. That...or we're looking at aluminum MacBooks (which doesn't seem realistic to me because the Pros are much more overdue for a facelift, not to mention the MacBook's MagSafe port is much smaller than the MacBook Pro's).
I think they are making them both into one design. Keeping them with all the same parts and ports will save them money.
As you say, the reason that the ports are all crammed on one side is because the optical drive has to go on the other side. Right now, the MBP drive is on the front but that had to move so that the MBP could have the same design as the MB regarding easily replaceable Ram and HD.
The display output can't be Mini-DVI because a Mini-DVI port is nearly twice the height of a USB port. It's more likely to be Micro-DVI:
It looks too narrow to be HDMI or Displayport. I'm not sure if Micro-DVI supports dual-link display output but I've read that there is a possibility unlike with Mini-DVI.
It looks nice - the metal looks a bit lighter colored. There is still a seam down the edge though, which causes the case to be uneven at points and it makes the case weaker round the latch. A magnetic latch may help here.
I hope they don't differentiate MB from MBP by making the MB with curved edges like it has now. But then again, the 12" powerbook had that - it might be a structural thing. Square edges on the 15" and curved on the 13".
If that's real, then there's no significant changes to the manufacturing or design other than moving to metal. So I reckon they can introduce these without an event.
DisplayPort has a lot of support amongst computer manufacturers. It provides a flexible, high speed, and expandable standard which supports
external and internal monitors to very high resolutions. HDMI doesn't. Just because it's used in millions of TVs doesn't mean anything to the computer industry.
First of all, "HDMI doesn't" what? And no, DisplayPort doesn't "support very high resolutions". It has about the same bandwidth as HDMI 1.3. DisplayPort's newest version does 10.8 Gbit/s now versus 10.2 Gbit/s for HDMI) and supports the same max res of 2560×1600.
Secondly, the HDMI Type-B connector (29-pin) doubles the bandwidth to over 20 Gbit/s and allows next-gen WQUXGA (3840x2400) displays. Of course, new Displayport standards could increase bandwidth in the future, but I wish they would have designed it in to the spec already...
Hey why does this DED get all the credit! my prediction and terrible photoshop bodge
was posted 2007-12-14
Yeah terrible,
Anyway, with the longer touchscreen (as depicted on the mockup earlier, not this one), I can imagine having the dock on the bottom screen animated so that when the mouse is dragged to the bottom of the main screen it slides up from the bottom screen to the top.
The top screen would behave no different to as it does now, (with Dock Hiding turned on ) but with the extra bottom screen we now get to see where it shoots off to
1. The case looks as if it has been carved from a single block of aluminum, confirming the rumor of a new production process. I imagine that a tapered base fits very tightly into the main chassis. This should make for a lighter and stronger machine.
2. Overall thickness appears to be around 20 mm - Wow! If Apple has created a custom motherboard that unites Intel Centrino 2 components with a whizzy Nvidia GPU then overall video handling capabilities may not be compromised by thinness.
3. The Express card slot is history. Ports seem to be, from left to right, Ethernet, Firewire, USB 2.0 x 2, Mini DVI, Audio in, Audio out. Magsafe power adapter looks like it will be mounted underneath as in the Air, or possibly at the rear.
4. THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT THE MACBOOK PRO AND MACBOOK RANGES WILL BE MORPHING INTO A SINGLE LINE-UP OF LAPTOPS AVAILABLE WITH A VARIETY OF CHIPS AND SCREEN SIZES. IT MEANS YOU CAN HAVE A 13" MACKBOOK PRO OR A 17" MACBOOK. I PREDICT A CHOICE OF TWO CHIPS FOR EACH MODEL AND BTO RAM UPGRADES OF UP TO 8 GB. I ALSO THINK THAT SSD OPTIONS WILL BE OFFERED.
5. These things are gonna sell faster than any other Apple product seen so far.
1. The case looks as if it has been carved from a single block of aluminum, confirming the rumor of a new production process. I imagine that a tapered base fits very tightly into the main chassis. This should make for a lighter and stronger machine.
2. Overall thickness appears to be around 20 mm - Wow! If Apple has created a custom motherboard that unites Intel Centrino 2 components with a whizzy Nvidia GPU then overall video handling capabilities may not be compromised by thinness.
3. The Express card slot is history. Ports seem to be, from left to right, Ethernet, Firewire, USB 2.0 x 2, Mini DVI, Audio in, Audio out. Magsafe power adapter looks like it will be mounted underneath as in the Air, or possibly at the rear.
4. THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT THE MACBOOK PRO AND MACBOOK RANGES WILL BE MORPHING INTO A SINGLE LINE-UP OF LAPTOPS AVAILABLE WITH A VARIETY OF CHIPS AND SCREEN SIZES. IT MEANS YOU CAN HAVE A 13" MACKBOOK PRO OR A 17" MACBOOK. I PREDICT A CHOICE OF TWO CHIPS FOR EACH MODEL AND BTO RAM UPGRADES OF UP TO 8 GB. I ALSO THINK THAT SSD OPTIONS WILL BE OFFERED.
5. These things are gonna sell faster than any other Apple product seen so far.
Bring it on!
I hope your right about those predictions. I also hope for updates to the Macbook Air. Especially since they now use 120GB hard disks in their iPod Classics, maybe they can squeeze those into the macbook air. That would be awesome. The Air is due for a spec update anyways
Once you let go and actually try them, the newer ones are far better.
The new wireless Apple keyboard is probably the best I have used since the old IBM ones.
I have tried them, had plenty of MacBooks for two years and the Air for a shot stint. To my fingers, the MBP keyboard feels so much better (and I think that it looks better too).
I'm with Soze in terms of liking the MBP keyboard more, but I don't agree that the MBP's keyboard is technically superior to the Air's or vice versa; all of this is personal preference, and I just love the feel of the MBP and G4 PowerBook keyboards.
Hey why does this DED get all the credit! my prediction and terrible photoshop bodge
was posted 2007-12-14
If you have a truly innovative idea that is well before its time a bad photoshopping job in't going to help sway people to realize your forward thinking idea. I know I had the same idea long before DED posted his images and his article, but he used some batter examples (like the calculator which is such a PITA to use with a mouse pointer) and he explained it detail.
Personally, I think there were many people who saw that Apple's move to add more functionality to the trackpad and the iPhone/Touch is the next natural transition for Apple and I'd figure that Apple had the idea before any of us did.
Jeez I hope express card slot isn't history. I want better sound via an express card sound card. And why the heck doesn't it come on the Macbook? There's plenty of room.
First of all, "HDMI doesn't" what? And no, DisplayPort doesn't "support very high resolutions". It has about the same bandwidth as HDMI 1.3. DisplayPort's newest version does 10.8 Gbit/s now versus 10.2 Gbit/s for HDMI) and supports the same max res of 2560×1600.
Secondly, the HDMI Type-B connector (29-pin) doubles the bandwidth to over 20 Gbit/s and allows next-gen WQUXGA (3840x2400) displays. Of course, new Displayport standards could increase bandwidth in the future, but I wish they would have designed it in to the spec already...
20 Gbps is also enough for 4k res, 60fps, 32bpp. 4k can be done with HDMI and DisplayPort's bandwidth, but only at lower refresh rates, like 24fps.
Comments
I'm really disappointed that they seem to be going to the Macbook/Air keyboard. Although it looks a lot better than the existing Macbook pro keyboard, I find it pretty cheap feeling and less tactile in comparison.
I totally agree. Keyboards in general are substantially inferior to the keyboards made two or three decades ago, but the present crop of Apple keyboards is unbelievably awful. The new iMac keyboard is the worst ever. That slab of aluminum looks very cool, but there is virtually no tactile sensation other than the dull thunk that you feel when the key hits bottom. The Macbook Pro at present is the exception. It actually has a decent keyboard for a notebook. I've been waiting for the new ones to arrive, but if they switch to the inferior keyboard of the Macbook and Macbook Air, I may well end up trying to pick up a 15" Macbook Pro from the present generation at a discount during the first couple of weeks after the new ones come out.
Although, until the OS supports scalable system fonts so that the physical size of the fonts that are not readily controllable by the application can be decoupled from the native screen resolution by a means other than setting the screen resolution to something other than its native resolution, I won't be buying one at all.
I believe it's simply a water flowjet cutter. This process has been around for years!
This looks like a great tool for doing low-volume custom fabrication. The same would apply to virtually all other types of cutting tools, i.e., laser and electric arc. For an application such as this, it is hard not to visualize a machine that punches out the holes in the plate simultaneously.
1) the ports are different
2)the slot for the screen is wider
3)the top is connected to the sides unlike the current ones unless somone cut off the bottom of there own.
the only thing odd to me is that the only part of the sides not pictured is where the screws are currently....
who knows
I believe it's simply a water flowjet cutter. This process has been around for years!
sure. the real questions concern complexity versus accuracy versus production capacity versus cost.
I totally agree. Keyboards in general are substantially inferior to the keyboards made two or three decades ago, but the present crop of Apple keyboards is unbelievably awful. The new iMac keyboard is the worst ever. ....
Most people who actually use them think pretty much the opposite. Not trying to invalidate your position, but you gotta realise you are definitely in the minority on this issue.
I too was a big fan of the clickity keyboards in the old days, but they have been gone for over a decade now. Perhaps it's time to move on.
As a user/owner of a PowerMac G4, iMac, Mac Pro w/wireless keyboard, and MacBook Air, my opinion is (with the majority) that the new thin keyboards have far better action than the older PowerMac laptop keyboards. Once you let go and actually try them, the newer ones are far better.
The new wireless Apple keyboard is probably the best I have used since the old IBM ones.
This could be all about further differentiation of product lines.
--mAc
The new wireless Apple keyboard is probably the best I have used since the old IBM ones.
Yep I agree with the liking of the new wireless keyboard. I prefer it to my MBP keyboard and would be perfectly happy to have chicklets in the new one.
As for the photos, I still think that the new one is of a pro, or maybe something in between. If they had both 13" and 15" options for both ends it would be nice.
And the other mockups with the glassed over screen like would be really nice. I find I get a lot of dust behind the edges on the MBP. Somehow this was nowhere near as true for my old 12" PowerBook, which like so many I consider one of the best form factors we've had.
That would be TOTAL step backwards, effectively killing off the ability to use Apple's 30" Cinema Displays. For a laptop that's technically supposed to be a mobile workstation, that's 100% unacceptable in the real world.
Production is said to have been underway for quite some time, though last minute glitches have reportedly caused some minor setbacks, the source said.
Build your own factory Apple, this won't happen.
If Apple is moving all the ports to the left side, what does that mean for the right side? Will there simply be nothing on the right side?
Doubt it. I think they're moving the slot-loading SuperDrive to the right side, just like the MacBooks. That...or we're looking at aluminum MacBooks (which doesn't seem realistic to me because the Pros are much more overdue for a facelift, not to mention the MacBook's MagSafe port is much smaller than the MacBook Pro's).
I think they are making them both into one design. Keeping them with all the same parts and ports will save them money.
As you say, the reason that the ports are all crammed on one side is because the optical drive has to go on the other side. Right now, the MBP drive is on the front but that had to move so that the MBP could have the same design as the MB regarding easily replaceable Ram and HD.
The display output can't be Mini-DVI because a Mini-DVI port is nearly twice the height of a USB port. It's more likely to be Micro-DVI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:A...-Air-Ports.jpg
It looks too narrow to be HDMI or Displayport. I'm not sure if Micro-DVI supports dual-link display output but I've read that there is a possibility unlike with Mini-DVI.
It looks nice - the metal looks a bit lighter colored. There is still a seam down the edge though, which causes the case to be uneven at points and it makes the case weaker round the latch. A magnetic latch may help here.
I hope they don't differentiate MB from MBP by making the MB with curved edges like it has now. But then again, the 12" powerbook had that - it might be a structural thing. Square edges on the 15" and curved on the 13".
If that's real, then there's no significant changes to the manufacturing or design other than moving to metal. So I reckon they can introduce these without an event.
DisplayPort has a lot of support amongst computer manufacturers. It provides a flexible, high speed, and expandable standard which supports
external and internal monitors to very high resolutions. HDMI doesn't. Just because it's used in millions of TVs doesn't mean anything to the computer industry.
First of all, "HDMI doesn't" what? And no, DisplayPort doesn't "support very high resolutions". It has about the same bandwidth as HDMI 1.3. DisplayPort's newest version does 10.8 Gbit/s now versus 10.2 Gbit/s for HDMI) and supports the same max res of 2560×1600.
Secondly, the HDMI Type-B connector (29-pin) doubles the bandwidth to over 20 Gbit/s and allows next-gen WQUXGA (3840x2400) displays. Of course, new Displayport standards could increase bandwidth in the future, but I wish they would have designed it in to the spec already...
just to get an image in our head.
aluminum... check.
for the most part... MBA keyboard... check.
was posted 2007-12-14
Yeah terrible,
Anyway, with the longer touchscreen (as depicted on the mockup earlier, not this one), I can imagine having the dock on the bottom screen animated so that when the mouse is dragged to the bottom of the main screen it slides up from the bottom screen to the top.
The top screen would behave no different to as it does now, (with Dock Hiding turned on ) but with the extra bottom screen we now get to see where it shoots off to
2. Overall thickness appears to be around 20 mm - Wow! If Apple has created a custom motherboard that unites Intel Centrino 2 components with a whizzy Nvidia GPU then overall video handling capabilities may not be compromised by thinness.
3. The Express card slot is history. Ports seem to be, from left to right, Ethernet, Firewire, USB 2.0 x 2, Mini DVI, Audio in, Audio out. Magsafe power adapter looks like it will be mounted underneath as in the Air, or possibly at the rear.
4. THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT THE MACBOOK PRO AND MACBOOK RANGES WILL BE MORPHING INTO A SINGLE LINE-UP OF LAPTOPS AVAILABLE WITH A VARIETY OF CHIPS AND SCREEN SIZES. IT MEANS YOU CAN HAVE A 13" MACKBOOK PRO OR A 17" MACBOOK. I PREDICT A CHOICE OF TWO CHIPS FOR EACH MODEL AND BTO RAM UPGRADES OF UP TO 8 GB. I ALSO THINK THAT SSD OPTIONS WILL BE OFFERED.
5. These things are gonna sell faster than any other Apple product seen so far.
Bring it on!
1. The case looks as if it has been carved from a single block of aluminum, confirming the rumor of a new production process. I imagine that a tapered base fits very tightly into the main chassis. This should make for a lighter and stronger machine.
2. Overall thickness appears to be around 20 mm - Wow! If Apple has created a custom motherboard that unites Intel Centrino 2 components with a whizzy Nvidia GPU then overall video handling capabilities may not be compromised by thinness.
3. The Express card slot is history. Ports seem to be, from left to right, Ethernet, Firewire, USB 2.0 x 2, Mini DVI, Audio in, Audio out. Magsafe power adapter looks like it will be mounted underneath as in the Air, or possibly at the rear.
4. THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT THE MACBOOK PRO AND MACBOOK RANGES WILL BE MORPHING INTO A SINGLE LINE-UP OF LAPTOPS AVAILABLE WITH A VARIETY OF CHIPS AND SCREEN SIZES. IT MEANS YOU CAN HAVE A 13" MACKBOOK PRO OR A 17" MACBOOK. I PREDICT A CHOICE OF TWO CHIPS FOR EACH MODEL AND BTO RAM UPGRADES OF UP TO 8 GB. I ALSO THINK THAT SSD OPTIONS WILL BE OFFERED.
5. These things are gonna sell faster than any other Apple product seen so far.
Bring it on!
I hope your right about those predictions. I also hope for updates to the Macbook Air. Especially since they now use 120GB hard disks in their iPod Classics, maybe they can squeeze those into the macbook air. That would be awesome. The Air is due for a spec update anyways
Once you let go and actually try them, the newer ones are far better.
The new wireless Apple keyboard is probably the best I have used since the old IBM ones.
I have tried them, had plenty of MacBooks for two years and the Air for a shot stint. To my fingers, the MBP keyboard feels so much better (and I think that it looks better too).
I'm with Soze in terms of liking the MBP keyboard more, but I don't agree that the MBP's keyboard is technically superior to the Air's or vice versa; all of this is personal preference, and I just love the feel of the MBP and G4 PowerBook keyboards.
Hey why does this DED get all the credit! my prediction and terrible photoshop bodge
was posted 2007-12-14
If you have a truly innovative idea that is well before its time a bad photoshopping job in't going to help sway people to realize your forward thinking idea. I know I had the same idea long before DED posted his images and his article, but he used some batter examples (like the calculator which is such a PITA to use with a mouse pointer) and he explained it detail.
Personally, I think there were many people who saw that Apple's move to add more functionality to the trackpad and the iPhone/Touch is the next natural transition for Apple and I'd figure that Apple had the idea before any of us did.
First of all, "HDMI doesn't" what? And no, DisplayPort doesn't "support very high resolutions". It has about the same bandwidth as HDMI 1.3. DisplayPort's newest version does 10.8 Gbit/s now versus 10.2 Gbit/s for HDMI) and supports the same max res of 2560×1600.
Secondly, the HDMI Type-B connector (29-pin) doubles the bandwidth to over 20 Gbit/s and allows next-gen WQUXGA (3840x2400) displays. Of course, new Displayport standards could increase bandwidth in the future, but I wish they would have designed it in to the spec already...
20 Gbps is also enough for 4k res, 60fps, 32bpp. 4k can be done with HDMI and DisplayPort's bandwidth, but only at lower refresh rates, like 24fps.