Apple gearing up for major product launch early as next week - sources

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  • Reply 41 of 96
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Smiles77 View Post


    And when are we going to get an iMac refresh? That's what I'm waiting for in particular. Hopefully they'll come in at the same time.



    It is not uncommon for Apple to refresh the laptops for their summer 'back to school' promo and save iMacs, which are more whole family for the fall to hit with the holiday shopping.



    So it could go either way
  • Reply 42 of 96
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jm6032 View Post


    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.



    Of course it is. My statement didn?t exclude the very real need by some people that an optical drive is needed regularly. In fact, you can conclude from my post that the optical drive is still needed by many very the fact that I state that it?s need is dropping since until that need is zero there will still be a need for it.



    But that?s not the point as there will always be scenarios will people will want technology that is no longer the most optimal tech for the average person. Why hasn?t Apple added Blu-ray yet? Why haven?t they updated their optical drive tech with faster read/write speeds for years? It?s really the biggest thing holding back notebooks right now.



    All the cards are stacked up against it and you can fight all you want, but the CD/DVD has so many cons and very few pros. It?s going away whether you feel and others you need it or not; the only question is when. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.



    When that happens you?ll have to decide if you want to still use optical disc to move content around slowly, whether you want to get/upgrade to another Mac notebook, get a desktop for burning, use an external optical drive because you just have to burn them outside your home, or any other reason people have for making changes in their lives.
  • Reply 43 of 96
    ...as long as the usb ports remain stupidly too close together... such a ridiculous design flaw.
  • Reply 44 of 96
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rosstheboss View Post


    ...as long as the usb ports remain stupidly too close together... such a ridiculous design flaw.



    So all MBPs are ridiculous design flaws because you think the USB ports are too close together? Personally, I?ve never had an issue with multiple USB cables in USB ports, suspect that is most common, and fully consider the possibility of poorly designed accessories that don?t account for ports being next to each other and used at the same time.



    I?d think your post had some validity if you had actual specifications as to what the minimum distinct between port edges should be and why, not just saying,?my accessories are too bulky to fit so it?s all Apple?s fault."
  • Reply 45 of 96
    I can't imagine that an ARM co-processor won't be a future part of most iMacs/MacBooks (along with iOS and touch screen functionality). Or could this just be emulated?



    The question is when. Maybe too soon at this point.



    Hopefully the curtain will be lifted on the functionality of Apple's North Carolina data center.
  • Reply 46 of 96
    haggarhaggar Posts: 1,568member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lukeskymac View Post


    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?



    When people were complaining that iBooks, Aluminum Powerbook G4s and original MacBook Pros were a pain in the ass to take apart and service, Apple apologists were against easier service, claiming that making laptops easier to service would add so much size and weight as to become physically unbearable. Then the unibody MacBook Pro made the apologists all look like idiots. So I guess the "Really?" goes both ways.
  • Reply 47 of 96
    If they take out the optical drive (which I believe they should), they absolutely must include TWO 2.5" bays, or at least one SSD stick and a bay for a standard HD. The only way to go is to have two drives -- one SSD boot/applications drive and one HD for capacity. And hopefully the Mac OS and apps will be fixed to support such configurations better.
  • Reply 48 of 96
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Logisticaldron View Post


    So all MBPs are ridiculous design flaws because you think the USB ports are too close together? Personally, I?ve never had an issue with multiple USB cables in USB ports, suspect that is most common, and fully consider the possibility of poorly designed accessories that don?t account for ports being next to each other and used at the same time.



    I?d think your post had some validity if you had actual specifications as to what the minimum distinct between port edges should be and why, not just saying,?my accessories are too bulky to fit so it?s all Apple?s fault."





    Um, yes, they are, because I'm a creative professional and my experience is that when a composer, engineer, producer or designer passes me a USB thumb drive I have to unplug whatever else is connected. A hub is not always the answer a) some sticks don't always function well/reliably from a hub, and b) you can't then plug the stick in to the MacBookPro because the cable for the hub is in the way c) working on location/mobile.
  • Reply 49 of 96
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rosstheboss View Post


    passes me a USB thumb drive I have to unplug whatever else is connected.



    USB thumb drives come in all shapes and sizes.

    Some USB thumb drives are thin, some are fat, some are even shaped like a damn elephant, literally.







    If you get a USB thumb drive that is too fat too fit, then why not just use a real tiny extension cord? Seems to work fine for me when I need to connect a thumb drive to a USB port and it doesn't fit. The last USB thumb drive I bought even came with a tiny extension cord for free. So no matter what is plugged into the other ports, there won't be any problems.
  • Reply 50 of 96
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jm6032 View Post


    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.



    If you don't burn the discs when you are out though, you wouldn't have to take it with you. Also, there's the possibility of using digital distribution. You can upload ISOs or tracks encoded for MP3 players.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lukeskymac


    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...



    The Sandy Bridge desktop i5-2400s 65W model matches the current 95W i7-860 performance. The original lamp iMac had a maximum power rating of 130W and I think the CPUs were 30W but they can make it fit if they try. The desktop GPU with a 75W rating might cause an issue but they can have a word with AMD/NVidia about that.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jm6032 View Post


    Besides, wouldn't a slightly modified iMac lamp design allow a multi-touch iMac like in the patents?



    The patents showed a modification to the current design where it collapses down. I don't like that because it would require a lot of effort to go into touch-mode. The lamp design would allow you to just grab the screen and spin it into portrait mode like an iPad or pull it down to the desk for prolonged touching.



    Think of reading a PDF quickly. You just open it, grab the screen, spin it into portrait, pull it forward a bit, pinch-zoom and scroll through it with touch. Then when you go back to what you were doing, just hide the PDF and spin it back again. The iMac G4 lamp design is the only way that can be done quickly.
  • Reply 51 of 96
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    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.



    Regarding the current iMac, I couldn't disagree more with you. The current design, is in my mind, superp. I genuinely believe that the iMac is the most beautiful desktop ever produced.

    In addition would a design like you describe, mean that the need for an XMac would be revived due to the slower chips being used in such iMac.

    I really, respectfully, don't hope your ideas are realized
  • Reply 52 of 96
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lukeskymac View Post


    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.



    Yeah I dont know why people are fighting this so. Especially on the smaller machines.

    Quote:

    First, all of them could get thinner. How much thinner depends on the size of the HDD.



    Well that is part of it but the hearsink and fan assembly have an impact on thickness too. especially when considering that the Pros are expected to have far better performance than the AIRs.

    Quote:

    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.




    I will be blunt here and simply say that the better have a few slots for those blade SSDs. I would mind a bay for a magnetic drive but the primary system ness to be on somethin solid state. That simply for performance. Giving people options for further expansion is cool too.

    Quote:



    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.



    AIR is hardly the future if performance is important to you. I'd rather see Apple turn the PROs into performance machines that are worthy of their name. AIRs are incredibly good machines but their thinness means low performance hardware.

    Quote:



    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.



    This is one very good reason to delete the optical. In very real terms we could have pro level performance in a 13" machine. They do need to do something to set the GPU performance apart from the AIRs.
  • Reply 53 of 96
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nonimus View Post


    I can't imagine that an ARM co-processor won't be a future part of most iMacs/MacBooks (along with iOS and touch screen functionality). Or could this just be emulated?



    As the subject says a waste of time to put in hardware to run iOS apps. The big issues are marketing and consummer confusion. Also from the engineering point of view it is a complete waste, an Intel processor can easily emulate an entire ARM based machine.



    As a side not there are likely a number of ARM processors all ready in Apples Macs. ARM core are often embedded in support chips.

    Quote:

    The question is when. Maybe too soon at this point.



    The answer is never. Atleast not in the sense you want to see them implemented. The sad reality is that ARM CPU cores aren't even close to intel performance wise.

    Quote:

    Hopefully the curtain will be lifted on the functionality of Apple's North Carolina data center.



    Actually that would be very nice to hear about. I don't think Apple will ever reveal ever detail about operations there though.
  • Reply 54 of 96
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lukeskymac View Post




    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.




    Yeah - the next generation of MacBook Pros are gonna be SWEET! Not this generation, maybe, but the NEXT ones are going to blow everybody away!



    I'll buy in the meantime, and buy another when the next one comes out. Most of the purchase price will be available to me via a sale of the old one on eBay because Macs hold their value so well. So ev en though the next generation is where we will see massive innovation, I'll still buy the upcoming one too.
  • Reply 55 of 96
    I'm hoping for new MacBook Pros and the iPad 2 as the "one more thing."

    I could totally see that happening.
  • Reply 56 of 96
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    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.



    As interesting as that sounds, apple would never make a product with a detachable display. They hate superfluous design. I could see one that swivels down to a horizontal touch position, though. There are even patents for it
  • Reply 57 of 96
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    USB thumb drives come in all shapes and sizes.

    Some USB thumb drives are thin, some are fat, some are even shaped like a damn elephant, literally.







    If you get a USB thumb drive that is too fat too fit, then why not just use a real tiny extension cord? Seems to work fine for me when I need to connect a thumb drive to a USB port and it doesn't fit. The last USB thumb drive I bought even came with a tiny extension cord for free. So no matter what is plugged into the other ports, there won't be any problems.



    Good points and that is an adorable thumb drive. (can we say adorable on this site?) I know a girl that would love it.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    This is one very good reason to delete the optical. In very real terms we could have pro level performance in a 13" machine. They do need to do something to set the GPU performance apart from the AIRs.



    That?s what I?m hoping for. dGPU in the 13? MBP, with more space for cooling for better GPU in the 15 and 17 inch MBPs, along with a little more room for the battery, a single SSD card slot, a single traditional 2.5? HDD/SSD space, and more port space with ports on each side of the machine.
  • Reply 58 of 96
    shaun, ukshaun, uk Posts: 1,050member
    They may keep the basic MB as the only model with a traditional hard drive and built in cd/dvd leaving the MBA and MBP as all flash memory with no built in cd/dvd. They did this with the iPod line leaving the Classic on old technology with the new Touch and Nano adopting the new technologies, thereby providing a model for everyone.



    Thursday 24 Feb is SJ's birthday so that would be a nice day to release them.
  • Reply 59 of 96
    Why is everyone assuming that this is about laptops. Apple does a slow down for weeks before a laptop launch. It doesn't mean it is any day. Plus if they are going Sandy you can bet Steve's turtleneck collection that he demanded only units from the fixed run. Which means they just started getting the components to start building. They need time to build up stock.



    There have already been rumors of a late february launch of the new iPad and five numbers more fits with talk that they might go with a single low end wifi only (perhaps sans cameras even) for the kiddies, schools and in house business users and then two GSM and two CDMA models. The laptops in store typically number more like 8 MBP units.



    Plus things like Sandy and liquid metal are huge. I can't see Apple not doing a bigger announcement for those. Which means press would have been called by now. But the iPad 2 is a smaller change up. Refinements and a camera. Not worth a huge todo. Call the local press on Monday, have them come to campus on Thursday and live stream it like they did a couple of times last year. They could even do a preview of iOS 5 if such a thing exists. Either at the 'event' or just as a video on site.



    So the iPad now when it can stymie the other boys spring releases and snare some 'hey I got my tax refund' buyers. And then in late March or April we get the laptops with the launch of the whole back to school thing.
  • Reply 60 of 96




    http://www.wemac.se/?p=698



    Gorgeous, if it's the real deal.
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