Suppliers gearing up for launch of Apple's new MacBooks in June - report

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Apple's long-awaited update to its MacBook lineup will be announced by the company in June, when suppliers are currently preparing for their shipments to significantly rise, according to a new report.

Citing sources in the upstream supply chain, DigiTimes reported on Monday that component shipments are expected to pick up significantly in June as Apple ramps up production. Those shipments are forecast to peak in July once full capacity is realized.

Industry sources expect Apple will see year-over-year growth of as much as 50 percent in MacBook shipments in 2012. That would easily best the average 8 to 10 percent growth seen by the rest of the notebook PC market.

Monday's report indicated there is a "high chance" that Apple will announce its next-generation MacBooks at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference, set to kick off on June 11. The new notebooks could also debut with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, Apple's next-generation operating system, as AppleCare training data has pointed toward a June launch.

The supply chain reportedly began providing components to Apple for its next-generation MacBooks in March, and orders continued to increase in April and May. That pattern is expected to continue over the coming months as the notebooks hit the market.

MacBook Air


Earlier reports had indicated Apple would revamp its MacBook lineup in April, while some claimed they would launch as early as March. But Monday's report suggests that Apple plans to hold off until mid-June, allowing the company to potentially introduce the devices at a keynote presentation to kick off WWDC.

The new MacBook lineup is expected to feature Intel's latest-generation Ivy Bridge processors, while the MacBook Pro lineup will receive a major redesign giving it many of the characteristics of Apple's thin-and-light MacBook Air. The new MacBook Pros are expected to lose the built-in optical drive and rely largely on solid-state flash memory to allow for a thinner design along with faster performance and greater reliability.

Intel formally launched its Ivy Bridge line of processors late last month with 13 quad-core models from the high-end Core i5 and Core i7 families. New dual-core models are set to be launched later in the spring.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    crunchcrunch Posts: 180member


    Makes perfect sense. Mountain Lion 10.8 will likely be pre-installed and there hasn't been a WWDC that included Macs since 2009. So, WWDC 2012: Two new OS's, 10.8 and iOS6, the introduction of plenty of hardware goodness, and not to mention Retina displays on at least some of the Macs, which I'd stand in line for. :D Let's hope they're going to be IPS panels, too! Great stuff!


     


    EDIT: Another rumor suggests that USB 3.0 will be adopted by Apple across the board. It makes sense since the new Intel 7 series chipset will incorporate USB 3.0 as well as Thunderbolt. Apple would have to literally disable USB 3.0 and while they have done stuff like that in the past, I'm going to go out on a limb and say they won't. Maybe it's time I put my 6-month "old" and loaded 17" MacBook Pro for sale? That should get me into a new 15" Retina MacBook...Decision, decisions. 

  • Reply 2 of 26
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    crunch wrote: »
    EDIT: Another rumor suggests that USB 3.0 will be adopted by Apple across the board. It makes sense since the new Intel 7 series chipset will incorporate USB 3.0 as well as Thunderbolt. Apple would have to literally disable USB 3.0 and while they have done stuff like that in the past, I'm going to go out on a limb and say they won't. Maybe it's time I put my 6-month "old" and loaded 17" MacBook Pro for sale? That should get me into a new 15" Retina MacBook...Decision, decisions. 
    That's my feeling on this since the first USB3.0 chips hit the market and Intel said they would make it part of a future chipset. If they don't include USB3.0 despite it being added as part of the chipset expect me to first in line to cry foul on Apple.
  • Reply 3 of 26
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    That's my feeling on this since the first USB3.0 chips hit the market and Intel said they would make it part of a future chipset. If they don't include USB3.0 despite it being added as part of the chipset expect me to first in line to cry foul on Apple.


     


    The beginning of the end for IEEE 1394.

  • Reply 4 of 26
    firefly7475firefly7475 Posts: 1,502member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Firefly7475 View Post



    I actually think Apple should flatten the next MacBook Pro to look more like an U410 rather than a MacBook Air.



    Something like...


  • Reply 5 of 26
    elderlocelderloc Posts: 146member
    Just my 10 cents my 2 cents is free... The mock ups people offer up seem to point to tb on one side and MagSafe on the other. With the current displays would that work? I have the display port 27" cinema did they increase the length of the cables, because I do not think it would work with the ports on different sides epically the 15 and 17 ( if they keep it)
  • Reply 6 of 26
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I actually think Apple should flatten the next MacBook Pro to look more like an U410 rather than a MacBook Air.

    There is certainly a case to be made for that style, especially it's the most practical in terms of packing in as much HW in a given max thickness. That said, aesthetics play a part, the feeling of having a thin, tapered design that slides in and other of your bag easily, and the potential need to keep a large port like the RJ-45 jack after the ODD is removed.

    If they do keep the RJ-45 they can't make it much thinner than it is top right now which to me means they will follow the MBA tapering angle ( note thinness!) to account for unneeded thickness toward the front of the device. If they do remove it, which I think could be an issue for a Pro machine, then going with your suggestion may make the most sense.

    So can they remove the RJ-45 jack and get people to buy a gigabit Ethernet to USB dongle? I'm not convinced we're ready for that in the Enterprise where I think Apple will be trying to push itself with these new Macs and the radical new Win8 on the horizon.
  • Reply 7 of 26
    jce10jce10 Posts: 36member


    If the new Macbook Pros are going to be released alongside OS X 10.8, it makes you wonder why the retina-ready icons have sneaked into 10.7. It leads to two guesses -- 10.8 won't be ready by the time Macbook Pro ships, or there is gonna be a retina Cinema Display that works with Macs running 10.7.

  • Reply 8 of 26

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    There is certainly a case to be made for that style, especially it's the most practical in terms of packing in as much HW in a given max thickness. That said, aesthetics play a part, the feeling of having a thin, tapered design that slides in and other of your bag easily, and the potential need to keep a large port like the RJ-45 jack after the ODD is removed.

    If they do keep the RJ-45 they can't make it much thinner than it is top right now which to me means they will follow the MBA tapering angle ( note thinness!) to account for unneeded thickness toward the front of the device. If they do remove it, which I think could be an issue for a Pro machine, then going with your suggestion may make the most sense.

    So can they remove the RJ-45 jack and get people to buy a gigabit Ethernet to USB dongle? I'm not convinced we're ready for that in the Enterprise where I think Apple will be trying to push itself with these new Macs and the radical new Win8 on the horizon.


    I once had a PCMCIA card for a laptop before Ethernet was common (yes, there was a time when laptops DIDNT have ethernet), that had an interesting twist on the RJ45 connector. With the PCMCIA card solution, an external dongle was required to connect the Cat5 cable to the card. This is not unlike the RJ45<->USB type dongles people are talking about.


     


    The difference on this card was that instead of having a dongle to lose/forget, it had a pop out connector that the Cat5 cable plugged into. medscale3CXFE574BT.jpg


     


    Would be an interesting alternative ... but too late.


     


    ODD? I'll get an external drive ... or share my existing MB drive. Apart from ripping CDs into iTunes, I can't remember the last time I used it. 


    RJ45? Physical ethernet port would be welcome, but for the most part not needed. 802.11ac is the next generation and will be quick ... but will take some time to rollout.


     


    I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a slew of docking stations released in the near future that are Thunderbolt connected, and have a gigabit ethernet port, display adapter ports, firewire, and USB hub built in. Two cables - power, and thunderbolt, and you are docked and sitting at a desk. 

  • Reply 9 of 26
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    So can they remove the RJ-45 jack and get people to buy a gigabit Ethernet to USB dongle? I'm not convinced we're ready for that in the Enterprise where I think Apple will be trying to push itself with these new Macs and the radical new Win8 on the horizon.


     


    Remember the olden days before integrated 10(xx)BASE-T(X) we all lived with those Xircom type dongles that were prone to disconnect or the flanges snap off?  Even after 100BASE was added, I had to use an Expresscard slot for 1000BASE.  I'd take a USB 3.0 to Gig-E today over those.  I still use an external usb modem and could live with an external Gig-E if I gained space for those rare times decent wifi is not available.  Whatever happened to Xircom?

  • Reply 10 of 26

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    There is certainly a case to be made for that style, especially it's the most practical in terms of packing in as much HW in a given max thickness. That said, aesthetics play a part, the feeling of having a thin, tapered design that slides in and other of your bag easily, and the potential need to keep a large port like the RJ-45 jack after the ODD is removed.

    If they do keep the RJ-45 they can't make it much thinner than it is top right now which to me means they will follow the MBA tapering angle ( note thinness!) to account for unneeded thickness toward the front of the device. If they do remove it, which I think could be an issue for a Pro machine, then going with your suggestion may make the most sense.

    So can they remove the RJ-45 jack and get people to buy a gigabit Ethernet to USB dongle? I'm not convinced we're ready for that in the Enterprise where I think Apple will be trying to push itself with these new Macs and the radical new Win8 on the horizon.


     


    You don't have to be constrained by the "connector size" in the body of a laptop. What they could simply do, is have a "fold out" section for connectors -- and they can plug in vertically, rather than from the side. I'd prefer this than having "dongles."


     


    Just disconnect the cables and slide then entire port back in the laptop. Should I get a patent on this -- or isn't it obvious?

  • Reply 11 of 26

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ChristophB View Post


    Whatever happened to Xircom?



    Acquired by Intel in 2000 (2001?) ... and dismantled for its patents. Its IP was valuable ... but with integrated ethernet becoming the norm (even on desktops), its products were not.

  • Reply 12 of 26
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    First of all, [B]tokenuser[/B] and [B]ChristophB[/B] make me feel old. I had completely forgotten about Xircom and the spring loaded RJ-45 jack.

    I have seen plenty of broken and mangled jacks on those cards with the spring loaded jacks but overall I found them quite durable. Apple would have more than a decade to perfect the design and not have the space constraints that the PCMCIA card had.

    [B]Fake_William_Shatner[/B], Apple did that with the first MBA and submitted patent at least as early as 2007.


    [INDENT][IMG]http://forums.appleinsider.com/image/id/164163/width/297/height/380[/IMG]

    [LIST][*]http://www.google.com/patents/US5634802?dq=apple+rj+45+collapsible&ei=fEmxT9fQKcWmiQLqtcGXBA [/LIST]

    [IMG]http://forums.appleinsider.com/image/id/164164/width/348/height/237[/IMG][/INDENT]

    They even reference an IBM patent from 1995.

    [LIST][*]http://www.google.com/patents/US5634802?dq=apple+rj+45+collapsible&ei=fEmxT9fQKcWmiQLqtcGXBA [/LIST]
  • Reply 13 of 26
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    You don't have to be constrained by the "connector size" in the body of a laptop. What they could simply do, is have a "fold out" section for connectors -- and they can plug in vertically, rather than from the side. I'd prefer this than having "dongles."

    Just disconnect the cables and slide then entire port back in the laptop. Should I get a patent on this -- or isn't it obvious?

    Not going to happen. Too clumsy, adds too much to manufacturing cost and effort, and too prone to breakage.

    The current MBA has room for all the ports Apple has chosen to put in.
  • Reply 14 of 26
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    First of all, tokenuser and ChristophB make me feel old. I had completely forgotten about Xircom and the spring loaded RJ-45 jack.

    I have seen plenty of broken and mangled jacks on those cards with the spring loaded jacks but overall I found them quite durable. 


     


    Sorry about that mate.  :)  I spent a former life sitting on the floor of pops or data centers with 2x PCMCIA (PC-Card) NICs each with it's own dongle.  No desks, just on my lap and cables all over the place.  Xircom's were a step above IBMs because they had metal on the connector and the card.  When integrated came along and it was still pre-56Kbps dial-up, I worshiped the Ethernet/Modem cards that had no dongles.  

  • Reply 15 of 26
    stompystompy Posts: 408member


    new forum tools seem flakey.

  • Reply 16 of 26
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    That's my feeling on this since the first USB3.0 chips hit the market and Intel said they would make it part of a future chipset. If they don't include USB3.0 despite it being added as part of the chipset expect me to first in line to cry foul on Apple.


    Some of the rumors have been pretty ridiculous, like that Apple was still debating supporting usb3. Thunderbolt was never a fully viable replacement. It was an excuse made for Apple being somewhat lazy on adoption. At this point it's just a matter of having the appropriate driver stack in place. The rumor that they're still debating its inclusion is just completely asinine. There is no reason for a company of size to delay this kind of thing when appropriate drivers need to be written, and pushing it means likely releasing with a half baked driver stack. Anyway I don't personally wish to buy a new computer without usb3. If Apple finally adopts it and Windows 8 will be offering native support, it should increase the number of available usb3 peripherals on the market.

  • Reply 17 of 26
    mcarlingmcarling Posts: 1,106member


    It's not in Apple's interest to make it more attractive for 3rd party device manufactures to get behind USB3 because that would reduce the demand for Thunderbolt devices.  My guess is that Apple will not disable USB3 in hardware, but will not make USB3 drivers available in 10.8 unless there is an overwhelming customer outcry for it.  I expect Apple's response to be something like: "Thunderbolt is better than USB3, therefore we are supporting Thunderbolt.  If you don't need the awesome speed of Thunderbolt or you have legacy USB3 hardware, you can use USB3 devices at USB2 speeds."


     
  • Reply 18 of 26
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member


    That would be a bad move in my view. Support both, though throw your open support behind Thunderbolt. Still, have at least one (preferably two) USB 3.0 ports.

  • Reply 19 of 26
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    mcarling wrote: »
    It's not in Apple's interest to make it more attractive for 3rd party device manufactures to get behind USB3 because that would reduce the demand for Thunderbolt devices.
    This is absolutely silly, there is little overlap in the two markets!!! USB is a low cost interface with modest performance. TB is a virtually an external PCI Express port.

    Beyond that Apple has had customers, both internal and external, demanding USB 3. Even Apple has to respond to consumer demands.
     My guess is that Apple will not disable USB3 in hardware, but will not make USB3 drivers available in 10.8 unless there is an overwhelming customer outcry for it.  I expect Apple's response to be something like: "Thunderbolt is better than USB3, therefore we are supporting Thunderbolt.
    Again it doesn't matter if TB is better, as they aren't even remotely focused on the same markets. As to customers they have been clamoring for USB 3 for some time. The demand is there as is the technology, if Apple can't spare the chump change to do the drivers then they will look pretty pathetic.
     If you don't need the awesome speed of Thunderbolt or you have legacy USB3 hardware, you can use USB3 devices at USB2 speeds."
    <div style="width:auto;height:auto;visibility:hidden;"> </div>

    Yeah that will go over like a lead ballon.

    I'm pretty much expecting the new Mac Book Pros to have a similar port allotment as the current machines. The difference being that the USB ports would now support USB 3.
  • Reply 20 of 26
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    winter wrote: »
    That would be a bad move in my view. Support both, though throw your open support behind Thunderbolt. Still, have at least one (preferably two) USB 3.0 ports.

    A very bad move! Honestly I'd like to see three or more UsB 3 ports. I'm constantly running out of ports, especially with all of the I devices that need support.
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