New MacBook Pros are coming Oct. 18 and the design remains a mystery

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 40
    Much like the iPhone, it's quite optimised. A slab of glass and a keyboard underneath, hopefully functioning well. What radical design departure do people want? Wheels? Foldable so it fits in your pant-pocket? Spikes?

    I'm sure we can get some incremental design changes, but it will be to components mostly.

    watto_cobra
  • Reply 22 of 40
    As a human...with skin...I'd like to see the front bottom edge to be chamfered / angled.  I'd also like those two needle sharp points in front of the trackpad eliminated.  I expect to be disappointed though.
  • Reply 23 of 40
    Functionally I hope the redesign restores physical keys in place of the touchbar and that the touchbar be moved to its natural home (the screen).  Before unimaginative fanboys get up in arms that a mac shouldn't have touch - its use can be entirely left to developers to add enhancements to their apps.  For instance, VLC could make it so that the player bar is scrubbable.  Adobe could make it so that an image in photoshop allows for tap to zoom.  It's not about the OS - it's about app enhancements.  I hope the m1x can support 4 thunderbolt 3 ports with PD (in addition to magsafe if it does return).  
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 24 of 40
    The only people who don’t want a redesign are the people who have the current body style and aren’t looking to upgrade.  Otherwise, most would gladly welcome any redesign (as long as it pushes forward).  

    We aren’t talking about an iconic design like a Ferrari 250 GTO….we’re talking about a rectangular box. This should always be able to be improved aesthetically! 😂 
  • Reply 25 of 40
    doggonedoggone Posts: 377member
    Generally Apple perform internally upgrades in one release cycle and then the cosmetic look and feel in the next.  Given that the Silicon upgrade is significant, I doubt that the form factor will be similar.  The rumors have already talked about MagSafe, HDMI, and SD slots in addition to the USB-C ports.  Personally I like the USB-C simplicity for the current MacBookPro, especially as hubs can offer everything you need in terms of connectivity.  The Touch Bar is neat but I rarely use is except for controlling brightness and sound.  Touch ID was a big win for me when I got this machine.  
    For me, I will take whatever comes out as a 16 inch MBP.  I've bought a new machine every 4-5 years and they have been superb. I still have a 2012 rMBP that I use as a media server (with its own built in battery backup) and it is still running good.  Paid for a battery replacement after 4 years and got a free screen replacement at the same time.
    Apple laptops are rock solid and last for years.  This machine will become my new media server once I get the M1 16 inch.  I also have to buy one for my wife who has been waiting a year for a new MBP.  I've been holding back because the M1 will be a significant upgrade and well worth the wait.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 26 of 40
    Are they finally going to bring back the SCSI port!?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 27 of 40
    y2any2an Posts: 187member
    Is it unusual for Apple to do reveals on a Monday? Is it simply that a pre-made show is easy to run right after the weekend compared with a live show, or is there something else behind it?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 28 of 40
    darkvaderdarkvader Posts: 1,146member
    neilm said:
    I'm pretty much in the "Ain't broke/don't fix it camp" as far as the MBP form factor goes. Sure, eke out a bit more screen real estate, and definitely upgrade the built in camera, but neither of those things requires any sort of wholesale redesign. My 2016 MBP is still elegantly simple and entirely functional in its design.

    But that brings up a few things that Apple actually did break with the current M1 MacBook Pro compared to my old Intel version:
    - Multi-monitor support
    - High RAM option
    - 4 TB ports
    - Meaningful market differentiation from the M1 Air.

    It's understandable why that was, based on the new M1 processor being the first and only one of its kind. But now's the time for a significant step forward.

    I'm in the "really broke/needs fixed" camp.  Apple broke a lot of things with the Retina MBPs, and broke a lot more with the horrible 2016 redesigns.

    - It's way too thin.  Yeah, thin is great for looking 'sleek' and being lightweight, but it's absolutely AWFUL for everything else.
    - It's too fragile.  See thin above, and then add in material strength.  Also, would it really be that hard to make the keyboard and trackpad at least a little bit water resistant?
    - Soldered storage.  This really is a massive mistake.  SSDs wear out, and drives are the component most people want to upgrade.
    - Soldered RAM.  The second-most desired upgrade, and RAM sometimes fails too.
    - Ports.  I mean, seriously, it won't hurt anything to put more on the computers, and a USB-A port and a Magsafe port (bring back the original, not Magsafe 2) would be amazing.
    - Batteries.  I know I don't have to tell anybody that a glued-in battery is just plain idiotic.

    I'd like to see a new Mac laptop that's at least as thick as the 2012 15" MBP that I'm using right now.  I'd like to see a Blu-ray drive in it.  I'd like a return to the battery of the 2008 MBP, with a little latch on the bottom and a quick-change battery.  I want to be able to drop in 128GB RAM and 10TB storage, using industry standard NVMe and DDR5 boards.

    Apple used to build good hardware.  I wish they'd do that again.

    And for people who really love thin, they can do that too.  Make a MacBook Executive that's stupid thin so I can hand that to the guys in suits who only care about word processing, spreadsheets, and their hairdo, and a REAL MacBook Pro for people who need power.
    zoetmbvedelppaMplsP
  • Reply 29 of 40
    It will be interesting to see if Apple uses the flat backed design of the iPad Pros with the updated MBP’s.  It would be a natural evolution in design, but Apple doesn’t always act the way we expect them to, because they’re doing all sorts of iterations and they figure out what works and doesn’t work for any design they’re launching.  I certainly can’t see them going backwards and adding in SD card support or HDMI at this point.  

    Even MagSafe, or whatever they’d call it, doesn’t make the same sense it once did, especially with the M series products providing huge increases in battery life.  I remember back when I was traveling a ton with my 15” rMBP (2013 - 17), I would always have to find a place to plug in half way through a day, which is why with people plugged in at Starbucks, it was critical to have a quick-release plug for the inevitable tripped upon cord.  But today’s M1 MBA and MBP’s can literally last an entire day of use without needing to be charged, so why make a MagSafe-like charging option?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 30 of 40
    y2an said:
    Is it unusual for Apple to do reveals on a Monday? Is it simply that a pre-made show is easy to run right after the weekend compared with a live show, or is there something else behind it?
    Google has a Pixel event Tuesday. Samsung has an event Wednesday.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 31 of 40
    darkvader said:
    neilm said:
    I'm pretty much in the "Ain't broke/don't fix it camp" as far as the MBP form factor goes. Sure, eke out a bit more screen real estate, and definitely upgrade the built in camera, but neither of those things requires any sort of wholesale redesign. My 2016 MBP is still elegantly simple and entirely functional in its design.

    But that brings up a few things that Apple actually did break with the current M1 MacBook Pro compared to my old Intel version:
    - Multi-monitor support
    - High RAM option
    - 4 TB ports
    - Meaningful market differentiation from the M1 Air.

    It's understandable why that was, based on the new M1 processor being the first and only one of its kind. But now's the time for a significant step forward.

    I'm in the "really broke/needs fixed" camp.  Apple broke a lot of things with the Retina MBPs, and broke a lot more with the horrible 2016 redesigns.

    - It's way too thin.  Yeah, thin is great for looking 'sleek' and being lightweight, but it's absolutely AWFUL for everything else.
    - It's too fragile.  See thin above, and then add in material strength.  Also, would it really be that hard to make the keyboard and trackpad at least a little bit water resistant?
    - Soldered storage.  This really is a massive mistake.  SSDs wear out, and drives are the component most people want to upgrade.
    - Soldered RAM.  The second-most desired upgrade, and RAM sometimes fails too.
    - Ports.  I mean, seriously, it won't hurt anything to put more on the computers, and a USB-A port and a Magsafe port (bring back the original, not Magsafe 2) would be amazing.
    - Batteries.  I know I don't have to tell anybody that a glued-in battery is just plain idiotic.

    I'd like to see a new Mac laptop that's at least as thick as the 2012 15" MBP that I'm using right now.  I'd like to see a Blu-ray drive in it.  I'd like a return to the battery of the 2008 MBP, with a little latch on the bottom and a quick-change battery.  I want to be able to drop in 128GB RAM and 10TB storage, using industry standard NVMe and DDR5 boards.

    Apple used to build good hardware.  I wish they'd do that again.

    And for people who really love thin, they can do that too.  Make a MacBook Executive that's stupid thin so I can hand that to the guys in suits who only care about word processing, spreadsheets, and their hairdo, and a REAL MacBook Pro for people who need power.
    You might as well start building a time machine.
    tenthousandthingswatto_cobra
  • Reply 32 of 40
    zoetmbzoetmb Posts: 2,654member
    In spite of the M1 processors, there's another reason why Apple might not do a full redesign:    Mac is becoming an ever-smaller part of Apple's revenue stream.   In the first three quarters of the current fiscal, Mac represented just 9.2% of Apple's net sales.   It was 10.4% last fiscal.    Only the IPad had a smaller share.   Wearables (this fiscal) is 10.5% and Services is 17.8%.    If the average Mac sale is $2000, Apple sold about 14.3 million in fiscal 2020, compared to approximately 172 million iPhones (if the average is $800 ea.)     

    Personally, I'm with Darkvader.   I think it's completely ridiculous that Mac doesn't have user replaceable memory, storage and battery like it once did and if the price of that is a thicker case, so be it.    Of course, Apple will never do it because in spite of promoting itself as a green company,  its strategy is to force people to buy a new computer instead of upgrading an existing one.      I've attended a number of "safe-disposal" events recently and while PC's dominate, there's plenty of people tossing Macs as well.  
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 33 of 40
    I'm probably getting a 16" MBP as soon as the new ones become available. I've been waiting 6 months for it. But Apple is starting to concern me more and more. This time, it may actually be my last Mac.

    It was a small thing that got me thinking about this. My wife uses her iPhone as the remote for our Apple TV. We upgraded to IOS 15, and the app on her home screen no longer worked. What she got was a notification that the remote app had been moved to Control Center. There is no way around this - if you want to use the remote, you have to do it their way. There's no reason for it other than the fact that they think that's how the app should be run. It's less convenient, but they don't have to actually use the app. They just write it and tell everyone else how things are going to be.

    Which got me thinking about MBP rumors. Touchscreens, virtual keyboards. I don't want those things. My MBP is a desktop replacement. It's almost never open. I think that's true of most of them. Touchscreens and virtual keyboards have no place on a desktop replacement. And I won't be replacing my monitors to enable that "feature" if that's the way it goes. I'll either buy an Intel machine that's twice as fast and costs half as much and do my work in Linux, or wind up being forced to use a Mac for work and hating every minute of it (how it was with Windows for a long time).

    Which will lead me away from the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV (no Apple Watch here, because I think they are stupid, on top of being ugly). And maybe that's for the best.

    I'm hopeful that it won't go this way. If they release the rumored external keyboard with TouchID this week it will show they are at least accommodating people who actually need a MBP and not just catering to those who work in the cloud all day (so they don't need one, regardless of what they may believe) and think a Pro impresses chicks at Starbucks. But I am making contingency plans...
  • Reply 34 of 40
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,335member
    The only people who don’t want a redesign are the people who have the current body style and aren’t looking to upgrade.  Otherwise, most would gladly welcome any redesign (as long as it pushes forward).  

    We aren’t talking about an iconic design like a Ferrari 250 GTO….we’re talking about a rectangular box. This should always be able to be improved aesthetically! ߘ⦡mp;nbsp;
    Big fan of the Ferrari 250 GTO and Shelby Daytona Cobra of similar vintage. Your point about reimagining the box is pretty much right on, especially so if Apple sticks to omitting a touch screen, which is extremely likely given the fact that macOS isn’t really jiggered for touch. 

    The mutual dependency between the Mac and macOS puts a hard constraint on how much they can change on the MacBook Pro now. I just don’t see Macs changing in any significant way until macOS opens up new avenues for reimagining the human interaction model for Mac, unless they unleash a gimmicky monstrosity on the world.  

    Oh, and to add more ammo to the unlikelihood of any radical changes to MacBook Pro we need to look no further than the iPad Pro with magic keyboard. The more Apple does with the iPad Pro the less they are likely to do with the MacBook Pro. 
    edited October 2021
  • Reply 35 of 40
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    darkvader said:
    neilm said:
    I'm pretty much in the "Ain't broke/don't fix it camp" as far as the MBP form factor goes. Sure, eke out a bit more screen real estate, and definitely upgrade the built in camera, but neither of those things requires any sort of wholesale redesign. My 2016 MBP is still elegantly simple and entirely functional in its design.

    But that brings up a few things that Apple actually did break with the current M1 MacBook Pro compared to my old Intel version:
    - Multi-monitor support
    - High RAM option
    - 4 TB ports
    - Meaningful market differentiation from the M1 Air.

    It's understandable why that was, based on the new M1 processor being the first and only one of its kind. But now's the time for a significant step forward.

    I'm in the "really broke/needs fixed" camp.  Apple broke a lot of things with the Retina MBPs, and broke a lot more with the horrible 2016 redesigns.

    - It's way too thin.  Yeah, thin is great for looking 'sleek' and being lightweight, but it's absolutely AWFUL for everything else.
    - It's too fragile.  See thin above, and then add in material strength.  Also, would it really be that hard to make the keyboard and trackpad at least a little bit water resistant?
    - Soldered storage.  This really is a massive mistake.  SSDs wear out, and drives are the component most people want to upgrade.
    - Soldered RAM.  The second-most desired upgrade, and RAM sometimes fails too.
    - Ports.  I mean, seriously, it won't hurt anything to put more on the computers, and a USB-A port and a Magsafe port (bring back the original, not Magsafe 2) would be amazing.
    - Batteries.  I know I don't have to tell anybody that a glued-in battery is just plain idiotic.
    Bingo. the butterfly keyboard was a colossal failure, and the design that forces you to replace the entire chassis just to replace the keyboard? Seriously?

    I still miss the MagSafe port from my old MacBook Air, and a HDMI port would be huge for anyone who gives presentations (or simply wants to hook up to an external monitor at all.)  Phil may call USB C ‘the future,’ but even 5 years later it’s still not today. When I bought a monitor for my MBP HDMI and display port were universal but specifying USB C severely limited my choices.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 36 of 40
    thedbathedba Posts: 762member
    MplsP said:
    darkvader said:
    neilm said:
    I'm pretty much in the "Ain't broke/don't fix it camp" as far as the MBP form factor goes. Sure, eke out a bit more screen real estate, and definitely upgrade the built in camera, but neither of those things requires any sort of wholesale redesign. My 2016 MBP is still elegantly simple and entirely functional in its design.

    But that brings up a few things that Apple actually did break with the current M1 MacBook Pro compared to my old Intel version:
    - Multi-monitor support
    - High RAM option
    - 4 TB ports
    - Meaningful market differentiation from the M1 Air.

    It's understandable why that was, based on the new M1 processor being the first and only one of its kind. But now's the time for a significant step forward.

    I'm in the "really broke/needs fixed" camp.  Apple broke a lot of things with the Retina MBPs, and broke a lot more with the horrible 2016 redesigns.

    - It's way too thin.  Yeah, thin is great for looking 'sleek' and being lightweight, but it's absolutely AWFUL for everything else.
    - It's too fragile.  See thin above, and then add in material strength.  Also, would it really be that hard to make the keyboard and trackpad at least a little bit water resistant?
    - Soldered storage.  This really is a massive mistake.  SSDs wear out, and drives are the component most people want to upgrade.
    - Soldered RAM.  The second-most desired upgrade, and RAM sometimes fails too.
    - Ports.  I mean, seriously, it won't hurt anything to put more on the computers, and a USB-A port and a Magsafe port (bring back the original, not Magsafe 2) would be amazing.
    - Batteries.  I know I don't have to tell anybody that a glued-in battery is just plain idiotic.
    Bingo. the butterfly keyboard was a colossal failure, and the design that forces you to replace the entire chassis just to replace the keyboard? Seriously?

    I still miss the MagSafe port from my old MacBook Air, and a HDMI port would be huge for anyone who gives presentations (or simply wants to hook up to an external monitor at all.)  Phil may call USB C ‘the future,’ but even 5 years later it’s still not today. When I bought a monitor for my MBP HDMI and display port were universal but specifying USB C severely limited my choices.
    That last sentence of yours just shows how much pundits and legislators suffer from ADD these days.
    No other company has done as much to push the USBC standard as much as Apple, yet pundits and many commenters alike are all up in arms when they remove their personal favorite legacy ports.
    The hypocrisy is that a few days later many of those very same pundits/posters will be calling upon Apple to replace their iPhone Lightning port with USBC, sighting e-waste/standards or whatever else that may be in their heads at the time.
    My question is this. If standards, saving the planet from pollution is their call to arms, why not call upon all manufacturers to change to the USB4 TypeC/TB3 connector, including TV and computer monitor manufacturers? Why’s Apple singled out in the EU for not “complying” for the iPhone, yet we still have TV’s/monitors being sold with the old HDMI standard and the even older display port?    
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 37 of 40
    thedbathedba Posts: 762member
    vedelppa said:
    thedba said:
    MplsP said:
    darkvader said:
    neilm said:
    I'm pretty much in the "Ain't broke/don't fix it camp" as far as the MBP form factor goes. Sure, eke out a bit more screen real estate, and definitely upgrade the built in camera, but neither of those things requires any sort of wholesale redesign. My 2016 MBP is still elegantly simple and entirely functional in its design.

    But that brings up a few things that Apple actually did break with the current M1 MacBook Pro compared to my old Intel version:
    - Multi-monitor support
    - High RAM option
    - 4 TB ports
    - Meaningful market differentiation from the M1 Air.

    It's understandable why that was, based on the new M1 processor being the first and only one of its kind. But now's the time for a significant step forward.

    I'm in the "really broke/needs fixed" camp.  Apple broke a lot of things with the Retina MBPs, and broke a lot more with the horrible 2016 redesigns.

    - It's way too thin.  Yeah, thin is great for looking 'sleek' and being lightweight, but it's absolutely AWFUL for everything else.
    - It's too fragile.  See thin above, and then add in material strength.  Also, would it really be that hard to make the keyboard and trackpad at least a little bit water resistant?
    - Soldered storage.  This really is a massive mistake.  SSDs wear out, and drives are the component most people want to upgrade.
    - Soldered RAM.  The second-most desired upgrade, and RAM sometimes fails too.
    - Ports.  I mean, seriously, it won't hurt anything to put more on the computers, and a USB-A port and a Magsafe port (bring back the original, not Magsafe 2) would be amazing.
    - Batteries.  I know I don't have to tell anybody that a glued-in battery is just plain idiotic.
    Bingo. the butterfly keyboard was a colossal failure, and the design that forces you to replace the entire chassis just to replace the keyboard? Seriously?

    I still miss the MagSafe port from my old MacBook Air, and a HDMI port would be huge for anyone who gives presentations (or simply wants to hook up to an external monitor at all.)  Phil may call USB C ‘the future,’ but even 5 years later it’s still not today. When I bought a monitor for my MBP HDMI and display port were universal but specifying USB C severely limited my choices.
    That last sentence of yours just shows how much pundits and legislators suffer from ADD these days.
    No other company has done as much to push the USBC standard as much as Apple, yet pundits and many commenters alike are all up in arms when they remove their personal favorite legacy ports.
    The hypocrisy is that a few days later many of those very same pundits/posters will be calling upon Apple to replace their iPhone Lightning port with USBC, sighting e-waste/standards or whatever else that may be in their heads at the time.
    My question is this. If standards, saving the planet from pollution is their call to arms, why not call upon all manufacturers to change to the USB4 TypeC/TB3 connector, including TV and computer monitor manufacturers? Why’s Apple singled out in the EU for not “complying” for the iPhone, yet we still have TV’s/monitors being sold with the old HDMI standard and the even older display port?    

    these are just your (faulty) assumptions. also, something isn't legacy just because you (or Apple) calls it legacy (I mean the future of ports is paved with adapters and we've taken only the first steps). last but not least, think about the market size of devices with lightning ports and devices with old HDMI.
    I personally have no problems with Lightning or HDMI.
    But if pundits and legislators are to grill Apple for still using Lightning on the iPhone should they not grill other players in similar industries for using HDMI? Why not use USB4/TB3 everywhere? One cable to rule them all.
     
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 38 of 40
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,299member
    dk49 said:
    So Apple's recent crack on leakers is working..
    Perfectly so many strange rumours site are falling over to publish. Apple could have pin pointed a few leakers this week along. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 39 of 40
    vedelppa said:
    oh yes and about those who said something like get a time machine, well.. get a life!
    That was me, and okay sure. But, I'm just pointing to where the tech is going. Look at where memory is on Apple Silicon. Storage is a different story, but it's clear where this is headed whether you like it or not. The idea of socketed mini boards for everything is going away.
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