02-29-2012, 06:50 PM

Apple's thinner 13- & 15-inch MacBook Pros expected in April at the soonest

New 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros with a thinner and lighter design are expected to launch in April "at the soonest," with an initial shipment of just under a million units.

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03-06-2012, 05:49 PM

Would love to see the 13" MBP basically being a 13" MBA with 8GB Memory and discreet graphics.

03-06-2012, 06:42 PM

Originally Posted by newbimac

Would love to see the 13" MBP basically being a 13" MBA with 8GB Memory and discreet graphics.

Make that user upgradeable memory and a 2.5 in SATA Drive Bay and I'm good with it.

03-06-2012, 11:45 PM

Originally Posted by newbimac

Would love to see the 13" MBP basically being a 13" MBA with 8GB Memory and discreet graphics.

With a lack of optical drive and less ports? No thanks.

03-06-2012, 11:49 PM

Other users have said this as well on other forums: let the 13" MBA be the stepping stone to the MBP lineup, which would leave only the 15"/17" as MBP models, and 11"/13" as MBA models. So, you would have 2 line ups: MBA and MBP. The MBA is the ultra thin. The MBP is the ultra-"pro" model. The 13" would take cues from both of the Air and Pro to bridge both of them together. From thinnest to thickest: 11"MBA, 13"MBA, 15"MBP, 17"MBP. Less clutter, and I'm more than positive you could make more money with the 13" this way.

03-07-2012, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by MacDude121

With a lack of optical drive and less ports? No thanks.

I can't agree more. Apple is a great company that makes great products but they are starting to think making something thinner will automatically make it easier to use. I have to disagree with apple, i love my 2011 13 inch mbp and its large number of ports. Thats why people who want a portable notebook can get a mba not a mbp.

03-08-2012, 04:14 AM

It's down to the individual, but I bet if survived a greater number of people would be for ditching the integrated optical drive and sacraficing a few ports for a slimmer machine with "pro" graphics and more memory.

After all, there are plenty of ways to compensate for lack of ports with hubs, adapters, thunderbolt, etc. same for the optical drive, with wireless drive sharing. Conversely there's no way you can just remove an integrated optical drive. Well at least not unless Apple introduce the new range with a docking system.

03-08-2012, 08:22 AM

I tend to agree. I don't need lots of ports. Two USB and one Thunderbolt would probably suffice. And, lack of an optical drive is not an issue. But, IMO, to be a "Pro" it can't sacrifice on the processor, graphics and HAS to have user upgradeable/replaceable RAM and Storage Drives (SSD or HDD).

03-08-2012, 10:28 AM

All I know is - they better not put out a new MBP that doesn't have IVY bridge... hopefully they're getting the first production run of chips again.

03-08-2012, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by Razormac

I tend to agree. I don't need lots of ports. Two USB and one Thunderbolt would probably suffice. And, lack of an optical drive is not an issue. But, IMO, to be a "Pro" it can't sacrifice on the processor, graphics and HAS to have user upgradeable/replaceable RAM and Storage Drives (SSD or HDD).

I would have normally disagreed about the lack of an optical drive but since mine is broken, I've gotten very good at learning how to get content without it.

Originally Posted by BrianLachoreVPI

All I know is - they better not put out a new MBP that doesn't have IVY bridge... hopefully they're getting the first production run of chips again.

I keep reading conflicting reports. Some say April will bring new MBPs with IB while I've read other reports suggesting that Intel won't be ready (I'll see if I can track down that article). I'm still waiting (and foolishly so) for a quad core 13" MBP.

03-08-2012, 11:20 AM

Using the title "Pro" while ditching ports such as Firewire and widdling the USB ports down to 1 would be a horrible idea. First of all, I don't care if you can use a hub, that's not the point. How is it any better to have a thin machine that forces you to carry around hubs and dongles etc? That would be just as inconvenient.

Thunderbolt? At this point, it's good only for a display port. No one but true industry pro's can afford TB storage! Until its proliferation in the Windows segment, we won't be seeing those prices coming down any time soon.

And while we're at it, I really hope that Apple totally revamps the entire structure of the MB line. If we are to see "pro" level graphics and processing power in a MB the size of the Air, then I fear for the life/longevity of the logicboard due to all the heat build up.

Well, hopefully my 4 year old MBP will hold up for another 4 years, because my next machine is an iMac.

Doug

03-08-2012, 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by Doug b

Thunderbolt? At this point, it's good only for a display port. No one but true industry pro's can afford TB storage! Until its proliferation in the Windows segment, we won't be seeing those prices coming down any time soon.

True . . . I'm a natural optimist (or guillible--you pick) I keep expecting Sonnet to finally release the Allegro Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter they have been promising.

03-08-2012, 01:01 PM

Maybe its me but i am not really interested in a thinner Macbook. Call me old fashioned but i always think that there is a limit to how thin a macbook can be, considering you start to sacrifice durability in the event. Or maybe its the lack of raw materials why we're using less and less and calling it style...
go figure

03-08-2012, 01:42 PM

Any chance of a retina display on the MBP. That would be awesome.

03-08-2012, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by lojikal

Maybe its me but i am not really interested in a thinner Macbook. Call me old fashioned but i always think that there is a limit to how thin a macbook can be, considering you start to sacrifice durability in the event. Or maybe its the lack of raw materials why we're using less and less and calling it style...
go figure

I don't quite get it either. The Air is already filling that market space - if the point is to get more horsepower in a smaller platform - just beef up the Air...don't downgrade the Pro.