Here is a Macbook rumor that I hope is not true.... (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

According to Cult of Mac, a Macbook refresh is due at the

end of the month with no design change and only a slight

bump in speed.


Wow. Bummer.


I opted not buy a Macbook Pro in February during the last

refresh hoping that February 2012 would bring a totally

redesigned model.


And now they are introducing a refresh 7 months later with

no major overhaul?


I hope it's not true. But if it is, I hope it won't be another 12

months till the next refresh.


Was really hoping that the next Macbook Pro would be

something more revolutionary. Perhaps that revolution will

come with a Macbook Air Pro next year.

 

[Sam Posten]

Waiting for Apple to make the products you want rather than buying what Apple makes because it gets the job you need to do today done is a recipe for pain. Nobody knows this more than me, I waited 3 years for a Bluray equipped Mac. It's not gonna happen any time soon. Your best bet is to just buy the best you can afford near the day it's released and if the next release is REALLY so much better buy that too and flip the old one. You get a years worth of a great product and typically only lose 30% of the sticker price of the box, which if you bought savvy, tax and shipping free is not a big wow.

 

[KeithAP]

If the refresh is truly just a speed bump, then you may still get a full refresh early next year.


I haven't been following Intel's CPU announcements lately but this may simply be a case of their product matrix changing a bit and Apple is basically going along for the ride. If Intel is offering faster chips, at the same or lessor price point, Apple would be foolish not to take advantage of it even if new machines are coming early next year. Heck, it is possible Apple wouldn't even have a choice. Or, it could be that Apple wants to sweeten things up a little for the holiday season.


Good things come to those that wait.


-Keith

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Appreciate the advice, everyone.


I am fully aware of the dangers of riding out Apple products.


I don't need a new Macbook Pro for another year. I just came

back from Cedia and attempting to encode video on my Duo Core

Macbook Pro with 4GB ram was pretty rough. I really need an i7

with 8GB of ram.


I am looking to buy the best I can get. Even it means dropping

$3k on a new Macbook and including a 500GB Solid State drive.

I have come to realize that having a real powerhouse laptop to
take on the road and use for the kind of work I do is essential.


So, let's see what Apple has a year from now. Hope the SS
drives come down further in price.

 

[Sam Posten]

Or you could get FCPX and never worry about rendering again.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Sam,


Could you give me some insight on FCPX?

Looked at the page briefly, but I can't figure out if it's a full-fledged

movie editor like iMovie or just a tool to import and trim.


Thanks

 

[Sam Posten]

It's Apple's new re-imagining of what a professional video editing tool should be. There was a lot of negative feedback from 'real' pros who can't do things you will never worry about (complex tape import, XML based edit decision lists) but for folks like you and me it's iMovie on steroids. http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/269707/any-final-cut-pro-users-here/30 http://nofilmschool.com/2011/08/final-cut-pro-x-and-going-entertaining/ http://digitalfilms.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/apple-final-cut-pro-x/ Free tut: http://www.izzyvideo.com/final-cut-pro-x-tutorial/

 

[Sam Posten]

You can pretty much guess the Apple timeline based on the intel roadmap... http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/09/next-gen-intel-cpus-to-improve-mobile-graphics-battery-life.ars Ivy bridge will be Q2 2012, doing an "air-ified" MBP before that doesn't make much sense. See you in May-June for that. So a spec bump now prior to christmas, maybe with a few extra tweaks makes total sense.

 

[Sam Posten]

Ivy Bridge will be a monster update in 2012: http://www.cultofmac.com/114721/intels-next-processors-will-bring-super-high-resolution-retina-displays-to-the-macbook-air/ Again, if you need a laptop now, buy now, even if you have to trade up later....

 

[Sam Posten]

Looks like the delayed refresh is imminent, and it is definitely a minor update. http://9to5mac.com/2011/10/13/macbook-pros-constrained-new-models-appear-in-apples-inventory-system/ If you have a solid MBP right now don't sweat it, but be ready to drool around June 2012.

 

[Sam Posten]

This makes no sense at all, so, grain of salt etc... http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2011/10/apple-working-on-a-thinner-macbook-pro-design.html

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

Yeah...pretty dumb. Dump the optical drive and give me thinner design, less weight and/or larger capacity battery.

 

[Carlo_M]

Getting back to the original post about the rumored update being just a minor speed bump... That's what happens when Apple got in bed with Intel (a good move IMO so I'm not judging it). They're beholden to Intel's roadmap and release schedule. They couldn't do a massive refresh because they already have Sandy Bridge architecture in the current MBP and these are just the faster chips that are available on that platform. As Sam indicated, the next major Intel rev. will be Ivy Bridge but that won't be until late Q1 or early Q2 2012. Then you'll likely see both a hardware and case redesign.

 

[Sam Posten]

True, which is why Apple is guns for leather on getting their own chip architecture (currently ARM based) up to where they can build "classic" PC architectures that are good enough for most people. And why the iPad formfactor doesn't use intel.

 

[Sam Posten]

Update happened today, low key not even a press release. See you in June for the real update: http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/24/macbook-pro-specs-update-october-2011/

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I am perfectly fine with this non-event update.


I am saving my money for whatever huge comes in Feb. or June

of next year. I am hoping for a totally redesigned Macbook Pro

and much lower SSD drives prices.

 

[Carlo_M]

I don't know if SSD prices will drop. That's really dictated by third party manufacturers who make them, and while they have declined in price, it's been nowhere near as fast as people have hoped. What Apple could do, and it would require a re-engineering of the MBP line, is to institute the Flash Memory module from the Macbook Air line. Apparently those are significantly cheaper for Apple to produce (probably because they're exclusive to Apple, they don't have the traditional SSD casing, and they got a sweetheart production deal with Samsung). The downside is that it's a proprietary form factor that makes it more difficult (not impossible) for the end-user to upgrade. It also is a different size/shape than traditional SATA drives so the inside of the MBP would need to be redesigned. The problem is, if they do redesign it to include their low-cost solution, users will not be able to upgrade to, say, a larger disk-based hard drive. You'd trap the MBP line to the same SSD size constraints as the MBA. As someone who is currently using over 500GB of a 750GB MBP hard drive, this would present a problem for me.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Speaking of component prices, disk drives may go up -- if you listen to the latest Apple conference call Tim Cook says there will be HD component shortages due to natural disasters in Thailand...


I'm definitely looking forward to an "airified" 15" MacBook -- basically the only stuff I want that the current 13" doesn't have are 1) 15" screen; 2) 8GB of memory; 3) 500GB SSD. An Ethernet port would be great, but I can live with a dongle.


I should have asked when I was having my battery replaced (free!! thank you Apple for going above and beyond, yet again -- days after my Apple care had expired, too), but are late 2008 15" MBPs expandable to 8GB (4GB was the BTO max at the time of purchase). Except for the memory, it is good for another year, and my bank account will love me.

 

[Carlo_M]

Heard the same rumor about hard drive prices at Frys. I was at one on Saturday and they only had one refurb of a model that I was looking for (on sale). I asked if they had a new one and he said "no, and none of the nearby stores have one either...you might want to pick it up because I hear next week we're raising prices due to the flooding in Thailand". I didn't pick it up, because the thought of an opened HD makes me queasy and it wasn't mission critical for me to buy it, but just thought I'd pass it along. I think if they created a 15" Macbook Air which was the middle ground between the two lines I might be in for it, assuming 256GB flash-based HD at minimum. I do like the 15" screen size, although it would be cool if they made 1680x1050 the standard resolution on it since the 1440x900 res is already taken by the 13" MBA. Discrete GPU would be nice, along with using the more powerful line of mobile processors, which presumably a 15" MBA size would allow them to do. I'd then have to get a desktop Mac to complement it and move most of my A/V content to it.

 

[Sam Posten]

Rumors.... but start saving. Seriously. =) http://9to5mac.com/2011/10/30/apple-reportedly-completes-testing-of-15-inch-lcd-for-ultra-thin-macbook-pro/