

Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook  - davidhperry
http://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/26/apple-finishing-up-work-on-an-ultra-thin-15-notebook/

======
w1ntermute
I think they will call it an MBP and completely phase out built-in optical
drives on Macs. After all, Apple was the first major OEM to phase out floppy
drives (when floppies were still very common). Now that the Mac App Store has
been launched, the timing is perfect.

However, it would be really nice if the new Thunderbolt displays had built-in
Blu-ray/DVD/CD-RW drives. That would make it possible to use an optical drive
at home (where I, in any case, would most likely need one) without having yet
another peripheral to clutter things up. Since the purpose of Thunderbolt is
to create One Connector to Rule Them All, we shouldn't have to connect a
separate optical drive when the new Cinema Display is essentially a docking
station and monitor in one.

~~~
schrototo
Aside from the fact that no Apple product will ever have a Blu-ray drive
(Jobs: "a bag of hurt"), it wouldn't make sense to phase out optical media on
their computers but give the displays built-in drives. The future is digital
distribution and I'm certain Apple is 100% committed to that.

(If you need to use "legacy" media for the time being, Apple will be happy to
sell you an add-on drive.)

~~~
w1ntermute
Well, without a Blu-ray drive (or a TV to watch movies with a regular Blu-ray
player) and a deep-seated loathing of streaming, that leaves me up shit creek
with piracy as the only option when it comes to watching HD movies. Maybe I'll
just stick to DVDs.

~~~
r00fus
Perhaps you should consider a non-Apple product? Blue-ray appliances and PCs
are not exactly hard to find or expensive.

------
econgeeker
This is what I've been expecting. I used to think I was unique, but looking at
the forums, I realize there's a whole cadre of people who buy MacBook Pros,
take out the optical drive, and replace it with an SSD, so they run with both
an SSD and a hard drive. The SSD runs the OS and has your code and apps on it,
the hard drive has your Big Media.

I hope, when Apple gives up the optical media drive, they will still continue
to have a hard drive slot.

I'd much rather just buy the machine configured this way from Apple than have
to rework the internals of my laptop (And undo everything if I have to take
the machine in for support.)

~~~
xentronium
> they will still continue to have a hard drive slot.

Not gonna happen. Even if they decide to save the current form-factor, they
will fill the empty space with something actually useful, like battery.

~~~
jodrellblank
Like the way they filled the original iPad with batteries and didn't leave
empty space?

[http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp43/zuo_2008/07393211888...](http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp43/zuo_2008/07393211888646306-2.png)

------
cageface
I wonder if this new crop of ultra-thin Macbooks is going to threaten iPad
sales. Certainly the iPad is half the price of the low-end MBA, but the MBA
isn't that much harder to lug around and it's _so_ much more capable. Lately I
find myself reaching for my 2010 MBP more than the iPad and that's a beast
compared to this year's crop.

~~~
inkaudio
I think most people use the ipad to view content or play games. see:
<http://mashable.com/2010/07/08/ipad-usage-report/> It not so much about
lugging a computer around, but using the ipad while you're on the move. The
Ipad is so much easier to use in that way. There are plenty of photographers
and videographers who use it to show their work. People are using it to
replace e-readers (like me). Restaurants are using it to manage their living
social deals, loyalty programs and square credit card processing. And I notice
the form factor(touch screen no keyboard) makes it simple for them to use
while moving around. Most non technical people won't pay more for Macbook if
ipad is good enough for their needs. So I don't see ultra thin Macbooks
threaten ipad sales. For me I love using both. Ipad for magazines, books,
portfolios, casual games, occasional web browsing. And Mac book pro for
everything else, coding, writing music, editing pictures.

~~~
cageface
I'm probably not a typical user, but over and over again I find that while
browsing on the iPad that I want to comment at length on something I read,
which I hate doing on the touch keyboard. I also tend to browse the web with a
bunch of tabs open and switch around quickly and this also isn't so pleasant
on the iPad. Something like the 11" MBA with Ableton Live, Adobe CS, XCode,
Terminal, Chrome, and Transmit could be all the computer I need and would be
no trouble to port around.

At this point the only thing I strongly prefer to do on the iPad is read
ebooks. I wonder how many people there are like me that love the portability
and convenience of a tablet but would be happy to put up with a _slightly_
larger device if it meant they could do real work with it as well.

~~~
clobber
iOS 5 will solve at least part of this for you: The new Safari will have tabs
and the touch keyboard will be "split"

[http://www.geek.com/articles/apple/apples-ios-5-finally-
brin...](http://www.geek.com/articles/apple/apples-ios-5-finally-brings-a-
split-keyboard-to-the-ipad-2011067/)

------
kylec
I really hope it doesn't have the wedge shape, they're so hard to get open.
What I'd really like to see is for them to ditch the optical drive, make it
~40% thinner or so (but with the same thickness throughout) and to fill the
rest of the space with a bigger battery.

~~~
jws
…and a flying pony.

You want a 40% space reduction and room for more batteries in exchange for
losing an optical drive that accounts for 10% of the original volume.[1]

[1] The MacBook Pro has a volume of 2175cc. An internal optical drive is about
200cc.

~~~
kylec
Overall volume perhaps, but the optical drive takes up a lot more than 10% of
the internal volume.

------
jaxonrice
And just like that my plans to by the 13 inch MBA have been thrown into
dissaray

------
gamble
I hope this is true. The revamped MBA is very attractive, but the 13" screen
kills it for me. I'm ready to say goodbye to my optical drive.

~~~
rdl
Remember, the 13" MBA has the same res as the regular 15" MBP (although it
doesn't match the MBP 15 HD or the MBP 17).

I'd go with a MBP15HD as my only laptop, but instead I do mba13 + mbp17.

~~~
jarek
Apparently the quality (colour reproduction, etc) of the Macbook Air screens
is significantly worse than that of the Macbook Pro.

~~~
rdl
There's also the tragic lack of an antiglare option (rather, the mandatory
presence of a glare-inducing piece) on the mba vs. mbp15hd/mbp17.

I wish they'd fix that for the ACD 27 and iMac, too. I've been using Dell
U-series IPS panels (U2410, U2711, U3011) for everything due to being matte
and cheap ($400, 750, 1k!), but the new Apple display with the docking is
pretty awesome, so I ordered one. Sadly, the glossiness means never using it
in a room with external lighting :(

------
dotcoma
could it be possible that they end up with just one line of products, like the
current air and in 11, 13, 15 and 17" formats?

~~~
jaredmck
Doubtful, the segmentation and price anchoring effects of multiple lines are
too important to ignore.

~~~
jaxn
I disagree. The 13" MBA is available for $1299 and $1599 whereas the 13"MBP is
available for $1199 and $1499. The tradeoff used to be performance vs
portability, but the benchmarks on the new MBA look like there isn't much
performance difference anymore.

I am using a 13" MBP right now, but there is no way I would buy one today. I
could see the MBP line going away and the MBA line replacing it completely.
Not sure if they would stick with the "Air" name though.

~~~
jaredmck
I could definitely see them getting rid of the 13" MBP, but it has been
positioned as the model you're pushed to via anchoring, as it seems like a
deal (if that makes any sense). It does seem like the MBAs are filling in this
role, but I don't really see how turning every model into a variant of the MBA
would match up with Apple's standard product strategy.

Agree that there likely will be some changes to the larger models along the
lines you're proposing, but I think they will still be somewhat distinct from
the Air.

------
daimyoyo
I am willing to let the optical drive go in my next computer, but what I'm not
willing to let go of is the storage capacity. Right now I can buy a laptop
with 500GB of storage for less than $2,000. Or I can get a MacBook Air with
half that. I understand that for the average consumer that 256GB of memory is
plenty but I'm willing to exchange weight for storage capacity. And for
everyone saying iCloud will eliminate the need for a lot of storage ask
yourself if you really want to have to connect to the internet and burn up
bandwidth every time you want to access your stuff? In the days of data caps,
I don't.

------
grk
Related: Ford begins to kill off CDs too [http://www.neowin.net/news/ford-
motor-company-begins-to-kill...](http://www.neowin.net/news/ford-motor-
company-begins-to-kill-off-cd-players)

~~~
erikpukinskis
I don't understand why these companies are providing USB/iPod ports. Hats off
to the ones that provide 1/8" audio jacks, but I don't get why they don't just
provide a 1/8" audio _cable_ that comes out of somewhere.

Every audio device since the dawn of time has a 1/8" audio jack in it. Why not
interface with the technology that's already omnipresent?

~~~
doublec
Because you can't charge the device through the 1/8" jack. The devices would
also need something to plug into to be used for any length of time.

------
redthrowaway
Somewhat related, but the Asus Ultrabook mentioned in the article looks
fantatic: [http://www.macrumors.com/2011/05/30/intel-outlines-ivy-
bridg...](http://www.macrumors.com/2011/05/30/intel-outlines-ivy-bridge-
roadmap-as-1st-half-2012-and-previews-ultrabook-laptop-designs/)

~~~
cageface
I'm as unhappy as anybody else about Apple's latest raft of lawsuits but
that's about as blatant a ripoff of the MBA design as I can imagine.

------
TobbenTM
Have HN come so far as to upvote an Apple rumor story? wow..

------
Kilimanjaro
Also, plastic macbooks in delectable colors, starting at $799, coming this
xmas.

