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videoten

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 2, 2006
8
0
i know they just updated the MBP, and it seems everyone was waiting, but i just want to hear what people think about the potential of an enclosure redesign in 2007. some are weighing on an announcement at macworld in january, others on the release of santa rosa by q2.

one reason for a redesign in january: it's the 4th anniversary of the powerbook. reasons for redesign with santa rosa's release: while the c2d update was significant, with the centrino pro , laptops are said to be able to become even thinner and sleeker, and the processor will be able to make better use of the c2d.

any thoughts?
 

operator

macrumors regular
Oct 29, 2006
110
0
Canada
I also hope they update the case of the MBP's. It would be nice to have a magnetic latch, and even a 13.3" model.
 

Jiddick ExRex

macrumors 65816
May 14, 2006
1,469
0
Roskilde, DK
Frankly, how can they be slimmer than they are now? Wouldn't be impossible seeing as you still need a HD and an optical drive in there?

I would love to see the magnetic latch. Seeing as they have now moved to perpendicular drives, I don't care about the easily removable HD anymore though.
 

dongmin

macrumors 68000
Jan 3, 2002
1,710
6
one reason for a redesign in january: it's the 4th anniversary of the powerbook. reasons for redesign with santa rosa's release: while the c2d update was significant, with the centrino pro , laptops are said to be able to become even thinner and sleeker, and the processor will be able to make better use of the c2d.
I doubt it. People are overstating the significance of Santa Rosa, as they did with Merom. Let's look at the componenets of Santa Rosa:

1. 800 MT/s bus: a modest improvement over the current 667 mhz bus
2. GMA X3000: not relevant for pro hardware
3. 802.11 n: it's already there
4. Robson caching: the only thing new really
5. WWAN/WiMax: (does this mean Centrino laptops will have built-in 3G-compatible wireless cards?)

Of course, I'm not sure how relevant Intel's chipsets/platforms are to Apple, since Apple has always used a custom chipset. We may indeed see a brand new MBP design in 2007, but I'm doubtful that Santa Rosa will be the driving force behind it.
 

NewSc2

macrumors 65816
Jun 4, 2005
1,044
2
New York, NY
I doubt it. People are overstating the significance of Santa Rosa, as they did with Merom. Let's look at the componenets of Santa Rosa:

1. 800 MT/s bus: a modest improvement over the current 667 mhz bus
2. GMA X3000: not relevant for pro hardware
3. 802.11 n: it's already there
4. Robson caching: the only thing new really
5. WWAN/WiMax: (does this mean Centrino laptops will have built-in 3G-compatible wireless cards?)

Of course, I'm not sure how relevant Intel's chipsets/platforms are to Apple, since Apple has always used a custom chipset. We may indeed see a brand new MBP design in 2007, but I'm doubtful that Santa Rosa will be the driving force behind it.

good post. the only reason I saw to wait for Merom was because it was officially Rev. B. With everybody complaining about the processor thermal paste and the high temperatures it seemed logical to wait it out one iteration. I really think the best time to get a MBP would be now. Santa Rosa isn't coming out for another 6 months, and it might be another 8 months before we see the upgrades come to a MBP. Faster FSB doesn't always mean significant speed increases. The really big speed jump came when Apple went PPC to Intel.

As for case redesign... I don't really see Apple doing anything much. The iPod pretty much looks the same as it did 5 years ago, with a thinner profile and rounded edges. Looking at the iMac, and especially the Mac Pro (something that I *really* doubt will change), Apple has been pretty consistent in keeping the same styling. The Macbook would definitely not change a case in the near future. The only things I see for MBP is perhaps magnetic latch, and maaaybe the keyboard, which aren't biggies. If Apple went ahead and totally redesigned the case I'd be a little peeved.
 

macman2790

macrumors 6502a
Sep 4, 2006
716
1
Texas
i don't get why everyone wants a major case design other than the reason it looks like a powerbook. To me it looks great, and i hope it stays the same for years!
 

iñaki'sonMac'87

macrumors regular
Sep 6, 2006
124
0
Barcelona
I only could bet for a change of aspect, material (black maybe?) and nothing more, magnetic latch, but, every time I look to this baby, It can't be better_!
 

videoten

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 2, 2006
8
0
i agree about them getting thinner- this may apply morese to pc's using SR- perhaps they will finally get thinner and sleeker and catch up to apple!

i love the MBP enclosure, i just wonder about the switch to an integrated keyboard such as the iBook/MacBook redesign provided. i find the spacing of the keys much easier for typing, but that's a personal preference.

so i was just wondering if the MBP was due for the same keyboard change...
 

Warbrain

macrumors 603
Jun 28, 2004
5,702
293
Chicago, IL
I also hope they update the case of the MBP's. It would be nice to have a magnetic latch, and even a 13.3" model.

There will never be a 13.3" MacBook Pro model. Apple will not make a computer that will take away sales from the MacBook.

A magnetic closure might be coming, but I doubt there'll be any form factor changes. They're going to keep on going with what they've got. The keyboard will remain the same, the thinness the same, everything the same. Apple's not going to start with a new design next year. Maybe in 2008.
 

scott523

macrumors 6502a
Sep 8, 2006
874
129
Saint Charles, MO
i know they just updated the MBP, and it seems everyone was waiting, but i just want to hear what people think about the potential of an enclosure redesign in 2007. some are weighing on an announcement at macworld in january, others on the release of santa rosa by q2.

one reason for a redesign in january: it's the 4th anniversary of the powerbook. reasons for redesign with santa rosa's release: while the c2d update was significant, with the centrino pro , laptops are said to be able to become even thinner and sleeker, and the processor will be able to make better use of the c2d.

any thoughts?
Gosh this is worse than the people complaining for a C2D MB. You guys got the C2D MBP and still not happy? The C2D MBPs got updated almost 2 weeks ago and the next one isn't due probably until April/May.
 

slffl

macrumors 65816
Mar 5, 2003
1,303
4
Seattle, WA
I am waiting for a case redesign mainly because I need the screen to tilt back as far as they did on the Powerbooks.

But I think the case is nearly perfect as it is. I think the magnetic latch would be great, along with tilting the isight down a little.

I'm excited though to see what apple has in store. While I don't think there will be a major redesign, I'm always surpised at what they do come up with, like the magsafe adapter and built-in isight.
 

PygmySurfer

macrumors 6502
Aug 7, 2006
330
63
Wellesley, ON
i know they just updated the MBP, and it seems everyone was waiting, but i just want to hear what people think about the potential of an enclosure redesign in 2007. some are weighing on an announcement at macworld in january, others on the release of santa rosa by q2.

I was asked a similar question via private message, this is what I came up with:

The features of Santa Rosa are as follows:

* second generation Intel Core 2 processor (code named Merom) that uses Socket P
* 800 MT/s front side bus with Dynamic Front Side Bus Switching to save power during low utilization
* Intel Mobile 965 Express chipset (code named Crestline) with Intel's GMA X3000 graphics technology
* Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n mini-PCIe WiFi adapter (code named Kedron)
* NAND flash-memory caching (code-named Robson)
* WWAN Internet access via HSDPA codeveloped with Nokia (code-named Windigo) [1][2]
* EFI, a successor to BIOS
* WiMAX [3]

It looks like quite a big deal, but in my opinion it's really not. We get basically the same CPU as the current MBP, just in a different form factor (and cocked faster of course, these won't be out until around the middle of next year). We get a faster FSB, which is going to give a bit of a performance increase, though not much (it does have better power saving features though, so we might get a bit more battery life). We get a better mobile chipset, which will be able to address 4GB (and more) of memory, which will be a good thing of course. The chipset features integrated graphics, which Apple will likely only use on the MacBook, not the MBP. We get an upgraded wireless chipset that supports 802.11n. Apple hasn't been using Intel wireless chipsets, and the chipset in the MBP appears to already support 802.11n, anyway. NAND flash-memory caching seems to be the big feature, but from what I understand, this just means computers will boot faster. WWAN is basically connecting to the internet via cellular networks, which is kind of cool, but expensive, and you can do this with ExpressCard now (I don't know if there are any ExpressCard WWAN adapters for Mac OS X or not though). We get EFI, which Apple has been using for all Intel Macs, so that's nothing new. And finally, we get WiMAX, which seems to be kind of like a wireless version of DSL. It is a type of wireless broadband acccess. It doesn't seem very popular yet, and there will likely be ExpressCard or USB adapters for this type of service, if you really want it (it'd be subscription-based, a replacement for your cable or DSL service).

I don't really see much over the current MacBook Pro, really. If you need more than 4GB of RAM, Santa Rosa is a no-brainer. Otherwise, there's not a lot being offered over the current MacBook Pro. I imagine when Apple releases Santa Rosa-based MBPs that they'll have an upgraded graphics card, so if that's an important feature, it might be worth waiting. One last thing to remember is that Santa Rosa is an entirely new platform, while the Core 2 Duo MBPs are essentially the same as the original MBP, only with a different CPU. The original MBP had all kinds of issues with heat, whining, etc - I think the introduction of Santa Rosa-based MBPs could be plagued with similar issues, enough so that I'd recommend waiting until a revision is made to the Santa Rosa MBP. Santa Rosa is scheduled for release in April, 2007. If Apple releases MBPs immediately, that puts a revision occurring around October/November 2007 at the earliest. Something to think about if you intend on waiting.

I certainly think now is a good time to buy (I did buy my own MBP, after all!). We're right at the beginning of Apple's current product cycle, the next MBP will likely be an entirely new architecture, with which comes several potential issues, and the new architecture doesn't really introduce anything significant (it's even using the same basic CPU as the current MBP).

Montevina is the name of the platform to follow Santa Rosa, sometime in 2008. It will support the next-generation of mobile CPUs (Penryn), and faster memory (Santa Rosa uses the same memory as the current MBP), and an even faster bus than Santa Rosa. If you buy a MBP now, by the time you're ready to purchase a new laptop, Montevina will have matured (or perhaps whatever Intel has planned for release after Montevina will be available).

one reason for a redesign in january: it's the 4th anniversary of the powerbook. reasons for redesign with santa rosa's release: while the c2d update was significant, with the centrino pro , laptops are said to be able to become even thinner and sleeker, and the processor will be able to make better use of the c2d.

any thoughts?

Santa Rosa isn't due until April, so there's practically zero chance of a redesigned case being demoed at MacWorld. We MAY see new cases when Santa Rosa is released, I doubt anything drastic (Black Brushed Aluminum sure would be nice, though). The introduction of Penryn/Montevina would probably be a more likely date for the introduction of an all-new case design.
 

daveL

macrumors 68020
Jun 18, 2003
2,425
0
Montana
Of course, I'm not sure how relevant Intel's chipsets/platforms are to Apple, since Apple has always used a custom chipset. We may indeed see a brand new MBP design in 2007, but I'm doubtful that Santa Rosa will be the driving force behind it.

Apple hasn't used a custom chipset since they moved to Intel. The current laptops use the Napa platform, just like everyone else.
 

operator

macrumors regular
Oct 29, 2006
110
0
Canada
I am waiting for a case redesign mainly because I need the screen to tilt back as far as they did on the Powerbooks.

There is another thread here with info and photos about how the C2D MBP's tilt back farther than the previous MBP models. I think it was 135 degrees.
 

operator

macrumors regular
Oct 29, 2006
110
0
Canada
There will never be a 13.3" MacBook Pro model. Apple will not make a computer that will take away sales from the MacBook.

Sadly, I think you're right about no new small pro models.

But why would Apple want to sell a Macbook to a consumer who is willing to pay way more for a MBP? Why not prevent a MacBook sale, if that means the buyer will now purchase a more expensive model, the MBP?

Do you think the blackbooks sell better than the 12" powerbooks did? I thought the 12" PB's seemed quite popular.
 
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