What are your all thoughts on the laptops we will have available 6 years from now. Any radical changes or will they be basically the same thing, but lighter and 5x or so faster? What are your major predictions on where the MacBook Pro will be in 1-2 generations?
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Laptops of 2030?
- Thread starter bunce66
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Slightly thinner. Maybe 2-3x as fast as the current models. 16 GB of RAM available as standard, but software-limited to 8 GB unless you pay for an iCloud account. Refuses to run any software compiled before 2022. Starting at $2499.
I might be a little bitter.
I might be a little bitter.
Same form factor, improved internals, questionable OS and software quality, hopefully much less gen-AI
What I do hope, however, is we'll see better convertable portables, i.e. a better iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard combo. The "docked laptop" concept but even more portable "undocked" while still improving the "dock" in terms of connectivity
What I do hope, however, is we'll see better convertable portables, i.e. a better iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard combo. The "docked laptop" concept but even more portable "undocked" while still improving the "dock" in terms of connectivity
Satin glass or ceramic (coated?) keycaps that don't polish to a shine if you use them. I live in hope...
It is ironic, eh? All the gloating about an all-aluminum unibody case, but then plastic keys. It's time for glass or ceramic keys!
yep everything else on the Macs looks great for years, except the keyboards. Although I think Apple will leave it as the shine is always a factor to make me want a new machine with a nice matt keyboard. They know their customer
We should not have to keep expecting people to interact with apps and operating systems through the interface of a typewriter and a pointy stick. But giant conservative companies will insist on selling old designs forever, so I have no doubt 3 generations from now kids will still be stuck learning qwerty so they can use the klugey tools of bloody illustrator for no good reason at all.
So here's what laptops looked like 6 years ago:
MacBook Pro "Core i9" 2.4 15" Touch/2019 Specs (2019 15" (Touch Bar)*, BTO/CTO, MacBookPro15,1, A1990, 3359): EveryMac.com
Technical specifications for the MacBook Pro "Core i9" 2.4 15" Touch/2019. Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.
...and over 20 years ago:
PowerBook G4 500 (Original - Ti) Specs (PowerBook G4, M7710LL/A, PowerBook3,2, M5884, 1854): EveryMac.com
Technical specifications for the PowerBook G4 500 (Original - Ti). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.
That suggests a certain amount of form-follows-function, so I'd go with "broadly the same, but lighter and faster". We're getting to the point where the size of the laptop is defined by the size of the screen, keyboard and pointing device. As long as people still need something that does the job of a laptop, it'll probably look like a laptop.
That doesn't mean that there won't be other types of device becoming popular - maybe something like Apple Vision will take off (I doubt it, until technology produces something far less intrusive to wear), maybe the use of tablets and phones will extend even further.... mobile tech has already taken a bite out of the personal computer market, but I think that may have peaked.
I currently have a desktop computer (I don't currently need a laptop), an iPad, a phone and an e-reader: because they're all good for particular things due to their form factor, and modern tech means that they're all light, portable and cheap (in the greater scheme of things, compared to housing, food, services etc). The one thing that's changed over the last 5-6 years, particularlty post Apple silicon is that I don't need a desktop to get resonable computing power: right now, a desktop suits me but any need for serious portable computing would have me switching to a dockable laptop.
So could the same thing happen to laptops vs. tablets and phones? Dock your phone with a clamshell display and keyboard? Well, phones already have enough computing power to power a half-decent laptop - I think Samsung tried a desktop docking station for the Galaxy phone about 10 years ago (didn't go anywhere)... I suspect that the problem is that it's the display and keyboard that are the expensive parts, so once you've got a docking station to turn your phone into a laptop, you might as well give it its own CPU to leave the phone usable as a handheld device...
Then, of course, we've got iPad Pros with keyboard cases. I have the same problem with those - they take a great hand-held device for touch and stylus use and turn it into a second-rate laptop. I guess the most likely 6-year development is that Apple go for "convertible" iPad/MacBook hybrids - but that has been possible for years, and still the main PC makers offer separate convertable and laptop devices...
Judging by what current MacBook Pros look like compared to what I had 6 years ago, I assume that 2030 laptops will have:
- slightly more RAM
- nicer screens
- MAYBE Face ID?
- hopefully at least 1 TB of storage on the base model
I would like to think that maybe Apple will do something really interesting with their laptops in the next six years, but if I'm being realistic... I kind of doubt it. 😐
- slightly more RAM
- nicer screens
- MAYBE Face ID?
- hopefully at least 1 TB of storage on the base model
I would like to think that maybe Apple will do something really interesting with their laptops in the next six years, but if I'm being realistic... I kind of doubt it. 😐
Apple offered max 16 GB RAM on my 2016 MBP, but today Apple offers max 128 GB RAM on the MBP. That is not slightly more RAM, it is a lot more RAM.
Use of RAM is a superb way to compute. Looking at Apple's Unified Memory Architecture and at AI, I expect more RAM in the future.
IMO base levels of RAM and mass storage are irrelevant. What matters are the top end configurations made available. Base levels just define the low end.
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They'll only change things if they have to in order to keep making money on them. The base config is just to make sure you'll be unhappy with your machine sooner, and either buy the base config more frequently, or buy an upgraded model next time.
My strategy has been to buy mid-range to high end configurations when they go on sale a year or two after release for about the same price as the base or low-mid-range configs of the current model, then keep them for 6-10 years because they don't suffer from the planned obsolescence of too little RAM or SSD.
If anything I hope the notch disappears. Not that I hate it per-se. But I feel like it's going to look really dated eventually.
I would also like perhaps NFC reading maybe? Or even something like iPad mirroring!
If anything, it would be cool for the battery to last even more. And as a last comment, I once thought of a Macbook that had the F row of keys as well as the Touch Bar, I think that's quite cool.
Who knows.
I, however, would LOVE this. I recently got my first Macbook and it's only 8 months old and the keys already look icky, it was a bummer but then I realized it's normal.
I would also like perhaps NFC reading maybe? Or even something like iPad mirroring!
I don't know about FaceID, I've heard that it could be a potential security threat if scammers are able to trigger it from shady websites or links. But who knows, I wouldn't be exactly against it.
If anything, it would be cool for the battery to last even more. And as a last comment, I once thought of a Macbook that had the F row of keys as well as the Touch Bar, I think that's quite cool.
Who knows.
well we have 6 years of 'upgrades' so here's a glimpse of the future:
2025 - we slathered even more ai all over the place
2026 - the ai bubble burst, so we made the screen .1mm larger
2027 - we made the bezel .1mm thinner
2028 - we put faceid in the notch
2029 - 'revolutionary' oled screen
2030 - we upped the base ram to 12gb
(i can't even quite tell if i'm joking or not)
2025 - we slathered even more ai all over the place
2026 - the ai bubble burst, so we made the screen .1mm larger
2027 - we made the bezel .1mm thinner
2028 - we put faceid in the notch
2029 - 'revolutionary' oled screen
2030 - we upped the base ram to 12gb
(i can't even quite tell if i'm joking or not)
It's not hard to see how the future goes.
The first computers were shared by families. One desktop per family. The family desktop eventually largely died out. That was in favor of tablets, laptops, smartphones, or similar for each family member. It just took awhile for prices to drop enough for it to happen.
By 2030? Probably not replacing everything, but the Apple Vision Pro, folding iPhones, and similar will be the future. They offer better portability, smaller footprints, and push a wider array of uses. The canary in the coal mine is the SteamDeck and handhelds of all things. Reducing the gaming PC to a handheld is a sign of things to come.
The Apple Vision Pro didn't sell very well yet, but visionOS 2.0 is adding some pretty important quality of life and usability features in the coming months. It's far from a finished polished product. We're looking at the 2007 iPhone without copy/paste, App Store, or the rest. With that said, it's an amazing device that you can see redefining the category in just a few years. Lighter, cheaper, etc.
The first computers were shared by families. One desktop per family. The family desktop eventually largely died out. That was in favor of tablets, laptops, smartphones, or similar for each family member. It just took awhile for prices to drop enough for it to happen.
By 2030? Probably not replacing everything, but the Apple Vision Pro, folding iPhones, and similar will be the future. They offer better portability, smaller footprints, and push a wider array of uses. The canary in the coal mine is the SteamDeck and handhelds of all things. Reducing the gaming PC to a handheld is a sign of things to come.
The Apple Vision Pro didn't sell very well yet, but visionOS 2.0 is adding some pretty important quality of life and usability features in the coming months. It's far from a finished polished product. We're looking at the 2007 iPhone without copy/paste, App Store, or the rest. With that said, it's an amazing device that you can see redefining the category in just a few years. Lighter, cheaper, etc.
if we're talking peak laptops in 2030.
- Apple Silicon 128GB of RAM is base. Highest 1.5 TB. Speeds up to 20000 MT/s | Intel 128 GB is Base. Highest is 1.5 TB.
- Apple Silicon & Intel CPU up to 30 Core 4.5 Ghz
- Apple Silicon [300 Core GPU] Nvidia [RTX 9090 mobile | 50,000 CU Cores 3.5 Ghz]
- Touch keyboard [can be customized RGB]
- Up to 36 TB of SSD [Read/Write up to 16GBs]
- Up to 20" screen [0.5mm bezels] [3.5K/4K]
- Full aluminum unibody with entire base chassis copper vapor chamber
- 4x fans up to 7500 rpm each
- 150 degrees celsius becomes the new base temperature for all day, with peak 200 degrees under heavy load. [can sustain 200 degrees with minimum damage for a full 8 hours]
- 8 ports [4 TB, 1 MagSafe 1 HDMI, 1 SD Card reader, 1 Headphone Jack]
- Apple Silicon 128GB of RAM is base. Highest 1.5 TB. Speeds up to 20000 MT/s | Intel 128 GB is Base. Highest is 1.5 TB.
- Apple Silicon & Intel CPU up to 30 Core 4.5 Ghz
- Apple Silicon [300 Core GPU] Nvidia [RTX 9090 mobile | 50,000 CU Cores 3.5 Ghz]
- Touch keyboard [can be customized RGB]
- Up to 36 TB of SSD [Read/Write up to 16GBs]
- Up to 20" screen [0.5mm bezels] [3.5K/4K]
- Full aluminum unibody with entire base chassis copper vapor chamber
- 4x fans up to 7500 rpm each
- 150 degrees celsius becomes the new base temperature for all day, with peak 200 degrees under heavy load. [can sustain 200 degrees with minimum damage for a full 8 hours]
- 8 ports [4 TB, 1 MagSafe 1 HDMI, 1 SD Card reader, 1 Headphone Jack]
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No point in high speed for most uses.
I just had an issue importing old digital videos on a classic mac running Mojave. I suspect a metal issue. So I hauled a some of my old Macbooks. This one should do the job (ie it will still import from a digital tape based camcorder or video camera defice):
An early 2011 Macbook Pro 13". What features did this thing have?
Communications
Audio
So ... I returned a Macbook 16" Pro Max, I found its 1 TB too small. It felt very bulky too.
It had some features, but its lack of expandability was why I returned it to Apple. It seems to me that Apple computers charge a large premium for the basics of a notebook - the memory, and the internal storage.
It also seems to me that Apple see their future as us using the Cloud for computing, and then we have to pay for its use.
I reckon the notebook in 6 years from Apple will be trying to be a desktop, but without the flexibility. So I reckon an Apple notebook will struggle to compete with a smart iPad which uses AI to handle much of our interface issues.
And I also guess that the more AI invades our personal computing, then the less need we will have of a nice user interface like Apple had back with System 9. The interface has become highly complex. So it sure needs AI to help us along.
So I reckon people will be buying iPads instead of Apple notebooks in 2030, and for work tasks, they will be using AI aided desktops which are flexible, and can run Windoze and also an AI aided version of Unix.
I could be wrong of course ... perhaps people will drop the iPad and just use their phones?
I just had an issue importing old digital videos on a classic mac running Mojave. I suspect a metal issue. So I hauled a some of my old Macbooks. This one should do the job (ie it will still import from a digital tape based camcorder or video camera defice):
An early 2011 Macbook Pro 13". What features did this thing have?
- MagSafe power port
- Gigabit Ethernet port
- FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps)
- Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
- Thunderbolt port (up to 10 Gbps)
- Audio in/out
- SDXC card slot
- Kensington lock slot
Communications
- Wi-Fi wireless networking2 (based on IEEE 802.11n specification); IEEE 802.11a/b/g compatible
- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) wireless technology
- 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
Audio
- Stereo speakers with subwoofer
- Omnidirectional microphone
- Combined headphone/line in (supports digital output)
- Support for Apple iPhone headset with microphone
So ... I returned a Macbook 16" Pro Max, I found its 1 TB too small. It felt very bulky too.
It had some features, but its lack of expandability was why I returned it to Apple. It seems to me that Apple computers charge a large premium for the basics of a notebook - the memory, and the internal storage.
It also seems to me that Apple see their future as us using the Cloud for computing, and then we have to pay for its use.
I reckon the notebook in 6 years from Apple will be trying to be a desktop, but without the flexibility. So I reckon an Apple notebook will struggle to compete with a smart iPad which uses AI to handle much of our interface issues.
And I also guess that the more AI invades our personal computing, then the less need we will have of a nice user interface like Apple had back with System 9. The interface has become highly complex. So it sure needs AI to help us along.
So I reckon people will be buying iPads instead of Apple notebooks in 2030, and for work tasks, they will be using AI aided desktops which are flexible, and can run Windoze and also an AI aided version of Unix.
I could be wrong of course ... perhaps people will drop the iPad and just use their phones?