“MacRumors has heard reliable confirmation that the next revision of Apple’s MacBook Pro line will utilize a new case design for the first time in several years,” Arnold Kim reports for MacRumors.
“The last time the MacBook Pro was redesigned was in late 2008 with the introduction of the unibody MacBook Pro,” Kim reports. “The unibody MacBook Pro design which remains in use today offers an iMac-inspired design with a black-bezel and aluminum unibody casing.”
Kim reports, “Unfortunately, we have no specifics on what the next MacBook Pro might look like, though many have previously speculated that Apple will take cues from the MacBook Air line.”
Full article here.
It’s about bloody time. So sick of this sharp bezelled MacBook Pro. The design is long in the tooth.
Personally I think the mbp case now is perfect.
And they just released the new mbp… Already leaking the next one?
A little too “cutting edge” as it were? 😉
Like the iPad 2, it won’t be a case. It will be a magnetic cover. 😉
I returned my iPad 2 cover today because it majorly sucks.
The new case deploys liquid nitrogen adiabatic cooling for the long-awaited G5 PPC processor.
I honestly don’t see any problem with the current MBP design. But then, I’ve thought that before, only to be pleasantly surprised by the next redesign. Even so, Apple have already raised the bar pretty dang high. I guess we’ll find out eventually!
Wow. I love the look of the MacBook Pro. But then again, Apple rarely misses on new design.
Just picked up a MBP w/ SSD. Please give me a week (or two) of remorseless bliss.
That just reminds me of the bestbuy commercial.
This rumor is sooooo 2008 🙂
Not really a crazy ‘rumor’ since it’s been mentioned on this site already… new rackable design coming…makes sense since OS X Server is now built right into standard OS X
MacBOOK Pro. You are referring to the Mac Pro tower….
LOL. Right… It’s a laptop… sigh… Where’s my coffee?
Carbon fibre…
Yep, rumors of carbon fibre and Apple even hiring CF specialists have been swirling around for years.
The uni-body MBPs are really beautifully designed and built, so Apple would really have to do something pretty spectacular as a follow up! My only worry about a carbon fibre shell would be heat dissipation. The uni-body is one giant heat sink.
“…though many have previously speculated that Apple will take cues from the MacBook Air line.”
If you know anything about AppleSpeak, then you know Apple has already said as much. Watch the MacBook Air videos and see.
“We set a really high bar for what people should expect a Mac to be.”
“You get incredible displays…fast CPUs…great flash storage…great graphic performance. All in something that’s really small and light and really affordable.”
“All of this amazing value…it’s really the future of the notebook.”
Way to stick your neck out while “speculating”.
I was wondering how long it would take for someone to make a “long in the tooth” comment. Took less time than I thought. I’m glad they’ve slowed down the major form factor revisions.
Changing the design just for the sake of changing it is not good design, especially when your existing solution is so well done and timeless to begin with.
Agreed – if a design works well, then take great care not to make it worse just for the sake of change. Apple’s MBP is very refined and functional – a sturdy and inspired design. I assume that Apple will attempt to make it even thinner and lighter using MBA tricks. It wouldn’t bother me to lose the SuperDrive. I have only used it twice in the past year – both times at my desk and never on the road.
What they really need is to make a MacBook Pro that has a detachable screen that doubles as an iPad. Similar to the eee pad you have advertised on the top of the page.
That’s the ticket. OS X in the base and iOS in the removable lid.
Wait a minute, isn’t Asus doing this with Windows in the base and Android in the lid? Didn’t HP say WebOS and Windows in all of their future portables?
OMFG if Apple doesn’t do the bastard laptop/tablet with 2 OSes they are doomed!
I guess you’re being sarcastic but neither of those operating systems can touch OSX or iOS. The idea Asus and HP have isn’t flawed, but their software is.
At least iOS and Mac OS X are related. The idea is not that crazy. It seems possible that most of the “computer” will eventually be integrated with the display, much like the iPad, and the lower section of the laptop would house additional battery capacity, I/O ports, and, of course, the keyboard. That way you could remove the display (magnetically attached?) and go light like an iPad.
Adobe still advertises with you guys, after all the *ahem* takes? Amazing
Having owned an early (2006) MacBook Pro that has been damaged and repaired twice because the soft aluminum case did not stand up to moderate transport handling (kept in a nice Wenger briefcase and toppled 3 feet from a baggage cart), I thought the unibody case was a good idea (and Apple Store folks told me it was introduced because of many complaints about the earlier inadequate construction), I hope the new version (which I would like to purchase if it is durable enough), I hope that the design is rigid and damage-resistant.
If they could just smooth out the palm rest edge, it would be about perfect. The Speck shell I have on mine helps quite a bit, but before I had that, it was quite irritating.
keep using it, the sharp corner wears down over time.
I never noticed any sharp edges myself.
I also have the speck case, has to be the best case ever. I never would have thought i would ever have a case on a laptop either.
Like 2008 is SO long ago. The Mac Pro case design (as least on the outside) hasn’t really changed since 2003 (when it was a Power Mac G5).
I think Apple will move away from the edge-to-edge glass-covered LCD on MacBook Pro and make it look more like the MacBook Air does today.
Three notes:
1) It is interesting to me that this article only talks about other Apple design references – no one would ever suggest that a Mac of any flavor would be inspired by some other company’s product.
2) The MacBook Air is the obvious choice for inspiration – it has been both a critical and customer home run for Apple.
3) Steve Jobs once said that design is not just how something looks, it is about how it works. The same will be true for the relationship between the Air and the 2012 MBP. The next generation MBP will drop the built-in optical drive and will only have mechanical HDs on the entry level units; most will ship with SSDs. However, I expect the new laptops will keep FireWire even while continuing to push Thunderbolt as its long-term replacement.
I think a FireWire port will be gone in the next MacBook Pro. Because of Thunderbolt’s design (based on PCI Express), third-parties (and probably Apple too) can offer Thunderbolt to FireWire adapters for “legacy” support. Although they can also make Thunderbolt to USB adapters, actual USB ports will still be there because they are much more commonly used, compared to FireWire.
And if the MacBook Pro loses FireWire and optical drive, there is really no need to have a 13-inch MacBook Pro. If I wanted a 13-inch Mac laptop, I would get a MacBook Air as soon it gets a Thunderbolt port; it already has a higher resolution display than the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and both have “shared memory” graphics (though they are a different type). The 13-inch MacBook Pro is almost unnecessary already.
I hear that the keyboard will be replaced by a giant trackpad and the screen resolution will be so high that you need special magnifying glasses to see the cursor.
Remember the “MacBook Wheel” 🙂
http://www.theonion.com/video/apple-introduces-revolutionary-new-laptop-with-no,14299/