10 things Apple needs to do to create the ultimate MacBook Pro

I think the author really wants to have a MacBook Air and not a Pro. If anything, the Pro needs better screens (1440+ matte on 13" please), USB 3.0 support and more powerful hardware to differentiate itself from the Air line.

Re: 10 things Apple needs to do to create the ultimate MacBook Pro

#5

Post by kevin_morrill » Sat, Jul 02, 2011, 11:08 AM UTC

Add eye tracking in the hardware and build the right software to make it useful. Done right, this could be the next UI revolution beyond touch. Some possible scenarios: - pay per actual view advertising - automatically scroll as I start to read the bottom of the visible region - automatically enlarge parts of view (e.g. who I am focused on in a 3 way video chat) - rapidly increase cycle of usability improvements in UI through better eye tracking instrumentation

The trick is having someone like Apple figure out what works well and build the right platform. Too much of things like auto-scrolling, auto-clicking is probably the wrong direction, so the key is having high judgement in the platform.

Re: 10 things Apple needs to do to create the ultimate MacBook Pro

#6

Post by obtino » Sat, Jul 02, 2011, 11:23 AM UTC

Mavrik wrote: post #4

Make an ultimate MBP by _removing_ things? I think not. I think the author really wants to have a MacBook Air and not a Pro. If anything, the Pro needs better screens (1440+ matte on 13" please), USB 3.0 support and more powerful hardware to differentiate itself from the Air line.

Indeed! I lost interest after the point on removing the ethernet port.

Re: 10 things Apple needs to do to create the ultimate MacBook Pro

#7

Post by BorisBomega » Sat, Jul 02, 2011, 11:36 AM UTC

Mavrik wrote: post #4

Make an ultimate MBP by _removing_ things? I think not. I think the author really wants to have a MacBook Air and not a Pro. If anything, the Pro needs better screens (1440+ matte on 13" please), USB 3.0 support and more powerful hardware to differentiate itself from the Air line.

Yeah, you are close. I was more thinking about what Steve Jobs said when he announced the new MacBook Air:

"We asked ourselves, what would happen if a MacBook and an iPad hooked up? Well, this is the result, we think it’s the future of notebooks."

It made me wonder what would happen if the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro would hook up. Surely Apple is taking the best of both machines when they are designing the new MacBooks. So what would the ultimate MacBook pro look like? Well, more like a MacBook Air.

Re: 10 things Apple needs to do to create the ultimate MacBook Pro

#8

Post by davetufts » Sat, Jul 02, 2011, 11:55 AM UTC

Retracktable iPhone connector? Yuck. My phone & MBP can both wirelessly communicate with devices half way around the globe, yet they need a special USB cord to talk to each other?

Plus, more than 50% of iPhone users never even bother syncing with a computer after the initial activation. Wired syncing & backups will probably be dead soon.

Re: 10 things Apple needs to do to create the ultimate MacBook Pro

#9

Post by Udo » Sat, Jul 02, 2011, 1:28 PM UTC

Removing the DVD player and adding a Sim Card slot are very good (but not new) ideas and I found Apple's choice not to move in this direction beyond baffling. Other than those two, the article is stunningly useless.

Some points betray a thorough lack of information about the MacBook product, for example the 15-inch Hi-Res Antiglare Widescreen Display (funny, mine already has this feature. It must be from the future)

The other points of the article range from "meh" to "worst idea ever": Removing the Ethernet port, the chip reader, and placing a retractable iPhone connector on it (just to rant about the advantages of having "no moving parts" a few lines further down). Yuck.

Re: 10 things Apple needs to do to create the ultimate MacBook Pro

#10

Post by teilo » Sat, Jul 02, 2011, 1:28 PM UTC

If Apple were to remove the Ethernet port, I would go back to Windows. Seriously. I work in a Printing company. We move huge files all day long. I need 1000Base-T. Wifi doesn't come remotely close. It's ideal speed is still too slow, and it can't switch, so it has major collision issues as you add clients.

And a non-clicking mousepad? Synaptic has been trying to get people to "tap to click" for at least a decade, and it is still the first thing that most people disable on their Windows laptop. Sorry, but no way.

Give me USB 3.0, and stop being Thunderbolt snobs.