Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#1

Post by davidhperry » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 5:24 AM UTC

Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook
macrumors.com

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#2

Post by gamble » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 7:15 AM UTC

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.

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#3

Post by w1ntermute » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 7:38 AM UTC

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.

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#4

Post by rdl » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 8:13 AM UTC

gamble wrote: post #2

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.

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.

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#5

Post by redthrowaway » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 8:48 AM UTC

Somewhat related, but the Asus Ultrabook mentioned in the article looks fantatic: http://www.macrumors.com/2011/05/30/intel-outlines-ivy-bridg...

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#6

Post by schrototo » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 8:49 AM UTC

w1ntermute wrote: post #3

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 dr…

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.)

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#7

Post by w1ntermute » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 10:11 AM UTC

schrototo wrote: post #6

w1ntermute wrote: post #3

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 dr…

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.)

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.

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#8

Post by freakwit » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 10:12 AM UTC

schrototo wrote: post #6

w1ntermute wrote: post #3

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 dr…

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.)

some more context from http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/14/steve-jobs-calls-blu-ray-...

"Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace."

I wouldn't take that as apple never supporting blu-ray. Although given the quote is three years old, I wouldn't say it's likely either.

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#9

Post by omh » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 10:38 AM UTC

w1ntermute wrote: post #3

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 dr…

If you've got a Thunderbolt display as a docking station then you could just connect a DVD drive to one of its USB ports - even the "Macbook Air" SuperDrive addon, if you want to keep everything Apple-styled.

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#10

Post by bergie » Wed, Jul 27, 2011, 10:40 AM UTC

omh wrote: post #9

w1ntermute wrote: post #3

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 dr…

If you've got a Thunderbolt display as a docking station then you could just connect a DVD drive to one of its USB ports - even the "Macbook Air" SuperDrive addon, if you want to keep everything Apple-styled.

Except the MBA SuperDrive only works with an MBA.