The MacBook Pro is set to get a redesign, slimming it down so it looks more like the hugely popular MacBook Air, according to rumours.
The whole range is set to get a new look, Apple Insider reports. One person familiar with the new MacBook Pro redesign said of the new models: "They're all going to look like MacBook Airs."
But it's not just a slimmer profile we can expect. The Pro will take a host of design cues from the Air, including getting rid of optical disk drives and traditional hard drives in favour of flash memory. This will help make the devices slimmer and lighter.
Other benefits include instant-on abilities, longer battery life, and a reliance on downloads rather than CD drives for software and media. Existing designs will be phased out over the next year.
There have been quite a few rumours to this effect, but this is the closest we've come to official confirmation. At the end of last year we reported a 15-inch MacBook Air was on the way, which could well be the new Pro/Air device, with the larger screen helping design types get their kerning right, or whatever it is they do. But as long ago as last July came word that the Pro was slimming down to MacBook Air-style dimensions.
Whatever you want to call it, a big MacBook Air or a slimmer Pro, this is a pretty enticing prospect. And with flash memory tumbling in price, here's hoping it won't break the bank. The MacBook Air has won rave reviews for everything except the price.
Would you buy a slimmer Pro? How much would you be willing to pay? Let us know in the comments below, or over on our Facebook page.
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Comments 12
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anonymous 11 February, 2012 16:20
I know these are only rumors, but i don't see any substantial improvement's at all. Firstly they are taking away a cd drive which I don't think is necessary right at this moment. Yes I can see the day where they will be no more cd drives but with the current size of hard drives and broadband speeds there will need to be great improvements here before we see all our software, games and all our music cds in lossless format stored on a computer.
With regards flash memory, it is already too expensive particularly for 512gb so you certainly won't see that in the next version of the MBP. Also you can already get this installed into the current version.
The instant on abilities? Just what i always wanted. The current MBP takes about a minute and about 10 secs to switch off. I am not too concerned about this area. The battery is something that would be great to see. However, i doubt it will be substantial enough to upgrade.
The only benefit I see is due to it's thinness. Now I can throw away all those disposable shavers. Hopefully ill be the first to get a product to go with this superior product. My own line of scented shaving foams.
anonymous 11 February, 2012 17:32
OMG WHO WANTS THIS? AN IPAD IS FUNNER AND YOU DON'T NEED A KEYBOARD AND THE GAMES ARE 69P.
anonymous 11 February, 2012 19:09
Wouldn't this basically make the 13" MBP dead on release? To keep the price competitive with the current model they'd have to have it cheaper than the 13" MBA, which would mean lowering the hardware quality or specs. Neither are an inviting prospect, and if they attempted to keep the specs and quality at their usual standard, the price would most likely exceed the MBA 13", cutting out a large portion of their consumers who want faster specs and more on board storage than the MBA provides, without the wallet destroying starting price of the MBP 15"+. It effectively means there is no accessibly priced middle ground, something that the current MBP 13" sits in nicely. I just don't see this happening as predicted without some serious market share loss in the under £1k premium notebook area.
Peter Hudson 11 February, 2012 21:39
I knew this was gonna happen, I balked at the idea of no optical drive, but when I think about it, I can't remember the last time I had a optical disc in my macbook.
they will make the Pro slim and more powerful, then they'll phase out the macbook completely and make the current Air the standard macbook.
I could see this happing to the iMac soon. They already got rid of the optical drive from the mac mini. The iMac will be made much slimmer and rid of the optical drive soon, mark my words
anonymous 11 February, 2012 22:55
bluray drive would be nice... and a retina display to watch them on
anonymous 12 February, 2012 00:29
What remains to be seen, though, is how upgradeable will such a form factor be. I've loved the Macbook Airs when I've seen them at stores and wishing my MBP weighed in as little as they do. However, dealing with so thin a case means you can't cram in a standard-sized new hard drive, or more RAM (current MBAs, as far as I know, are not upgradeable in either department). I've just added a new SSD drive and maxed out the RAM to 8gb on my current MBP. Not being able to do this by myself would be a very, very big concern. So much so that as much as I'd hate to deal with a Hackintosh, I'd do it if Apple leaves me with no other choices in the future.
I don't regret much the optical drive going away since I have realized how seldom I'm using it these days. In fact I'm thinking of yanking it out and replace it with another hard drive via an OWC's Data Doubler, which would be much useful in my day to day use. They also sell enclosures to reuse the optical drive as a peripheral, which makes all sense.
billfred 12 February, 2012 00:47
@ 1st commenter,
1. I hardly every used my DVD drive, along with other commenters here by the looks of it.
2. This article covers the SDD price.
3. My MBP currently takes a little over 1 second to shut down.
Marc Crane 12 February, 2012 03:27
Am I the only one who would miss an optical drive here? I appreciate they are almost obsolete tech, and admittedly I don't use mine that often, but I would still begrudge the lack of ability to play the occasional DVD, or burn some video/music to disk for someone. (yes I know you can purchase external drives, but it's another thing to carry around)
However, the lighter weight would be good - I have a 17" MPB and when that's in the bag next to Wacom tablet, external hard drive, the so called "Magic" peripherals and paperwork etc - it can get a little weighty.
I think perhaps if I didn't live in an area where my broadband speed is lucky to hit 1 meg on a good day, with the wind behind it, I'd be more into the downloading of all my apps and software.
anonymous 12 February, 2012 10:00
What?!... Hell no.. You know what happen if this happen, your laptop cannot run for 24 hours without heating up too much that it have a very high tendency to blow or bloat(eg.. battery bloat on keyboard..check youtube regarding this). No Upgradable periperals means you have to buy upgrades from apple from day1 which is 5x expensive than thirdparty vendors.. unless samsung memory is better than crucial memory. harddrive will be 10x more expensive with little performance bump.. SSD right now is expensive but apple SSD and NAND drives are very expensive. yeah I know, people will tell me why buy mac if you can't afford one? I can buy mac machine now but if this madness continues I might not able to buy a decent machine from them resulting buying other brand which is not actually bad idea,.. because their OS for me is not that great as advertise.
anonymous 12 February, 2012 13:44
This sounds good, it sounds like they are basically putting all attention onto the MacBook air, which has been obvious for a while now. The air is a better computer for mobile computing which is what laptops are made for "or should be" the disc drive is going out in general anyway, the time will come where all music, movies, software etc will be download and the disc will be obsolete. So to get a mac pro for the drive will be pointless if you look into the future and prepare for it. And the person on here who compared the iPad to a MacBook hasn't got a clue, I have a iPad it is great for what it's meant for a fun mobile device for Internet, media, fun and basic work. But for more heavy work, or Education or Business the iPad is not good enough you need a mac, like I say i have a iPad and am in the process of working for myself this year and I am upgrading to a MacBook because it will be far more useful for my business, that's not to say the iPad is useless, but it's common sense apple where never gonna make the iPad a MacBook replacement for half the price!!! You cannot compare the two, MacBooks have so much more use especially for the higher end users and business users.
anonymous 17 February, 2012 04:05
Still need a drive (I rip a lot of CDs and DVDs in my collection and still buy physical formats) BUT I WOULD LOVE to buy a usb drive and LEAVE IT HOME. I want ultraportable and to those who said just get an iPad? I have one and to do real work, printing, programming, or typing in serious amounts you cannot use an iPad.
Love the idea of an ultra fast SSD and instant on but want a serious processor too. Not a netbook one.
anonymous 17 February, 2012 13:49
The trouble is MacBook Pros are part of the "Pro" range, and used by a lot of professional musicians, graphics designers, web designers etc... the kind of people who often have to provide clients with CDs and DVDs.
The more technically capable of us may be used to using FTP servers and sending large files through third party sites online, but many of the clients I work with do not use the internet for anything more than email and social networking.
Apple would risk loosing this group of people, who currently justify the price tag of Apple computers by the profits from their work.
In my opinion the Slim line, light weight MBP design doesn't provide enough benefits beyond style and looks to make it worth while scrapping the optical drive. I also assume speaker quality and case-strength will be compromised (however slightly), and scrap firewire and ethernet? Thunderbolt still hasn't really taken off, and the only drives available and insanely expensive. I think this would be a very bold move for Apple, especially when they would effectively have two ranges (the pros and airs) of extremely similar design, loosing diversity and range of potential consumers.
Just my thoughts on the matter.