Posts tagged with "macbook pro"

Intel Launching Light Peak on Thursday, MacBook Pros Launch Not A Coincidence?

CNET reports Intel will hold a press event on Thursday to officially “roll out” (presumably to manufacturers) its Light Peak technology:

Intel on Thursday plans to roll out Light Peak, a high-speed connection technology that Apple is also likely to adopt, according to an industry source familiar with the details of the event.

Intel released a statement to the media today saying that on Thursday in San Francisco it will “host a…press briefing to discuss a new technology that is about to appear on the market.”

There will also be a media event held the same day at the Intel campus in Santa Clara, Calif., where the chipmaker will conduct technology and product demonstrations.

The rumored February 24th release date for the new MacBook Pros doesn’t sound like a simple coincidence at this point. Several bloggers noted that it’d be unusual for Apple to introduce new hardware on a Thursday, but the Intel media event backs up previous rumors that the new MBP line will feature the fast Light Peak technology. We’ll see.

New MacBook Pros To Feature Hard Drive / SSD Combo for Faster OS?

The new MacBook Pros are approaching the rumored February 24th release date, with several retailers sold out  and various Apple online stores reporting shipments within 3-5 business days – a timeframe that plays very well with the Thursday, Feb. 24th rumors. BGR has posted some interesting details on the new models, which will come in five different SKUs as previously reported and will be lighter at around a half-pound less than the current generation. BGR also claims the new MBPs will have bigger glass trackpads.

The curious tidbit, however, is about a hard drive / SSD combo that would allow the new MacBook Pros to store the OS on the faster solid state disks and load everything else straight off the regular (and perhaps very large in capacity) drive:

The next bit of information doesn’t quite make sense to us, but we have been told the OS on the laptops will be loaded to a separate (internal) 8-16GB SSD while everything else will remain on the regular hard drive. There will be options for just SSD drives but the base models will feature regular hard disks with the SSD combo for the OS.

The rumor is interesting because it replicates what many users have been doing over the years to achieve a faster OS and still manage to store hundreds of GBs of media on their computers: install the OS on a small internal SSD, offload media and apps on a second internal (spinning) hard drive. It’s not a full SSD setup, but it has worked well for thousands of Mac users in the past years.

Does this make sense to you? Personally, I think I will go with the single (and more expensive) SSD option, but this could be a good move to introduce SSD in the MacBook Pros without increasing costs for the base models and yet provide a full-featured SSD option for those who want the speed and efficiency of solid state.

New MacBook Pros: February 24th

According to two separate reports from Italian websites SlideToMac and iSpazio posted this morning, the next generation of MacBook Pros – due an update – is going to be released next week, with shipments to Italian resellers starting in the next few days to ensure a late February launch. MacRumors has now independently confirmed that the new MacBook Pros will be released on Thursday, February 24th.

We’ve since heard reliable confirmation that this information is accurate and that the expected release date is next Thursday, February 24th. The move would be a bit unusual for Apple to launch new machines on a Thursday. So, if you are about to buy a new MacBook Pro, wait until next week.

This morning, iSpazio also posted the rumored model numbers of the new units (MC720, MC721, MC723, MC724, and MC725) which will likely sport a new design inspired by the MacBook Airs (dubbed by Apple on its website as the “next generation of MacBooks”) and the new powerful Sandy Bridge chips.

In the past weeks, rumors of stock running low suggested the MacBook Pro line was going to be updated relatively soon. At this point, it looks like next week we’ll be able to get our hands on the new generation of MacBook Pros.

New MacBook Pro Model Numbers Revealed? Launch Next Week?

Two reports posted today by Italian blogs SlideToMac and iSpazio suggest the new MacBook Pros might be released as early as next week, in five different models. The MacBook Pro line is due an update and several rumors in the past weeks pointed to a late February / early March release.

First off, SlideToMac [Google Translation] claims to have received exclusive information that the new MacBook Pros will be available next week, by Thursday or Friday. Five models will be available according to SlideToMac: two 13-inch models, two 15-inch models and one 17-inch model. SlideToMac also reports they’re not completely sure about the 17-inch version and that, according to their source, this won’t be a “simple upgrade” to the existing MacBook Pro family.

Similar information comes from iSpazio [Google Translation], which also posted model numbers received via email from an Apple employee:

  • MC720
  • MC721
  • MC723
  • MC724
  • MC725

iSpazio, however, reports the “new MacBooks” (most likely MacBook Pros) will be available “around the end of this month” and that shipments from Apple to retail stores will begin in the next few days. Currently, Apple is selling two MacBook Pro 13-inch models, three 15-inch models and only one 17-inch MacBook Pro.

Notebook Shipments To Slow Down in Q1, But Apple Is “Doubling Orders”

According to Digitimes, most notebook vendors will see lower shipments in Q1 2011, mainly due to defective Intel chipsets. Apple and Samsung, however, won’t experience this slowdown and Apple is even doubling the orders of some models.

With the exception of Samsung Electronics and Apple, first-quarter 2011 shipments of notebooks from brand-name vendors will be lower than expected, according to sources from Taiwan’s notebook upstream supply chain.

Samsung has been performing better than other brands by taking up deliveries from the suppliers, the sources noted, adding that Apple reportedly is revising upward its orders with the volume of some hot-selling models being doubled.

Do we see new MacBook Pros here, relatively soon? The line is due an update, and reports suggested Intel may be able to ship the Sandy Bridge by the end of February anyway. According to recent rumors, stock of some MacBook Pro models has been running low and a refresh is coming soon.

New Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs To Start Shipping February 20th

The most probable next generation processor for MacBooks will start shipping on February 20th. The new Intel core i5 and i7 processors, based on the Sandy Bridge architecture shown off at CES, comes in flavors ranging from 1.4 GHz to 2.7 GHz, drawing 17 watts to 35 watts respectively under load. The new processors could be used to update Apple’s MacBook, 13” MacBook Pro, and 15” MacBook Pro line, while quad-core Sandy Bridge CPUs would populate Apple’s higher end MacBooks and desktops. Apple’s MacBook and 13” MacBook Pro continue to utilize Core 2 Duo processors, and may receive a Sandy Bridge update later this year.

Why is Sandy Bridge so impressive? Our friends over at The Next Web explain.

[via Macworld]

Marco Arment’s MacBook Pro Speculation→

Marco Arment’s MacBook Pro Speculation

Marco Arment predicts a new MacBook Pro 15” inspired by the success of the new MacBook Airs:

And I’m guessing that the 15” will undergo its most significant change in a very long time: it will adopt the wedge shape of the Air, losing its thick, uncomfortably sharp front edge. Removing the optical drive will free up a lot of space inside, leaving room for a rearrangement that can enable the wedge shape without giving up a significant amount of battery volume.

No glass and SSD by default may end up on the new MacBook Pro as well. The problem with a wedge design is that it leaves small room to “big ports” like FireWire and Ethernet, something users are really used to have on the MBP 15-inch. I agree with Marco when he says there’s little sense to keep the 13-inch MacBook Pro in the line-up now that the 13-inch MacBook Air is so portable and powerful.

Also, Apple’s homepage says it all: MacBook Air is the next generation of MacBooks. We just have to wait to see where do we go from here.

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MacBook Pro Stock Running Low, Update Coming Soon?

According to a report posted by MacRumors, stock for the 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros is beginning to run low suggesting that Apple may be planning to not ship orders to suppliers in order to prepare an update to the product line, expected for the first half of 2011.

The 17” MacBook Pro generally appears to be in the shortest supply at the moment, with Amazon quoting a shipment window of 1-2 months for the base Core i5 model and several popular resellers connected through Amazon’s systems also showing low stocks of the 17” models. For its part, Apple continues to show “within 24-hour” availability of all MacBook Pro models in its online stores, suggesting that the company may be prioritizing remaining stock to serve its customers directly.

An update to the MacBook Pro family could integrate Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors and internal Solid State Drives, not to mention a new thinner design to reduce weight and increase portability like Apple did with the MacBook Airs last year. It is unclear whether or not Apple will also implement USB 3.0 or Intel’s Light Peak, but what’s for sure is that we should be hearing news about the Pro line any day now.

Personally, a lighter and slightly thinner 15” MacBook Pro with built-in SSD and higher resolution screen would be my perfect machine.

Hey, My Fake MacBook Pro Runs OS X

Maybe. Maybe it’s just a Windows 7 skin. Damn, those Chinese manufacturers fooled us again. Thing is – we have seen “interesting” Apple knockoffs in the past, but this one beats them all. It’s a fake MacBook Pro that seems to be capable of running OS X out of the box, even if the website reports it ships with Windows 7. Hmmm. Maybe they just don’t want to get in any trouble with Apple, right?

As for the specs:

For 3100 yuan (about $466), it’s got a 14-inches 1376×768 LED backlit display in 16:9 ratio, powered by Intel Atom D510 1.66GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 320GB hard drive (5400rpm), based on Nvidia ION-2 platform in which you get dual graphics, Intel GMA 3150 and ION 2.

The machine also comes with a fake Apple logo, a Windows key (what?), three USB ports, a 1.3MP camera and a built-in SD card reader. 10 hours battery life. Not bad, right? Right? Come on, it’s basically a MacBook. I think.

Check out more photos below. But don’t ask us where you can get one. We don’t know. [Engadget via M.I.C. Gadget] Read more