New Mackbook?

Do any of you guys know when the new generation of macbooks will come out? I am planning on switching to a mac after having many problems with Windows. I am thinking of buying a mac in another year or two, know if there are going to be any new models of macbooks I should look forward to by then?

 

Rumors has it that there will be new Macbooks in October.

 

No official sources talking about it though, eh?

 

Well they will of course have updates, but as far as new designs or form factors no one knows. There were rumors of a 15.4" version of the MB, but those have been quiet now for some time. There is the current rumor of a multi-touch version, and the long-fabled 12" that some say will be a MBP and some say a MB.

One or two years is about equal to an eternity in the tech world. Anything can happen in that time, no one knows.

 

None of the rumour sites have ever been 100% correct, although they boast all their inside sources.

I'd say its possible, but I don't see a significant upgrade coming up. Maybe a speed boost, upgrade to Santa Rosa, but I don't see a redesign yet. Possible speed boost/Santa Rosa upgrade would be October the earliest, I'd say.

There has been a rumour about the next generation of notebooks utilizing multi-touch, but through the touchpad and not the screen. Just a rumour though.

 

As far as hardware goes, I think you can be safe for the next couple months since there's nothing new coming out at Intel. The next mobile chip, code name Penryn, should be released in late 2007 or early 2008.

 

I see. Thanks for the replies guys.

 

spOOn,

But ... for new hardware we don't need to look at CPU only! As has already been suggested, there is the MultiTouch! And, the MB currently lacks Santa Rosa, and even the MBP lacks TurboRAM (or whatever that's called) .... not to forget how creative Apple are at getting something cool out of their production studio.

Personally, I hope there will be a bigger MB (say 15.4") AND a smaller MBP (say 12") .. this way we can choose size and power to our liking.

 

A 2.4GHz 12" MBP with 4GB of RAM and a solid state hard drive would be pretty damn sweet...

 

I was referring to non-Apple hardware, but you're right.

 

My guess would be of a small MB revision to coincide with Leopard in the fall(ie: Santa Rosa CPU and X3100 IGP and perhaps LED LCD). Beyond that I wouldn't expect anything else until sometime next year.

 

I concur. Apple has had a lot on their plate lately.

 

Let's not forget about the rumors about new ipod models. Yeah I agree, Apple has their hands full. Man this is exciting. I plan on making the switch from PC some time this year or early next year.

 

There is no other possible CPU upgrade for the 2.4GHz 15.4'' and 17'' models. They already are at the top of line with their T7700 and the 2.2GHz 15.4'' at T7500. Also, Intel will not be releasing their new CPU until next year or so, so it's doubtful Apple will be upgrading the processors. I believe the same with RAM also because 2GB is the new standard in both laptops and desktops. But it will great to see multi-touch, although I will not be replacing a current MBP with a new MBP with such options!

 

I was referring to a MacBook . With a MacBook, they can upgrade them to Santa Rosa if they wish in October.

 

True. In fact, they could update them to SR right now if they wish. If they're going to wait till October anyway, I'd guess they'll skip the current SR/Merom CPUs and wait for the SR/Penryn ones, due out late this year.

On second thought, since the Penryn CPUs will probably be drop-in replacements, maybe they will update to SR/Merom with the Leopard release in October and SR/Penryn a month or two later... I don't know. If I had to guess I'd guess they'll wait for Penryn.

 

They won't put Penryn in a MacBook before the MacBook Pro, and it is highly unlikely they would get them at the same time.

 

I agree with that.

However, I would like to see the MacBook with an X3100.

 

My mistake. I thought you were referring to the MBP. I think they should include the 8400M GS or 8400M GT into the MacBooks.

 

Apple keep the news very confidential. I do not really trust the "reliable source"

 

Yes, that's true, but at the same time speculation is pretty good. Looking at upcoming confirmed product releases (Leopard, for example), the current hardware compared to the rest of the industry, Intel's future updates and "last updated at" for each product, its pretty good at analyzing when a new/updated product is going to be released.

For example: Obviously the MacBook Pro won't be suddenly updated, because 1) its latest update was too recent and 2) there's not really anything to update it with, because 3) Intel's Penryn chip won't be here for a while, 4) they're using Santa Rosa, which is the industry's latest right now.

But the MacBook may suddenly be updated because 1) they can update to Santa Rosa if they wish, but 2) the last update was in May, too recent for a sudden update. However, an upgrade may happen in October, 3) to team it with the Leopard release.

That's how you can analyze it without the need for a "secret reliable source". Of course, it is never 100% correct (the iPhone was rumoured for years), but it does give a timeframe or a good prediction of replacements, announcements or updates.

 

I don't know... didn't they upgrade Macbook and MBP to Core 2 at the same time, or at least close to the same time?

 

Well, the MacBook Pro was updated to Core 2 Duo on October 24, 2006. The MacBook was updated to Core 2 Duo on November 8th, 2006, so about three weeks apart.

But keep in mind Apple was already slow at upgrading to Core 2, compared to the PC manufacturers. With Santa Rosa this time, Apple was pretty quick at upgrading the MBP to Santa Rosa. Apple will most likely upgrade the MacBook Pro to Penryn ahead of the MacBook to give its premium users more "worth" for the extra they pay for the MBP.

 

What I'd like to see / hope Apple will do is put a HD drive in their product line.

 

Sorry but... why? I suppose it would sorta make sense on a MacPro, but I don't think the tiny laptop screens will allow you to appreciate HD movies, and while a BluRay drive for data backup would be kinda nice, the media is still way too expensive and the burn process still way too long to make it worthwhile.

 

actually modern laptop screens can display 720p / 1080p... whereas dvd is more like 480ish-p, as far as i know.

i mean, a 1440x900 screen can't display a full 1080p, but its close enough to be usefull. 1680x1050 techincally can't either- but again i argue it doesn't matter, it would be an upgrade over dvd.

however, dvd's upscale really well on the macbook pro in my opinion, and bluray / hddvd are only useful hd movie media at the moment. when that function expands to data storage, you will probably see those drives appear in the macbook pro.

(and probably just blue-ray, not hddvd)

 

Apple is officially supporting Blu-Ray, so it will offer that, not HD DVD, if they do decide to add a Blu-Ray player into their Macs.

The only Mac that can utilize full HD (1080P) right now is the MacBook Pro 17-inch at the optional 1920 x 1080 resolution. Or you can plug a Mac into an external display that also supports 1920 x 1080. I think the MacBook Pro 17-inch will get an option for Blu-Ray in the future.

 

I actually wasn't even speaking to the resolution, I was talking about the physical size of the screen. Even if there was a 1920x1080 13.3"/15.4" screen, I think it's just too small to fully appreciate the extra detail you're getting from an HD movie.