Design your perfect laptop (theoretically)

I have heard rumblings that the MBP will get the Air Treatment in the next generation or so. Essentially, Apple will have one line of notebooks that are all "air" from 11,13,15 & 17. (Yeah, take it with a grain of salt)

But, as for the next generation of Macbook Air;

The Current Macbook Air 13 has a i5-2467M/1.7ghz or i7-2677M/1.8hz (Both Dual Core). You get intel HD3000 Graphics on board.

The Current Macbook Pro 15 has a i7 2675QM (2.2) or 2760QM (2.4), with a Radeon HD 6490M or 6750M.


With Ivy Bridge, the i7-3612QM 2.1ghz Quad Core is within the thermal range of the MBA, though i figure you will have the i7-2677M (2ghz DC) as the upper-model CPU.

Pre release info puts the Intel 4000 IGP is as fast or faster than the 6490M or 6750M too.

So.. depending on overall TDP of the system, i think you will get 80%-90% of the performance of the current generation MBP 15 in the next generation MBA 13

 

The HD 4000 will NOT be faster than the 6750m, which is comparable to the 555m. Perhaps it will meet or exceed 6490m/520m performance. Intel are struggling to keep up with AMD's current gen IGP, let alone what AMD's Trinity throws our way. Regardless, Intel's or AMD's IGP will be adequate for 720p gaming at low/medium detail AA off, but other than that, I wouldn't expect much more, let alone any chance or 1080p gaming.

 

I believe that is the point of the thread. In any event I like your ideas, although most of it can be ad-ons so long as the basic notebook foundation is so equipped.

 

Why can't they make a universal MXM Bay/Module that has built in Cooling and what not. Something that you can slide in the side of the machine ala an Optical Bay (or in place of). Spec all of the machines to have a certain power rating for the bay and let you pick and choose GPUs. One style of Bay can host up to 50w, others 100w.. or so on..

It doesnt have to be anything fancy.. Just better than what we have now.

 

I want a laptop with my spec below , but hopefully its 14-16" , 18" is just too much sometimes.

PS: Iron man's suit jarvis , always my dream.

 

I've been lobbying that from day one.

Well my interest is video, graphics and the like, so I have yet to find that to be the case. In that business, the typical editing bay has a dedicated monitor (if only I could afford it) just for viewing.

 

Sorry Dupl post.

 

Considering laptops are quickly replacing desktops for many people, it would be a nice feature to add a modular bay on "gaming" or "high performance" laptops to add such a feature. Just need the right players like Alienware, Clevo, Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte to get on board to create a common spec. Heck even sacrificing the ODD for an add-on cooler if you want a higher TDP GPU. But it's all wishful thinking considering not all MXM cards are compatible across brands as it is.

 

16" 1920x1200 screen, matte
single high end GPU
dual heat pipes
silent when not gaming
can hear airflow but not high pitched fans when gaming
backliit keyboard
magnetic power adapter ala apple
dual head phone jacks
above average onboard sound
2xHDD bays
hardware raid 0 controller
trim supported on raid 0 SSDs
2x256GB SSDs in RAID0
6-7 pounds

 

I agree. There is a whole lot of potential to profit here, especially for the GPU manufacturers. Desktop Add-on Card sales has to be slumping because so many people are going mobile. Even a die-hard desktop guy like me finally make the plunge to cut the cord.

 

You have to convince the majority of consumers they need to pay more for this. Most consumers won't as they will never intend to upgrade their current systems, or pay someone to do this or are incapable on their own of doing this. Most OEM's mass market their systems so they have to appeal to the masses.

You will not convince the average consume MXM is worth it just so that a few can have a broader market for systems to purchase. For MXM there is the specialty market. Unless there are some major changes to make MXM a cheaper alternative it will remain that way..............

 

I think that mindset can change. People have been grilled and drilled for decades that "Laptop = No-Upgrades". Its probably one of the biggest faults of the platform, the lack of modularity.

There is an entire enthusiast market out there that would love to see a whole class of machines that they can swap graphics modules out of as easily as you swap the battery.

MXM, for all of its advantages, has a HUGE number of faults. It really isn't designed for the end user to mess with, but for the OEM to offer options. Even finding MXM cards is a chore.

But if you could get off-the-shelf offerings for a new, enclosed bay-type solution, that would open a lot of doors.

 

That market out there now isn't spending the money on the options available, well a few are but not many. This market being so limited does not make vendors want to put out a better and cheaper option as there is not enough of them out there to make it profitable enough.

Now if there were a mass exodus of user from cheap gaming machines to only MXM options the OEMs would follow suit with providing systems that would start selling again. So in the end WE, the consumer, are responsible for this..........

 

I think a lot of it is just mis-information and no education. I would bet that 95% of average notebook buyers and 90% of desktop gamers don't even know what MXM is.

They only know that you can get a watered down version of a 580 or 6990 with an "M" on the end of it and it will cost you an arm and a leg and its only on a few notebook PCs.

Things are getting a little better, but not by much. People just aren't that aware of the gaming laptop market's options. Heck.. Until i started posting here, i had no idea just how many options and specifics of the hardware there were for mobile. AMD and NVIDIA don't really stress or market the mobile parts that much. Desktop users who buy GPUs don't have much knowledge about them.. and even then.. finding relevant information can be frustrating.

 

Apple's thinner 15-inch MacBook Pro rumored to debut in April with Ivy Bridge i5, i7 CPUs

 

I disagree. I think there is a viable and profitable market out there just waiting for opportunity. But even if what you say is true, thats where marketing strategy comes in. Apple being the benchmark.

They have a remarkable capacity to create a want/need/desire for products that have no significant benefit. If Apple sells it, it must be good.

 

My idea of modularity now is out of the main body of laptops. Its simple, you dont always that gpu power, or the ODD.

So you have a light system that can pack all that, on those modular things are there for you when you need it. Basically give a tb egpu and Im just glad with it

 

You know I've seen this thread for a few days now and I've been thinking about what would be my perfect one, but in all honesty the new Razer Blade is probably as close to what I want as anything else... just chop the price in half at least >_>;

I wouldn't mind the casing of it to be a bit more colored though, maybe have some of the paint that shifts color depending on angle, Dark green and Black would probably look really nice.

 

The current 15" anti-glare MacBook Pros with 1080p screen, no optical drive, and another hour of battery life.

 

720p HD matte screen, 16'inch
Quantum II CPU @ 6.8GHz
16GB XDR RAM
Geforce 700 series
512GB SSD sataIII
Illuminated keyboard
Mini-size Low capacity emergency power battery (15 mins power)
Optical bay replace to cooling components

 

What about the fan noise? Also I think it would benefit from a GTX660M and ivy bridge.

 

Fan noise doesn't bother me too much most of the time, I usually have headphones on when I'm out and about using my laptop anyway x:

 

I would like to update my post and add watercooling like this:
Mobility and Sleek Design Without Sacrifice - Asetek, Inc.