Report: Apple Developing 15-inch Super-Slim MacBook Pro

applesolutely

There goes Intel's ultrabook concept.

Let me guess, no DVD drive. So it is going to actually be a 15" Air.

Would they merge the product lines?

If so would it be the Macbook Air Pro or the Macbook Pro Air?

I really hope this whole "You don't need no stinking DVD drive" thing blows up in Apples face. I am not buying another Apple. No DVD support, no Apple for me.

Absolutely the way to go. Hopefully it is power/speed matches the current macPro

"You want to buy one of these"

as Lord Jobs waives his hand in front of your face.

I think Apple is trying to isolate itself from the rest of the market. No optical drives to install programs which can be purchased/downloaded from the App Store.

Whether or not this will come back to bite them? We'll see.


My other thought is that the dedicated GPU will be lost if this is as thin as the Airs. That would ruin the Pro's selling point.

Not if we lose optical drive and firewire. not everyone lives in unlimited broadband land, and many of us have big investments in firewire drives. only the rich can throw away everything in the interest of innovation.

I don't need any optical drive.

What I do need is dedicated GPU, this is why I won't buy the new 13" air (13 is my preferred size..) lets hope this one gets a proper GPU ha?

If they remove the optical drive, makes no sense not to merge the product lines. So the diference between pro and air is that the pro has hdd instead of SSD? shouldnt be the other way around?

either way, removing the optical disc is not a big deal. In the last 4 years, I think I used it once. And if you really need one, there is an external superdrive, not to mention that Mac computers can wirelessly access a DVD drive from a Windows PC or another Mac

i remember when Apple was the first to eliminate the floppy drive. Everyone was stunned.

apple has always been forward thinking in dropping various media drives at certain times- it pushes the envelope. I'm sure the commenter that won't buy another apple product if they drop the optical drive said the same thing when the original iMac debuted without a floppy drive. lol. i can no longer think of a reason to have an optical drive anymore other than having an external one for those increasingly rare moments. who watches movies on dvds anymore when streaming is so readily available? need to back up? external drives are cheap, small, and everywhere. need to share data? usb drives are cheap and portable. just my 2 cents.

Hopefully we will see this soon: Thunderbolt Firewire

and of course: Thunderbolt *

No optical drives means that without a USB key/drive you are in need of an internet connection to install anything... and when we know that more than half people on the planet does not have access to an internet connection... let's hope it will blow up in job's face ^^

Disposable media is a waste of resources. Apple is not only saving us from carrying more weight around, but they're also saving the planet! I bought my 15" Macbook Pro on November 1, 2007. I guess it's time for an upgrade.

I haven't used the optical drives in any of my computers (Windows PCs and Macs) for ages.
The last time I used it was to burn a music CD for my car's stereo.
Operating system, applications, games, video, music... u get all of these from the internet these days.

Professionals who need to share large amounts of data with customers still need optical drives, but I can't think of any other reason to have a heavy and bulky optical drive in a laptop.

And, tomorrow's headline will be, "Apple Accidentally Leaks Image of New 15inch MacBook Pro".

Apple's backing itself into a corner here by making the MBP into a slimmer version. It would be virtually indistinguishable from the MB Air, and not only that, it also doesn't make sense. If comparing the 2 by its names, then it should be the MBP that should have the SSD, and not the MB Air. What's Apple gonna do with future MBP models?
And there's no way in hell you're making me buy something without an optical drive.

And sorry for the double post, but are you suggesting that we pirate? Because I'm pretty sure programs (or apps, whatever floats your boat) are still installed via. discs. I mean, god knows Apple could do with an ego and revenue beatdown right about now, but pirating programs such as Adobe PS is still illegal.

Or am I missing something?

Apple Mac Book Pro Air will use AMD Llano, you heard it here first!

So the Macbook Air is gonna disappear ? But what about performance, stability ... ? the current macbook pro doesn't run so cool.

@Lofish

because streamed media can do HD with stunning visuals, oh i think Comcast might want to talk to you about their 'fair use' clause or something....

Don't care if they come out with a 15" Macbook Air. Replacing the current 15" Macbook Pro line is bad news. I use my DVD drive on a daily basis, and I frequently use both USB ports and the Firewire port at the same time. I also use the SDXC slot at least once every 2 weeks.

I'm afraid they're going to remove the DVD drive and various ports, then sell an external DVD drive and firewire/usb hubs separately. The objective of a laptop is to NOT have to carry around a bunch of extra accessories.

For personal home use (mostly Windows systems), it is true I rarely use my DVD drive or any of the ports, so I can see where Apple is going with this. But I use Macs for professional use, and I rely heavily on Macbook Pros while on the go.

If the Pro is make slimmer and still retains respectable GPU as well as battery life, then, this is the winner.

Installing OS and operating systems through USB drives is the future because:
1. Faster install time.
2. No more scratches problems and easier to keep.

Well, everyone laugh at Apple for ditching the number pad for a phone and Google even tried to mandate "lots" of physical keys on the 1st generation Android phones. Now, what?

lulz @ sheeples

Why does it seems they are starting to make their computers like their phones? "here's a new feature, buy a new phone." Next year to 6months later they are telling you the same thing. WTF?

Are you kidding? The optical drive is a dead man walking. Slow, takes up gobs of space, and is very seldom used in the Mac community. I replaced my ODD with a second hard drive last year and never miss it. Apple will likely use the freed up space for larger batteries and better cooling. this could give the MacBook Pro a huge edge over the competition - smaller chassis, more performance, less hot, last longer - "blow up in Apple's face?" - better luck next time.

I hate DVDs, CDs, and all other optical media, except for maybe LaserDisc. It is slow, glitch-prone, fragile and cumbersome. The standard was set by some audiophile CEO at Sony who 'insisted' that some work of Beethoven be able to be heard on a single side of a single CD, which sucks for us now, as CDs don't fit in your pocket, and now, neither do DVDs or BluRays.

How many gigabytes of lost data have I gotten from corrupt CD-Rs, DVD-Rs and even stamped media, from almost unnoticeable scratches on the read side, to imperfections on the label side.

I can't wait for optical media to die. It has been too long. At least LaserDisc, there was no illusion about what happens to a scratched disk, and nobody is going to try and put one in their pocket.

All hail Flash Media and it's universally readable format that is smaller, and denser, faster, more durable and ultimately more usable than optical trash.

I am so happy that an industry leader is trying to kill off the DVD drive. They suck. Plain and simple.

"I never use my optical drive, so that means no one else does either."

I still play Civ4 every now-and-then (requires disk). I like to go to the store and buy a physical copy of my games; need a optical drive to do that. I do have a Steam Account, but that's only for the free games they offer. I like to burn pics of my family and hand out disks at Christmas. Should I buy a few-dozen USB memory sticks?

If you don't see the need for an optical drive, you should just stick to a smart phone or tablet.

I have a netbook. It has no CD/DVD drive. I did need to install something from a CD once... I got a USB CD drive. Works just fine. Apple users can use one too...