The rumor mills were abuzz late last week over a report by
Taiwan-based trade journal DigiTimes' Esther Lam quoting a
Chinese-language Commercial Times report that Apple is said to have
increased its procurement of notebook-use printed circuit boards (PCB)
by 20% quarter-on-quarter for Q3, with most of the ordered PCBs being
high-interconnect density (HDI) boards, adding fuel to speculation that
new Apple laptops are on the way in the near future.
That's hardly "man bites dog" material, since the MacBook and MacBook Pro haven't
been updated since late February, so in the normal scheme of things
they're due - or even overdue - for a refresh anyway. The operative
question is not whether there will be new MacBooks by fall at the
latest, but rather whether it will be another speed bump and features
tweak of the current models or all-new external form factors along with
new internals.
I'm inclined toward the second alternative, and it bears recalling
that Apple unveiled the
aluminum iMacs in early August last year, just in time for the back
to school and college buying season, which is more important for Apple
than for other PC makers, given its strong sales profile in
education.
Also, Intel has just released
its new Centrino 2 (Montevina) notebook CPU and chipset, which will
inevitably find its way into Apple laptops, more likely sooner than
later. It's also being
reported that Apple is limiting MacBooks and MacBook Pro shipments
to Best Buy over the next two weeks, which
implies that Apple may be clearing inventory ahead of a new models
release.
The inference has to be that new Mac laptops are imminent. A couple
of weeks ago, AppleInsider posted
some not-very-good photos from a Chinese-language website purported
to be shots of a prototype of the next-generation MacBook Pro,
commenting that "people familiar with the ongoing development of the
new 15- and 17-inch professional notebooks" are confirming that the spy
photos really are of the next gen 15" MacBook Pro, although probably an
early development mule and not the final iteration.
What was hazily depicted appeared to be an aluminum and stainless
steel machine incorporating design elements from the aluminum iMac and
MacBook Air lines,
although not as extreme, with more organically contoured form factors
and larger trackpads, which seems logically plausible.
The new housings are also expected to further conform to Apple's
eco-friendly commitments - and happily to incorporate the current
MacBooks' easy access to its RAM slots and hard drive bay, and even
improve on it with a big, big battery spanning almost the entire
case width that will occupy about 25% of the case underside and provide
access to the hard drive bay when removed. A solid state drive (SSD)
option is also not an unlikely prospect.
It also looks as if the MacBook Pro will also get a matte black
version of Apple's "chiclet" integrated keyboard that is used in the
MacBook and MacBook Air, of which I am not a particular fan, largely
because it's less modular and more difficult/expensive to replace in
the event of a mishap or defect.
New Mac laptops are expected to utilize the Intel Centrino 2
chipsets with an updated Penryn 45-nanometer CPU, a 1066 MHz frontside
bus, clock speeds in the 2.2 GHz to 2.8 GHz range, and a reduced
power-draw of 25 Watts (compared with the current 35 Watts of power
demand).
Note that "Centrino" is an Intel platform-marketing brand rather
than a chip family per se, and refers to a CPU, motherboard chipset,
and wireless network interface combination for notebook computers. The
Centrino nomenclature has never been used by Apple, since the platform
bundles and feature sets tend to be Windows-oriented. For example, Mac
OS X is not optimized to take advantage of Santa Rosa's "Robson"
NAND flash-memory caching, which is branded "Intel Turbo Memory".
Computer makers like Apple that only use the respective CPU and chipset
are authorized to use other Intel branding, such as Core 2 Duo.
Centrino 2/Montevina, released this month, is the fifth-generation
Centrino platform and will support second-generation Penryn CPUs with
enhanced processor performance for faster multitasking, high-bandwidth
WiFi (802.11a/g/n), and, for the first time, an optional integrated
WiMax/WiFi module, as well as more advanced power-saving technology to
help it run cooler with longer battery life.
Intel will also offer an Extreme Edition version, which the company
claims to be the world's highest performing dual-core mobile processor,
and says it will introduce eight more ultra-low voltage CPUs and the
company's first-ever quad-core CPUs for laptops within 90 days.
Will there be quad-core MacBook Pros?
It's a pretty safe bet that we will see a
Revision B of the MacBook Air in the near future, incorporating a
second-generation Small Form Factor (SFF) version of Centrino 2 CPUs
for ultra-thin and light notebooks. A
report by Macworld UK's Sumner Lemon quotes an Intel executive
affirming that the company "will launch Small Form Factor [chips] in
the third week of August."
Switchable graphics are another new optional power-saving feature
available on Centrino 2-based notebooks, providing both integrated and
discrete graphics in a single notebook, enabling users to easily switch
between the two options. This would eliminate a long-standing bugbear
for Apple laptop users of the video support not being upgradable.
Switchable graphics delivers greater 3-D performance when needed
while providing the option for greater power savings when appropriate.
It will be interesting to see if next generation MacBooks will
incorporate this feature, which would pretty much eliminate complaints
about poor high-end (e.g., gaming and serious video) graphics
performance with the MacBook's current integrated GMA graphics that
"borrow" 144 MB of system RAM for graphics support.
At minimum, MacBook fans can
look forward to Intel's new GMA X4500 integrated graphics technology in
Penryn 2, clocked at 533/640 MHz and containing ten unified shaders, up
from the eight provided by Penryn 1's GMA X3100 graphics support
system.
If all or most of this speculation comes to fruition in the next few
weeks or months, it will be great news for Apple laptop fans. I've
personally been wavering since February over whether I should buy a
Santa Rosa/Penryn 'Book or wait for Montevina's arrival. I've held
back; my wonderful old 17" G4 PowerBook is still
doing a great job for me, and as the months rolled passed, waiting to
see what would materialize in the next gen 'Books became increasingly a
no-brainer.
If I were to make the jump now, I would very-likely be kicking
myself in a month or two. Of course, being low-end oriented, it's
possible that I may end up with an older model anyway, but I want to be
able to make an informed choice.
