All eyes on the MacBook
With this year's iPhone and iPod updates behind them, Apple watchers have shifted their attention to the products that matter most to the company's bottom line: the MacBook and the increasingly long-in-the-tooth MacBook Pro.
Steve Jobs likes to refer to the Mac as one of the three legs of Apple's stool (the iPod and iPhone being the other two). But that makes for a pretty tippy stool; Macs represent more than 48% of Apple's quarterly revenue these days and MacBooks account for 62% of that.
Sales of Apple's laptops have been on fire lately (no overheating pun intended). On Wednesday, NPD reported that Apple's (AAPL) share of the North American notebook market grew from 6.6% to 10.6% over the past year — a 60% increase that easily outpaced market leaders Dell (DELL; up 1.4%), HP (HPQ; up 0.9%) and Acer (down 22.6%). And although Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster predicts that when Apple reports its fourth quarter earnings in October, Mac sales will have grown only 30% year over year — down from 55% in Q3 — that's still something like 2.9 million machines sold in three months at Apple's fat profit margins.
Which makes it all the more surprising that Apple has waited so long to spruce up its notebook line — the laptop-scorching MacBook Pro, in particular. As Seth Weintraub points out at Computerworld.com, the look and feel of the MacBook Pro is essentially unchanged from the titanium Powerbook that Steve Jobs introduced at Macworld 2003 — a couple of lifetimes ago in computer terms.
Well that's all supposed to change on Oct. 14, when the long-awaited revamped notebooks are due to be introduced, according to sources said to be familiar with Apple's plans. What will they look like? To jump start the conversation, Weintraub on Wednesday posted his wish-list of features, among them:
- An one-piece aluminum frame with a rounder, skinnier shape (a la MacBook Air)
- A high-res 16-inch LED backlit screen
- Built-in 3G wireless technology, perhaps even WMAX
- A multi-touch glass trackpad
- HD video out
- Built-in GPS (for what purpose is not clear)
- Blu-Ray disk drive (this he's not so sure about, since it might cut into iTunes Store sales)
- Solid-state disk drive optional
- HD camera
- All at the current price points ($1099 for the MacBook, $1999 for the MacBook Pro) (link)
That's almost certainly too much to ask for, but a guy can dream, can't he?
Images purporting to be photos of the new machines have already started to appear on the Web. The one at right showed up earlier this week on a German T-Mobile website, but the consensus seems to be that it's a fake. If history is any guide, however, we should be seeing fuzzy spy shots of the real thing any day now.
The current MacBook Pro does not look like the titanium PowerBook. It does look like the aluminum PowerBook G4 that followed.
And is that so bad? The currently ongoing design is about as near to perfection as any laptop ever designed.
On the technical side, it introduced the idea of moving all connections from the back (hinge area) of the computer to the sides where they are more accessible. It was the first laptop with a backlit keyboard, and to this day is still one of the few, from any vendor, with that feature.
On the design side, it has simple lines and the matte aluminum finish. It is a classic, in the way that Movado watches or Bang+Olufsen electronics are classics.
Yet the technology has evolved and stayed cutting edge while the design remained the relatively unchanged.
Why change a classic?
(Written on an aluminum PowerBook G4)
What is this love of big screens. Geez louise, big screens are nice for viewing the spreadsheet and for some web sites, but many of us are looking for reliability and light weight. Joke all you want, the Powerbook G4 is still my favorite machine when travelling.
I wouldn't expect to see all that much in the new macbooks. Though I would expect to see the removal of the "pro" moniker from the high end line, and a design refresh that brings all three models into a similar design language.
Expect to see a 13, 15, and 17 inch macbook, all aluminum and glass, with multitouch trackpads, led backlit displays, backlit keyboards, and possibly the option for blu ray on the higher end 15 and 17 inch models that can display a 1080p screen resolution.
Other than that, I'd expect a general price drop to the whole line, possibly with the lowest end macbook coming in at $899 to put it in a more competitive space with other laptop manufacturers. Either way, we'll find out soon I'm sure.
Handle?? God no, please don't bring back the handle.. There are plenty of bags out there with a multitude of things to hold on to.
I want a MacBook Pro refresh with 8 gig or more of memory, and a docking station!
I have 4 macs and an ibook in my home. I use the ibook for work but is slowing me down because it is the G3 clamshell. My reluctance to upgrade is as simple as it has a handle. I have never dropped my ibook while others in my office have had cracked screens and more from this type of accident.
Steve Jobs please bring back the handle.
Playing the, "Good Cop" today are you there Phil? No fire in the theatre headlines today there Phil? You are soooo predictable.
As always too much hype around none essentials. Skip that and go directly to the one and only machine we need from Apple a 8-10 inch portable with a minimum of hanky pany
Hemnrik
I agree – go back to a smaller size offering for serious portability. After all this time, I still adore my 12" PowerBook G4 and love that it fits into almost any bag I have. I have an iMac for the big screen – don't need a huge screen on my laptop.