Why it's time for the 13-inch MacBook Pro to go away

Why it's time for the 13-inch MacBook Pro to go away

By Scott Stein, VIA:cnet.com.

October 2008. I remember eagerly buying Apple's newly designed and sleekly beautiful unibody MacBook. My son, now 3 1/2, was just born. The last presidential election was just wrapping up. "Avatar" hadn't even come out yet. The iPhone was in its second iteration. The iPad was still a year and a half away.

A long time has passed since, yet the 13-inch MacBook Pro, in terms of just sheer design, has barely changed at all. Sure, under the hood it's a completely different computer: fast Intel processor, Thunderbolt, integrated long-life battery, better screen. Yet, I can line up that 2008 13-incher (then just known as the MacBook) next to the latest 13-inch Pro and most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

One of the most popular pieces I wrote last year compared the 13-inch Pro with the 13-inch MacBook Air. At the beginning of 2011, the Pro had a clear advantage in terms of battery life and even performance. However, by midyear, the new Air had caught up. Its battery life and general performance, according to our CNET benchmarks, met what the Pro had to offer.

The Pro had a slight CPU bump at the end of 2011, but remains largely the same computer as the early 2011 model.

I've always been someone who leaned slightly toward the Pro as the laptop of choice, if one had to pick an all-around Apple computer. The reasons are few, though: the optical drive, which could be useful for some; the extra hard-drive storage gained by not adopting an SSD like the Air; and, well, that's about it.

I think it's time for the 13-inch Pro to go away, and I have a feeling 2012 will be the year it happens.

Apple products tend to lean toward simplification of a product line. There used to be three 13-inch Mac laptops: the white MacBook, the Pro, and the Air. Now there are two. I think that will drop to one. It should happen, for these reasons:

Few people use optical drives. Oh, I've defended the DVD drive for years. I remember when watching DVDs on my Mac was a huge deal. For installing software or importing CD music, it's handy--or, for making disc backups. OK, who am I kidding: I never use my DVD drive anymore. We're in an age where Netflix lives on my iPad. Simple streaming and large-capacity external hard drives and USB flash drives--plus, of course, cloud storage--have changed the equation. Plus, Apple doesn't seem too fond of optical drives--the Air lacks one, and so does the 2011 Mac Mini. If you need a DVD drive, buy an external one...or, get a larger laptop that has one.

The performance is equivalent. The Air, as we learned last year, really has almost the same performance as the entry-level Pro circa February 2011 (we didn't get a fall 2011 13-inch Pro for review, so we can't compare--but, the spec bump wasn't massive). The 13-inch Pro doesn't have dedicated graphics, just integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics, like the Air. Battery life is the same. Yet, the Air is lighter. That matters.

This year's Ivy Bridge bump will make the Air even more powerful. Graphics and performance should see even greater improvements compared with the already-impressive 2011 Air, which could erase many concerns from power users. Odds are, the 2012 MacBook Air will feature the Ivy Bridge processors we're already glimpsing in this year's ultrabooks.

The 15-inch Pro seems due for a redesign, and it should be the new Pro. For higher-end graphics and maybe an optical drive, a 15-inch MacBook Pro should be where an interested Mac user chooses to go. Based on the new wave of high-powered 14- and 15-inch ultrabooks seen at CES 2012, my guess is that Apple will slim down the Pro while still offering high-powered graphics and pro-oriented features, making it a 15-inch "ultrabook plus" of sorts. That would leave the 13-inch Air to claim the sole spot as the heir to the MacBook, while the 11-inch Air remains the superportable laptop.

If hybrid hard drives are offered, then my one gripe about the 13-inch Air goes away. Some ultrabooks have begun offering hybrid hard drives, mixing larger-capacity magnetic storage with a small cache of SSD flash storage. The Acer Aspire S3 had one, and upcoming ultrabooks like the Samsung Series 5 Ultra will feature them, too. While SSD seems to be a more streamlined solution, hybrid drives can bridge the gap and offer 500GB capacities for laptop users until SSD flash storage prices can perhaps drop in the future. I don't want to live with only 128GB of storage on my laptop, and I'd rather not pay more for the privilege of 256GB. I think a lot of laptop customers feel the same way.

How would you feel if the 13-inch Air was Apple's only 13-inch MacBook? Sound off below.

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Why a 15-inch MacBook Air would be the greatest thing since sliced bread

Why a 15-inch MacBook Air would be the greatest thing since sliced bread

By Dan Ackerman.

In a recent poll of most-anticipated 2012 laptops, a purely hypothetical product beat out every high-profile system previewed at CES.

More than the glass-covered HP Envy 14 Spectre, Dell XPS 13, or even Acer Aspire S5, a 15-inch version of Apple's MacBook Air was the clear winner among CNET readers, pulling in 40 percent of the total vote.

And this is for a product that, while churning in the rumor mill for the last several months, lacks even the sparse documented evidence that Apple's expected HDTV has (such as this recent spec-heavy Best Buy survey of purported features).

There is this DigiTimes report that Apple has "already engaged manufacturing partners to start producing a 15-inch MacBook Air for a first-quarter 2012 launch," but that's not quite enough to take to the bank.

Nevertheless, by getting 40 percent of the vote in our most-anticipated 2012 laptops poll (the HP Spectre came in second, with 17 percent), the 15-inch Air is clearly a product with a potentially large built-in audience. The reasons for this may include:

Current MacBook Airs cut too many corners for professional work

With relatively small hard drives and limited connectivity, the current MacBook Air models are simply not full-featured enough for some power users. The 13-inch Air's native display resolution is 1,440x900 pixels, whereas the 15-inch Pro starts the same, but also offers a 1,680x1,050-pixel upgrade. It's hard to imagine a 15-inch Air that wouldn't match that, plus have more room for ports and connections (such as an Ethernet jack).

The 15-inch MacBook Pro is too heavy to commute with frequently

Many a creative professional has a 15-inch MacBook Pro sitting on a desk. And, even if it doesn't happen every single day, there are times when you simply have to take your work laptop home with you, or on the road to a meeting. As great as the 15-inch MacBook Pro is, anyone who has ever tried to lug one around in a shoulder bag all day can tell you: at 5.6 pounds, it's not exactly light. Especially with a new generation of ultrabooks redefining the expectations of how portable a laptop can be, being thinner and lighter than the competition is more important than ever.

Other lightweight, thin 15-inch laptops are showing up

Last year, we saw the Dell XPS 15z, which, though far from perfect, showed that midsize laptops were starting to slim down. Its dimensions were about the same as the 15-inch MacBook Pro's, but at CES 2012, we got a chance to check out the upcoming 15-inch version of Samsung's Series 9 laptop. That system, which certainly owes much of its DNA to the Air, packed a 15-inch display into a body 0.58 inch thick and weighing just 3.5 pounds.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro is already an anachronism, other Pros may follow

As my colleague Scott Stein pointed out recently, the 13-inch version of the MacBook Pro has largely outlived its usefulness. He says: "At the beginning of 2011, the Pro had a clear advantage in terms of battery life and even performance. However, by midyear, the new Air had caught up. Its battery life and general performance, according to our CNET benchmarks, met what the Pro had to offer." With the line between the two brands fading, there may be no reason, other than market positioning, to even offer a "Pro" line, if the mainstream consumer line, which the Air has become, is just as good.

What do you think? Is a 15-inch MacBook Air the ultimate unreleased laptop? Would you run out and buy one, or stick with the thicker Pro model (or something else entirely)? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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Apple exchanges faulty MacBook hard drives

Apple exchanges faulty MacBook hard drives

Are affected drives between May 2006 and December 2007, sold 13-inch MacBooks fujitsu lifebook e8110 battery. After turning on a flashing question mark appears on the screen. The exchange is free.

As Apple Insider reports, Apple has launched an exchange program for MacBooks with faulty hard drives. Affected are the drives of black and white 13-inch MacBooks, which were sold between May 2006 and December 2007.

According to the company appear for some users when switching on a flashing question mark on the screen. The problem occurs with MacBooks with processor speeds of 1.83 GHz, 2 GHz and 2.16 GHz and hard disk capacity of 60 to 160 GByte on.

Apple advises affected customers to make a backup, and an Apple Dell Inspiron 1420 battery Authorized Service Provider or to contact an Apple Store. “If you confirmed Apple or an authorized Apple Service Provider of the defect of your MacBook hard drive, it is replaced by a new,” says the recall. Then had to reinstall the operating system and data be restored.

Apple takes the free exchange by 15 August 2010, or up to three years before the date of purchase. The standard warranty coverage is extended by not. Customers who have not already paid by the warranty covered repairs to the disk, which now fall under the exchange program wants to compensate Apple.

Via: Apple exchanges faulty MacBook hard drives