Agent001
Agent001
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Tags: MacBook, Apple, Sony

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I Know We're A Car Site But Could 001 Have Spied Details Of The New MacBook's That No One Else Has?
As I woke up this morning (another year older) the first thing I did was look out my window to see if the sky was still there and the sun was shining.

And to my delight, it was.

So rather than thinking about how much dough I lost in the market and how crazy this economy is, I thought I'd focus on something I'm really looking forward to that will indirectly affect AutoSpies.com.

The upcoming new notebooks from Apple that will be unveiled on October 14th.

If you're a car lover then you love AutoSpies.com and if you're a Mac lover you love MacRumors.com.

Just like us, they always seem to have the scoop first.

But 001 is surprised that among all the speculation about how these machines will be configured, that they all could have missed the biggest change coming to these notebooks.

SCREEN SIZE.

Not one of these sites are speculating that the new machines will up the size of the screens from 15.4" to 16.4" and 17" to 18.4" to compliment beautifully the Blu-ray equipped hardware, ala the new Sony  FX and AW machines.

The Spies say that a 16.4 unit would not only be a great idea but would give the user a much smaller form factor, with a screen virtually as large as the old 17" unit.

So by changing to the 16.4" screen Apple would effectively 'Air-ize' the current 17" unit.

The 16.4" case would just be a touch larger than the 15.4" case but if people object, Apple can just point them to the MacBook Air (New config's of them coming as well).

I can just hear the marketing speak...All the advantage of a 17" MacBook Pro, with the footprint of the old 15.4.

I know i would go for that form factor for sure.

Have the Spies just unveiled the biggest scoop coming from Apple on 10/14 or are we grasping on straws?

We would love to hear your feedback and also love to know how many of our readers are 'Mac' people.
I Know We're A Car Site But Could 001 Have Spied Details Of The New MacBook's That No One Else Has?



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bmwfan1513bmwfan1513 - 10/11/2008 12:26:33 PM
+4 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
I love AutoSpies and MacRumors! A 16 inch MacBook Pro would be the best. I have been thinking of that possibility as well.

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PatronusPatronus - 10/11/2008 12:44:11 PM
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I am an Autospies and MacRumor daily reader! The cool gearhead part of the MacBook rumors is the new manufacturing process that is rumored to have been invented - machining the laptop's chassis out of a solid billet of aluminum! Cool.

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ILORWILORW - 10/11/2008 1:20:36 PM
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I too love AutoSpies and all of the Mac sites. I look at AppleInsider.com, MacDailyNews.com and MacNN.com. I will check out MacRumors today.

I am surprised that Apple will reveal the new notebooks in October instead of January. Then again, the economy is going south and one would think Apple wants to keep those Q1 numbers looking good. The redesign of the notebooks is a very big deal. But then again, if the notebooks are being released now, it only means that something significant is coming in January.

I think you are are right - none of the other sites have reported much regarding the possible screen sizes of the new notebooks. If Apple is able to get the screen sizes you listed in similar-sized footprints as the outgoing models, that would be nice - especially for the top-end MBP.

My main concern is if Apple will retain support for the 30" display. The current spy pics making the rounds seem to show the case of a MacBook. There is talk of some hybrid FireWire port that supports 400, 800 and possibly the new 3200. (Just what I have read.)

There also seems to be speculation that Apple is dropping the full-sized DVI port. My hope is that Apple will FINALLY move to HDMI and not saddle MBP customers with a proprietary adapter to use with external displays, like those currently used on the iMac and MacBook.

As for Blu-Ray, at $3100 for the largest MBP display, one would surely hope that Apple FINALLY supports - if not offers - Blu-Ray. Remember, Blu-Ray is also a storage medium. Even though you can get a portable hard drive relatively cheap, some users will want to store teir data on a disc, in case the hard drive fails.

Apple TV is great, but lets face it, 1080p is better than 720p, and it already takes two hours for a 720p movie download. And, if Apple does move to 1080p movie downloads, a Mac Pro will be required to store all of those purchased movie files.

Man, I could go on and on about cars. I'm just as bad regarding Apple. ;)

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ILORWILORW - 10/11/2008 1:49:09 PM
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If Apple could upgrade the ExpressCard/34 to 54, that would be fantastic!

I hope the largest MBP continues with three USB ports. Four would be a dream come true.

I just looked at the pics at MacRumors and it looks like a provision for a DVI port on the spy images of the MBP. It could be something all new. It will be a huge disappointment if Apple continues to ignore HDMI on their Pro computers.

On the MacBook, the ports look like MagSafe, Ethernet, USB, USB, FW800, Audio In, Audio Out, Security Lock. Consistent with the current MacBook and its expected evolution.


ILORWILORW - 10/13/2008 3:14:33 AM
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
To utahnkid - in the office, I suffer with a 1Mb connection. There is no FiOS or cable modem option - just DSL. At home, the Internet is provided as part of the rent. I tested the connection at 1.5Mb. The best speed AT&T DSL offers is 6Mb at $35/mo. Charter Cable - which offers up to 16Mb - is unavailable at my location. If a 30Mb FiOS connection was available in my current area, I would order it in a heartbeat. I used a 30Mb connection while in California and it was fantastic.

The AppleTV will never have enough space for a large movie and TV show collection - I buy all of them in HD. The plan is to buy a Mac Pro with four 1TB drives and stream the video to an Apple TV with an 802.11n Airport Extreme. That should address my storage crisis for a little while.

Downloading movies is convenient. I love it. My issue is that Apple only offers 720p. The improvement over 480p isn't much, but enough for me to buy some movies in HD. But, if I'm complaining about download times and file sizes with 720p, just figure what will happen when 1080p is a reality.

I agree that Blu-Ray as a delivery medium for movies won't last too long, but it just may remain in play for software delivery. Not too long ago, a 1GB hard drive was considered a luxury. Today, I have several files that size. When I purchased my MBP last year, I never imagined I would need more than 160GB of space. That was before I started buying videos on iTunes. HD made the file size issue worse. I'm down to the last 12GB on my current hard drive and expect to fill it before the end of the year, just in time for a replacement laptop. The move to 64-bit programs will require something of adequate capacity beyond that of a dual layer DVD. Blu-Ray may fill the need. Maybe in the future desktop apps and even the OS will be delivered via USB flash drives, or the iPhone. Virtually all new PCs I have used will boot from a USB device.

A built-in SD card reader - I would love it if that were to happen. AppleInsider has posted crystal clear pics of the new MacBook and MBP cases. If that mystery slot on the MBP case is an SD reader, THAT would be a miracle!

However, I really hope the MBP retains support for the 30-inch display. There is no DVI port on the new cases.


ILORWILORW - 10/14/2008 2:50:19 PM
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Now the the official specs for the updated MacBooks and MacBook Pros have been released, I am VERY pleased that Display Port will be used instead of HDMI. I will purchase a new "refreshed" 17-inch unit when they are available.

I had no idea HDMI was unable to drive the 30" monitor. The ability to drive a 30" display is a deal killer for me. Now the Display Port is a reality for Apple's notebooks, the standard should move to the iMac, Mac Pro and Cinema Displays in due time.

Jobs mentioned that Apple is not implementing Blu-Ray in part due to complex licensing issues. That fact alone may doom Blu-Ray to a short lifespan, as mentioned by utahnkid. I found it very interesting that Jobs said Blu-Ray is "not for the consumer."

I like the look of the new units but I do not like the new black keyboards. The specs are great, so I'll put up with the keys. At $2,000, these machines are supposed to be special. The spacing of the keys is great, but the keys on Pro models should be silver as they have always been.

The glass display will make cleaning the screen much easier.

No SD card reader - I'm not surprised. Apple didn't offer that when they switched to Intel, so I doubt they will EVER offer a built-in card reader. The computer carved from a singe piece of aluminum and no more display latch - very nice.

Sales will be impressive for these new units!


007vehispy1007vehispy1 - 10/11/2008 2:14:13 PMView My AgentSpace
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perhaps a new site 001.. Gadgetspies.com? sounds good to me.

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Agent001Agent001 - 10/11/2008 3:33:19 PMView My AgentSpace
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Thx, mine was the 10th.

001

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Agent001Agent001 - 10/11/2008 3:31:47 PMView My AgentSpace
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They already said it's not the new machine on the invite.

001

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S4cabriofoxoneS4cabriofoxone - 10/11/2008 3:01:08 PMView My AgentSpace
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Happy birthday, and thanks for the info. I'm a Mac lover but I neglect to join any of the fan sites. The new MacBook will be of great interest for me!

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t_bonet_bone - 10/11/2008 3:25:55 PM
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It's kind of cool, but I'm not a big fan of this breed of gigantic "desktop replacements" everyone loves. I like my portables small, and my desktop [screens] huge.

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Agent001Agent001 - 10/11/2008 3:32:25 PMView My AgentSpace
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And how about an integrated sd card reader...

001

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TheSailorTheSailor - 10/12/2008 7:27:17 AMView My AgentSpace
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001 is psyched about the new Mac having a built in SD-card reader... WOW! That old laptop i bought 5 years ago for half of what a Mac costs had an SD-card reader!?!?!?!? Actually, it was a 5-in-1 reader...

I really don't see what all the hype is about with these macbooks... What you get is a computer with a software platform that is even more closed than the Windows platform, old technology (rumors are that this will be the first MacBook to use NVidia's superior GPUs which regular laptops have been using for over a year), no possibility for customization of the hardware and lousy customer support... I just don't see it! I hate Windoze as much as the next guy, but besides the fanzy hardware accelerated eyecandy and the obvious bragging rights (each Mac comes with 25000 of those, almost as much as an M3) there is no real reason to buy a Mac! If you want a better environment on your computer, install Linux as I did! It's free, it has way more eyecandy than even OS X and it a million times more stable than Windows... And no! It isn't hard to install... I think even my mother could install Ubuntu-linux in a dual boot configuration so she would still be able to use Windows (for what ever reason you might want to do that) and have an easy-to-use, very stable, very low footprint and completely open and free operating system that does everything... FOR NOTHING!

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makkystylemakkystyle - 10/13/2008 4:23:08 AM
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Where do I start...

OSX is based on UNIX so pretty freakin' open.

They are talking about an NVIDIA "CHIPSET" not GPU... they've been using graphics cards from NVIDIA and Radeon for years.

You can build to order your MacBook Pro with whatever upgrades you'd like.

Applecare is renowned for offering some of, if not the best, customer support in the industry.

You know, just sayin'.




TheSailorTheSailor - 10/13/2008 6:05:18 PMView My AgentSpace
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that must be US only customer support... Because I had a girlfrind with one of those macbooks with the magic vanishing screen (You know, the one that just suddenly turns black and there is nothing you can do about it) and customer support said that it was due to misuse... Just like thousands just like it all around the world... Good supprt there!

As to how open OSX is... It might be based on Unix, but you try making an application for a mac and see how far you get before cupertino is all over you like fleas to a mud! You know what the difference between a hockey mom and an apple lawyer is? The lawyer isn't a stupid hack from some alaskan city nobody's ever heard off... no but seriously... claiming that OS X is open is like saying the pope is muslim!

And though you can customize it to some extend, You can't do anything to it once you receive it... if you as much as think about opening it, you can wave goodbye to the warranty!

Sure it is a cool and trendy gadget, but it is no way what it has beenhyped up to be... And let's not even start with the slightly (cough cough) inflated price of a MAC!


answeranswer - 10/12/2008 2:17:01 PMView My AgentSpace
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I think for 001 to "spy" somthing he would have had to actually see or overhear something. This story is just the speculation of one person.

Anyway, Apple is awesome and the aluminum stuff would be cool.

Here's hoping Steve Jobs stays around for a long, long time!

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1995e341995e34 - 10/12/2008 7:36:50 PM
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ILORWILORW - 10/13/2008 3:16:39 AM
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001 - Happy Belated Birthday. And, thank you for the site. It is one of my favorites.

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dannyjeffersdannyjeffers - 10/15/2008 5:07:13 AM
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It's funny because this exact picture is and has been on the sony viao website for quite some time now...

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