My PowerBook is showing it’s age, now just over five years old. I need a replacement. Buy now? Or, wait awhile? This time I’m waiting until the next generation of Mac notebooks. Why? What’s coming? Less of the same. Much less.

Don’t get me wrong. My Mac PowerBook, one of the original 17-inch aluminum body machines has been the best Mac I’ve ever owned. Ever.

With few exceptions, this Mac notebook as been on and running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Even when I travel I just close the lid, stuff it into a bag, and carry it away.

It came with Mac OS X Jaguar, I upgraded to Panther, then Tiger, now Leopard. It runs better now than when new. When I bought it, I added an extra 512 megs of RAM. After two years of continuous use I had to replace the hard drive.

Other than that, it’s been a rock solid performer. I can count the number of crashes and freezes on one hand and have enough change to clean out a nostril or two. Oh, one key fell off but I stuck it back on.

Do I want another Mac notebook? You bet I do. Five years of use is worth a repeat. Which model? Not the MacBook Air (too small). Not the MacBook (too small, too much plastic), not the MacBook Pro (hey, it’s a five year old design!).

I’m waiting for the next new line of Mac notebooks which I expect will be faster, cooler, thinner, lighter. I know what you’re thinking. Duh, right? Right. Based on what I’ve seen of the MacBook Air, which is selling fast, Apple will make the next MacBook Pro thinner.

Not just thinner, but ultra thin, and probably wedge shaped. Wedge? Yes, the MacBook Air is a wedge, thicker in the back near the screen hinge, and very thin at the front near the touchpad.

If you think about it, what else can Apple do with the MacBook Pro models? It’s already an inch thin. It already feels sturdy and strong and dependable. It’s already relatively light.

Aluminum has shown itself to be the best case design; durable, lightweight, affordable, recyclable. I expect less aluminum in a thinner design. What else? Has Apple already created the ultimate notebooks in the MacBook Pro and Air?

Go back to thinner, lighter, faster, cooler. Cooler? Yes, both chic cool and temperature cool. My 17-inch model gets warm on the lap. The newer MacBook Pro models are faster, but arguably cooler.

What else can Apple do to improve and enhance the new MacBook Pro models? I like the MacBook keyboard better than the flimsy keyboard in the MacBook Pro models, so I expect something along the lines of the MacBook Air keyboard only improved.

Except for the expected wedge shape, battery life could be improved, so I look for the latest and greatest backlit LED display, and options for solid state drives, as found in the MacBook Air.

Wireless. More and faster graphics. Fewer ports. iSight. New keyboard. Wedge design. Blah, blah, blah. Those are all evolutionary features but don’t say anything about ’next great thing.’

Over half of all Macs sold these days are notebooks. In many cases, a Mac notebook in one flavor or another is the only computer that many Mac users have or need.

What does Apple have to do to get me to plunk down my hard-earned money for another notebook that I expect to last a full five years? What’s missing on the evolutionary chain? What can Apple do to set the world’s collective hair on fire?

I can relate to the cheap plastic on the mac book. I have to say this first, I bought my mac book refurbished ( bad idea, never again! ). I did not know that the plastic plate where your hand rests and the lid snaps shut down on very hard could crack the plate where the keyboard is. Well that is what happened to mine, I sent it in and Apple replaced the plate for me no questions asked. Now when I shut the lid on my mac book I let it pinch one of my fingers until it makes it magnetic connection (I think it is magnetic). I have had no problems since that. About the plastic design, I think it’s crap because it scratches very easy. Don’t get me wrong I love my mac book but I just wish I knew better at the time I bought it, but I was new to Mac (1 1/2 months in) and did not know any better. I also have a problem with impulse buying, If I would have just waited two more weeks I could have bought a Mac Book Pro! Oh well live and learn I guess.

I am their with you 100% Ron, I am waiting also to see what Apple comes out with next because I want a man’s laptop, I kind of think the Mac Book is for beginners now and also young students. Some of you might disagree with me on that but that is just my opinion of the Mac Book. I also agree about the Mac Book air, it’s too small and just won’t do what I want it to do. I need fire wire ports, p.c.i. express slot for a wireless carrier, a monster hard drive and the Mac Book air just does not offer any of that, it’s just not my kind of laptop but I understand where it would be perfect for people that travel allot and just need to have some thing small and man small and thin is a understatement for that thing!

I would like to see them come out with a quad processor for the Mac Pro laptop like my Mac desk top has, now that would be going light years ahead of any laptop manufacture on the planet. Also maybe a Mac Book Pro that had two or three hard drive bays like the Mac Pro desk top, I think we are in a era where we all need allot of hard drive space. My Mac Pro came stock with a 250 gig hard drive, well that drive is retired now into hard drive bay slot two where I use it for a secondary back up system in case of a crash or a time machine fail. I replaced that stock hard drive with a 500 gig seagate and that is over half full already, I am now looking at 750 gig drives at http://www.owc.com.

How does that sound for idea’s?

I love my 17"PB and it is al still original, including the HDD.  I too though am waiting for the redesign.  I think they will go with aluminum in all of them with screen size and options being the major differences.  I think the aair is a good template for shape and where the design is headed.  Hopefully we will see them soon in a living room with me.

I am not too sure if they will remove plastic from the MacBooks, it separates the professional line from the consumer line. I also had a problem with the MacBook and the lid causing part of the plate to snap off (Maybe put some mettle there Apple?).

It is definitely time for a refresh in looks, the current design is a work of art, yet as many of you here I have owned that design for around 5 years and want a change.

If you need a new machine, buy one. You can wait forever for the next best thing.

One tip: NEVER buy a Rev. A Mac. EVER. There are always weirdnesses with a new model machine, so unless you like being a guinea pig/beta tester wait for the refinements found in 2nd or 3d generation designs. I’ve made the mistake of buying the first version of several Macs and swore NOT to do so again. YES, I WANT the newest, freshest design, but having a stable working envirinment is more important.

When rumors of Intel based MacBook Pros started swirling, I decided to buy the LAST model of the G4 Aluminum PowerBook… a tried, tested and mature machine… rather than struggle with the FIRST Intel MBP, with the new processors and the inevitable software incompatibilities and hardware glitches. Lack of a FireWire 800 port was a big downside, too. It took Adobe 18 months to crank out an Intel compatible version of Creative Suite (3). I’m glad I waited.

Now that the Intel transition is over, I’d STILL wait for a Rev.B model.

Funny you should say that about the “flimsy” keyboard. The keyboard on my first-generation 15” PowerBook G4 Aluminum is the best Mac laptop keyboard I’ve ever used. I’ve comfortably written many tech docs with it over the years. It’s got the right balance between light touch and firm response. For my desktop, I bought the new flat aluminum keyboard that uses the same keys as the MacBook and Air, and it’s good, but I still like the older keyboard better.

So to replace my 15” PowerBook, I just bought a MacBook Pro, and I love it. Same wonderful keyboard, but with a whole lot more power than my trusty old PowerBook. If Apple comes out with new models tomorrow, I doubt I’ll have any regrets. I’d be happy to have the last generation of this model, just as I was happy to get the last generation of the PowerBook G3: They had the most refined features of the line, were the most reliable and lasted the longest. (My first-generation PB G4 required several trips for warranty service, including the dreaded white spot LCD problem. But Apple got it right in the end.)

Apple does need to come out with a new design, but that doesn’t mean the old one is old. I took good care of my Aluminum PowerBook, so that 5 years later, people still asked me if it was new! Just last week, I was working with some friends and handed my PowerBook to one of them (a PC user) to borrow for a few minutes. She stopped for a second to look it over, waving her hands over the gleaming aluminum (and aluminum-colored plastic) and she said “...this is nice.” I said “You know, it’s actually 5 years old and I’m about to replace it.”

There are only two things I can think of that would make me want a new model.

Wireless reception: Metal-cased laptops always have worse wireless than plastic-cased. It was always embarrassing to see how many more base stations my friends’ MacBooks and PCs could pick up.

Drive access: Could Apple PLEASE make the MacBook Pro hard drive as easy to change out as the MacBook hard drive? 45 minutes vs. 45 seconds is a pretty significant difference!

Hey! I own a 17” PB too and it’s still all original. A key came away put I put it back in place too. I use it to work during the day and to play and program music during the night (just in case you’re interested: http://www.myspace.com/innercat and http://www.myspace.com/hologr4music), so it’s never off.
I also expect a thinner, lighter, redesigned macbook pro with hopefully at least 300gb hard disk and a better keyboard.
Rumours on various sites say macbook pros should be announced around June. Let’s wait and see!
Ciao to everyone,

Lorenzo
Venice Italy
http://www.veneziadavivere.com
http://www.fnv.co.it

Yup, I too have a 17” PPC PowerBook.  I needed to go Intel for running a mission critical PC only software (SolidWorks), so I got the MBPro 15” so I could run Boot camp and it runs flawlessly, but I still have the 17” for backup.

The Future:  I am going to guess here.

1.  Trackpad:  Big, programmable, and possibly just like a duplicate of the iPhone screen today
2.  iSight:  Two cameras, with one pointing toward where the user is looking for recording “action”.
3.  Internal Storage:  3 things are important for storage: security, Security & SECURITY.  Confiscation of computers @ BORDERS & airports, industrial espionage, and plain theft HAVE TO BE DEALT WITH!  I predict some form of key lockable storage, which may mean a new form factor (worked out with Intel), where flash memory is the first type supplied (throw in a dunce flash drive to travel with, keeping the proprietary drive away from the laptop).
4.  Multiple Cores:  Optimization & ease of use to allow for 2 OSs to run native simultaneously on 2 separate CPU cores.  Not necessary?  Yup, but when you need it for safety in the malware, trojan, worm, key logger infected world, you know that sooner (probably now with the NSA, CIA and China Ops) or later we are going to have to run “Disposable OSs” which we unstuff from a virtualleoparddisk.dmg file.
5.  Cooling:  No matter how reduced the power level of the CPU, we are running more things and want to run FAST.  I suspect we will see more sophisticated distributed cooling, maybe without fans unless high % CPU utilization is needed.
6.  Keyboard:  I would expect Apple to ship a sealed keyboard at some point.  I have had way too many “accidents”.  Key caps flipped off, wine slopped in (from 6” away from the keyboard), coffee spilled, and luckly most of the time, no problem.  But keyboards attract dust, hair, dirt of all types (not to mention bacteria:  MSRA anyone).  Ever tried to “clean” from under your keys (hint:  PostIt note adhesive slid under will pick up almost anything loose).  Consequently I use a silicone keyboard cover (from the Apple Store) on my 15” MBPro, and it is a lifesaver, and I got used to it in just a few minutes.
7.  External Ports:  I expect that port covers ala the MacBookAir will come along to keep the crap out.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see the eSATA connector make a debut (but that is just a pure guess based on “thin” layout).
8.  Main LCD Screen:  Make the screen visible (even if only B&W;) in bright light without any backlight.  I would hope we could get to the point of a screen visible in over-lighted conditions (where big windows are around) and outdoors, even in just modestly shaded places, and that might come in some of the newer screen constructions.
9.  Screen Latches:  I have had parts break and fall out of my 17” PowerBook.  Seems like they are overly complicated, and I often have to repeat my signin two times to get out of sleep.  There has to be a simpler way & my guess is it will be successfully addressed.
10.  Security Software:  Apple putting in/making available software that simply stops all outbound traffic that you don’t want in an easy to understand way for typical users that is controllable is likely to be needed soon, & I hope they get out with the next MacBook Pro.

Wish lists are a bane of message boards, but I think my list of items reflects positive needs based on my use of laptops since the day of the first Mac “Portable” with the 4 pound battery.

I loved aluminum as a case material.  I had a 1.0GHz PowerBook G4 12” that I loved so much I bought a faster one.  My love affair lasted for three years, until one fateful day when pulling it out of my bag it slipped, slid four inches to the hardwood table and put a nice dent in the bottom-front-left corner of that gorgeous aluminum case.

My choices were simple, have a laptop that wouldn’t sit flat on a table, give the Apple store $600 in factory parts and labor to replace the bottom case or spend about half that for someone else to do it with used parts and risk my warranty.

I see the plastic case of the regular MacBook has an advantage, not a disadvantage.  I like the current MacBook so much that my family has three of them.

As far as separating the consumer and pro lines, I say they changed the iMac, so why won’t they do it with the laptops.  Ultimately the separator is the features and price, not case material.