With so much attention given to Apple's iPad and iPhone 4 lately, it seems that the company has forgotten about its Mac roots. That is, until the company recently announced that it would shift focus "Back to the Mac" on October 20. Based on the title of the event and the fact Apple hasn't updated its MacBook and MacBook Pro lines since May, we can pretty much assume there will be new laptops.
To say that the MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops are perfect is like admitting you're drinking the Apple love potion. With that, here are 10 things I would love to see announced at this event:
1. Upgrade to Latest Intel Core CPUs. Practically every non-Mac laptop is running a variant of Intel's latest Core processor, whether it's a Core i3, Core i5, or Core i7. These are the fastest mobile processors to date, and there should be no excuse why half of Apple's current laptop line is running on the previous generation Intel Core 2 Duos. I expect to see Core processor technology in the Apple Macbook (Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz), the Macbook Pro 13-inch (2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo), and the MacBook Air.
2. Automatic Switchable Graphics Thoughout. The reason why Apple stuck with the Core 2 Duos is so that it could keep using Nvidia's integrated solution—the Geforce 320M (Intel's latest Core processors prevent Apple from using a third-party integrated graphics solution). Not only would I love to see Apple update the graphics chip, but an automatic switchable graphics solution, like the ones used currently by the Apple Macbook Pro 15- and 17-inch, would be an excellent addition across its entire laptop line.
3. Retina Display on Laptops. Apple has already marketed the living daylights out of the iPhone 4's "Retina Display," which is essentially a higher screen resolution. Wouldn't it be great if Apple gave the MacBook and MacBook 13-inch laptops its own version of a Retina Display (with something like a 1,440-by-900 resolution or even higher)?
4. Higher-Resolution Screens. There's nothing wrong with the current screens per se, but an update would certainly be welcome. The current MacBooks use a 16:10 aspect ratio and resolutions of 1,280-by-800 and the 1,440-by-900. Most other laptop screens have moved to a 16:9 aspect ratio, enabling marginally higher resolutions of 1,366-by-768 and 1,600-by-900.
5. More Memory, Bigger Hard Drives. Prices for system memory and hard drive capacities have sunk to new lows and practically every Windows-based laptop is standardizing on 4GB of DDR3 memory and 320GB-500GB hard drives. Thus, there's no reason why Apple's base configurations should still have 2GB of memory and 250GB hard drives.
6. HDMI, Please. We have already seen an HDMI port appear in the Apple TV and the Mac mini. There's a good chance we might see it replace DisplayPort in the MacBook and MacBook Pro. At the very least, give the Macbook Pro 17-inch both DisplayPort and HDMI-Out, for a dual-monitor hook-up.
7. SD Card Slots. I want to see SD card slots across the board, which includes the Macbook, the Macbook Air, and the 17-inch.
8. WiMAX. How about the latest wireless technologies? A built-in 3G modem is probably a long shot, but what about WiMAX? Fifty-four cities have already erected WiMAX towers, which is like a Wi-Fi signal blanketing an entire city. It's less costly than other broadband subscriptions, and the chip itself takes up very little space in the laptop.
9. Blu-ray. A Blu-ray drive is probably the least likely feature that will appear in Apple's new laptop line up, but it never hurts to dream.
10. Smaller MacBook Air. The MacBook Air has been begging for an update since last year. There have been rumors floating around about an 11-inch MacBook Air, quite possibly Apple's closest thing to a netbook form factor, and hopefully priced like one. We would love to see this little guy come to fruition.
