Anyone know when Apple will release Santa Rosa/led backlit Macbook(13'')?

Just wandering whether I should wait for this or if I should just go for a Sony SZ......

 

No one knows except Steve Jobs .

But I would say expect one in October; if it doesn't happen the MacBook will probably be updated with Penryn in early 2008.

Anyways, about the MacBook vs. Sony SZ debate, do you like OS X? Do you want to use OS X? If you only plan to use Windows on the machine, get a PC (look for some cheaper alternatives; the SZ is pretty pricey). If you want to use OS X, plan to use OS X, and still want Windows now and then, get a Mac.

 

I would probably use mainly windows however maybe i'll warm up the OS X once i'm used to it.

 

Well, if you want to use OS X, get the MacBook or MBP (there's no other choice ). Its quite interesting, a few of our members here bought a Mac with no intention of using OS X, but eventually found that they mainly use OS X nowadays.

 

I'll go on record guessing that we will NOT see an LED-backlit Macbook (non-Pro) this year or even early next year. I think Apple will keep the LED-backlighting a "Pro" feature for at least the next year or so. If and when they ever release the fabled Mini-MBP, then that'll have it... but I'm not holding my breath.

As for Santa Rosa on the Macbook... it's possible they'll do that this year, but they might wait for Penryn before updating to the Santa Rosa chipset. If I had to guess I'd say it'll come early next year with Penryn.

 

Apple also said that they planned to move all of their notebooks (and I thought all of their displays period) to LED by the end of 2007, and there are currently already a few 13.3" LED notebooks out there. If Apple wants to stay ahead of the competition, they'll likely throw in LED to the Macbook, especially considering how big they are on keeping things thin.

 

Interesting... I wasn't aware of that.

I know, but the other 13.3" LED notebooks that I know of are all considerably more expensive than the Macbook, which is one reason I thought they wouldn't put it in the Macbook for a while.

 

The type of LED's they are using is actually cheaper then the current form of back lighting. The only issue would changing how assembly went on the lines. Production costs will be even lower in the future markets using LED's primarily.

 

It's possible.

This article from Mac Rumors quotes Steve Jobs as saying, "We plan to introduce our first Macs with LED backlight technology in 2007. Our ability to completely eliminate fluorescent lamps in all of our displays depends on how fast the LCD industry can transition to LED backlighting for larger displays."

They've already done that though, so they may wait until 2008 to intoduce them into the Macbook line.

 

While I know there are LED-backlit screens out there for the 13.3-inch category already (XPS M1330, to name the big one), I might expect Apple to hold off putting LED-backlighting onto the MacBook until it can put it on the 17-inch MacBook Pro.

However, what may happen, is Apple may re-position the MacBook to become a prosumer product, similar to what they did with the latest revision of the iMac (consumer + professional). If Apple decides to do this, then they would most definitely want to add LED-backlighting onto the new "prosumer" MacBook.

 

I believe this also...I coulda swore I read a news article that Apple wants to move to LED backlighting pretty much ASAP to eliminate mercury from their production process and be a more "green" company since mercury is in pretty much all current CFL backlights.

 

Not me!! I refuse to switch over to the dark side.

The LED backlit Santa Rosa based MB is expected to hit the market with Leopard in October. However, thats still only a rumour (as with nearly everything Apple), so take it with a grain of salt, or even more.

 

You do realize that it's not confirmed, but it's possible, right?

The Sony SZ is ok, but i'd go for the macbook. That's if, they update it of course.

 

http://notes.thinksecret.com/secretnotes/0709supplycheck.shtml

Seems shortages of LED displays are backlogging MBPs. Combined with problems Dell had with 13.3" LED display supplies for the M1330, I think it might be too early for Apple to put LED displays in the next MacBook. There is little doubt that the MacBook will be refreshed in time for Christmas, but it'll likely just be to add Santa Rosa. Intel has finished work last month on enabling hardware vertex shaders and T&L in XP for the GMA X3100, so we're probably just waiting on Apple to translate that into OS X drivers.

LED displays will likely wait for a Q2 2008 to be introduced with a completely refreshed MacBook chassis design to complement the new Montevina platform to be released in Q2 2008. Penryn's will be available in 800MHz FSB form for Santa Rosa in Q1, but Apple might just wait a quarter and get the 1067MHz FSB Penryn's for Montevina and DDR3 since that seems like the more worthwhile transition to dedicate resources to.

 

LED is - as the man said himself - entirely dependent on how quickly the LCD manufacturers switch over to it. Translated: MB will have LED displays as soon as they are cheap enough and can be had in sufficient quantity. No one knows when that will be the case.

Santa Rosa is anyone's guess, but I'd think that will come rather sooner than later. But Apple might hold off with it until the LED displays come so they have fewer different models to maintain. Each new model creates more work for support after all.

 

Kind of off-topic but a company called Axiotron is working on creating a modified MacBook to include tablet functionality. Looks pretty snazzy from the images on their website: http://axiotron.com/index.php?id=home

 

Is there any indication of when it will actually be released? Because the Modbook's been announced since Macworld 2007...

 

Not that I know of. A friend at work pointed that site out to me a couple weeks ago. He says he thinks they'll start shipping them late this year. He's planning on getting one the moment they become available.

 

The Modbook has been around for a very long time, and it doesn't seem to be shipping anytime soon.

 

I'm wondering this as well. I visited an Apple store yesterday and loved the 13'' MacBook. However, I need to have the LED backlighting and Santa Rosa. Anyone know when they might release such a notebook?

 

No one knows except Apple. I would say expect it in October, and if it doesn't arrive then expect it in early 2008.

 

Just out of curiousity what is the reason why you "need" these updates? Perhaps you might need Santa Rosa for the GMA X3100 over the GMA 950, but what's the reasoning behind "needing" an LED display? I'm pretty sure the brightness and contrast is the same as lamp-based ones, and the power savings from Santa Rosa are probably more significant than from the LED screen.

 

white led displays are noticeably thinner

 

October along with leoperd the macbook will add led& Santa Rosa

 

When do you plan to spell things correctly, Thomas?

And that's a guess...albeit a good guess, but you should still note that its a guess.

 

But in order for that to translate into a thinner notebook, we'd be assuming the next MacBook refresh would include a chassis redesign in addition to LED displays and Santa Rosa. When the MBP got LED displays, the chassis was not redesigned so there was no benefit from the thinness of LEDs.

 

An article here suggested that there may be supply issues with the LED screens in MBPs:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3935

Also, Dell seems to be having trouble getting enough of them for their M1330s. (Or some issue with them... I'm not really sure, but I think they raised the price on the LED screen option.)

If there are really supply issues with these, Apple may not rush to get them into the Macbook.

 

I am interested to see what they are going to do also.
I read some speculation that Apple may start using the aluminum chasis on the MB. If they start putting the aluminum chassis on the MacBook that would even blur the lines between the MBP even further.
I would like to see an aluminum MB with a dedicated graphics card at least but I cannot see that happening really.
I think that most likely they may upgrade the graphics to Intel’s x3100 and Santa Rosa and that is it. I think that this will be after the school promotions that Apple will do this in October and when Leopard is released.
Also, if you have a look at all the 13.3 notebooks that are using LED backlighting with similar processor speeds they are all priced a bit higher than the MacBook.
Apple are onto a good thing with the MB but they have lost some of their consumers by not having a pro ultraportable/thin and light but the popularity of their notebooks have gone up so I don’t they are really bothered about that.
I would like to see them release a 13.3 MacBook Pro with a dedicated GPU and LED backighting.

 

I concur. There has been speculation of a less than 1" thin ultraportable MBP since the end of 2006. I think it's going to happen, but I have no idea when.

 

I would like to see a 13'' Macbook in silver or white with Santa Rosa and an LED display. Is that so much to ask?

 

If Apple updates the MacBook in October, Santa Rosa will almost definitely be part of the update. LED-backlit displays, maybe, depending on how much supply the manufacturers can produce for Apple (you see Dell's delays of the XPS M1330; if the manufacturers will have to delay like they did with Dell, Apple most likely won't incorporate LED-backlighting then).

Silver is most likely a no, although still possible. With the last iMac update, Apple re-positioned the iMac so that it was targeted for the prosumer market as well as consumer. If Apple decides to re-position the MacBook as well, then it will probably go aluminum.

 

There are some interesting points and predictions in this thread on another forum.

 

I could see the MB getting a redesign to look similar to the iPod nano's casing shape/colours... seems logical to me, anyway.

 

I don't see it just yet. I don't think October's update, if there is one, will be a major one; there doesn't seem to be an indication so far that Apple is going to re-design the MacBook yet (although they could redesign the casing to go aluminum as well so the entire Mac lineup is aluminum and no longer white plastic).

If there is an October update, my prediction is it will just be a "up-to-date" update, to bring the MacBook into Santa Rosa and possibly LED-backlit screens.

If anything needs a re-design, its the MacBook Pro . Not that it looks bad, but its current design has been used for too long; since the aluminum Powerbook G4.

 

Yes! At the beginning of the year I thought Apple was going to do this the next time they updated the Macbook Pro, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen this year.

 

even though there is nothing wrong with the mbp/pb's chassis in terms of appearance, they sure do get wayyyy too hot when they are running @ full speed

 

Im really waiting for a Macbook update. I would order the Black one today if it wasn't for Leopard and maybe an update in October. I really hope they won't change the design (well, as long as its flat and black I want it ). But a X3100 and Santa Rosa wouldn't be bad. Or maybe cut some weight off

 

I don't think the weight will drop, unfortunately , as long as Apple doesn't change its outer design and materials (if they changed the MacBook to aluminum, then it would be lighter).

And yes, I absolutely recommend all buyers to wait until October to purchase a Mac. The Mac + free iPod promotion has ended, so there is no "incentive" to get a Mac now. Student Discount works all year round, so I suggest everyone to wait until October to get a Mac.

 

I agree that one should wait until at least October. Apple will be releasing it's new operating systm soon and Steve Jobs seems to be surprising everyone these days (ie. iPhone price reduction).

 

I'm waiting till next year after taxes. Hopefully they'll be running the free iPod deal again by next summer.

 

They've been doing it for a couple years, so I don't see why they wouldn't continue.

 

So there have been some rumors that the next MacBook refresh they will have...

* Black aluminum and silver aluminum (like MacBook Pros) have been seen
* They are considerably slimmer than current MacBook and even a bit more than MacBook Pros
* The screen reaches much closer to the edges than current MacBooks but is the same size as current MacBooks - indicating a somewhat smaller footprint
* The keyboards resemble Apple's new Bluetooth Keyboard
* There is something strange about the touchpad (more on this to come)
* They are set to be priced extremely aggressively
* While they are dense, overall they are lighter than the current MacBooks
(got this from 9to5mac - link)

If this is true the current MacBooks will be Apple's last white coloured product?

errrr...not sure if this has anything to do with LED backlit MacBooks though

 

Is it true that the MacBook is going aluminum? No one knows except Apple. This is just a rumour right now, remember. However, 9to5Mac has been very accurate in Apple rumours lately, so you may want to consider their information a bit more "real".

If there is such an update of the MacBook, I would say they would almost very likely include LED-backlit screens on the MacBook then.

But you may also want to consider the alternative: maybe this is the ultraportable MBP, and not the MacBook at all.

 

the mb and the mini get sr at calender week 44 - 45 this year.

doc