So long DVD, bye-bye Blu-Ray

Remember when the Apple dropped floppies and introduced USB on the original iMac? The launch of the MacBook Air could augur a similarly bold and radical move.

Mac Predictions thinks that the time might be right for Apple to drop optical drives from all their notebooks, in order to reduce volume, complexity and cost. The launch of the MacBook Air may just have been a start, to test the waters. Apple likes to be bleeding-edge with their design decisions. The original iMac was not just influential in its use of colorful transparent polycarbonates in consumer electronics - Apple’s abandonment of ADB in favor if the then new USB invigorated an entirely new category of USB peripherals, and the rest of the industry eventually followed. At the time, people scoffed that the iMac had no floppy drive, but what self respecting PC manufacturer ships machines with them today?

So it seems altogether plausible that Apple would be the first computer maker to kiss the optical drive goodbye. It would be a fitting coda to the resolution of the whole HDDVD/Blu-Ray nonsense, and what fun for Steve Jobs to present Sony with such a hollow victory!

Of course, it wouldn’t do any harm to sales of movie rentals and downloads on the iTunes Store either…

Entire MacBook lineup (13.3”, 15” and 17”) to get Air-styling [Mockup]

Mac Predictions has been saying for some time now that Apple is likely to redesign the MacBook Pro to follow the styling of the new MacBook Air. Apple Insider provided support for that view this week, citing a source that claims the entire MacBook line including the 13.3” MacBook will receive the new look, which reflects both the Air and the new iMac.

Whilst the 13.3” MacBook enclosure is not showing its age to the same extent as the MacBook Pro, it certainly feels like an Apple-style move to go for a bold revision of the entire line in one fell swoop. Here’s a speculative visual to see how that might look. As you can see, we’re guessing that the new MacBook and MacBook Pro will take their cues more from the Air than the iMac.

Second Generation Penryn Macbook Pro with new enclosure [Mockup]

In February, this blog predicted that Apple would update its ageing MacBook Pro line with new enclosures following the slim, curvaceous form of the new MacBook Air. Later that month, Apple released a minor upgrade to the MacBook Pro's specs, but no new enclosure. Undeterred by this setback, MacPredictions continues to believe (based upon speculation, rather than any hard evidence) that Apple is likely to redesign its MacBook Pro enclosures this year. It's just not like Apple to have an inconsistent design style across one of their lines for very long. Remember, for example, when the PowerBook switched from the titanium enclosure to aluminium. First the 17" and 12" models were released. For a few months they were sold alongside the 15" titanium model, until eventually that too switched to the new aluminium enclosure. Apple's introduction of the Air may be indicative of a similar phased rollout.

DailyTech claimed in February that Apple would be updating the MacBook Pro line again in June to introduce new second generation Penryn processors. Perhaps then we'll see the entire line consolodating on the new air-style enclosures.

Apple Store Watch – iPod Touch is hot, iPhone is not

Here’s a geeky idea for an occasional feature on MacPredictions. This is a rough floor layout of the Apple Store on Regent Street, London UK (as of 23/02/08). You can tell the products that Apple wants to push, since they’re positioned towards the front of the store (indicated in red). You can see the products that customers are interested, based on the relative crowds in each product area (blue circles). There’s always a bias towards Macs, since many people just mill around the store checking their e-mail. Nonetheless, it’s clear right now that Apple’s pushing the Macbook Air, and shoppers seem interested. Apple’s also pushing the iPod Touch in preference to the iPhone, which is now bizarrely tucked at the back of the store. It seems both Apple and shoppers are in agreement that iPod Touch is hotter than iPhone right now. See previous post for a possible solution!

MacBook Pro updates may reflect MacBook Air design style (mockup)

In late January, AppleInsider speculated that MacBook Pro updates were imminent, and that they would feature the same MultiTouch trackpad that debuted in the MacBook Air. Earlier this month, MacRumors stoked the speculation further with a report on new MacBook Pros appearing in Best Buy’s inventory tracking system.

Just for fun, Mac Predictions has put together this Photoshop mockup to illustrate how the new MacBook Pro may take its design cues from the style of the MacBook Air. It’s interesting to note that the “bulging” cross-section of the Air is also reflected in the new design of the iPod Classic and iPod Nano. This appears to be a new motif that Apple is rolling out across its entire product line. The advantage of the bulge is that it suggests that the product is thinner than it really is, since the product narrows at the sides to present a shallower edge profile.