With the iPad launch recently behind us, people are already focusing on future Apple products. The next one they are paying the most attention to is the next MacBook line, whether it be MacBook Pro/Air or just MacBook. I’m going to go though all the details of the current rumors, what we know what will happen and when this thing will be released. But first what is their plan of action?

Apple has a few different routes it can take when it comes to MacBooks. Because the new “Pros” are supposed to be a lot skinnier then they are now, they could merge the Pro and the Air and just make it MacBook. This would make sense since Apple is about simplicity and they did that with the iPad (iPad instead of iPad 3 or iPad HD). They also of course, go the route they’ve been at for years, the MacBook Pro and Air still remain two separate lines. I believe that they will either call the line just MacBook rename the line to all “MacBook Air” or have MacBook Air and MacBook AirPro, with the first option being a lot more likely. Let’s review what the main features of what should be the MacBook 2012.

The different models- The 11-inch will be discontinued indefinitely as it is too small to do the job. There will be two models of each size ranging from 2.4-2.7 ghz depending on the model. They will be unibody like every MacBook Pro since 2009.

Ivy Bridge Processors- These processors will be available in April (possible release date?) The processors will be one of the first, if not the first, to be able to sport USB 3.0. The processors will allow for half the power consumption than the current MacBooks. Because of this, it will heat up a lot less than it does now (not that it heats up that much anyway!). It will sport a 20% increase in performance CPU wise and 30-199% increase in performance in the GPU. The maximum number of cores in Ivy Bridge has increased from 4 to 8 (2 of the 8 disabled for yield purposes). All of this allows for a much faster computer. You can look through more of the technical features of the chip on the Wikipedia website dedicated to the chip..

Retina Display- The display on the MacBook Pro currently ranges from 1280×800 on the 13 inch, and 1920 and 1200, both of which are stunning displays to look it. However these displays can get even more stunning. There are rumors out that the new 2012 MacBooks will sport a 2800×1800 display. This will be an insanely great display. I have not yet seen the new iPads screen but I know that will look stunning. For those of you who have, the new MacBook will most likely look like that. The pixel quantity is so high your eyes can’t tell the distinguish separate pixels.

SSD- Have you ever used a MacBook Air before? The reason they are so light is because Apple has dropped the hard drive and put a much safer, much faster Solid State Drive. SSDs also have much fewer problems than HDDs because they have much less moving parts (I.e. fan). SSDs are the way Apple is going in its future products as it wants to get rid of discs entirely as they are a dying technology. Getting software, movies and music through the Internet will be the only way to get the software you need in a few years to come. DVDs, CDs and even BDs will, to much dismay of the movie and music industries, die out in coming years. Apple has a history of getting rid of technology that they see falling in the near future. They are usually the ones to get rid of it first. If Apple gets rid of something, you can almost guarantee that it will die out in the near future, with all that said, I bring you to the next feature, one that occurs because of this one.

MacBook Air like thickness- Because of the fact that Apple will be putting in SDDs in their laptops, the laptops will be much thinner and lighter. Just pick up a Air and look at it, you’ll know what I’m talking about. I carry around my old laptop a lot and it gets heavy after a while. It being lighter will help me a lot. If it could be about the weight of the iPad 2 or even lighter it would be perfect.

Instant on- This is another feature that I would appreciate as well. This capability already exists on all of the iOS devices. Just press the button on top and slide to unlock. I believe that the feature (besides the slide to unlock of course) would be great since I usually need to carry have my computer closed to carry it around and then go somewhere and immediately have to turn it on. Instant on will be great for me and many other people.

Bigger Trackpad/Full surface trackpad- A new technology has arisen that allows a trackpad to recognize the difference between fingers and palms. This would be great if Apple could implement a bigger trackpad. This would make sense since Apple has been going strong with touch instead of anything else. They are implementing multi touch features. To be honest, I don’t think the current trackpad on the MacBook is big enough for consumers to really get a feel on how great the multi-touch features really are. I think that the trackpad needs to be enlarged.

There are many ways and features that Apple can go with their upcoming MacBook line. We will just have to wait and see what Apple does in next few months.

Thanks for reading,

Joe