Existing (edit: mini)displayport adapters will work. Per the Apple Thunderbolt site (http://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/):

"And because Thunderbolt is based on DisplayPort technology, the video standard for high-resolution displays, any Mini DisplayPort display plugs right into the Thunderbolt port. To connect a DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI, or VGA display, just use an existing adapter."

The Converter works fine, I _love_ the mini-display port form factor, Happy to hear they are adapting it for thunderbolt, (Interesting to see the similarity in Bus Naming "FIRE WIRE" "THUNDER BOLT") - Only downside is that it requires a USB port to power it, but, on the pro side, the MBAir comes with two!

The old battery tests were unrealistic. They advertised 8 hours on the 17'', but who really got even close to that under normal use?

I'm thankful they're taking the hit on pure battery life numbers to report an honest, realistic test.

That said, when I'm traveling and going for extended battery life (read: trans-atlantic flights) I get pretty close to the rated number by dimming my backlight and shutting off wifi and bluetooth.

The previous MBPs had CPUs with a TDP of 35W. The TDP of the CPUs in the 2011 MBPs are 45W. Battery life seems to have dropped inline with the increase in power envelope.

We should see improved battery life next year with Ivy Bridge, or if there's a mid-year refresh with Sandy Bridge processors with new steppings.

Regardless, I plunked down for a 15" today so I could rid myself of the large brick my workplace saddled with me. They didn't believe me when I said I'd buy my own laptop with my own case. Hell, I meant it.

The move from Core2Duo to Core i* alone should bag you a substantial improvement in processing power, at least; the lack of a quad-core model is presumably a battery life and cooling system trade-off.

What they really sacrificed here was the opportunity to make a compelling product. It's 2011, when have you last time used an optical drive?

Frankly, I haven't needed an optical drive in a laptop since booting from USB drives became practical a few years ago. (happy MacBook Air user here)

It'll be interesting to see if Apple fleshes out its Cinema display into a combined docking station and screen using the Thunderbolt port's potential. Add a DVD drive, HDD for Time Machine, USB/Firewire controllers, ExpressCard slot, whatever, using the PCIe channel in the Thunderbolt.

I see where you're standing. But actually I receive two DVDs per week in my mailbox, so last time was today. And I still buy CDs, yes.

I think what you really want is the next iteration of the Air with whatnot is missing from the current model.

The only situation where I could imagine an external CD-Rom to get in the way would be for watching DVDs on the go. But afaik even for that most people copy the movie to the harddrive beforehand - to prevent the drive from sucking the battery dry while watching.

I see the MBP as a laptop to use plugged in a socket and with a lan cable at home, work, a client's place or a library, and only need decent portability and battery life. For all other uses I'd prefer the ipad or the Air(wish I get the $$ for it).

Do I use it as often as I did, say, 10 years ago? No, but I can imagine why Apple would leave it.

1st thing I did when I receive my Snow Leopard DVD is to RIP it to my firewire HDD.

See the Intel Core i7 2620M (the 2.7Ghz part in the high-end 13" model) spec sheet for example: http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=52231

Also worth checking out is what scale they are made at, I remember some of the core i processors were only being made at the higher nanometers scale (e.g. older less heat efficient technology).

It would be ironic if the Core i5 four core model was more battery efficient and produced less heat than the core i5 two core models...

Edit: no, I'm not referring to the recent thing with the sandy bridge architecture, but a previous architecture. Did some more research and it sounds like back in September some of them were produced at 32 nanometers and others were produced at 45 nanometers. Also there may have been some initial problems going to their new 32nm process.

Presumably by now they've got the issues that I remembered sorted out (so that they can have new and different issues like sandy bridge ports and so forth).

edit: pricing differs slightly depending on model

[updated] it is backwards compatible - source: http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/features.html

I've had a lot of people look at a MacBook Air and then ask me "where's the DVD drive?".

Or they could design the bay to accommodate an optional battery that would be factory installed.

Love the quad core.

Hate the CD drive - fill up that space with something useful, not a dead weight. I'd have to install an optibay adapter with SSD but I don't see why I'd want to to hack a brand new laptop.

Lugging around my Core2Duo MBP weighing at over 2kg does get quite tiring. :( I need its battery life though.

I doubt the optical drive uses any significant power at all when it's not in use.

That said, I ditched my own in favor of an SSD + HDD setup and haven't looked back.

That’s perfect for me since I’m maybe six hours in a train two or three times a month and no flatrate can beat the five or eight Euro I’m paying.

There are dozens of other options available (at least in Germany), suitable for pretty much any conceivable need and some will come with extra SIM cards for your smartphone or tablet.

How about this one: 15€ per month, unlimited HSDPA internet access (limited to GPRS speeds after 1GB), 9ct per minute for all phone calls and SMS (as always in Europe, incoming phone calls and SMS are free), two SIM cards. You could order an unlocked iPhone from Apple right now (I don’t know whether that’s possible in the US but it is now in Germany) and put one SIM card in the phone and use the other one for your laptop or whatever other device.

(see: http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/publications/magazine/6/4/... )

If anything, 1400x900 on the new MBA seems a little bit small (and Apple doesn't allow you to bump the size of everything up like you can in Windows). It's interesting that 1680x1050 is still an upcharge on the 15".

Because people want higher resolutions without using an external display. Or at least a choice.

The best I can tell, the availability of high resolution screens on laptops has actually dropped over the past few years rather than increased. It seems rare now that screen resolution is even an option on laptops.

Personally I'm one of the people who is in the market for high resolution laptop screens. Unfortunately its a choice between high resolution and durability or size. I'm never traveling with a 17" screen again and I don't really want a poorly engineered Vaio Z.

If Apple put in a 1900x1080 screen, what you'd hear instead from consumers is that everything is too tiny to read.

In other words, the people willing to pay Apple prices care enough about their computer purchase to actually read the specs. Like if you buy a high performance car, you at least want to do enough research not to look like a total idiot in front of your gear head friends after you've spent that much money.

Or maybe I'm wrong, and Apple customers really only care about how nice it will look on the coffee shop table.

My MacBook Pro 15" from a couple of years ago has a 1440 by 900 display and that is MUCH better than this 1280 by 800. Shame that Apple still thinks that is acceptable.