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October 2010 came roaring in like a Lion — well, for Mac OS X fans that is. Once again Steve Jobs took center stage for a Keynote presentation that focused on the Mac. He and his executive team announced and demoed a few upcoming features in Lion, Mac OS X 10.7.

Alongside of the software hoopla Steve also introduced an update to the MacBook Air. Faster, better memory, better storage, better display, better battery life and more affordable. However, there was one line during his keynote that still rattles in my brain — like a tune you hear in the grocery store and then can't get out of your head. Steve said this is "...the new MacBook Air… we think it is the future of notebooks."

Before announcing the new MacBook Air Steve showed the iPad and what they liked about it. Next Job displayed a MacBook Pro alongside the iPad and asked, "What happens if a MacBook and an iPad hooked up?" The audience laughed. Then Steve showed us the new MacBook Air.

Learning from themselves

What's particularly interesting is that Apple took this same approach with iOS and Lion. They looked at what they liked about iOS that could also work in a desktop operating system — and Lion is being born from that thinking. This is what I call Apple's "Learning from themselves" and Apple's real good at it. If an idea works well over here, then Apple asks, "Could it work over there? If so, how? What needs to be done? Is it practical? Is it beneficial?"

Apply this thinking to Steve's statement about the MacBook Air being the "future of notebooks." What it means is that the next rev of the MacBook Pro will be significantly different than what we see today. My colleague at work has a new MacBook Air. I still use an older 15" MacBook Pro (late 2009 model). When I see her work and tote it around, and I do the same with with my 15" MacBook Pro, it feels like a boat anchor.My MacBook Pro feels slower. It looks really bulky — It's just embarrassing in comparison to the MacBook Air.

October is typically when Apple launches new MacBook Pros, which we predicted last year. We think it'll be no different for 2011, but what processor will be used? Can they squeeze Intel's Sandy Bridge inside such a small enclosure and also include a separate discreet GPU to give the Pro that extra umpf? Or will that hurt battery life? Perhaps Intel delivers a custom Sandy Bridge package for Apple, akin to the original MacBook air Core2Duo solution?

Whatever Apple decides, say good-bye to hard drives, SuperDrives and overall bulk being part of the MacBook Pro notebook lineup. Apple will once again make Windows PC's look archaic, and probably make the current MacBook pros look downright dated.

Related Articles

• MacBook Buyers Guide 2011
• MacBook Air Solid State Drive Comparison
• Comparison: MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro
• Macbook Graphics Face-off: Intel HD Graphics 3000 vs NVIDIA GeForce 320M
• Performance Face Off: iPad 2 vs MacBook Air

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