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With the possibility of an event to announce a refreshed Apple Notebook line, there have been a few rumors flying around about what to expect. Some of them are fairly believable, but MacBook rumors aren’t. Keep in mind that this is not a prediction, merely what I would like to see, no matter how unlikely it may be.

MacBook

Design Changes:

• Aluminum Casing: I think this would be a good addition for a few reasons. First off, the current black or white casings are just downright ugly. The plastic makes things looks rather cheap, and it shows scuffs and scratches like none other. The aluminum could give it a much more professional, respectable look and feel. Second, it would centralize the look of all the Mac notebooks, and better define the image of what a Mac is. Currently, the MacBook is the only Macintosh Computer without an aluminum theme.
• Black Chicklets: Again, I think that this would be a good move to make all Macs generally the same. But, in my view, it also improves the cool factor greatly. One of my favorite features of the MacBook Air is the contrast of the black keys with the aluminum casing.
• Backlit Keyboard: You can never have enough backlighting. Many times have I found myself with my MacBook in a dark room and taking twice as long to type one sentence due to the lack of lighting.
• Thinner Design: Like backlighting, you can never have a computer that’s too thin. I would love to see maybe .2” shaved off the total profile of the computer.

New Features:

• Multi-touch Trackpad: The MBP and the MBA both have ‘em. It couldn’t be too hard to slap one of those bad boys on the MacBook.
• Firewire 800: Firewire 400 is so last year. Speed is another one of those things you can never have too much of.
• Better Speakers: To say the least, the current MacBook speakers are crap, even as compact notebooks go. Let me at least attain a volume level that can be heard from more then 10 feet away.
• Better Graphics support: One of the banes of my existence is the low amount of integrated VRAM my computer has. Gaming is quite limited, and with today’s technology, I’m sure something can be done about it.
• Longer Battery life: Who wouldn’t want an extra-long-lasting battery? Let’s up the current 4.5 hours to maybe something like 6 or 7 hours.

MacBook Air

Design:

• I think that the MBA can go a little longer with its current design.  No changes here.

New Features:

• More Ports: Unless I had a massive USB hub, I could never survive with a MacBook Air. I just have too many plugs to live on just one USB Port. Also, the addition of a Firewire (400 or 800, either one is fine, just add one!) port would be nice. My external HD connects through Firewire, so there’s just one more reason why I don’t have a MacBook Air.
• Faster Processor: 1.6GHz?!? The horror! And who wants to pay another $200 for just another paltry processor? I would love to see 1.8GHz or 2.0GHz at the baseline, with maybe a 2.2 or 2.4 GHZ option.
• Bigger Hard Drives: 80GB? Eh. Let’s go with 160GB standard with maybe a 124GB SSD option.

MacBook Pro

Design Changes:

• Thinner Design: I think they could maybe eek out a couple tenths of an inch from the profile of the MacBook Pro.
• Black Chicklets: I really have a beef against the current MBP keyboard. Chicklets are the way to go, and black looks the coolest.

New Features:

• Generally Faster: The only feature change I would make to the MBP would be to just make it generally faster. Faster processors, better graphics, more RAM, etc., etc. Oh, and maybe some really hefty hard drives.

So, pretty much what I’m saying performance wise is make the MacBook Air a MacBook, the MacBook a MacBook Pro, and make the MacBook Pro even better. Design wise, make everything look like a MacBook Air.

What do you want to see in the refresh? Sound off in the comments section below.