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Awaiting 2013 MBA Release (Haswell)

ApplNat

ApplNat

macrumors member
Original poster
May 18, 2013
87
12
Hi All,

First time poster. I've decided to jump into the land of Apple and treat myself to a 13" MBA. Since the newest MBAs are due to be announced, I've decided to wait for that. Oh, but it's difficult. I do have a couple Win laptops so it's not like I'm computerless altogether; I'm just antsy now that I've made a decision to pull the trigger on a new tech tool.

Why am I waiting for Haswell? Well aside from wanting the newest version of hardware, I'm hoping there will be a bump in battery life.

For awhile I thought I might go the route of getting an iPad, but as a dedicated touch typist who is not merely consuming content but actively participates in creating content, there is no way I can be proficient on a virtual touch screen. Yes I know I could add a keyboard to an iPad but that makes it a laptop in the end. I realized the iPad is fab, but I have no real 'need' for one, truth be told. Besides, I have a 4th gen iPod touch and that's a mini-mini iPad! ;-D

I decided since an old Dell laptop screen just died to use that excuse/rationalization as my reason to get a new laptop and I've been eying the MBAs for awhile now.

Patience will have to be a newly acquired skill as I have no idea how quickly the newest MBAs will be available once announced next month.

As for specs I'm thinking 8gb RAM and either 128 or 256gb HD, depending. i5 would be fast enough for my use.
 
Last edited:
Agent-P

Agent-P

Contributor
Dec 5, 2009
2,502
23
The Tri-State Area
ApplNat said:
As for specs I'm thinking 8mb RAM and either 128 or 256gb HD, depending. i5 would be fast enough for my use.
Click to expand...

I currently have the mid-2012 8gb RAM, 128gb SSD, 1.8 GHz i5 and it handles stuff like a champ. I usually keep Photoshop, ~5 tabs in Firefox, Osfoora (a Twitter client), Messages, Spotify, and Skype all open at once and have everything respond perfectly.

But I'm planning on selling soon so I can pick up a Haswell MBA for the same reasons you stated (hopefully better battery life and better GPU). I'll definitely opt for 8gb RAM again and I'll stick with the i5 processor. As for the SSD, I'm still deciding if I'll go with 128gb again or upgrade to the 256gb one. I'm going to wait and see if the SSD will still be user upgradeable or not.
 
Scottsdale

Scottsdale

Suspended
Sep 19, 2008
4,473
283
U.S.A.
I seriously doubt we will get a 16GB RAM option. Even the rMBP 13" model doesn't have it. I believe they will use the Intel GPU differences to differentiate the rMBP in 13" model. I suspect Apple would have the 13" rMBP get the 16GB RAM option before the MBA.

What I want will probably not happen. All I expect to see is Haswell and very minor GPU and battery life improvements. I hope my gut is wrong and we get a completely revamped MBA with all the bells and whistles. Most importantly an improved IPS display.

Congrats on the decision. Either way, you can wait for the update and buy the 2012 model at a discount or get a new one if there is some reason to upgrade. I wouldn't say Haswell would be enough. For 2012, in all Apple products, I was happy to see USB 3.0. Cheers.
 
ApplNat

ApplNat

macrumors member
Original poster
May 18, 2013
87
12
Since I don't have an MBA (or any Apple laptop) I don't have to mull over a decision whether to upgrade or not. I will start with the 2013 model.

Although..... I did work for Apple for one year (1995) at headquarters in Cupertino, in the days before Jobs came back, Michael Spindler was ousted and then Gil Amelio came in. Those were the dark times. I purchased a Mac Powerbook Duo 280c with my employee discount. Color laptop. It was the hot diggity. Then again, I did have 2 Newtons as well at the time so clearly my world view was quite skewed. :D
 
M

Mackan

macrumors 65816
Sep 16, 2007
1,421
91
Scottsdale said:
I seriously doubt we will get a 16GB RAM option. Even the rMBP 13" model doesn't have it. I believe they will use the Intel GPU differences to differentiate the rMBP in 13" model. I suspect Apple would have the 13" rMBP get the 16GB RAM option before the MBA.

What I want will probably not happen. All I expect to see is Haswell and very minor GPU and battery life improvements. I hope my gut is wrong and we get a completely revamped MBA with all the bells and whistles. Most importantly an improved IPS display.
Click to expand...

I unfortunately think Apple is happy with how the MacBook Air is today, due to their obsessive nature of product differentiation. It's their speciality. They don't want to make the Air "too good", and don't want to give it features their other neighboring products have (such as the iPad or MacBook Pro).

So what you expect to see, minor GPU and battery life improvements, sounds exactly what you will get. They could give you 16 GB RAM option, but they won't... Your needs as a customer isn't their priority.
 
T

tann

macrumors 68000
Apr 15, 2010
1,944
813
UK
I would love an Air as my next laptop, before I would buy one however I'd like the option of 16gb of ram. It's sad that it's not even an option on the 13" rMBPs yet but hopefully they give us the option this year or next.
 
D

DisplacedMic

macrumors 65816
May 1, 2009
1,411
1
Mackan said:
I unfortunately think Apple is happy with how the MacBook Air is today, due to their obsessive nature of product differentiation. It's their speciality. They don't want to make the Air "too good", and don't want to give it features their other neighboring products have (such as the iPad or MacBook Pro).

So what you expect to see, minor GPU and battery life improvements, sounds exactly what you will get. They could give you 16 GB RAM option, but they won't... Your needs as a customer isn't their priority.
Click to expand...

other than that bizarre final sentence, i agree with this. and i'm happy about it - increased battery life on the 11" is, in my opinion, all that's really needed. the rest is just gravy.
 
B

bp1000

macrumors 65816
Jul 7, 2011
1,476
185
Yes that final sentence was bizarre

They restrict things not to ignore users needs, quite the opposite, to make them better, so you buy the right product to give you the best usability.

I hate companies that shoehorn everything in. If you had 16gb on a 2012 MBA you might buy it for video editing or similar and be disappointed with the experience. Get the faster mbp for a better experience at high intensity work.

People moan about the iPhone lacking in features to Samsung. The galaxy 4 had NFC my 4s does not. Can I use NFC anywhere? Not that I know of, never seen any mention of NFC usage in over a year. All great to shoehorn features into something, disappointing when you can't use them proactively in daily life or the user experience is poor because the supporting hardware isn't up to spec,
 
Santabean2000

Santabean2000

macrumors 68000
Nov 20, 2007
1,883
2,044
Scottsdale said:
I seriously doubt we will get a 16GB RAM option. Even the rMBP 13" model doesn't have it. I believe they will use the Intel GPU differences to differentiate the rMBP in 13" model. I suspect Apple would have the 13" rMBP get the 16GB RAM option before the MBA.

What I want will probably not happen. All I expect to see is Haswell and very minor GPU and battery life improvements. I hope my gut is wrong and we get a completely revamped MBA with all the bells and whistles. Most importantly an improved IPS display.

Congrats on the decision. Either way, you can wait for the update and buy the 2012 model at a discount or get a new one if there is some reason to upgrade. I wouldn't say Haswell would be enough. For 2012, in all Apple products, I was happy to see USB 3.0. Cheers.
Click to expand...

You've nailed it. 16GB RAM should be an option in all models, but sadly with the increasingly non-upgradable components these days in the MBAs, MBPs, iMacs, (and soon to be, I think, mini and new MP [type comp which won't be called a MP]), we are really at the mercy of Apple's out of the box options.

I bought a MBP last year over the MBA mainly for this exact reason. Scottsdale, I remember you (and I) wishing for an option for an MBA with 4GB RAM a year or two back; now we can get 8GB and I'm pushing for 16GB... I must be a bit of a sucker.

As others have said, they feel the need to have some distinct differences between models and just don't want to confuse customers with too many options.

I guess the reality is that most customers are just happy with the stock standard options straight off the shelf. Shame that.

My ideal machine:
13" MBA 16GB RAM, 960GB SSD, retina IPS 2880x1800
I think I might be lucky... in 2015.
 
N

No-Me

macrumors 6502a
Jul 3, 2011
574
31
Rotterdam
Santabean2000 said:
My ideal machine:
13" MBA 16GB RAM, 960GB SSD, retina IPS 2880x1800
I think I might be lucky... in 2015.
Click to expand...
:)

I use my 1st gen 11" MBA as my second computer, only for on the road. It's still ok for that, but I would love to replace it with one that has a Retina screen :) and that has a battery that holds longer, would love to be able to just not take a charger sometimes.
 
D

DisplacedMic

macrumors 65816
May 1, 2009
1,411
1
No-Me said:
:)

I use my 1st gen 11" MBA as my second computer, only for on the road. It's still ok for that, but I would love to replace it with one that has a Retina screen :) and that has a battery that holds longer, would love to be able to just not take a charger sometimes.
Click to expand...

especially in europe where the plugs weigh more than the device;):p:D

but i really doubt we'll see a retina mba any time soon - especially not on the 11"
 
N

No-Me

macrumors 6502a
Jul 3, 2011
574
31
Rotterdam
I know, but somehow I hope the chromebook pixel and the new announced samsung screens will get Apple "motivated" to make it a little faster ;)
 
B...

B...

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2013
1,949
2
No-Me said:
I know, but somehow I hope the chromebook pixel and the new announced samsung screens will get Apple "motivated" to make it a little faster ;)
Click to expand...

Right, the Chromebook Pixel is a breakthrough in computer technology! A $1300 web browser with a pretty screen, whereas the rMBP is a $1500 full-fledged computer with 4x the storage, more and better ports, better aspect ratio for any real work, more apps, the ability to run more than one OS, etc with a pretty screen. The Chromebook is not a rMBA, it's a very bad "copy" of the rMBP, so Apple has already "made it".
 
P

PDFierro

macrumors 68040
Sep 8, 2009
3,932
111
I'd like better screen technology, but all I'm really expecting is Haswell and other minor improvements. That's good enough for me, it's why I'm waiting to order the new one instead of buying now.
 
N

No-Me

macrumors 6502a
Jul 3, 2011
574
31
Rotterdam
B... said:
Right, the Chromebook Pixel is a breakthrough in computer technology! A $1300 web browser with a pretty screen, whereas the rMBP is a $1500 full-fledged computer with 4x the storage, more and better ports, better aspect ratio for any real work, more apps, the ability to run more than one OS, etc with a pretty screen. The Chromebook is not a rMBA, it's a very bad "copy" of the rMBP, so Apple has already "made it".
Click to expand...

I was not talking about the Chromebook itself, but about the screen, since the retina screens (or better than apple has now) are getting more and more mainstream I somehow hope that Apple wants to be one of the first to add a retina display to a very thin laptop.
 
PeterJP

PeterJP

macrumors 65816
Feb 2, 2012
1,136
896
Leuven, Belgium
I have 16GB in my desktop windows PC and it has about 13GB free at the moment. I'm not too much of a power user. But if 16GB becomes available, I would get it for futureproofing. Can't upgrade afterwards ! Same for the 256GB vs 128GB SSD, but those are available already.

Retina would be nice, but I'm reconsidering. I love the fact that I can rescale the screen without jaggies (big for couch surfing and small for decent work). But I also want a really small machine. I don't think I'll be doing lots of decent work on a 13" rMBP without an external monitor attached, so the retina is wasted. Might as well get a well spec'ed 11" MBA and enjoy the tiny size while on the road or couch surfing :)


Peter.
 
V

Verix

macrumors regular
Jul 30, 2010
120
2
I have never had more than 4GB ram in my computers. Granted, they slow up when too much is going on, but that's time to close some other stuff. I can't even imagine how much stuff you guys leave open to need 16GB of ram unless you need it for professional applications.
 
Steve121178

Steve121178

macrumors 603
Apr 13, 2010
6,402
6,956
Bedfordshire, UK
Verix said:
I have never had more than 4GB ram in my computers. Granted, they slow up when too much is going on, but that's time to close some other stuff. I can't even imagine how much stuff you guys leave open to need 16GB of ram unless you need it for professional applications.
Click to expand...

VM's.
 
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