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sparkie7

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 17, 2008
2,429
202
What's the point?

The pixel density would be too high and you'd be squinting like you were having a hard ****. :D
 

B...

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2013
1,949
2
There is no problem with a rMBP. A rMBA would potentially be 2880x1800 and the computer would scale it to 1440x900, making it theoretically four times sharper with an IPS display.
 

racer1441

macrumors 68000
Jul 3, 2009
1,863
616
Ok. But what about battery consumption?

Apple has always been very good about keeping battery life the same, as things get better use of the battery, they add more features, like a retina display.

I would personally love not having the retina display on the Air, but have a 10-12 hour battery.
 

Mago

macrumors 68030
Aug 16, 2011
2,789
912
Beyond the Thunderdome
At least the 11" rMBA is very likely, Apple only need for Haswell push to build it (usig the same LCD panel on current iPad 4 or the same LCD used on Nexus 10 tablets).

the 13" rMBA its very unlikely since the current rMBP13 covers it, a lower specd one has no sense to rebrand it as MacBook Air.

It rumoured Apple may dicht all non retina MacBook except the cMBP13 at next WWDC.
 

mm201

macrumors regular
Feb 17, 2013
113
1
I would honestly question whether an rMBA would double the resolution of existing MBAs. The MBA already has a higher pixel density compared to the non-Retina Pros, so doubling it would take it through the roof.

2560x1600 and 2560x1440 seem to be more likely resolution choices, with 2732x1536 and 2880x1800 offered as scaled modes.
 

Bear

macrumors G3
Jul 23, 2002
8,088
5
Sol III - Terra
At least the 11" rMBA is very likely, Apple only need for Haswell push to build it (usig the same LCD panel on current iPad 4 or the same LCD used on Nexus 10 tablets).

the 13" rMBA its very unlikely since the current rMBP13 covers it, a lower specd one has no sense to rebrand it as MacBook Air.

It rumoured Apple may dicht all non retina MacBook except the cMBP13 at next WWDC.
I can't see Apple doing the 11" Air as Retina and not the 13". Air.

Hard to make out what will happen from the variety of rumors... some rumors say apple will keep the cMBP. By the way rumors on cMBPs does not say what will happen with the Airs.
 

LeeM

macrumors 6502a
Jan 1, 2012
603
0
pointless. theyre fine as they are and a retina would only serve to steal sales from the pro. the non-retin pros will be dropped, 11" and 13" air as they are with 13" and 15" retina. its all well and good having retina across the board but with the airs theres no point.
i can see all the airs being dropped and an 11" retina pro (in form factor at least) being added. 1 body design, 3 screen sizes, multiple spec options.
 

Bear

macrumors G3
Jul 23, 2002
8,088
5
Sol III - Terra
pointless. theyre fine as they are and a retina would only serve to steal sales from the pro. the non-retin pros will be dropped, 11" and 13" air as they are with 13" and 15" retina. its all well and good having retina across the board but with the airs theres no point.
i can see all the airs being dropped and an 11" retina pro (in form factor at least) being added. 1 body design, 3 screen sizes, multiple spec options.
I can't see the Airs being dropped, they meet a price point and serve a use for many people. However as I stated previously, I don't think they'll be Retina any time soon.
 

Uliman

macrumors member
Mar 23, 2010
71
2
Recently, after 3 years of ownership of a MacBook Pro (2.4 CD2, 8gb Ram, 500gb 7200 HDD) I purchased an MBA (i7 2.0, 8gb Ram, 256 SSD) and, of course, am absolutely enthralled with this laptop.

EXCEPT, for one thing. My MacBook Pro had a much more visually pleasing screen. I'm not up to much on screen resolution and such but if there is one thing I would wish for the Haswell MBA is a better screen; one more like the MacBook Pro.

Is this possible? I'm up for getting the Haswell MBA when it comes out (so my 19 year old son can upgrade with my current MBA) but what's the use (for me) if the screen is going to be the same.
 

stchman

macrumors 6502a
Jul 16, 2012
671
2
St. Louis, MO
A rMBA will not happen IMO as the 13" rMBP covers those bases. If Apple made a 13" rMBA, they would basically be duplicating the 13" rMBP.
 

BenTrovato

macrumors 68040
Jun 29, 2012
3,035
2,198
Canada
I do think the Airs will disappear as there will no longer be a need for them but not for a few more years. I think the transition should be that the Airs get lighter and more battery life. Imagine a 13" Air with 13 hours battery and the 11" with 11 hours? That would be great! They would have less memory available and less processing power saving all the high end features/storage for the pro.

There are a lot of people out there using macs for writing/blogging/traveling etc and battery life is more important than power. Eventually what's in the pro will be small enough to fit in an air and that should be the end of it.
 

ctdonath

macrumors 68000
Mar 11, 2009
1,592
629
Instead of 2x pixels, going 1.5x on the already-dense non-retina displays would be sufficient & workable to reach retina.
 

Cheffy Dave

macrumors 68030
A rMBA will not happen IMO as the 13" rMBP covers those bases. If Apple made a 13" rMBA, they would basically be duplicating the 13" rMBP.

And the problem with that is?:cool:

----------

i think this is the real dilemma with putting a retina display in this form factor... maybe more energy efficient hardware will balance things out down the road and some day we'll see one.

Maybe with the new 11" &13" MBA:eek:
 

petsk

macrumors 6502
Oct 13, 2009
477
417
Without doubt will Apple add Retina screens to their Air lineup. All Apple products are shifting to Retina screens. Only a few idiots at this forum believe otherwise. Post like "13" rMBP covers those bases" makes me LOL. Like the rMBP wouldn't cover the cMBP then? Omg, get a grip or better, get a brain surgery!

There's only one question and that is if the technology can be used in the next gen MBA without sacrificing battery life or if we have to wait.
 

rikbrown

macrumors regular
Jun 29, 2010
214
0
What's the point?

The pixel density would be too high and you'd be squinting like you were having a hard ****. :D

You know that's not how the retina displays work right? The number of pixels is increased but so is the PPI. On-screen items stay the same size, just are sharper.
 

Uliman

macrumors member
Mar 23, 2010
71
2
Without doubt will Apple add Retina screens to their Air lineup. All Apple products are shifting to Retina screens. Only a few idiots at this forum believe otherwise. Post like "13" rMBP covers those bases" makes me LOL. Like the rMBP wouldn't cover the cMBP then? Omg, get a grip or better, get a brain surgery!

There's only one question and that is if the technology can be used in the next gen MBA without sacrificing battery life or if we have to wait.

this man is a genius! and this is not sarcasm
 

sparkie7

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 17, 2008
2,429
202
You know that's not how the retina displays work right? The number of pixels is increased but so is the PPI. On-screen items stay the same size, just are sharper.

em yes. i was being a smart ass. point being though the current non-retina MBA is perfectly fine and resolution readable, hence is there a need to go retina for the sake of the latest and greatest at the expense of cost and battery life? personally I'd rather save some $$ and put it towards more memory or SSD space and having more batt life. **Gigadee**Gigadee** :p
 

LeeM

macrumors 6502a
Jan 1, 2012
603
0
Without doubt will Apple add Retina screens to their Air lineup. All Apple products are shifting to Retina screens. Only a few idiots at this forum believe otherwise. Post like "13" rMBP covers those bases" makes me LOL. Like the rMBP wouldn't cover the cMBP then? Omg, get a grip or better, get a brain surgery!

There's only one question and that is if the technology can be used in the next gen MBA without sacrificing battery life or if we have to wait.


why bother with a 13" retina air? what would its purpose be?
 

kwijbo

macrumors regular
Jan 28, 2012
249
131
why bother with a 13" retina air? what would its purpose be?

Purely speculation, but maybe the 13" rMBP goes more "pro". Quad core processor with GT3e and/or discrete graphics. The MBA will always be ULV so there would be a sizable processing differential between the two models.

Of course, the question that remains is if Haswell (or another unknown factor - better battery tech or power saving in 10.9) will offer enough power savings for a) retina in the MBA and b) quad core and/or discrete graphics in the rMBP.
 

Stetrain

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2009
3,550
20
I think that an increase in display quality would help a lot more than increasing the resolution.

I was just in the Apple store a couple of days ago comparing the 13" rMBP and the 13" Air. Of course the resolution on the rMBP is nice, but what I mostly noticed about the Air was the washed out colors and poorer viewing angles.

A really nice quality IPS panel at the same resolution would be a big help I think.

I also found the sparkly silver bezel around the Air's screen to be a bit distracting when compared to the MBP's black bezel, especially on the new less glossy rMBPs.

The technology definitely isn't there to make a retina resolution Air this year anyway. If you look at the teardowns of the retina iPads, they're almost completely filled with a giant battery. There just isn't room for that sort of battery in an Air alongside the logic board, keyboard, trackpad, etc.
 

LeeM

macrumors 6502a
Jan 1, 2012
603
0
I also found the sparkly silver bezel around the Air's screen to be a bit distracting when compared to the MBP's black bezel, especially on the new less glossy rMBPs.

you definitely get used to this after a while. but whenever i use my pro (non retina) i notice how much better the screen looks.
 

sparkie7

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 17, 2008
2,429
202
I also found the sparkly silver bezel around the Air's screen to be a bit distracting when compared to the MBP's black bezel, especially on the new less glossy rMBPs.

I actually like the silver bezel. And the "glassy" glossy rMBPs suck, as all you see most of the time, is your own dam reflection.

 pls bring back the anti-glare screen option.
 
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