Do you think the next MBA will have an option for 16GB and/or a Retina display?

omfgskyler said:

I'm a little curious what any of you think or might now from some rumors..


Also. I have another question regarding the 2012 13" MBA 8GB as a main college computer? I hate how heavy my MBP is... I would like to sell it and get an Air for college. With possibly getting an external screen and definitely having an external/portable HDD for Moives/Music/Photos. Could it last me 4 yrs? Opinions?

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I think we might see 8GB standard with 12GB as BTO option on 13" model. Definitely no retina screen until 2014. It will drop battery life and push prices up. Apple need to bring down the price and push up battery life a good bit more if they want to offer a retina Air. Even if they offer a choice of non retina vs retina then the retina will have much shorter battery life for a much higher price.

I got a 2012 air. 13" 1.8 i5 8gb 128gb and hope it will last me another 4 year but I'm not sure. Most worried about the RAM since it can't be upgraded but it should do fine I think.

omfgskyler said:

Also. I have another question regarding the 2012 13" MBA 8GB as a main college computer? I hate how heavy my MBP is... I would like to sell it and get an Air for college. With possibly getting an external screen and definitely having an external/portable HDD for Moives/Music/Photos. Could it last me 4 yrs? Opinions?

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I doubt either 16GB RAM or Retina display comes to the Air this year.

Unless you're doing heavy graphics or video work get the 13" Air and enjoy. I also like the idea if an external display which makes those long papers and late nights much more bearable. If you're worried about longevity, get the 256GB 13" and bump the RAM to 8GB. Let me know how you like it, I'm thinking about swapping my wife's 15 for an Air.

You probably won't see 16 GB since 8 GB was only introduced as an option last year.

External displays are great. If you get something with a USB hub like the Asus PA238qr you can always have your external hard drive + Time Machine plugged in, which makes the small storage and lack of ports of the MBA less of an issue.

If you plan on using Boot Camp, definitely go for 256 GB, you will got nuts with 128 GB.

No idea about the Retina display.

krspkbl said:

Definitely no retina screen until 2014. It will drop battery life and push prices up. Apple need to bring down the price and push up battery life a good bit more if they want to offer a retina Air. Even if they offer a choice of non retina vs retina then the retina will have much shorter battery life for a much higher price.

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I can agree on all these points. No retina this year, and even if it did it's a waste of money and battery life.

Will the next MBA have Retina? Maybe.
Will a retina MBA be easy to justify a 30% price increase? Probably not.

Dont get me wrong. I would love Retina, but until it comes as a "free" technology bump (like it does with iOS hardware) then I dont think I need it yet.

I personally don't think the Airs will get Retina this year. I also don't think 8 GBs of ram will be standard. I think the only difference we'll see is either the more efficient Ivy Bridge chips and Haswell (or both during different times of the year). I would like it if they improved the quality of the screen, but I don't think that will happen either.

31rhcp said:

If you plan on using Boot Camp, definitely go for 256 GB, you will got nuts with 128 GB.

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I think this heavily depends on how long you plan on using your computer for and what you use a computer for. Although I currently have a 256 GB SSD, I only actually use 60 GBs of it, and if I really wanted to, I could shave close to 10 GBs of that off. This is with Windows 7 installed too.

I don't think there will be a retina for the reasons mentioned price and such. Also it would kill the battery life I think.

No to both. Want that, go to the pro line of machines.

I think that's what apple will believe anyway.

I don't think they will support 16GB so soon because 8GB was just introduced last time.

Retina isn't coming either in 2013 because it demands so much from battery. I think MacBook Pro 13-inch with Retina Display is the current Air with Retina because Retina needs that bigger space for bigger battery and it also produces lots of heat which could be problem with the Air's closure. So I think it might be almost impossible to produce.

Naturally I hope I'm wrong...

hkim1983 said:

Although I currently have a 256 GB SSD, I only actually use 60 GBs of it, and if I really wanted to, I could shave close to 10 GBs of that off. This is with Windows 7 installed too.

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May I ask how?

I found that I couldn't even use a 40 GB Windows partition and that was using XP. On the Mac side, my iTunes library is over 30 GB and I have almost 20 GB of apps.

omfgskyler said:

Great recommendation for the display! I was looking for something like that as I can't afford a TB display yet.. Have other priorities.

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Yeah, for the price I don't know anything that beats it. I also think the TB display is a little (actual way) too big for me.

omfgskyler said:

I'm a little curious what any of you think or might now from some rumors..


Also. I have another question regarding the 2012 13" MBA 8GB as a main college computer? I hate how heavy my MBP is... I would like to sell it and get an Air for college. With possibly getting an external screen and definitely having an external/portable HDD for Moives/Music/Photos. Could it last me 4 yrs? Opinions?

Click to expand...

16GB yes. Retina display no.