MacBook Air Re-design?

james1758 · Jun 16, 2013

Hi guys,

Whats peoples thoughts on when/if they will re-design what the macbook air looks like? Its been the same design since 2008, and whilst a LOT has changed inside, nothings changed on the outside (with regards to looks).

By next years WWDC it will be 6 years of the same design, when will it get a re-design..?

SusanK · Jun 16, 2013

I hope not

I hope the design is not changed. I love it the way it is. Let Cook & Co. goof up some other product.

MacReloaded · Jun 16, 2013

james1758 said:
Hi guys,

Whats peoples thoughts on when/if they will re-design what the macbook air looks like? Its been the same design since 2008, and whilst a LOT has changed inside, nothings changed on the outside (with regards to looks).

By next years WWDC it will be 6 years of the same design, when will it get a re-design..?

It had changed in 2010.

Mrbobb · Jun 16, 2013

But what can they do? The current design is copied by competitors but never equaled.

Some of us would like less bezel and more efge-to-edge display, but they really can't do that if they are to maintain the thin profile.

Higher resolution and license that waterproof thing from Sony and I'll be happy.

Throw in a real GPS and GSM radio but I don't want to pay more than +$50.

james1758 · Jun 16, 2013

MacReloaded said:
It had changed in 2010.

How did it change in 2010?! It looks exactly the same

----------

Mrbobb said:
But what can they do? The current design is copied by competitors but never equaled.

Some of us would like less bezel and more efge-to-edge display, but they really can't do that if they are to maintain the thin profile.

Higher resolution and license that waterproof thing from Sony and I'll be happy.

Yeah spose they can't change the way it looks aesthetically apart from different colours

and yeah I'm waiting on a retina MBA

scaredpoet · Jun 16, 2013

There's not a whole lot you can do to change a nearly flat, aluminum case. Bt the hinge was redesigned in 2010, as were the side ports and how they were accessed. Other than that's the changes have been largely internal and performance based. And I kinda prefer that.

Note that the overall design of apple laptops hasn't changed much since 2006. From afar it's hard to tell a 2006 macbook from a 2013 one.

james1758 · Jun 16, 2013

scaredpoet said:
There's not a whole lot you can do to change a nearly flat, aluminum case. Bt the hinge was redesigned in 2010, as were the side ports and how they were accessed. Other than that's the changes have been largely internal and performance based. And I kinda prefer that.

Note that the overall design of apple laptops hasn't changed much since 2006. From afar it's hard to tell a 2006 laptop from a 2013 one.

Yeah I'm more for better internals aswell! and yeah i understand a few things were changed in 2010 like ports, but not with regards to how the whole thing looks! I'm thinking a complete overhall in looks..

filmbuff · Jun 16, 2013

I'm struggling to think of how they could improve on such a good design. Maybe they will make it black?

james1758 · Jun 16, 2013

filmbuff said:
I'm struggling to think of how they could improve on such a good design. Maybe they will make it black?

Haha yeah i know same, the thought just popped into my mind that after 6 years there's been no major re-design aesthetically. and then it would be like the macbook

(i like the aluminium) Maybe a black bezel like the MBP?

irDigital0l · Jun 16, 2013

I think if they made the the bezels look more like the MacBook Pro.

Other than that there's not much they could change, lower the weight a tiny bit but honestly its not heavy.

I dont want it so thin and light I feel I would break it or snap it.

james1758 · Jun 16, 2013

irDigital0l said:
I think if they made the the bezels look more like the MacBook Pro.

Other than that there's not much they could change, lower the weight a tiny bit but honestly its not heavy.

I dont want it so thin and light I feel I would break it or snap it.

MBP bezel would be cool, but probably wont happen as thats how you can distinguish between the two primarily.

And I'm fine with how thin it is your right wouldn't want it to feel like it could snap, would be good if it was lighter though!

flight · Jun 16, 2013

james1758 said:
How did it change in 2010?! It looks exactly the same

It changed. Check out the photos in the gallery: "New MacBook Air vs first-gen MacBook Air... fight!"

As far as the thread topic goes, I think a redesign is likely despite how thin the Air is at its current state. I suspect it will be the first product line to transition towards a tablet/notebook hybrid. The generation after Haswell is going to make fanless designs possible.

Mrbobb · Jun 16, 2013

flight said:
tate. I suspect it will be the first product line to transition towards a tablet/notebook hybrid.

Bombastically disagree.

The history of hybrids (it's been tried) is that they end up not doing well for neither task.

Checked out reviews of curren hybrids yet? Too thick, too heavy, poor battery life.

bp1000 · Jun 16, 2013

I'm not the design genius who designed the current MBA but I think its hard to improve on what we have right now.

I'm still amazed how thin it is and how light it is. If we had MBP type glass it would be slightly bulkier and defiantly heavier.

It's basically as thick as the aluminium sheets at the front and going thinner would mean not enough height for the ports.

Im sure apple will figure out something. But for now its an awesome piece of design.

unknownfps · Jun 16, 2013

They need to fix the screen in the middle where it shows an Apple logo when the rear side of the monitor is facing direct sunlight.

KPOM · Jun 16, 2013

james1758 said:
How did it change in 2010?! It looks exactly the same

No it didn't. I had a 2008 and a late 2010. The 2008 lacked the "wedge" design. It was more rounded. Plus the hinge design was completely different, and more prone to failure. The 2010 got much better heat management and venting, as well. Finally, it adopted the current click trackpad. The 2008s still had a separate button.

flight · Jun 16, 2013

Mrbobb said:
Bombastically disagree.

The history of hybrids (it's been tried) is that they end up not doing well for neither task.

Checked out reviews of curren hybrids yet? Too thick, too heavy, poor battery life.

I'm aware. Remember tablets before the iPad? Remember the battery life of ultra-thin laptops before the 2013 Air? That's why I mentioned the next generation of Intel chips (or even ARM chips as they have been rumored in the past) would make it possible.

Anyway, it's just a guess based on the direction Mac OS X is heading and the capabilities of future hardware.

filmbuff · Jun 16, 2013

I can just tell hybrids won't happen. It's not Apple's style. Didn't Jobs say something about hybrids being a compromise? Plus if you've used one, it's just awkward to have a heavy, thick screen and light, thin keyboard.

james1758 · Jun 16, 2013

KPOM said:
No it didn't. I had a 2008 and a late 2010. The 2008 lacked the "wedge" design. It was more rounded. Plus the hinge design was completely different, and more prone to failure. The 2010 got much better heat management and venting, as well. Finally, it adopted the current click trackpad. The 2008s still had a separate button.

Yeah I see what you mean, originally i meant aesthetics with regards to the alluminum casing/ the bezel colour/ the keyboard colour. But i see what you mean

----------

Mrbobb said:
Bombastically disagree.

The history of hybrids (it's been tried) is that they end up not doing well for neither task.

Checked out reviews of curren hybrids yet? Too thick, too heavy, poor battery life.

I agree, if they tried to turn the MBA into a form of hybrid I certainly wouldn't buy it!

bit density · Jun 16, 2013

james1758 said:
Hi guys,

Whats peoples thoughts on when/if they will re-design what the macbook air looks like? Its been the same design since 2008, and whilst a LOT has changed inside, nothings changed on the outside (with regards to looks).

By next years WWDC it will be 6 years of the same design, when will it get a re-design..?

When they significantly change the screen to Retina. I suspect that to be 2 revs away.

Next rev will be likely IPS no external change, some slight possibility of 1920x1080p screen, possibly only in 13" model. Broadwell chipset. 4GB 16gb max. 256GB min storage 725GB max. Thunderbolt 2 controller. Same price points. Same Battery life, though it will likely be improved by Mavericks.

james1758 · Jun 16, 2013

bit density said:
When they significantly change the screen to Retina. I suspect that to be 2 revs away.

Next rev will be likely IPS no external change, some slight possibility of 1920x1080p screen, possibly only in 13" model. Broadwell chipset. 4GB 16gb max. 256GB min storage 725GB max. Thunderbolt 2 controller. Same price points. Same Battery life, though it will likely be improved by Mavericks.

I'd love for them to start implementing 8GB RAM as standard, and am holding out some hope that they will. as far as the storage im not sure i think they might keep the 128gb ssd for a while longer (especially on the 11")

flight · Jun 16, 2013

filmbuff said:
I can just tell hybrids won't happen. It's not Apple's style. Didn't Jobs say something about hybrids being a compromise? Plus if you've used one, it's just awkward to have a heavy, thick screen and light, thin keyboard.

He also said that people don't read anymore prior to releasing the iBooks app and store; he also claimed that people would have to use sandpaper to file down their fingers in order to use smaller tablets prior to Apple's release of the 7.9" iPad. I'm not totally convinced that a hybrid will be released, but what Apple says and what they do don't always match.

Again, that's my guess. My wish is a little more conservative: The same size screen in a smaller chassis; lighter (new materials?); IPS screen high-resolution screen; even greater battery life; lower price; and a bump in the base RAM amount and SSD size.

Mrbobb · Jun 16, 2013

Going by the rumor of the developing wearable display... Isn't it high time we get that promised OLED screen now?

As for the casing, wus'up with that rumored Liquid Metal?

james1758 · Jun 17, 2013

Mrbobb said:
Going by the rumor of the developing wearable display... Isn't it high time we get that promised OLED screen now?

As for the casing, wus'up with that rumored Liquid Metal?

I heard the early prototypes they made golf clubs out of liquid metal and they shattered after 50ish hits

PDFierro · Jun 17, 2013

I don't expect things to be too different, but I'd imagine we'd see some sort of re-design next year.

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