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Will their be retina MBA in future
- Thread starter macman4291
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Actually, you're asking two questions here, since the thread title is "Will their [sic] be retina MBA in future"
Yes, we "anticipate" a retina MBA. Whether, and when, there will be one is anyone's guess though.
'Hi Dpi' (can we drop 'retina') will be in ALL products in the future.
When is down to price (look how much more expensive it made the rMBP), power consumption, and battery life.
At some point the techonlogy for better battery in a very thin case will align with a more power efficient Hi Dpi screen, and the manufacturing costs will hopefully have fallen to allow Apple and other manufacturers to rollout Hi Dpi screens in 11" & 13" MBA / Ultrabooks.
Eventually I see all Apple products with Hi Dpi screens replacing older screen technology completely and without additional increases in cost. Remember when the MBA first came out. It was extremely expensive, now (11") its their cheapest laptop. rMBP's are first gen technology that is laying the grounds for what is to come, but that first wave is always the most expensive and generally problematic (as it pushes technology often beyond its comfort zone).
When is down to price (look how much more expensive it made the rMBP), power consumption, and battery life.
At some point the techonlogy for better battery in a very thin case will align with a more power efficient Hi Dpi screen, and the manufacturing costs will hopefully have fallen to allow Apple and other manufacturers to rollout Hi Dpi screens in 11" & 13" MBA / Ultrabooks.
Eventually I see all Apple products with Hi Dpi screens replacing older screen technology completely and without additional increases in cost. Remember when the MBA first came out. It was extremely expensive, now (11") its their cheapest laptop. rMBP's are first gen technology that is laying the grounds for what is to come, but that first wave is always the most expensive and generally problematic (as it pushes technology often beyond its comfort zone).
Just look at the front page news of MacRumors website. Supposing current LCD technology cannot be used to power a Retina MBA, IGZO displays provided by Sharp could be the answer. Retina MBAs are on the way. Samsung showcased a Series 9 model with a 2560x1440 display in August. These ultra-thin laptops with very high resolutions are not far away. They will almost certainly happen in 2013.
This is the correct answer. The rMBA is already an ultraportable. Introducing a rMBA would make little sense as it would cost as much as the rMBP and probably be close to the same size. The specs on the rMBP are close to what an air is. There is nothing to differentiate the two. If someone wants a retina ultraportable there is no reason not to just buy one today. Apple makes one.
That's not true, the MBA has an 11" model (and just over 1/2 the weight of the 13" retina), quite a differentiating factor in my mind (the 11" is the one I have and love, though I would also enjoy it with a higher resolution display). The technology, though, is indeed advancing and now with the removal of the optical drive from the MBP, I wonder if these two lines might be merged in the future because they will (I assume) at some point be able to produce an Air with rMBP specs, or looking at it the other way, an rMBP in an Air chassis (either would work for me), but I don't want to give up my 11".
I see the lines blurring as well. My guess is that the standard MBP line will soon lose the optical drive and become slimmer. At that point the MBA will stand where the MAcbook did before as the entry level "budget" Macbook because little other than price would be different. At that point I still think they would not have retina in an effort to keep price down. Once prices come down and tech gets better I assume that everything that Apple produces will have retina displays and they will be common place but I don't think that will be anytime soon.
i doubt seeing any retina macbook airs, primarily because there is already a 13" macbook pro, and the 11" has too small a market share (out of all the macs sold) to warrant a retina display 
If they did they would have to give it a new battery because I reckon it would drain a lot faster and with it being soo thin they can't get a bigger battery in there.