Is a Retina MBA on the horizon?

Possible, but not likely, IMO. The 11" air would have to take a massive hit to battery life unless apple manages to create some super long-life battery, and even then, I would prefer a non-retina version with longer battery life.

The 13" version already exists in the form of the retina MBP, but I feel it is currently very overpriced (although I admit the screen is gorgeous).

The price quoted is pretty standard for a 2011 MBA.

Gix1k said:

Good to know...thanks. So 800 is a good deal for the 13" I quoted?

Click to expand...

Pretty good deal. There won't be a retina Macbook Air for a few years, 2014 I think.

Spring/Summer 2013

That's about as horizon as it gets.

Gix1k said:

I have been looking at this.....

13"
1.7GHz Intel dual i5 processor
OS X Mountain Lion
Microsoft Office 2011
4GB DDR3 Ram
128 GB Solid State Drive



For $800

Advise me.

Click to expand...

Where did you find that deal?

Actually I just read an article on one of the teck. sites that the retina display is expected in the next update of the Air. I suspect it well be.

Gix1k said:

Local Craigslist


What's the difference between the 2011 and 2012 MBAs?

Click to expand...

faster processors and usb3.0 ports. If you are going to be using it for basic word editing, the 2011 model should serve you just as well.

My refurb 2012 11" will be here on Monday... I picked the refurb since it's a good enough deal that I can sell it if Retina hits the Airs in the next refresh. If not, I'll likely keep this one another year (at least) until it does happen.

Since the 2012 Airs already have USB 3.0, the only real upgrade I can see them getting other than maybe Retina is more CPU power. I don't see them getting 16GB of RAM yet.

Rob

Very much doubt it. Not enough to differentiate from the MBP line.

I doubt they will be marketed as retina airs. They would actually have to become thicker and heavier to accommodate a larger battery, and this would not make a good selling point.

The MacBook Air will get a retina display in 2013 or 2014, IMHO. 2013 is likely depending on some factors such as the actual power consumption of Haswell processors and perhaps the availability of low-powered IGZO displays.

There are some ultrabooks in the market with IPS displays capable of 1920x1080 resolutions. Apple won't be behind for long.

Personally I think 2014 at least for a retina. No way they have the battery capacity at this point, and we all know apple doesn't like to release any half-hearted attempts at something like this. Until they have the battery to support it its not going to happen. Obviously it's only a matter of time though.

Gix1k said:

Local Craigslist


What's the difference between the 2011 and 2012 MBAs?

Click to expand...

better graphics and usb 3, 15% faster processors (you won't notice), better battery life (like 30min).

AppleAlfred said:

Personally I think 2014 at least for a retina. No way they have the battery capacity at this point, and we all know apple doesn't like to release any half-hearted attempts at something like this. Until they have the battery to support it its not going to happen. Obviously it's only a matter of time though.

Click to expand...

That will depend on (1) Haswell (which Intel is marketing as a huge leap in terms of power consumption) and (2) IGZO displays (which, according to Sharp, are ready for mass production in Q4 2012, and which will consume far less power than current displays).

Both Haswell and IGZO displays should be ready to ship with the MBA in 2013. However, if the apparently big improvements brought by these two products is not enough to make the MBA support retina displays, nothing else to be released until 2014 will. Broadwell, to be released in 2014, will not bring so much improvements in power efficiency to justify waiting so long.

Gix1k said:

Local Craigslist


What's the difference between the 2011 and 2012 MBAs?

Click to expand...

2012 macbook airs can be configured to use 8 gb of memory. 2011 can only use 4.

please never add retina to mba....at least give me the choice of non-retina mba, for i personally HATE retine. it's just impossible to use in my line of work which requires a lot of screen capture. whenever you share that to someone else, it becomes an extreme mess. also, i only run windows 7 on my macbook (never use osx) and everything looks like ants.

Gix1k said:

I have been looking at this.....

13"
1.7GHz Intel dual i5 processor
OS X Mountain Lion
Microsoft Office 2011
4GB DDR3 Ram
128 GB Solid State Drive



For $800

Advise me.

Click to expand...

"Advise me." What, are you an emperor or something? A little politeness goes a long way...

ladeer said:

please never add retina to mba....at least give me the choice of non-retina mba, for i personally HATE retine. it's just impossible to use in my line of work which requires a lot of screen capture. whenever you share that to someone else, it becomes an extreme mess. also, i only run windows 7 on my macbook (never use osx) and everything looks like ants.

Click to expand...

+1

I don't think I will be software ready for retina for a LONG time...
Retina coming out on the next macbook air would make me consider moving to something else. I need app compatibility (especially non standard apps like VMs, imageJ etc.) to work just like I expect it to. Retina is not good enough for me to take this risk. (Not yet anyway)

But hopefully Apple can provide options for everyone