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KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,019
7,862
Won't the rMBP 13" and the rMBA 13" totally overlap each other? I mean, they'd be basically the same exact computer at like 95% of the components, and the thickness/weight difference is not that significant any more.

Shouldn't Apple merge those 2 products then?

Not necessarily. Since 2010 there has been a lot of overlap between the 13" Air and 13" cMBP. The Pro has had better color gamut. The Air has had a higher resolution screen. The Pro has more ports, though I wouldn't be surprised if the next MBA also gets HDMI (but possibly not a second Thunderbolt port).
 

robkubasko

macrumors newbie
Feb 4, 2013
4
0
Retina is obvious, but how about LTE and HDMI?

Every device Apple sells with a display is going to be retina by the end of 2014. That's seems pretty obvious at this point.

Agree with some others that reducing the bezel size and increasing power/battery life on the Airs should be a priority too. For me, I'd also love to see on board HDMI (like the rMBP's) and integrated 4G LTE. Would make the 11" MBA a logical sidekick option for many Mac users... of course it might start actually cutting into iPad sales. Now wouldn't that be funny for once?
 

marvin4653

macrumors regular
Jun 11, 2012
109
5
I would much prefer just a better quality, higher resolution screen without the Retina pixel-doubling and scaling (and associated graphics processing demands). A 13" Air with a native 1680x1050 IPS display would be great.
 

pgiguere1

macrumors 68020
May 28, 2009
2,167
1,200
Montreal, Canada
Simply moving to an IPS non-Retina screen would make more sense.

The current Air resolution is not that bad, but color reproduction and viewing angles are pretty bad for a product of its price.

Apple would'nt put a higher resolution in Airs unless they go Retina as there is no proper way of scaling things in OS X without pixel doubling, and stuff would get way too small.

There's a couple problems I see with a Retina Air:
1. Reduced margin.
2. Either reduced battery life or thicker chassis, unless some sort magic is done to reduce internal component size even more.
3. Cannibalization of the 13" rMBP, which would be almost the same computer.

I think the MBA will go Retina someday, but not this early.

----------

So you would have to somehow make the keyboard smaller if you want to reduce the bezel size.

Not necessarily, the 13" rMBP has a smaller bezel than the MBA yet it has the same screen and keyboard size.

I think the issue is more with the the thickness of the display panel. You couldn't get that tapered effect if you reduced bezel size since the panel wouldn't fit in the extremities of the top lid, thus ruining the optical illusion that makes the Air look thinner than it actually is.
 

robkubasko

macrumors newbie
Feb 4, 2013
4
0
Not necessarily...

So you would have to somehow make the keyboard smaller if you want to reduce the bezel size.

There's still at least a quarter inch on all sides of both Air models to cut if not more without touching the keyboard size. Remember what's possible on systems like the old 12" Powerbook G4 - it may not sound like a lot, but it would make a big difference in use.
 

roland.g

macrumors 604
Apr 11, 2005
7,409
3,134
Remember the 13" Air has a higher resolution than the 13" Pro

1440 x 900 vs 1280 x 800.

It is just the 13" rMBP that outshines.

Personally I bought a 13" Air last June at the refresh b/c I needed one at the time. I was a little dismayed when the 13" rMBP came out in Oct as I would have had a real dilemma if they both came out in June.

And I ordered the 8GB RAM spec bump, no drive bump though which makes it a $200 difference to the later released 13" Retina.

But I have gone into the store a few times and while the specs are 3.57 vs 2.96 pounds, it feels like more. My Air really feels light and when I pick up the 13" Retina I notice the extra weight.

Maybe I'll want a retina at some point but am glad I got the Air.

I also haven't heard how well all the apps, web pages, and everything else does because it was my understanding that when the 15" Retina was released very few apps took advantage of it, there were scaling issues, and that it really sits somewhere in between as it doesn't "use the full resolution" in a way.
 

KieranDotW

macrumors 6502a
Apr 12, 2012
623
68
Canada
That isn't what the MBA is designed for. IMO the MBA is for light, casual users; the MBP is for the everyday user who wants a bit more power; and the rMBP is for the professional user. I don't see where an rMBA could fit in. Maybe I'm missing something?
 

Ryth

macrumors 68000
Apr 21, 2011
1,591
157
That would almost require a dedicated GPU, and would provide too much cross over with the Air and Pro w/ Retina. I don't think the 11" could drive retina, and there is already a 13" Pro w/ retina.

Seems like a bogus rumor.

Haswell has the ability to power it. Ivy Bridge did not.
 

rumplestiltskin

macrumors 6502
Apr 12, 2006
284
103
Answering a question nobody asked...

I've examined the 13" and 15" rMBP closely and, while the screen is very nice, I found setting the resolution to 1440x900 and 1680x1050, respectively, provided the extra screen real estate I wanted yet still kept the text large enough to read. In other words: The standard MBA 13" screen is fine and the Hi-Res 15" MBP screen (non-retina) does the job perfectly. The Retina display really is an answer to a question nobody is asking but Apple is pushing nevertheless.

Rather than a "Retina" screen, how about finally providing that 15" MBA with the Hi-Res (non-retina) display and avoid the performance and battery penalty that invariably accompanies the Retina screen?

Too simple? Isn't that what Jony Ive professes (but doesn't actually provide)?
 

newdeal

macrumors 68030
Oct 21, 2009
2,509
1,769
...

Retina is not happening with current display technology. Look at the 13" retina macbook pro, what does it have that the air doesn't other than the display? Not much except the gigantic battery required to power the retina display. An air with retina would have terrible battery life unless they made it the same size as the pro...not happening. Maybe one day.
 

durruti

macrumors regular
Mar 26, 2004
226
3
Jersey
I would much prefer just a better quality, higher resolution screen without the Retina pixel-doubling and scaling (and associated graphics processing demands). A 13" Air with a native 1680x1050 IPS display would be great.

+Anti-glare, matte, please.
 

carlgo

macrumors 68000
Dec 29, 2006
1,806
17
Monterey CA
Retina is now expected by customers and Apple will eventually make it standard on all products, whether some people see the need or not.
 

Ryth

macrumors 68000
Apr 21, 2011
1,591
157
That isn't what the MBA is designed for. IMO the MBA is for light, casual users; the MBP is for the everyday user who wants a bit more power; and the rMBP is for the professional user. I don't see where an rMBA could fit in. Maybe I'm missing something?

The 15" MBP (no retina or retina) is for the professional user.
The 13" MBP with Retina is for the mid range user
The 13" MBA is for the light/casual user.

But there isn't much difference currently between the 13" MBP and 13" MBA

All this is doing is giving the MBA a better screen.

Most likely the 13" MBP with Retina is DOA soon.

I see them just making the 13" MBAR the main laptop of that size and the 15" MBPR the main laptop of that size.
 

kobyh15

macrumors 6502a
Jan 29, 2011
616
0
Considering that Samsung has 13" notebooks that weigh 2.5 lbs, I think Apple could find a way to squeeze a bigger battery in there without increasing the weight significantly.

If they were to put a retina panel in the Air, what would separate it from the 13" rMBP? Would it become more expensive than the rMBP? That would definitely shake up the price points. I feel like the Air would go from the cheapest baseline to more expensive than the 13" rMBP. Same SSDs, RAM, and panel in a thinner and lighter design. Sounds more expensive to me. Just doesn't make sense at this point. What do you think?
 

Ryth

macrumors 68000
Apr 21, 2011
1,591
157
Retina is not happening with current display technology. Look at the 13" retina macbook pro, what does it have that the air doesn't other than the display? Not much except the gigantic battery required to power the retina display. An air with retina would have terrible battery life unless they made it the same size as the pro...not happening. Maybe one day.

Haswell my friend.

And no more MBP 13" most likely.

That's why it's happening.
 

CaryMacGuy

macrumors 6502a
Oct 2, 2006
582
159
Morrisville, NC
I would like to see a black/charcoal, white/silver version of the Macbook Air...something akin to the current design of the iPhone 5/iPad Mini/rumored iPad

Maybe the charcoal/silver can be the body of the machine and the black/white glossy finish can surround the bezel and maybe the trackpad.
 

Ryth

macrumors 68000
Apr 21, 2011
1,591
157
I want to know WTF Apple has for March, April, May, June, July....because it's REALLLLLLYYYY been quiet with no product or software announcements or events.

By now, the last 3 years, we've had the iPad event already.
 

FuNGi

macrumors 65816
Feb 26, 2010
1,122
33
California
We are headed to a point where the Air & Pro line's will be consolidated. The Air with Retina display would be one step closer to that.

Eventually you will just have the 11, 13, 15 inch MacBook with Retina Display.

I think this year it is more likely that we would see a 1080p IPS panel in the Air, at least the 13 inch model.

This. Eventually there will only be one line of Apple laptops. We are in the odd stage of convergent product evolution.
I too think we will get a better screen but not a retina one. Not yet.
 

nilk

macrumors 6502a
Oct 18, 2007
691
236
Call me crazy but the Air doesn't need retina or any of the performance hits when it comes to displaying that high of a resolution on a portable machine.

The pixel density is already good :confused:

At least for my particular use case, what I like about retina MacBooks is that it allows for more arbitrary resolution settings. With the 15" rMBP I use at work, I spend most of my time using 1920x1200 scaled. If I had a 13" retina, I'd spend most of my time in 1680x1050 scaled. If I had a 11", I'm guessing the max scaled might be 1440x900 (or something close, might be a little different with the 16:9 aspect ratio), and I'd use whatever the max scaled resolution most of the time.

In all cases, I'd occasionally switch to the "best for retina" display mode (e.g. connected to a projector, or laying back in on my bed/couch with the laptop further away from me).

I really like the idea of having a 11" MBA, but the 1366x768 resolution is a non-starter for me. Putting a retina display in that would change things, and I think it would make it my ideal laptop. This would be to replace my early-2008 15" MBP that has 1440x900 resolution.

Having a GPU that can support this without a noticeable performance hit is a real concern, but that's just a matter of time. I hope in 2 years we have a 11" retina MBA w/ 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD option :D
 

The Samurai

macrumors 68020
Dec 29, 2007
2,051
738
Glasgow
Will happily trade in my 15 rMBP for a 13" Retina Air.

Went from a 13" Air to 15" rMBP due to retina screen but miss the weight of the Air.
 
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