Warming-up for the all-new redesigned retina 2014 (2015?) MacBook Air

mwa said:

I agree the "iWatch" - which, we should realize, is still very much in the rumor phase* - is more 'fashion' than perhaps a regular computer, but I wouldn't so mockingly suggest that Apple will begin making suits.

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Of course, that was a joke!

A wearable device stands to reason as the logical 'next step' in form factor - Google's tried it with their hideous and excessively polarizing Glass and Samsung has had problems with reliability with their Android KitKatDumDum watch but that hardly means the idea of a small wearable computer should be written off. After all, we did have touch screen prior to 2007.

However, when considering wearables as a place to take computing next, the wrist is the most logical choice. You can't fit the hardware into a ring, not everyone wants to wear a hat, bulky computer-laden glasses are dumb and, rightfully so, cause disruption from people who don't want their photos taken (or, to be fair to the wearer, to be under constant threat of having their photos taken, whether any photos are being taken or not. Let's face it, most of us are simply not that interesting.)

As a place to bring notifications and health features of sort or other to be married with some part of the body where people are at least more than semi-receptive to seeing/wearing it, the wrist is very apropos.

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As for a wearable, I have to say that I am not totally sold on the idea.

A smartphone is something that you can put in your pocket and it is not part of your appearance. A wearable is. I am not sure if a device should be attached to one's body in any way. It is just weird, and I do not feel it fits. A smartphone or a computer is something totally external to your body.

Said that, I think a smartwatch would have some limitations. I have never used or even seen a smartwatch before. My iPhone is a great device because it can do so many things. My Mac is even better because it can do even more, although it is not as portable. But what about an iWatch? It would be great if it could do lots of things. However, I am not sure that the size of an iWatch would be enough for making it more than, well, a watch that tells the weather and some fitness stuff.

The Google Glass seems more interesting in this regard. I have never seen one in person, and I think it is somewhat weird, while a smartwatch is more pallatable. However, Google Glass makes me think of possibilities that a smartwatch cannot even touch.

Let's see what Apple has in its sleeves. If rumors are to be believed in, then iWatch is going to be released, or at least announced, next Tuesday, together with the iPhone 6. Fingers crossed.

Now, afa as my expectation of a MacBook Air in wrist-worn form factor and wild honeymoon unicorns being tamed by Jony Ive in a besequinned suit of armor... well, no, I won't be holding my breath.

*We've seen more solid and more sensible rumors from even more monumentally industry-shaking products, as was the case with the iPhone, than with this purported Apple wearable. Nobody can agree with anyone about anything when it comes to to this mysterious 'iWatch.'

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I am particularly interested in Apple's line-up of this second half of 2014. How revolutionary can it be? Or will it not be? The iPhone 6 is probably going to be a major departure from previous models. An iWatch would definitely be something. And even a redesigned version of the MacBook Air would be great to see, as even minor changes could result in great improvements. The Air has proven itself to be a great laptop, and was the inspiration to ultrabooks which are now taking over the high-end market of Windows laptops. Let's see what Apple has in mind for such an inspiring laptop.

chleuasme said:

It's not about being better or worse. Any device is made of the sum of its trade-offs and benefits. Here it's a balance between performance, battery life, heat, thinness/weight, control quality, price.
They can't make better than now with the currently used materials and technology. Apple can't "do better now" without altering the current balance.
Your "better" other vendors' laptops are built on different choices of tradeoffs/benefits.
The more likely reason Apple will be able to do better than the current Air is Broadwell.

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Yes, of course. But the concept of better/worse cannot be ignored, even if there are trade-offs.

In my view, the current MacBook Air offers the following:

• good performance (considering that it uses a low-voltage processor);
• excellent battery life;
• good heat;
• reasonably good thinness;
• reasonably good weight (compared to ultrabooks);
• good control quality;
• poor screen (compared to high-end ultrabooks);
• reasonable price

The MacBook Air was excellent some years ago. Now, Apple decided to offer great battery life and a more reasonable price to balance other aspects that are becoming dated. The screen was good a few years ago, and now it cannot compare to the screen in high-end ultrabooks. The thin body was great, and now there are some ultrabooks which are very well designed and some of them manage to be even thinner and lighter.

Apple can do better, and it will alter current balance by doing that. The laptop will cost more to be produced, but I do not know how much price will increase. Battery life may suffer, but Broadwell may bring things to some balance. The design could be made better. And the screen can become better (even though it will consume more battery – and there are technologies now to help reduce that consumption).

Why didn't Apple use in the past lower-voltage intel processors?
Why do you think Apple wouldn't do it now with Broadwell?

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Don't know. Apple may do that with Broadwell. I think it won't because it has not done it in the past, but it can do now.

It seems like we have some news on the forthcoming MacBook Air at last. But it seems like it is not coming before mid-2015.

But in colors? Space gray would be fine, of course. But who will want a golden MacBook Air?

tawfiqmp said:

I agree. I don't know if I'd want gold to be the color of my laptop.

I'd still roll with the classic silver aluminum.

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If there are ever different colors for the MacBook Air, I would stick with either silver or space gray (which should be cool). Gold is definitely out of question.

thewusman said:

I don't believe that will happen:

There are already more than 20 Intel Core M processor-based OEM products in the development pipeline. The first systems based on the Intel Core M processor will be on shelves as early as October in time for the holiday selling season, including the Acer Aspire Switch 12, Asus Zenbook UX305, Dell Latitude 13 7000 Series, Lenovo ThinkPad Helix, HP Envy x2 and more.

Source:http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/ifa-2014-intel-launches-core-m-processor/034693

There is no way apple will let windows PC makers ship core M based systems in time for the holiday season with the current generation macbook air left as is. Sales have been flagging and the air is their biggest volume pusher, it needs to be in the ring, with retina display and chassis redesign for the fanless chipset.

The new air (or whatever it will be called) is already waiting to ship, and everyone has been waiting for Core Y chips in higher yield to start production.

Quanta factories have probably already started working overtime for this.

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Well, perhaps Apple launches the MacBook Air before the holiday season then. One should bear in mind, though, that the MacBook Air was last updated 136 days ago, and the average is 337 days (as it can be seen in the MacRumors Buyer's Guide). This would suggest that the next MacBook Air update will happen only in 2015. Of course it is not impossible for the MacBook Air to be updated (and redesigned) in late 2014, given that the last update was a minor one.

Apple may also have something on its sleeve for the launch of the next MacBook Air apart from being thinner and lighter and having a high-resolution display. Such features might justify a later release date for the next MacBook Air in comparison to its PC counterparts.

luffytubby said:

It really would make sense to consolidate the Macbook line like this;


Macbook Air 12; Using dimensions inbetween 11 and 13 with reduced bezel. Configurable in wide price ranges from 256GB to 1TB.


Then you have a 12'' MBA

13 rMBP''

15 rMBP''


Steve seemed to favor fewer products as well. Now that there is 3 different Iphone sizes, 3 different Ipad sizes, it makes sense to tone it down a little. After all, MBA 11 has an outragous bezel. If you did edge-to-edge with the same dimensions, wouldn't you be able to fit a 13 inch panel in the 11?

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Yes, it makes sense. I guess the line-up would be as follows:

12-inch MacBook Air, ultra-low voltage processor, 2-2.5 lbs
13-inch MacBook Pro, low-voltage processor, 3.46 lbs
15-inch MacBook Pro, quad-core processor, 4.46 lbs

You cannot fit the 13-inch screen of the Pro in the 11-inch Air chassis.

First, the 11-inch Air has a 16:9 screen format and the 13-inch has a 16:10 screen format. Second, the 13-inch screen is considerable bigger. Look at this comparison of sizes here: http://www.displaywars.com/11,6-inch-16x9-vs-13,3-inch-16x10

However, a 16:10 12-inch screen could fit in the 16:9 11-inch chassis if the chassis was more square. That would also allow space for a full-sized trackpad (the 11-inch Air trackpad is smaller than the trackpad in the other models due to lack of space).

luffytubby said:

Nice! That sounds very plausible!

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Yes, and I think this is the way Apple is heading to with the MacBook Air. At first, I thought Apple would release the retina MacBook Air back in June 2013, but then it preferred to keep the old chassis, increase battery life and drop the price.

Given that Apple increased the battery life so much and reduced the price so much as well, I do not know how it will do with the retina model when it comes out.

There are finally some news about the new MacBook Air. It appears that the next Air will indeed be fanless, and it will be so thin that there will not be space for the current ports, which will be sacrificed in favour of smaller ones.

chleuasme said:

It's the second MR article based on reports from this same guy.
Why is any credit given to this random blogger? Who's that kid? Who are his supposed sources?

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I have no idea, and he has no track record, but he is surely confident on what he is saying. Perhaps this is the reason why so much credit is given to him.

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mashinhead said:

I would rather see white as the the third option over gold. I liked the old white Mac/iBooks. But never liked the plastic. I don't know if it's possible but if they could make a white aluminum version I'd be down for that.

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The white MacBook was fine, but I prefer the silver aluminum one. I guess it would be possible to make a white aluminum version. But I guess I would still prefer a black one. The Zenbook UX301LA (Infinity) looks amazing and should be an inspiration for Apple.

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Nozuka said:

i'd like a transparent one, because apple devices even look beautiful on the inside. (to me)

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Oh please.

sleepyking said:

I hope you are correct. I have been waiting for a retina Air before making my very first MacBook purchase.

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I would say to you then to either buy a 13-inch retina MacBook Pro or wait for the next-generation MacBook Air. Or buy a top-range Windows ultrabook instead, if you don't need a Mac. The current Air is just not worth it in my view. Unless you want to pay the lowest price for a MacBook, then it's worth it.

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thewusman said:

I hope so to - not long to wait.

If apple push back the launch into 2015 holiday season sales of the current generation are going to be pretty dismal.

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I don't think so. I suspect that sales of the MacBook Air are going very well due to the lower prices. People are cheap.