To everyone that was hoping for a "Retina" Macbook Air, I submit this. Marketing 101.
The only thing keeping most Macbook Pro buyers (read much more profitable buying sector) away from purchasing a (relatively) less profitable Air is Retina.
They wont be giving that up soon.
To those who feel the technology does not exist to put "Retina" in an Air like form factor, I submit the iPad3, iPad4, Google 10" and now countless other tiny tablets coming out with Retina like displays. Also several PC Ultrabooks on the horizon. Its all dollars boys and girls. Me? I got tired of the cheap looking fat bezel of my Air and paid the extra money for the 13" rMBP in February when they closed out the first Generation 13" rMBP (laughably from just 3 months earlier) at $1500.00 for the 256GB.
It's NOT that the technology is not available, it's that they'd be sacrificing function over form in this case. Ironic, I know, considering the exact opposite mantra is spouted over and over again on MR.
Perhaps in a year or two (or three), once technology has completely caught up. For now, which of their competitors has an "up to" 15 hour runtime on their equivalent notebook / "Ultrabook"?
First, there's a reason the MacBook Pro with Retina Display has a discreet Nvidia GeForce 650M in addition to Intel HD4000.
Second, battery life would suffer, and that's the one big drum they get to beat this year for the Air. Additionally, it would probably require larger batteries thus increasing the weight and/or thickness of the Air. That goes against the design philosphy.
Third, it would cost more, plain and simple. They've kept the cost at the same level and even dropped the price for the entry level 13" MacBook Air, for equivalent performance but MUCH better battery life.
Finally, not every customer wants or needs a Retina Display in an 11 or 13 inch form factor. Sure, I see the benefit, and you obviously do, but not everyone does, and for those who don't, why make them suffer with the tradeoff's?
----------
The new MBA is pretty sweet. You really need to take a step back and look at how computers are fading out of the picture a bit. There are now mobile devices that are cheaper and more mobile that handle just about anything a normal consumer needs... tablets, phones... they just do what laptops did for 90% of us.
The question then becomes how much power do you need as a content creator. That is the domain of power users, other than gaming. I found in my most productive days it was on sub stellar gear with free software, because limitations give us a sandbox in which to be creative.
Yes, although there are many enterprise apps (ERP, etc.) that just don't function well in a mobile orientation. The app support just isn't there yet. Some have bolted mobile functionality on, or are just beginning to offer alternative interfaces, but for those that haven't (and many of the "bolt-ons"), you're stuck trying to use the app with a touch screen and aren't as productive as you would be with a keyboard and mouse. It will take time until this is completely true, but it is astounding how far we've come in such a short amount of time.
