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Apple Predicted to Release Ultra-Slim 12-Inch MacBook with Retina Display in Mid-2014
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First ARM-based Mac
Most, if not all, of their consumer applications already run on ARM so now that they have a 64-bit ARM processor, Apple can start moving their MacBook Air line to ARM.
Most, if not all, of their consumer applications already run on ARM so now that they have a 64-bit ARM processor, Apple can start moving their MacBook Air line to ARM.
Would this be feasible?
http://www.zdnet.com/rumored-12-inch-macbook-could-be-an-ipad-convertible-7000021947/
http://www.zdnet.com/rumored-12-inch-macbook-could-be-an-ipad-convertible-7000021947/
The following attributes finally prompted me to switch from Windows laptops to a 13" Air: 12+ hour battery life, non-existent heat and fan speed, usable desktop space, comfortable palm rest (hands aren't hanging off while typing), more reasonable price, and OS X.
Other than OS X, all of the above now appear to be at risk from what we can infer from this rumor. I wanted to get a rMBP, but was completely turned off by the heat and evident fan when I tried it out. Now that I've used solid state devices like the iPad and even the $250 Chromebook, I never want to go back to a hot, noisy laptop.
I agree with others that said the new screen resolution could be a real problem too. 720 lines of usable space is a big drop-off from 900. And having poor eyesight, I can't scale any smaller.
I'd rather have an IPS panel, but the lower resolution doesn't bother me on the Air like it did on the iPad. I just don't have my face as close to it...
Other than OS X, all of the above now appear to be at risk from what we can infer from this rumor. I wanted to get a rMBP, but was completely turned off by the heat and evident fan when I tried it out. Now that I've used solid state devices like the iPad and even the $250 Chromebook, I never want to go back to a hot, noisy laptop.
I agree with others that said the new screen resolution could be a real problem too. 720 lines of usable space is a big drop-off from 900. And having poor eyesight, I can't scale any smaller.
I'd rather have an IPS panel, but the lower resolution doesn't bother me on the Air like it did on the iPad. I just don't have my face as close to it...
17" laptops DO NOT SELL.
There's no use in pretending they do and there's no chance Apple is introducing one. If I had a choice between 11 and 17, my choice would be another company.
Ya know, it's weird, I was reading this thread and wondering that exact same thing. There have been rumors of a larger iPad, and now rumors of a smaller (thinner) macbook; this is the intersection of those 2 rumors.
Personally, if the device had all the functionality of a full-fledged computer, I think I would buy it. Problem is, as was pointed out elsewhere on MacRumors, OS X doesn't support touch screen......
Yes, of course... an artificially-scaled non-native resolution looking better than a native resolution... right...
I think the right idea is to adapt the device so that it's running iOS when it's a tablet and OS X when it's a Mac.
Make it seamless and so that the average Apple user looks at it and says, plainly, "It just works." iCloud makes data sharing mostly possible between the two. It certainly makes it so that you can sync between the two devices as well. 802.11 AC doesn't hurt.
Yes, of course... an artificially-scaled non-native resolution looking better than a native resolution... right...
Like I said, clearly you've never tried the Retina MBP.
Good on you !
That is great for you I encourage you to chose.
Technology is widespread and more than ever there is a lot of dreaming involved with innovation, anything is possible if the consumer wills it with their buying power, then choices becomes even greater and greater - so good on you!!!
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Yes!!! I'm with you on that one!!!
That is great for you I encourage you to chose.
Technology is widespread and more than ever there is a lot of dreaming involved with innovation, anything is possible if the consumer wills it with their buying power, then choices becomes even greater and greater - so good on you!!!
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Yes!!! I'm with you on that one!!!
I'm afraid it might be possible. If it turns out to be true, I will be even more disappointed than I was this past year when the didn't update the MBA screens (just added more battery life).
I want a very compact OSX device that can also run BootCamp. It will be interesting that is for sure. It certainly would inherit the same problem Microsoft has with its Surface RT if they go with an ARM device (even if there is special version of OSX written for ARM on it).
I definitely don't see a combination laptop with detachable keyboard. You ruin the portability of both (laptop/tablet) by having a detachable tablet.
I don't know if it's feasible. iOS and OS X are two different operating systems which run different apps. If the device is to run iOS, then the functionality of current MacBook Airs would be missing. If the device is to run OS X, well... it's not optimized for touch, and it will not turn out to be an iPad.
I think it's just not happening. Not this time, at least.
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I don't see a convertible laptop either.
But that would be very interesting. Such combination is not necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps it was in the past. But the release of a new generation of processors (mainly Haswell) allows thin and light tablets which are powerful enough to run a full operating system and. Just add a keyboard to it and you'll have a laptop.
Some of these convertibles were crap in the last few years. However, they are becoming more and more compelling. There are some very good designs out there, and a MacBook Air/iPad hybrid could have the potential of being revolutionary.
But it's just not going to happen.
I sure hope not! I have no need for an iPad with my iPhone and MBA. A combination device could also never be as small and light as a pure laptop. I want a thinner and lighter 11" sized MBA with a fantastic screen.
If they had given the MBA a screen update this past summer I could see this being an iPad and a keyboard. I'm hoping they decided to wait for an IGZO screen as the MBA screen update.
I will be so very disappointed if it is a toy (iOS) device.
It's a desktop machine with a laptop GPU.
Performance and image quality is terrible when you do that. I'd rather have a 13" Air with a 1440x900 native resolution, than run my 13" Retina Pro at the equivalent scaled resolution.
I love the retina quality, but the workspace is really cramped.
Apple really needs to bump up the panel resolution on their Retina machines to 2880x1800 on the 13" and 3360x2100 on the 15".
My father, who is older than that and has a number of visual problems still appreciates how sharp the retina displays are compared to non-retina. If anything it's more impressive on the larger panels.
Mathematically, it should, but the comparison is easier to make when you are talking about 16:9, 16:10, 21:9 etc. I'm surprised the iPad is not advertised as 12:9 these days.
Intel already have fanless chips. They're a lot slower than the CPUs they're putting in the MacBook Airs, and the fans are not in a location that would help make the machine thinner or have more battery capacity. You still need heatsinks on the CPU, and the machine can't be thinner than a USB port.
ARM is still far too slow for this, and Intel now has chips that compete with those ARM processors, without requiring every single application to be rebuilt for ARM. It doesn't make any sense to switch.
Films are going to be letterboxed on any tablet, so having the bars be larger is inconsequential. The extra width/height depending on orientation is very much appreciated on a single-tasking device like the iPad when using other apps though.Of course not. Widescreen movies look soooooo much better on an awesome, magical, beautiful 4:3 display...
When trying to make the most portable notebooks, you're limited by the width of the keyboard. The 11" air cannot get any narrower. Change the aspect ratio of the display though, and you can get a lot more workspace without increasing the footprint much. There was nothing wrong with the size of the old 12" PowerBooks.
The newest MacBooks are already difficult enough to type on with their extremely flat keys that have rounded edges and almost no travel.
I'd much rather see them move to textured PBT keycaps, and I miss the sculpted keys of the old PowerBooks. I don't know that they could even fit sculpted keys now.
Even going back and typing on an original MacBook is so much better than my Retina MacBook Pro.
I own one. I strongly disagree.
Apple is supposedly planning to use a Sharps IGZO display that is capable of 3,840 x 2,160 in the MacBook Pro next year.
I was referring to Intel's high-end x86 parts being 'fan-less'. Lower performance chips not needing a fan are really not of interest for the MacBook Air. Not having a fan should still remove volume inside the computer for more battery.
I had never thought about the USB port as a limiting factor in the 'thinness' of the MBA. Maybe Apple can come up with some kind of mechanism that will allow part of the connector to stick out. It does seem like a limiting factor in making the MBA thinner but Apple may have some tricks in mind that we haven't thought of (or maybe they will go with an ARM processor and use the 'lightning' connector...I would have absolutely no interest in that!!!)
You won't get high end performance without a fan; Intel's fanless Haswell chips are limited to 4.5W SDP. The 6W SDP chips (11.5W TDP) require active cooling, and the MacBook Airs are using 15W TDP CPUs.
The CPU will still need a heatsink over it, and you absolutely cannot have that in contact with a battery. Going fanless would not allow the battery capacity to be improved.
Considering how Apple handles resolution scaling in OS X, that seems unlikely. Everything would be too small.
Do you really think it needs to be thinner? The 11" Air seems to be as small as it is possible to build a practical computer. It already has very limited connectivity due to its design.
You seem to be very knowledgable about the current state of technology. My hope is that Apple still has some innovative 'tricks in their bag' that you haven't been able to imagine.
Glass keys would add a few ounces, yes.
But I think "thin" is more important than "light" in the MacBook Air. Whatever.
Anything to eliminate that flimsy plastic feeling you get with all Apple keyboards.
And yeah, I should have been clearer about that "light leak" nitpick.
I don't mind the illuminated edges, but the illumination is uneven.
I think it's because the keycaps' scissor mechanism partially obscures the light.
Maybe we've already seen a preview of the way Apple keyboards will be illuminated in the future:
Thin and light are equally important in my mind in furthering the quest to the most portable of computers of the future. I would be very impressed if Apple could somehow make the new 12" MBA smaller than the current 11" MBA. I guess if f they add a retina screen, increase the screen size to 12" (instead of 11") and fit it in the body of the current 11" MBA I'd still be equally impressed.
The rumors from an analyst (Kuo) suggest that the new MBA is supposed to 'refine mobile computing again' with a 'new clam-shell design'. That makes me think that it is going to be lighter and thinner. That also scares me, though, because he also references 'cloud computing' (like the ridiculous 'Pixel' device from Google) which suggests that it might be an ARM powered device (using just a 'lightning connector' to get it thinner). I will then just give up on BootCamp from Apple and purchase a Window's ultra-book with a ultra-high resolution screen. .
I have no complaints whatsoever about the current 11" MBA keyboard. Now that I have used it exclusively for three years, my fingers feel like it is completely natural to use the little 'chiclet'-type keys.
My 2010 version didn't come with a backlit keyboard, so I would not be complaining about any type of backlit keyboard on the new 12" MBA. I just hope they don't leave it out (again) of the first release of the new retina MBA version (like they did in 2010...that still makes me angry).
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Agree that thin and light are equally important for most people.
But if I had to pick one, I'd pick thin over light. Especially if it's only a few extra ounces.
Thinness you can feel and see. Lightness you can only feel.
And yes, I think it would be easy for Apple to fit a 12" screen in the same form factor as the current 11" MBA. The current screen is actually 11.6", so an extra 0.4" or more could easily work by shrinking the bezel.
Not me. I'm using a first-gen unibody MacBook Pro now, circa 2008 and have absolutely no use for Windows. My ancient MBP is very heavy, thick, and runs quite hot all the time with the Mavericks GM. I'm long overdue for an upgrade, and I have no fear of Thunderbolt and/or iCloud. Will take a good long look at next week's MacBooks.
As for cloud computing, I don't think any single hardware change could be more important for iCloud and Mac cloud computing in general than a cellular module built into future MacBook lines. Yes, it would add to the hardware cost. No, it wouldn't be a deal breaker. Especially if the cellular module were partially or fully subsidized by cell carriers. That just might make it possible to put the module in all MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros (and all iPads) without raising retail pricing. I'm wondering if AT&T's $5-per-day 250MB plan is a setup for cellular module-equipped MacBooks. And maybe the iPad mini "2" and iPad (5th gen) will all have cell modules as standard equipment.
I don't mind the keyboard layout and key height etc.
I'm just tired of the flimsy-feeling plastic. Feels eggshell-thin.
It's all about battery life vs. cost. I'm sure Apple could build a keyboard with OLED illumination, but that would probably be too expensive.
