If Apple released a 15" MBA, would you buy it?

[KylePowers]

My ideal would be same size as the 13inch model but with a razor thin bezel (read: edge-to-edge screen) so that it has a 15inch screen! Best of both

Adam

I've always felt 13 inches was the sweet spot (... that's what she said?). Not too small, not too big... but if 15 inches could squeezed into a bezel-less lid on the 13 - that would be a whole new level of epic.

But then of course, if they could squeeze a 13in screen into a bezel-less lid on the 11 - well, I'd probably go for that. haha

 

[sh1019]

15" not a air, it's a stone.

 

[afireintonto]

i've never understood why people buy 15" laptops. I mean if they really think they need that much screen....but who does? laptops are supposed to be portable, I know that I don't want to be dragging around the extra weight.

 

[deedas]

F yeah, 1680x1050 here I come!

 

[christophermdia]

My ideal would be same size as the 13inch model but with a razor thin bezel (read: edge-to-edge screen) so that it has a 15inch screen!

This is my preference too, 15" in the same form factor as the current 13

 

[funkboy]

But then of course, if they could squeeze a 13in screen into a bezel-less lid on the 11 - well, I'd probably go for that.

I'll second that. If we take Steve's comments from a couple years back about netbooks being unergonomic plastic junk and then we have a look at my 11" Air, it is clearly Steve's definition of "the smallest acceptable Mac laptop". Mine too. My hackintosh netbook is now in the "machines for friends with computer problems" pile (& it'll get ubuntu on it if they need it; no way I would give a hackintosh to someone that hasn't already done it themselves).

Give me an 11" Air with the biggest screen possible, please.

Now, there are two opposing forces on the road to this goal:

- If we look at the lid of the 11" Air (& any Air since the beginning), the lid starts to taper down to the super-thin edge more or less exactly at the point where the display panel itsself stops. This is what it looks like inside; it is very different from any existing laptop. Presumably if they had access to any technology that would allow them to make it any wider than they already did without making the lid chunkier (i.e. without the sexy taper to the edge that makes the machine look even thinner than it already is), they would have done so.

- on the plus side, Jonathan Ive has blown industrial designers' minds numerous times in the past, & will continue to do so.

But for the moment Air-land is a trade off between lid thickness and bezel width...

 

[Michael383]

I would be interested in it.

 

[dlimes13]

I'd buy it, but not if it was at a $2,000+ price tag though.

 

[octatonic]

I can see the point of the MBP going SSD, with the slimmer design but it would need to be a powerhouse CPU.

A 15" MBA I don't really see the need for it.
If the Air is meant to be an ultra-portable then 15" screen doesn't make sense to me.

I like having a Mac Pro in my recording studio and the 11" MBA I picked up for portable/location recording.
Works great.

 

[narayanagame]

i would buy it if it has 10hrs battery life with discrete graphics and ports equal to MBP 15 and weigh less than 4lbs and price less than 2000$

I dont get when people say all ultraportables should be less than 13inch.that isnt true.ultraportables main need is to have less weight with sufficient power to get the required work done.why do people think size is imp for ultraportable so much??thats bcoz less size obviously means less weight and more portable.

If there was 15inch laptop that weights similar to 13inch laptop i cant find a reason why people wont buy it.you may say size is more imp as smaller size is more useful in constraint space but in practice i have always found that if there was space sufficient to use 13inch then there was always sufficient space for 15inch.

people go to 15inch laptops or higher coz they need bigger size screen and bit more power than say 13inch.but people choosing 15inches ll always look for lightweight laptop they could find and there isnt any laptop that is less than 4lb for 15inches but if there was one people ll buy it and i can see this coming when ivy bridge rolls out.

dell already is releasing 15inch XPS that is slim and light weight but wont be comparable to MBA. but nevertheless its a start

light weight 15inch laptops has plenty of future.it may not start with 15MBA though

 

[Blues003]

If it had a dedicated GPU I'd consider it.

 

[guada54]

Definitely

I would definitely buy it.

You should consider the fact that the MBAs are replacing notebooks. They arent meant to be netbooks. So a 15" MBA is obvious and awesome.

 

[craigc_]

The whole idea about a "portable" computer is based on SIZE and WEIGHT. A 15" MBA would only weigh less than other 15" laptops. The size would be more or less identical.

I see no reason why Apple would make a 15" MBA, therefore would obviously never buy one. If I just wanted a laptop with power and that isn't a brick to carry around I'd go with a 13" or 15 MBP. If i want some strictly for portable computing, I'll go with my current 11' MBA. The 13" MBA also makes sense but anything bigger defeats the purpose.

Also with the resolution both the 11" and the 13" are capable of now, I don't see any other reason to go for a 15" unless you absolutely need that size + higher res option. Just increase the font/icon sizes if its hard on your eyes

 

[craigc_]

I would definitely buy it.

You should consider the fact that the MBAs are replacing notebooks. They arent meant to be netbooks. So a 15" MBA is obvious and awesome.

Your right in that MBAs are not netbooks, they are notebooks. You wrong in that they are replacing ALL notebooks. They are replacing potential netbook buyers and some 13" notebook buyers. There are still plenty of people who will always need the extra beef in a 15" or 17" laptop (photographers, videographers etc) for on the go work. Though I'd still argue that the MBA is finding a home in a lot of photographers workflow now.

If anything, the iPad is replacing the whole "idea" of a notebook these days...

 

[entatlrg]

It's about mobile screen real estate, the 15 or 17" offer more obviously, some people like that.

Just because you think it's a bad idea, doesn't mean it is, many people would like the option, so be it.

 

[craigc_]

It's about mobile screen real estate, the 15 or 17" offer more obviously, some people like that.

Just because you think it's a bad idea, doesn't mean it is, many people would like the option, so be it.

Not sure if this is a reply to me or not but I never said it was a bad idea. I just said I don't see why Apple would do it. The title of the thread is "If Apple released a 15" MBA, would you buy it?". My answer is: I don't think Apple will make a 15" MBA (for the reasons stated above) and therefore would not buy one.

 

[rhinosrcool]

It would have been nice to have 12" mba and a 14" mba. With these, the mba's would have a little more screen height. Also, the 14" would have been more of a differentiation from the mbp.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Definitely not

MBAs are about being ultra-portable. That means light and small. A 15 inch MBA is just too big.

 

[marshallbedsaul]

Coming from a 15'' and a 13'' pro I would find it useless to have a 15'' air. I find the 13'' perfect for everything I need. I know I do not need anything extra or a size increase.

 

[Dr McKay]

15"MBA- Possible?
Will Apple make a 15 inch Air?
15 inches MacBook Air ? with OLED ?

None of those answer his question, he wanted to know if we'd buy one, not "Will Apple make a 15" MBA"

i've never understood why people buy 15" laptops. I mean if they really think they need that much screen....but who does? laptops are supposed to be portable, I know that I don't want to be dragging around the extra weight.

17" Laptop here

 

[NutsNGum]

I'd buy it at the drop of a hat. What a great idea! I love my 15" mbp, but I'd ditch it in a heartbeat for a 15" Air!

 

[hotcocoa]

A MBA by any other Name

It seems that the 15" MBA is somewhat controversial. Some people think it would be great, while others argue that given the size of a 15" MBA it would hardly justify the air name.

What is not so controversial is the idea that Apple will eventually drop the optical drive from their laptop. So what would a 15" MBP without an optical drive look like? Obviously a lot of room could be saved, so what might Apple want to do with the space? How about make the machines thinner and lighter? Definitely. What about longer battery life? Probably. What about adding an SSD+HD? Maybe. What if instead they go SSD-only and save the space of both drives?

I think people at Apple would love to see a machine like that. I think the biggest question is whether or not the machine will be called a MBA and how soon we will see it.

The calculus at Apple is whether the current MBP laptop market would tolerate machines without optical drives (and perhaps without rotational HDs as well). If the answer is yes, then I believe they will soon release a 15" MBP that is, for all practical purposes, a 15" MBA. If the answer is no, then Apple could decide to keep the current MBP line relatively unchanged and release a 15" MBA. However this approach has one significant problem.

Releasing a 15" MBA alongside a relatively unchanged 15" MBP would create two products with significant overlap. One of the keys to Apple's success is their ability to create well-delineated product lines. Delineated product lines avoid a potential customer from feeling overwhelmed by too many choices. Apple may choose not to release a 15" MBA simply to avoid customer confusion.

With all that would I want a 15" MBA (or a similar in concept MBP 15")?
YES!

 

[iRun26.2]

I expect a 15" MBA...but maybe not yet

I think what would make a 15" MBA successful is an edge to edge screen. If Apple (sometime in the future) were able to get a 15" laptop screen that would fit in the body of the current 13.3" MBA I think it would be a big hit (and a lot of the people here saying they'd never buy it... would actually consider it).

(And it would not be cheap)

 

[iRun26.2]

It would be really cool to have a MBA with 1680x1050 pixels, be it 13" or 15".

So my answer to the question is 'Aye'.

I want that in the 11.6" model.

(I hate the way I can still see the pixels)

 

[kholman128]

15" Macbook Air

No! Why would the question even be considered.
Maybe a lighter thinner Macbook Pro!