MBA 1.4Ghz i5 vs 1.7GHz i7

[Algus]

True but safe to say MBA has definitely changed target audience since its release. Original model was ridiculously expensive and doubled as a space heater. Mainly targeted at traveling business professionals that wanted as light as possible.

Now we no longer have regular MacBooks as the MBA has supplanted them. And they are the industry leader in battery life.

 

[Ronnoco]

The only intention with the original MBA was for it to be thin and light.

The design goal wasn't for it to be powerful. From 2008 to 2010 it was pretty underpowered.

The design goal wasn't for it to have insane battery life either. From 2008 to 2012 it was supposed to get ~5 hours of battery life, which was less than MacBook Pros for those years.

In 2013, Apple refreshed the laptops with Intel's new Haswell processors which made them as powerful as any other laptop and also gave them crazy good battery life. This isn't anything that Apple planned or designed or intended, they just got it for free from Intel.

So it's misguided to make predictions or evaluate rumors based on the idea that the MBA's design goal is to be powerful or to have long battery life, as many people now seem to think because they can only remember the most 2 recent model years.

Yes, I concur. However Apple got to where they were with the 2013/14 Air models, I think they will bring the next generation back to more of what it was originally intended to be. A very light, thin travel laptop that doesn't really compete at all with the MBP line.