i read the 11.6 inch Macbook Air rumor when i was in the airport carrying my 15 inch laptop...i really hope this is true and if there's any time they should release this then it's NOW!
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11" MBA Means New MBP Line?
- Thread starter gan6660
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They're never going to make an e-paper only model of any Apple device. I would bet real money that the next iPad will have an e-paper mode that will switch the screen to high contrast black & white for reading ebooks. I'm skeptical they would ever build that feature into a notebook, but I do see the wisdom of it.
Have to agree. Apple is about making the sexiest products possible. They would never make an ugly screen. If anything, we'll be moving to a point where everything has a retina display. If age has made reading a screen hard for you, there are excellent accessibility options in system preferences.
is that, after I "go to the gym"?
Neither the Mac nor Windows accessibility options are what could be called "excellent"... and experts in this area tell me that the party historically making the greater effort there ain't Apple.
But these discussions are not neccessarily about what Apple feels like doing; sometimes we say what we want even if we know it's not a good bet they'll go there. i.e., Scottsdale wants the option of platinum keyboard caps.
And these discussions are not necessarily about what one post-er wants; sometimes we discuss market trends, i.e., many have noted that long-term laptops are tending to respond to weight concerns, therefor this may be reflected in Apple's lineup even if the Air vanishes, by what has been called the Airification of the MB Pros.
Treating a "demographics" post like a "me" post, or treating either one as if it were an "I predict Apple will do this" post, can deflect an opportunity to really consider something being offered.
I am particularly saddened by the leap to the term "ugly". And earlier this week, the mindless "gym" comments.
Not that I think anyone on this Air forum intends to.... but.... Whenever anyone considering real world demographics suggests that industrial or architectural design could expand to work for people, beyond the physically perfect / cognitively perfect... (and we all have well over 80% odds of being there, sooner or later) there's always someone whose aesthetically ultraconservative all-change-is-bad opinion is that "you can't do that, it's ugly." So for example, a new kitchen can't have that accessible open space under the sink allowing a person using a wheelchair to use it, because that detail is new-looking and therefor automatically "ugly". I once met a woman who wrote a book called something like "Universal Design can be Beautiful" to push back against this sort of aesthetic ultraconservatism that swats down accessible residential design.
Apple offers a hi-res screen option that, what?, 95% of its customers don't buy. I would never buy it. I would never buy the matte option either, as for legibility, it goes too far. But it's no skin off my nose that they offer those options. Similarly, if they offered a screen option on one notebook like e-paper, to help the large fraction of the population with imperfect eyesight, it wouldn't be any skin off the noses of the 95% not choosing it.
A few years ago an article in a usually very fair-minded and open-minded magazine, bemoaned that a couple of elderly folks bringing folding aluminum lawn chairs to hear a concert at one of those places where they have some seating near the stage, but the rest sit on the lawn -- were cluttering up the building's simple modern aesthetics with the chairs they needed. Ouch. Aesthetics needn't be so rigid.
Neither the Mac nor Windows accessibility options are what could be called "excellent"... and experts in this area tell me that the party historically making the greater effort there ain't Apple.
But these discussions are not neccessarily about what Apple feels like doing; sometimes we say what we want even if we know it's not a good bet they'll go there. i.e., Scottsdale wants the option of platinum keyboard caps.
And these discussions are not necessarily about what one post-er wants; sometimes we discuss market trends, i.e., many have noted that long-term laptops are tending to respond to weight concerns, therefor this may be reflected in Apple's lineup even if the Air vanishes, by what has been called the Airification of the MB Pros.
Treating a "demographics" post like a "me" post, or treating either one as if it were an "I predict Apple will do this" post, can deflect an opportunity to really consider something being offered.
I am particularly saddened by the leap to the term "ugly". And earlier this week, the mindless "gym" comments.
Not that I think anyone on this Air forum intends to.... but.... Whenever anyone considering real world demographics suggests that industrial or architectural design could expand to work for people, beyond the physically perfect / cognitively perfect... (and we all have well over 80% odds of being there, sooner or later) there's always someone whose aesthetically ultraconservative all-change-is-bad opinion is that "you can't do that, it's ugly." So for example, a new kitchen can't have that accessible open space under the sink allowing a person using a wheelchair to use it, because that detail is new-looking and therefor automatically "ugly". I once met a woman who wrote a book called something like "Universal Design can be Beautiful" to push back against this sort of aesthetic ultraconservatism that swats down accessible residential design.
Apple offers a hi-res screen option that, what?, 95% of its customers don't buy. I would never buy it. I would never buy the matte option either, as for legibility, it goes too far. But it's no skin off my nose that they offer those options. Similarly, if they offered a screen option on one notebook like e-paper, to help the large fraction of the population with imperfect eyesight, it wouldn't be any skin off the noses of the 95% not choosing it.
A few years ago an article in a usually very fair-minded and open-minded magazine, bemoaned that a couple of elderly folks bringing folding aluminum lawn chairs to hear a concert at one of those places where they have some seating near the stage, but the rest sit on the lawn -- were cluttering up the building's simple modern aesthetics with the chairs they needed. Ouch. Aesthetics needn't be so rigid.
I'm not making any judgement on the validity of wanting this option. My only statement is I don't think it's very realistic. A Kindle screen about as un-Apple like as something could get.
I don't think your "95 percent don't buy hi-res" is accurate. I think it's a highly sought after option in the MBP 15. I also think the retina display is the primary reason people are upgrading to the iPhone 4.
Maybe I'll feel differently in 30 years.
Bri
I didn't hear any mass clamoring to demand a superscreen for the iPhone...
... but Apple put a lot of effort into the Retina display anyhow. Actually, I don't think I ever heard even one complaint about the phone's screen readability.
To me that substantial effort (more than the exact form it took) WAS the best of what Apple-like means. Let certain other computer corporations have the slumlord-like mentality of "Do I have to fix the roof? Who's gonna make me?"
Any design improvement that increases the % of the population that can use the device, tends to benefit everyone. Accessibility law forced NYC's Penn Station to add an elevator to the main waiting level. The folks with strollers and heavy suitcases using it, far outnumber the number of users with at least visible disabilities, using it.
Apple is doing some very positive pro-consumer things in the hardware design surrounding it's current priority, the iOS products. The phone and iPad have great battery life. The phone screen's now great (if the exposed edges don't break easier), and the iPad is, due to several excellent and generous decisions, so desirable overall that... to me it appears like the competition may as well give up.
So those are the most positive and freshest manifestations, currently defining "Apple-like". If this kind of design leadership effort spreads up the product ladder just one more rung... what's that rung? The Air. Who knows? Maybe next January the new Air will absolutely knock our sox off! Or they want to catch the holiday gift buying season, and so they have it ready a month sooner. Or maybe the Air's great leap forward is timed for 2011's holiday gift buying season.
Which is not a statement about probability, just possibility. The new phone and the iPad show what they can do, when the CEO says to the design dept. "Go for it."
... but Apple put a lot of effort into the Retina display anyhow. Actually, I don't think I ever heard even one complaint about the phone's screen readability.
To me that substantial effort (more than the exact form it took) WAS the best of what Apple-like means. Let certain other computer corporations have the slumlord-like mentality of "Do I have to fix the roof? Who's gonna make me?"
Any design improvement that increases the % of the population that can use the device, tends to benefit everyone. Accessibility law forced NYC's Penn Station to add an elevator to the main waiting level. The folks with strollers and heavy suitcases using it, far outnumber the number of users with at least visible disabilities, using it.
Apple is doing some very positive pro-consumer things in the hardware design surrounding it's current priority, the iOS products. The phone and iPad have great battery life. The phone screen's now great (if the exposed edges don't break easier), and the iPad is, due to several excellent and generous decisions, so desirable overall that... to me it appears like the competition may as well give up.
So those are the most positive and freshest manifestations, currently defining "Apple-like". If this kind of design leadership effort spreads up the product ladder just one more rung... what's that rung? The Air. Who knows? Maybe next January the new Air will absolutely knock our sox off! Or they want to catch the holiday gift buying season, and so they have it ready a month sooner. Or maybe the Air's great leap forward is timed for 2011's holiday gift buying season.
Which is not a statement about probability, just possibility. The new phone and the iPad show what they can do, when the CEO says to the design dept. "Go for it."
The current MBA keyboard is ~10.5" wide, by ~4" high. The 13.3" screen is something like 11"x7". A 11.6" screen is about 9.7"x6.2".. so you could have a full size keyboard if you've got a large bezel, and NO real border around the keyboard. A 10" screen would be more like 8.5"x5.3"... needing almost a full inch around the screen to be wide enough to cover the keyboard, even with the keys going to the very edges.
That's just a matter of size, not productivity. Full-size keyboard is why I paid so much for an MBA, instead of getting a netbook. I've tried to type on a netbook... and it's seriously cramped. I'm a software developer by trade and hobby, I have relatively large hands, and I also touch-type. I don't think a cramped physical keyboard would really be any better than a cramped capacitive virtual keyboard on the screen. Can't really touch-type in either case. Given the kind of window explosion that occurs in most IDEs, I have a hard enough time with the MBA screen making things fit; a lower resolution would be BAD. A same resolution, smaller screen would quickly become eyestrain inducing, though the crazy brightness of Apple screens helps there.
I liked what Jobs had to say at one of the big trade events, I think it was D8, regarding Desktops, Laptops, and Tablets... Most computers today are really like trucks. They can carry a lot, pull heavy loads, great for getting stuff done. However, most consumers don't need a truck, they just need something that gives them the web, email, and as few other hassles as possible. They want a car, it just gets them where they want to go, minimal fuss. IPads, iPhones, and Android devices fit that category nicely. Where the MBA and other small laptops fall is kinda what used to be the Sport Utility Vehicle. Enough utility to get some work done, but somewhat fashionable, and not as powerful as a truck. Gaming rigs are like sportcars, expensive, sexy, and overpowered for what most people need.
People need to match what they buy, with their needs. Most people need a car to get from here to there. That's why Apple can barely keep iPads and iPhones in stock, and Android devices are selling like crazy. People who do intensive work get trucks; Engineers, CAD, Graphic design, software developement, all get big screens, keyboards, mice and/or other exotic pointing devices, lots of power under the hood, so they can do work. Business people have docking laptops, as sometimes they need to type long documents, but they also need to move that machine to a boardroom for presentations, or get it through an airport, etc.
Honestly, I expect the tablet form factor to take over most of the laptop market eventually. They'll have docks to gain keyboards and mice, but have decent touch-able OS and scaled power for mobility. People who work in digital realms will still have their desktops/desktop-replacement laptops, but most people won't see the need.
As for screens and readability.... The real next step isn't E-Ink, but PixelQi. They have a screen that toggles between full color LCD and grayscale reflective LCD(like a digital watch or Cisco VOIP phone display). The big advantage is that they are fast; they can do full motion video in either mode, and it's easy to toggle between them. E-Ink is way to slow to do anything but ebooks, at this point, and can't do color. You can buy replacement displays for a couple models of laptop at the moment with PixelQi versions, but they aren't cheap. Apple or some other major hardware company needs to pick it up so they can get some volume, and the prices should come down. The tablet market would be a great place for it, for outdoor readability, and power concerns; the greyscale mode isn't back-lit, and thus draws a LOT less power.
That's just a matter of size, not productivity. Full-size keyboard is why I paid so much for an MBA, instead of getting a netbook. I've tried to type on a netbook... and it's seriously cramped. I'm a software developer by trade and hobby, I have relatively large hands, and I also touch-type. I don't think a cramped physical keyboard would really be any better than a cramped capacitive virtual keyboard on the screen. Can't really touch-type in either case. Given the kind of window explosion that occurs in most IDEs, I have a hard enough time with the MBA screen making things fit; a lower resolution would be BAD. A same resolution, smaller screen would quickly become eyestrain inducing, though the crazy brightness of Apple screens helps there.
I liked what Jobs had to say at one of the big trade events, I think it was D8, regarding Desktops, Laptops, and Tablets... Most computers today are really like trucks. They can carry a lot, pull heavy loads, great for getting stuff done. However, most consumers don't need a truck, they just need something that gives them the web, email, and as few other hassles as possible. They want a car, it just gets them where they want to go, minimal fuss. IPads, iPhones, and Android devices fit that category nicely. Where the MBA and other small laptops fall is kinda what used to be the Sport Utility Vehicle. Enough utility to get some work done, but somewhat fashionable, and not as powerful as a truck. Gaming rigs are like sportcars, expensive, sexy, and overpowered for what most people need.
People need to match what they buy, with their needs. Most people need a car to get from here to there. That's why Apple can barely keep iPads and iPhones in stock, and Android devices are selling like crazy. People who do intensive work get trucks; Engineers, CAD, Graphic design, software developement, all get big screens, keyboards, mice and/or other exotic pointing devices, lots of power under the hood, so they can do work. Business people have docking laptops, as sometimes they need to type long documents, but they also need to move that machine to a boardroom for presentations, or get it through an airport, etc.
Honestly, I expect the tablet form factor to take over most of the laptop market eventually. They'll have docks to gain keyboards and mice, but have decent touch-able OS and scaled power for mobility. People who work in digital realms will still have their desktops/desktop-replacement laptops, but most people won't see the need.
As for screens and readability.... The real next step isn't E-Ink, but PixelQi. They have a screen that toggles between full color LCD and grayscale reflective LCD(like a digital watch or Cisco VOIP phone display). The big advantage is that they are fast; they can do full motion video in either mode, and it's easy to toggle between them. E-Ink is way to slow to do anything but ebooks, at this point, and can't do color. You can buy replacement displays for a couple models of laptop at the moment with PixelQi versions, but they aren't cheap. Apple or some other major hardware company needs to pick it up so they can get some volume, and the prices should come down. The tablet market would be a great place for it, for outdoor readability, and power concerns; the greyscale mode isn't back-lit, and thus draws a LOT less power.
I think the other aspect you have to consider is the touch pad. Apple uses some of the larger touch pads to accommodate a large and growing vocabulary of gestures. Do they go with a more rectangular touch screen to align with the likely move to a 16:9 aspect ratio? Is this why inertial scrolling is being introduced?