12-Inch MacBook Air to Begin Production in 3rd Quarter 2014

[Escu]

I draw a limit to that. With iOS Air, "work" would mean "communicating with people who actually do the work".

--- With a proper monitor and keyboard, iOS makes for pretty decent Office (as in Office Suite) work. Not everyone is a designer/programmer.

But obviously, the intended audience for an iOSbook would be different that the one intended for the MBA/rMBA/et al.

 

[thekeyring]

Currently the owner of a 13" MacBook Pro (non retina). Would have loved a Retina Air but can't see myself using a screen smaller than 13".

I suppose the Retina 13" MacBook Pro will be the way to go, but what I loved about the Air is it had the same resolution (and workable area) as the 15" Pro.

 

[Abedoss]

Solderity

Solderity is Apple's new way to enhance their Macs, you have to think about it like an iOS device, you can order an iPhone with 16, 32 or 64GB of storage, but if it is shipped you can't change it. Thats what Apple done with their new more affordable iMac. It soldered RAM and new enhanced CPU, also it may come with soldered flash storage, the new battery (if it come with) will be somehow soldered or more integrated, a new trackpad with no mechanical buttons, a new Retina display panel (Sharp IGZO!!), a lower clocked CPU (like the 1.4GHz one in the new iMac) with the new internal layout will make the cooling fanless.

 

[satchmo]

Perhaps Apple intends to go back to the iBook sizes and come out with the 12" rMBA followed by a 14" model later.

And of course killing off the 11 and 13 inch models. My guess is just one 12" for the MBA line.

 

[KPOM]

circular reasoning, brilliant.

It is well known that Broadwell has been delayed, and that Intel's focus was on power consumption. There's nothing circular about my reasoning.

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Solderity is Apple's new way to enhance their Macs, you have to think about it like an iOS device, you can order an iPhone with 16, 32 or 64GB of storage, but if it is shipped you can't change it. Thats what Apple done with their new more affordable iMac. I think the new Macbook Air will come with soldered RAM, also it may come with soldered CPU and flash storage, the new battery (if it come with) will be somehow soldered or more integrated, a new trackpad with no mechanical buttons, a new Retina display panel (Sharp IGZO!!), a lower clocked CPU (like the 1.4GHz one in the new iMac) with the new internal layout will make the cooling fanless.

The MacBook Air has long had soldered RAM and CPUs.

 

[Mums]

How about a 17" MacBook Pro?

 

[jdag]

off the topic maybe but: I receive today my MB Air 13 inch today $945
what a bad! decision I made... without retina this thing is so ugly, I feel that I have a toy... I compare this with my sister macbook pro 13 retina and the weight difference with the Air is not too much... more light weigth but not as I was think... so for $280! more I could have a macbook 13 with retina and more speed

You should return if feeling buyer's remorse. I have a 13" rMBP and my wife has a 13" MBA. While both are excellent computers and plenty fast for our work, the retina display is a huge improvement, and to me a necessity.

You do give up some weight and battery advantage life my going to the rMBP, but I find it worth the trade off and cost difference.

 

[KPOM]

why can't apple built the 13" macbook air with retina instead of the 12" ?? doesn't make sense when they already have the 13 retina macbook pro

My guess is that Apple wouldn't be able to differentiate the 13" Pro enough from the Air if they made a 13" retina version.

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Give me the spec of a maxed out MBPro and make it as thin as the air that will be my next purchase!!

The 11" is really 11.6" so my guess is that if this does replace a model, it would be the 11.6". But this might well be an premium model. It might even be a "Pro" model offered alongside the existing models, which are there to support lower price points.

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Give me the spec of a maxed out MBPro and make it as thin as the air that will be my next purchase!!

The 11" is really 11.6" so my guess is that if this does replace a model, it would be the 11.6". But this might well be an premium model. It might even be a "Pro" model offered alongside the existing models, which are there to support lower price points.

 

[Globglabglub]

Your point was valid 2 years ago, but not now. For a tiny amount of extra money you get a machine with that stunning retina display, much more power and more CTO options. The 13" rMBP also has a smaller footprint and only weighs a fraction less.

I do understand your point, but for me it's not really a valid argument when the diffence in size and weight is so negligible.

I bought both a MBA 13 and MBPr 13, both 4gb ram, this winter. For my purposes as a business machine and light photo editing with external monitor, it was a semi-easy decision to return the Pro.

• A half pound is in no way negligible.

• The battery life difference is in no way negligible.

• The price difference is in no way negligible.

• The body shape, although subjective, is in no way negligible...in favor of the Air - no sharp wrist edge and a shape that feelsbetter for me to hold

• What was negligible was the difference in performance.

The one thing I really like better about the Pro? Not the screen.* It's the keyboard. It is much better than the Air's.

I guess I concluded the opposite you have. Unless you need the retina color accuracy (the resolution bump turned out to be a functional non-factor for me) or extra ports, I say the MBA is the best choice.

*I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I find the current MPPr 13's screen harsh and hard on the eyes. I don't know if it's flicker I'm perceiving, or a higher color temp (unlikely because I calibrate), the glass overlay, or some unknown thing. But I and a couple others also judged the Air's screen easier to look at. It was a surprise to me as I came into the comparison expecting to hate the Air's display. I appreciate the Retina resolution and, and as I mentioned above, I really appreciate the other IPS advantages. Just not at the cost of viewing comfort.

 

[Keniutek]

It has to be retina, right? Make the bezels smaller and it's an instant buy from me.
If not, i will laugh my *** off listening to all the excuses (about the screen) from the fanboys

 

[MrX8503]

So why can my iPad have a retina display without the need for a fan? I think he understood very well what he is asking for!

Because the CPU in a laptop has a much higher TDP.

 

[Jokyo]

Why bother?

Bigger than 11" but not much. Smaller than 13" but not much. How positively boring. Now a 15" would be worth getting interested, but no...

 

[sseaton1971]

off the topic maybe but: I receive today my MB Air 13 inch today $945
what a bad! decision I made... without retina this thing is so ugly, I feel that I have a toy... I compare this with my sister macbook pro 13 retina and the weight difference with the Air is not too much... more light weigth but not as I was think... so for $280! more I could have a macbook 13 with retina and more speed

Return it and get the computer you want. Apple has other options, as you pointed out.

 

[alau0115]

If this rumour is true, then 11" MBA would be ditched. Many people aren't aware of the fact that the actual screen size for 11" MBA is 11.8 --- it is too close to 12"

 

[LandsGrieco]

17" MacBook Pro?

 

[MacVista]

"some of the new design changes"

- battery glued, fused and soldered
- keyboard welded to the motherboard
- RAM available via iCloud
- SSD - ROM (Apple patent) Apps available live
- 12" screen Canadian = 11"
- Cost $1299 non-refundable, non-transferable
- expiration - 12/2015
- user reviews - prohibited
- headphone jack - only compatible to beats BSA connector (Apple exclusive adapter $29 not included)

 

[sparkie7]

How about an option to upgrade RAM to 16GB? -- yes 16GB's....

 

[MacSince1990]

Please no fan. Ever since I updated to Mavericks my 2011 MBA sounds like a fighter jet.

Then use a fan control app? Or try resetting the SMC as it's probably an issue with that?

How is your solution to a software/firmware problem the removal of a piece of hardware responsible for cooling?

 

[Serban]

Bigger than 11" but not much. Smaller than 13" but not much. How positively boring. Now a 15" would be worth getting interested, but no...

The macbook air is about portability so no chance for a 15"

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Apple will make the best consumer laptop in the market with the 12" display.
Probably at 0.60 inch Height and 2.50 pounds with 10 hours battery usage starting at $1099

 

[Traverse]

But with no fan and a thinner design, I wonder if it's graphics chip will be powerful enough to drive the retina display.

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How about an option to upgrade RAM to 16GB? -- yes 16GB's....

It would be nice, but this is their general consumer notebook and they don't need 16GB. The MacBook Pro was designed for the prosumer and professional.

 

[Serban]

But with no fan and a thinner design, I wonder if it's graphics chip will be powerful enough to drive the retina display.

They are already done it. With HD5100 the macbook pros are running perfectly
So i guess with HD5000 as well

 

[Alphabetize]

Goodbye graphics performance

 

[skwash]

Guys...

assuming this laptop does come to fruition, it will either replace the 11 and 13 inch airs.... or....

will utilize the "desktop class" 64 bit ARM processors apple talks so highly of. They seem very convinced the iPhone could power a desktop. I think it's only a matter of time before EVERYONE tries to make their own super cool 64 bit ARM-powered laptops.

To the people who keep referencing Chrome books. Yes, they suck. 1. They run on Chrome OS which is plain and simply not as efficient as... anything. a bit like saying my new alienware doesn't hit 60 fps on some flash animation. Compare it to something that doesn't suck. 2. The apple ARM-powered laptops would probably use a high end ARM chip. Apple won't charge just $200 for these things. The Chrome books are meant to be cheap junk, and they succeed beautifully.

I think you are right on. There was a rumor a little while back that Apple was testing laptops with "4-8 64-bit ARM Quad-core processors."

Considering the A7 in the iPad air is 1.4ghz per core (A8 rumored at 2.6ghz), I'd be very interested to see what 32 cores (8 quad core cpus) could do.

Granted OS X developers would need to create new builds to support this CPU, and the majority of software would never take advantage of this many cores. But you could run quite a apps before they had to start sharing resources.

I'm starting to believe this could be viable.

 

[Thunderhawks]

similar design?

my hope is they would make it thinner.

The see through version will be ready by 2022 only 1 mm thick and can be rolled up or folded into smaller pieces, down to 5.5.............now wait a minute

 

[Navdakilla]

I'm on the market for a new air too

might wait to scoop one of these up!