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2013 Air to have Retina display?
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I'm not so sure. With the possibility of a 13 inch rMBP I can see Apple needing some differentiation between the 13" rMBP and the Air, after all, they won't have the optical drive / expandablity to tout as a difference.
If they add a retina screen to the Air they'll have to up the battery capacity, more than likely that would involve removing the wedge. At that point it'll be a case of "well done Apple, you just invented another MBP."
Without a new battery technology, highly doubt it. What they are going to make, IMO, is a 13-inch pro with retina display.
And the Air will still be the same Air. Maybe with an IPS display. Or one of those IGZO displays from Sharp that sound so promising.
haswell is supposed to help a lot with battery life but I agree, i just wonder how they'd differentiate the 2 lines if MBAs go retina....
i love my 2010 11" MBA. bought and returned the 2012 MBAs with the thought of maybe upgrading if 13" retina MBP is released. but i may just be patient and wait til the 2013 revisions with haswell -- better graphics, battery and more app support, etc. just love the 11" form factor...
would also hope by 2013 apple would be ready to go to ips or igzo for the 11" MBA - i mean i know apple's been known to use old tech
but using 3+ year old display tech is a bit much for a company that prides in having great displays in its gadgets
The 13" Pro can take a design cue from the current RMBP and accomodate a larger battery, but unless Apple is willing to make the Air take on a larger wedge current battery technology can't accommodate Air's existing dimension along with a retina display while maintaining respectable battery life.
I think putting a RD in an Air would push the unit cost price up too much, I paid £1250 for my Air and i'm sure a RD would put another few hundred quid on the price of that.
Apple needs to stay in competition with the likes of the Samsung Series 9 etc.
Apple needs to stay in competition with the likes of the Samsung Series 9 etc.
Like how they differentiated them before they went Retina up until just a few months ago? There still are regular pros, 13" and 15" on the market. Don't really think this argument factors at all, and in fact, I think it would be weird for Apple to have a 2 year span between their laptop lines on such a key feature that is already ubiquitous on their iOS lines.
As far as power, not only is Haswell much more efficient, but the GPU power will be roughly 2.5x to handle the extra pixels - not ideal, but in the ballpark for acceptability. If Apple can free up a bit more internal space with smaller components/packaging and get another 10-15% in battery they probably can at least achieve a device that gets battery life similar to the 2k11 models while retaining the same form factor. Considering this is a full year away I don't think that's an insurmountable challenge.
They could launch this the same way they launched the rMBP... at a higher price bracket while updating the rest of the line at regular res, and then likely in a generation or two drop the regular devices and bring the cost down.
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More than likely not in the near future. If the MBA got a Retina display, what would differentiate it from the rMBP?
Hang on, let me go and check my crystal ball... or I could watch one of those psychic TV channels on satellite (yes, there is a psychic channel on British satellite TV) 
I really doubt.
The expected haswell GPU will not be enough to handle properly a retina display.
Up on that add battery issues and price rise.
But lets wait and see what apple will do.
The expected haswell GPU will not be enough to handle properly a retina display.
Up on that add battery issues and price rise.
But lets wait and see what apple will do.
If the curent Ivy Bridge can handle two Thunderbolt displays why can't the Haswell handle a retina?