Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

15" MacBook Air Under Development?

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,775
39,722


Taiwanese blog Apple.pro reports (Google translation) that Apple is developing larger versions of the MacBook Air, speculating that a 15" version could be in the works. The report provides little information other than that the new MacBook Air would be based on new ultra-low voltage Core 2 processors from Intel, but they promise that more information will be forthcoming in the second half of this year.

Apple.pro's mixed track record includes genuine leaked photos of the current generation of the MacBook Pro and MacBook, but their purported MacBook video leak was questionable at the time of posting and did turn out to be false.

Article Link: 15" MacBook Air Under Development?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/01/16/15-macbook-air-under-development/
To which we say:

WHY?! What's the point?!

The MacBook Air abysmally failed at being a really small, really thin computer, so now they're making it a really big, really thin computer?

I don't get it.
 
i hope this doesn't happen. the current macbook air is hard enough to sell, but a 15" one? if anything, they should make a smaller one, not a bigger one
 
I can kind of see the logic in a 15" macbook air. If you take away the optical drive and have a sealed battery you could easily make it so the 15" could hit 8hours like the 17" and also as probably reduce the overall size a bit as well. I personally see the 15" screen as the ideal size for a presentation laptop when theres no projector etc.

They could probably keep all the ports (split onto both sides now though) and give it the macbook airs slanted shape or make it overall thinner (just :))

For me personally I hardly use the optical drive on my computers, most of my backups are on a server and I wouldn't mind the lack of it in a laptop if it gets me more battery life. I'm more than happy to carry a portable drive with me for the rare occasions its needed - I generally know when this is likely to happen anyways.
 
twoodcc said:
i hope this doesn't happen. the current macbook air is hard enough to sell, but a 15" one? if anything, they should make a smaller one, not a bigger one
Click to expand...

Agreed! WTF are they doing!?? It needs to be smaller and lighter. Not bigger and heavier! They should just call it the Macbook Stone.:eek:
 
I would not call the Air a failure ... it seems to me that people who have never used it call it a failure. Having owned an Air now, I certainly love how light it is, how thin it is, and that I still get a nice bright 13" screen to work on if I'm on the road.

A 15" Air is a bad idea. A very very bad idea.
 
LeviG said:
I can kind of see the logic in a 15" macbook air. If you take away the optical drive and have a sealed battery you could easily make it so the 15" could hit 8hours like the 17" and also as probably reduce the overall size a bit as well. I personally see the 15" screen as the ideal size for a presentation laptop when theres no projector etc.

They could probably keep all the ports (split onto both sides now though) and give it the macbook airs slanted shape or make it overall thinner (just :))

For me personally I hardly use the optical drive on my computers, most of my backups are on a server and I wouldn't mind the lack of it in a laptop if it gets me more battery life. I'm more than happy to carry a portable drive with me for the rare occasions its needed - I generally know when this is likely to happen anyways.
Click to expand...

But they don't have to take the optical drive out in order to reach 8 hours if it has a sealed battery. The 17" still has its Optical Drive....

I call this rumor as BS.
 
Personally, I'm irritated by the current MacBookAir (second generation) not being updated to the "Unibody" aesthetic. If they had updated it, I would've bough one.

But since it's inevitable that eventually they will update it, and then everybody with the old-looking model will obviously be a sucker, I'm waiting for them to update it again...

That's ridiculous. They should make an effort to uniform the current MacBookAir to the prevailing style of their laptop offerings, complete with black-bezel screen and buttonless trackpad.

Why they didn't is totally beyond me.
 
jessica. said:
I would not call the Air a failure ... it seems to me that people who have never used it call it a failure. Having owned an Air now, I certainly love how light it is, how thin it is, and that I still get a nice bright 13" screen to work on if I'm on the road.

A 15" Air is a bad idea. A very very bad idea.
Click to expand...

I would not call the 15" Air a bad idea ... it seems to me that people who have never used a "15 call it a failure. Having owned a 15" now, I certainly love how cool it is, how steady it is, and that I still get a nice bright 15" screen to work on if I'm on the road.

:)

For Apple, this forum is definitely not representative...
 
No chance.

If Apple do this - maybe it'll be better if Steve Jobs retired. These decisions are stupidity.
 
I think Apple should come out with a 12" and 15" "Air" but erase the Air and just call it a macbook then drop the price by $800.

For the revamped Air lineup there should be a 9" widescreen, a 12" convertible tablet notebook, and a 13.3" . All under 3 LB :D

Call me when that happens! :apple:
 
Why in the world....

We want a new Mac Mini or mid-range tower. We don't need 15 different models of laptops.
 
I'm okay with this - how many computers do you need to buy? If you like a light, thin 15" then get it. If not, get the new, sweet, 15" MacBook Pro!

The good thing is, likely the 15" will sell for the current price of the 13", and the 13" will go down. (After all, the high price was mostly to cover R&D for the unibody production lines.)

I say, do it, and people will buy it if they want it!
 
tosui said:
The good thing is, likely the 15" will sell for the current price of the 13", and the 13" will go down. (After all, the high price was mostly to cover R&D for the unibody production lines.)
Click to expand...

Highly doubtful. If they added an Air with a bigger screen it would be more expensive, and the 13" would stay the same. They (Apple) aren't that considerate. This is business, remember?
 
KindredMAC said:
But they don't have to take the optical drive out in order to reach 8 hours if it has a sealed battery. The 17" still has its Optical Drive....

I call this rumor as BS.
Click to expand...
theres a difference in size in the 17" and 15", even removing the mechanism to remove the battery wouldn't allow enough space for an additional 3 hours, an hour maybe. Besides if they were going to seal in the 15" battery don't you think they would have done it already or maybe there second battery sales for the 15" are pretty high to keep it removeable.

Actually thinking about it, if they just removed the optical drive I reckon (maintaining the same size shell) they could hit closer to double the current battery life.
 
We need a 10-11 inch MBA. The current one is bad enough because it may be thin, but not very portable because of it width and depth dimensions.

If Apple release a new 10 inch MBA, with two USB, audio I/O and mini Diplay Port, and reasonably priced then they are onto a winner.
 
KindredMAC said:
But they don't have to take the optical drive out in order to reach 8 hours if it has a sealed battery. The 17" still has its Optical Drive....

I call this rumor as BS.
Click to expand...

Yes, but the 17" is no where near as thin or as light as the Air is. I think it has a possibility of being a truthful rumor. Time will tell.
 
LeviG said:
theres a difference in size in the 17" and 15", even removing the mechanism to remove the battery wouldn't allow enough space for an additional 3 hours, an hour maybe. Besides if they were going to seal in the 15" battery don't you think they would have done it already or maybe there second battery sales for the 15" are pretty high to keep it removeable.

Actually thinking about it, if they just removed the optical drive I reckon (maintaining the same size shell) they could hit closer to double the current battery life.
Click to expand...

Perhaps, but when I went to a computer shop yesterday, they had over 30 different laptops on show, 2 or 3 none Macs and all the Macs didn't have Bluray. You can now buy a sub £400 laptop with Bluray drive that will even play BD movies at full resolution. That space is needed for a BD drive, or else Apple will be committing suicide.
 
It just needs to have more ports and be more powerful, not bigger. That would totally defeat it's purpose. But I doubt that's gonna happen. That's just stupid. Unless they do it while Jobs' curing himself.
 
I have to question this report as it would have the potential to disrupt the portable lineup.

- If one needs a very portable laptop, opt for the MacBook Air.
- If one needs a consumer level laptop, opt for the MacBook.
- If one needs a larger screen than what's available in either the MB or MBA, opt for the MacBook Pro.

The addition of a 15-inch MBA would simply disrupt the advantage of both the larger screen and features of the MBP and could undermine the 13-inch MBA. I think the MBA as it exists today is a strategic product that is able to meet the ultra portable requirement. A 15-inch simply wouldn't make sense in my view.

On the other hand, a smaller MBA would be more logical in my view but not likely.
 
I would love to have a 15-inch that thin but it's not going to happen. Apple probably has made a prototype but it's not going to be for sale.

Apple just needs to work on making the current models thinner.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back