Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Announces New MacBook Air With 13-Inch Retina Display and Touch ID
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Uh, no thanks, but congratulations on doing exactly what the media companies (not excluding Apple) want you to do: walk away from a perfectly good copy you've paid for, and get ripped off buying a second copy of the same damn movie. I didn't mind doing that when it was VHS, which had truly awful quality, but there's nothing wrong with DVDs. Or maybe you're twelve, and just starting your collection. In any event, I'm keeping mine.
[doublepost=1540921441][/doublepost]
And by the way, it's not like I'm asking for my Mac to include an optical drive. I'm happy to not lug that around. I just want to be able to read a DVD when the external drive is attached. Which iPads cannot do, and I'm sure Apple will make sure they never can do.
No way would I pay £1200 for Apple's base 'low cost notebook'. They obviously think that their user base is big enough. Even the price of the Mini is a big fat kick in the wallet!!!
I ripped mine, put them on a Plex server, and threw the DVDs in a bin in the basement.
I found this reveal really confusing. The laptop line-up is now very muddled. I'm in the market for a laptop and desktop combo and the pricing all overlaps not to mention most of the line-up not having been updated for so long.
iMac or Mac Mini. When will they update the iMac? Before 6 months time? Will I buy one and regret it when they silently upgrade them in 2 weeks?
Why is the Macbook Air a better laptop than the Macbook? The Macbooks Airs now have better specs but the Macbooks are more expensive. Why is the old Macbook Air still available!? Is the MBP just a better computer if you're already making the size jump to a Macbook Air?
Why not update the rest of the line? Then there's the looming concept of ARM processors next year or year after which may change everything again anyway.
iMac or Mac Mini. When will they update the iMac? Before 6 months time? Will I buy one and regret it when they silently upgrade them in 2 weeks?
Why is the Macbook Air a better laptop than the Macbook? The Macbooks Airs now have better specs but the Macbooks are more expensive. Why is the old Macbook Air still available!? Is the MBP just a better computer if you're already making the size jump to a Macbook Air?
Why not update the rest of the line? Then there's the looming concept of ARM processors next year or year after which may change everything again anyway.
As someone who is going back to school. Im not sure if I should stick with my 2014 MacBook Pro, or sell it, and get a Air. Im definitely upgrading my iPad though
Wrong. My XPS 13 and Samsung Ultrabook havent had any issues being super thin. The throttling "extent of apple computers" is false.
My razer blade 15 and asus rog zephyrus S disagree with your "they made it thicker, adding vents and fans" BS. They are super thing and get the job done while being hooked up to a 24" 1080p 144hz monitor.
Achieving thinness is possibly and it all depends on the cooling which apple has figured out for the mac mini as seen in previous generations and both Razer and Asus have found a way to do the same.
I haven't ripped my whole collection. There are many discs - especially TV series - that I haven't bothered ripping, but might still want to watch occasionally. I may have to make the rip or dump choice with them all eventually someday - but that day hasn't come yet. Plus, now that I can get used DVDs for $4 because everyone's moved on to the next shiny object, I'm still adding to my collection.
Anyway, here I am pointing out something iPads can't do, but Windows machines in the same price range can do, and *I* am the one who's wrong here? Get with the times, indeed! Tell Apple to get with the times and do touchscreen Macs already! Using a trackpad to remotely move a cursor across the screen so you can then click on it is pretty yesterday if you ask me. Since most web pages have been redesigned in the last few years to allow touchscreen operations by smartphone and tablet users, the same thing works pretty well on a laptop. Like I said, both my work Lenovo and my home Chromebook have this, and (although I hate the Chromebook for other reasons) I love this ability, and miss it whenever I'm on a Mac.
Is it me or is Apple the only one who cares how thin the MacBook is? I mean, to eliminate the magsafe for a few, I mean very few millimeters is odd.
What I'm saying is the MacBook line is a confusing mess compared to how it used to be. A few years ago it was clear cut: MacBook Air was your ultralight ultra-portable machine, MacBook was your regular consumer level notebook, and the MacBook Pro was your high end machine.
Now you've got the MacBook which is smaller and less powerful than the Air yet costs more, so Apple basically cannibalised its own MacBook line with the new Air. And by the traditional naming scheme, the current MacBook should be called the air, while the current Air is more akin to the traditional consumer grade MacBook. Its just a big mess really.
And now the higher end Air is better spec wise (aside from the GPU) than the base 13" Pro for the same price, so now the Air is cannibalising the base model Pro as well.
Basically, the naming scheme is a mess and theres too much overlap spec wise between the 3 notebooks. Apple needs some housekeeping on their lineup.
I think you miss the biggest point he was trying to make. In order to use these devices to access data and media that you've already bought, you have to have a subscription to rebuy said media.
On a side note the base iPad is actually cheaper than the iPad Mini 4.
I was hoping that they'd release an iPad Mini 5. Now, I'm convinced they're gong to sunset that device early 2019.
10% at best from 1.2GHz base model 2015 12" MacBook? I think it'll be a bit more. Also, upgrading because I'm handing off my 12" to a family member and I'll also benefit from Touch ID, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and a slightly larger display.First up, highly disappointed.
Wrong. The current nTB 13'' Pro Model is far superior in performance.
Basically the same. There won't be much difference in processing performance compared to the 7th Gen i-series in the MacBook 12'' inch.
It's an Apple specific Amber-Lake processor:
From Benchmarks, the new Air is as good as a 2013 13inch MacBook Pro with 22nm Haswell processor...
+1
+1
This upgrade makes no sense. Your new MacBook Air will have a 10% performance boost...at best.
True. This new MacBook Air has reached the performance level of 5-year old MacBook Pros. Hurray...
See above.
Those complaining about processor power need to realize this machine is not for people that are doing that work. If you need power, get a Pro. As for the price, it was not too long ago that the MacBook Air started at $1,199 and it was the cheapest MacBook you could buy. Don't recall mass hysteria back then about pricing.
I think Apple should remove the 13” nTB Pro since it isn’t much of an upgrade anymore. I was a bit surprised they didn’t just call it the 13” nTB the MacBook Air last year, but I guess they already had the Amber Lake model in the works.
Other than the names, the lineup itself is fine (after removing the 13” nTB). The 12” is the ultraportable. The 13” Air is the mass seller. The 13” TB and 15” are the pro models with quad core.
I respect your point of view but here’s here how I see it.
1. The gaming machines are a different product completely and are marketed differently. The biggest difference is portability.
2. The throttling in the mbps aren’t as bad as in the original software release. And they aren’t as bad as people have made them out to be at this point in time. They are still highly usable machines and don’t get throttled to where they can’t be useful.
3. Competing PC laptops, which are largely trying to be thin as well, also throttle and has the same issues as Apple.
4. I agree if Apple added more holes and made them thicker they would do better with heat. But thicker is not what they want to sell. Perhaps more can be done and still be thin but I see their current performance in their respective segment on par with the PCs.
I'm amazed they ditched the touch bar on this thing. That alone is a compelling reason to buy this machine. Proper tactile function keys, and a headphone jack!! Great little portable laptop that I'm actually able to plug in my studio monitor headphones to, and finish off an audio mix. Both this and the Mac Mini update are a step back in the right direction. Well done, Apple!
So let's see...$1400 for a MacBook Air with 256 GB storage (what would be considered minimal in 2018), another $250 for Apple Care (since you're already sinking a lot of money in this thing), another $50 for adapters to use with the USB-C ports (for card reader, USB-A devices, ethernet)...that's $1700 to have a modestly-spec'd laptop.
But it is thinner.
But it is thinner.
I think this has become a face-saving thing at Apple. They made their stand on this issue and now won't change.
I was really considering replacing my 10.5 iPad with the new 12.9 iPad. But the new Air is talking to me. I loved a 12" MacBook I used to own. So what is the difference between the new Air and the MacBook?
It is on its third generation. Every laptop and keyboard they ship uses the butterfly tech. It isn't an oversight or coincidence on their part, and they aren't going back.
I love the new keyboards, but unfortunately those who hate them are going to have to hold out with old laptops and 3rd party keyboards, presumably until Apple comes out with another new keyboard tech.
Prices have generally come down over time in the computer industry and if this is not a powerful machine for work applications, then one would expect it to be priced accordingly.
I was thinking the same thing! In Canada, $1500 for the new Macbook Air, $1730 for the 13" MBP without touch bar, and $1730 for the 12" Macbook. The first two have the same screen size, and weigh almost the same. Some are 8th gen, some are 7th gen, all are relatively underpowered. This makes very little sense.
Because they don't control the app ecosystem like iOS and can't mandate that app makers accommodate spacing for rounded corners. The moment they do this and things are cropped by the rounded display, the internet will break with outrage. There are also engineering challenges as well. Would be a nice change though.
This "new" MBA is just a rebadged 13" non-TB MBP using a MB processor. Apple has downgraded the CPU from a competent 15W CPU down to a fairly inept 5W CPU.
I don't know how close the 7th-gen U-series is to the 8th-gen, but the U-series clearly outperforms the Y-series in the 8th-gen. Look at the post below from a different thread.
If Apple had put Whiskey Lake in the new MBA, I would not complain about the pricing, but as it is ....
I think you missed the massive thread here on MR discussing the continuing failure of Apple's butterfly keyboard in its third iteration.
This is personal preference, and as a touch typist I concur with others who cannot comfortably use Apple's new keyboards. This is a huge problem for me and many others who actually type on their laptops.