Yet screen dimensions (and the physical size of hard disks, and the size of tyres) is measured in inches in most places anyway.
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Apple Considering 14-Inch MacBook Air to Focus on Asian Markets?
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Yet screen dimensions (and the physical size of hard disks, and the size of tyres) is measured in inches in most places anyway.
Yep, in Mandarin "four" sounds like "death". Many buildings lack 14th floors. Nobody does anything important on the 14th of any month. I doubt many couples will try to conceive in 2014. It's really that serious.
IIRC, 14" laptops are often the cheapest (not including netbooks). 13" needs more miniture parts. 15" needs a big expensive screen. 14" is the sweet spot where you can build a good value machine.
But Apple *won't* use cheap but bulky parts. If they make a 14", it will be as thin as possible, and a little more expensive than a 13" (due to the slightly large screen). It will also make their range too messy - no 13" for students, 15" for pros who like lugging bricks.
They might make all MBPs 14" or more, because they want to differentiate from the MBA. But it won't be to target more frugal laptop buyers. That's what the 11" MBA is for.
I'm Asian myself and I don't quite get it.. What's so special about the 14" form-factor people can't either opt for the slightly smaller 13" or the slightly bigger 15"?
Maybe Apple wants all MacBook Air displays to be 16:9.
The current 13" is 16:10.
Maybe a nice 16:9 display requires it to be 14"?
I would love one!
The current 13" is 16:10.
Maybe a nice 16:9 display requires it to be 14"?
I would love one!
If they have the same performance and ability as the MBP's just thinner. I don't mine having an external optical - I rarely used it - also it you have more than one notebook, you need to buy one optical drive.
Less moving parts means more reliable machine. I am typing this on my 11in 2010 MBA and even though I desired a 15in MBA - I see this machine running for another 2 years - I use my MBA every day and absolutely no problems.
If there is something I've learned from Apple's way of doing things, is that they would never cater to just one market or demographic. It's all about what's best for everybody (their customers in general)..
Has the MBA had any difficulties penetrating the Asian market? I don't think so.. Would this huge move (in terms of production) guarantee that? Doubt it..
Has the MBA had any difficulties penetrating the Asian market? I don't think so.. Would this huge move (in terms of production) guarantee that? Doubt it..
The Dell XPS 13 has an interesting design that lets it fit a 13" screen in a form factor slightly larger than the 11.6" MacBook Air. Perhaps we'll see the screen sizes increase somewhat from 11.6" to 12.5" and 13.3" to 14"?
In any case, this is Digitimes, so take it with about a pound of salt. Hopefully after the "iPhone 5" last year Apple will be able to do a better job managing expectations, but the crazy predictions will continue for a while. Molly Wood of all people is predicting Apple will announce a touch screen Mac as a "just one more thing" next week.
Apparently she didn't get Steve Jobs' comments in 2010 when he said that Apple had rejected touchscreen Macs. This will be like the netbook or sub-$500 Mac. The rumor will persist no matter how much Apple tries to dispel it.
In any case, this is Digitimes, so take it with about a pound of salt. Hopefully after the "iPhone 5" last year Apple will be able to do a better job managing expectations, but the crazy predictions will continue for a while. Molly Wood of all people is predicting Apple will announce a touch screen Mac as a "just one more thing" next week.
Apparently she didn't get Steve Jobs' comments in 2010 when he said that Apple had rejected touchscreen Macs. This will be like the netbook or sub-$500 Mac. The rumor will persist no matter how much Apple tries to dispel it.
SJ turned Apple to be this successful in part by streamlining its product line. In fact, he was quite proud of how few products Apple actually makes. Do you remember the mess the product line used to be before he came back? He didn't cater to regional markets, and despite that, the company's success is beyond anyone's dreams? Why change the formula?
13 is a really bad number in Western superstition, but that doesn't stop them from offering a 13" laptop.
I Don't Think So
The only way I could see Apple introducing a 14 inch display is if they move from the current four display sizes down to three, with the 14 inch display as the middle choice. In other words, they'd replace the MacBook Air 13, MacBook Pro 13, and MacBook Pro 15 with a single model: the MacBook Air-Pro 14. And then they'd sell a bazillion of them.
To do that Apple would effectively eliminate the MacBook Pro 13 and 15 models completely and put the remainder of their line-up on bezel diets. The MacBook Air 11 would become the MacBook Air 12 (with 1280x800 and optional retina display). The MacBook Air 14 would have a new retina display, standard. The MacBook Pro 17 would lose a bit of heft so that it'd be only slightly larger than the former MacBook Pro 15, and a retina display would be an option.
But I don't think this'll happen. The premise seems flawed.
The only way I could see Apple introducing a 14 inch display is if they move from the current four display sizes down to three, with the 14 inch display as the middle choice. In other words, they'd replace the MacBook Air 13, MacBook Pro 13, and MacBook Pro 15 with a single model: the MacBook Air-Pro 14. And then they'd sell a bazillion of them.
To do that Apple would effectively eliminate the MacBook Pro 13 and 15 models completely and put the remainder of their line-up on bezel diets. The MacBook Air 11 would become the MacBook Air 12 (with 1280x800 and optional retina display). The MacBook Air 14 would have a new retina display, standard. The MacBook Pro 17 would lose a bit of heft so that it'd be only slightly larger than the former MacBook Pro 15, and a retina display would be an option.
But I don't think this'll happen. The premise seems flawed.
I'd rather have the 11 inch MBA body with a 12 inch screen in there. If they just get rid of the bezel arouind the screen a ~12 inch display would fit in there.
The same would be true for the 13inch MBA body and a 14inch display.
The same would be true for the 13inch MBA body and a 14inch display.
Why does MacRumors insist on posting pointless and ridiculous speculation by DigiTimes?
It's clear they've done put no thought into this article, and are just looking for cheap links and ad impressions. Linking to them just encourages them to post whatever the writers day dream while sitting on the toilet, instead of doing some real journalism or maybe some actual analysis rather than "duh this sells so Apple must be building one".
It's clear they've done put no thought into this article, and are just looking for cheap links and ad impressions. Linking to them just encourages them to post whatever the writers day dream while sitting on the toilet, instead of doing some real journalism or maybe some actual analysis rather than "duh this sells so Apple must be building one".
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Yes but screen size is usually in inches all around the world
uknowimright said:
Yes but screen size is usually in inches all around the world
What makes you think that Apple thinks about releasing a 14 inch MBA, and that it's not Digitimes with their usual nonsense? The only time when Apple does things especially for one market is building out-of-date and low-end computers a bit longer to supply schools. There is no way that Apple builds anything exclusively for the Asian market.
Except it works very well right now. Just look at AAPL.
13 is a real bad number in most of the Western world, with some hotels having a 12th and 14th but no 13th floor, and that didn't stop Apple from selling lots of 13" MacBooks, MBPs and MBAs.
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<Looks at desk>
<Sees 13" MacBook Air, next to a 14" Dell Latitude E6420, next to a 15" MacBook Pro>
I have to say I quite like a 14" notebook, and the 1600x900 screen on the Latitude E6420 is good! Weighs a good bit more than the MacBook Air though!
<Sees 13" MacBook Air, next to a 14" Dell Latitude E6420, next to a 15" MacBook Pro>
I have to say I quite like a 14" notebook
, and the 1600x900 screen on the Latitude E6420 is good! Weighs a good bit more than the MacBook Air though! Yes, I think Apple's new hires are working on this 14" MacBook Air.
As well as the matte-screen Air, 4.5" iPhone, MacPro G5, iPad running OS X Snow Leopard, Mac mini-tower...
As well as the matte-screen Air, 4.5" iPhone, MacPro G5, iPad running OS X Snow Leopard, Mac mini-tower...
Today I received an ad for the MacBook Air - 11-inch and 13-inch models were the only ones available.
The average height / size in the U.S. (5' 9 1/2") is taller than in Asia (5' 5"). A 14-inch display is 93% of the 15-inch model. The computer sizes are proportional to the user sizes. It is not surprising that Asians might prefer a 14-inch notebook. Many Americans prefer a 15-inch MacBook compared to the 17-inch model, and it's not based solely on price.
The average height / size in the U.S. (5' 9 1/2") is taller than in Asia (5' 5"). A 14-inch display is 93% of the 15-inch model. The computer sizes are proportional to the user sizes. It is not surprising that Asians might prefer a 14-inch notebook. Many Americans prefer a 15-inch MacBook compared to the 17-inch model, and it's not based solely on price.
Actually this kind of change would be nearly trivial. To up the size of the case, screen, change the position of the hinges, but keep all the connectors the same. Piece of cake. 3d software is easy for this kind of thing.
Would they do it, of course they would? Why wouldn't they?
You know, they make cars with the steering wheel on the other side for certain markets. That is WAY more engineering intensive than this.