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Apple Considering 14-Inch MacBook Air to Focus on Asian Markets?

First of all, Apple so rarely does what the market suggests or thinks they should do. And last time I checked, even in Asia, Apple isn't having a hard time selling what they have. They're never going to compete head to head with the crap 14" netbook and cheap laptops that are out there - so why would this even be consider an option for them?

It's one thing when they made concessions with the iPhone to offer it sans wifi or using a dedicated chip - but in these cases, they had a buyer committing to a certain piece of business. Just because 40% of the laptops sold are 14" doesn't guarantee Apple anything other than the CURRENT market shows 40% of laptops are 14" in size.

Even if this "rumor" or the news source is telling this story, I call it crap reporting. Apple considers all sorts of things that some may leak out to the press - I'm sure they've even considered buying RIM, starting their own cell phone network, equipping cars with Apple branded entertainment devices, etc.
 
If we're going to add a 14-inch to the current line-up, why not add a 12 as well?

...And a 16... and an 18... and a 10... :p

Just seems silly in my opinion.
 
nickelt said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)



Yes but screen size is usually in inches all around the world
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few of the places I saw in Spain and France had them in cm first and in parenthesis they had inches
 
Since when does apple have consumer research groups? I call this a lie. Apple develops products that people don't even realize they need/want.
 
This rumor is bunk. If Apple would do this it would be like the whole Performa fiasco from the 90s. For those too young to remember, Apple has literally dozens of SKUs of Performa models at any given time. It was a nightmare.
Steve wiped the table clean and make things simple and Apple has stuck with that mantra.

Apple will surely eventually discontinue the MacBook Pro models and all MacBooks will be in the Air form factor. I can see them doing 11, 13 and 15" models, maybe they keep the 17" as a MacBook Pro with the express card for expansion but that's it's only saving grace. Maybe thunderbolt will make that go away too once more products shows up.
 
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what would the extra benefit be in an extra 1" on the screen of a 14" MBA? if you want to go down that route, make a 15" MBA, it will still be portable if apple calls 14" portable.
 
Could be true. I just got an email this morning from Apple asking me to buy a MacBook Air. I almost bought an 11" i7 MBA several times last year. I thought maybe new ones had been released, but it makes more sense they are trying to dump their stock.
 
I don't buy the rumor.

On the other hand a 14" screen would be a good way to differentiate the MBAs from Android phones of similar size. :D
 
Some of the latest TV designs from LG and Samsung look brilliant because of their tiny bezels. I would love to see the same happen to laptops. A 14" could easily fit in a current 13" size chassis if they did that.
 
I said a while ago that I thought Apple might go with new sizes for the new MB range:

12" & 14" MBA
16" & 18" MBP

If they eliminate the border around the screen and go with an edge to edge screen instead they should be able to increase the screen size without increasing the overall footprint of the machines.
 
Classic

Go Classic Sizes of the old Powerbook G4 and iBooks

12" and 14" respectively is the way forward.
No one cares if its closer to the Macbook Pros.

  • 4" iPhone 5
  • 8" iPad 3 (with projected iPad3 price hike how else are they going to compete with the fire)
  • 10" iPad 3
  • 12" MacBook Air
  • 14" MacBook Air
  • 15" MacBook Pro
  • 17" Macbook Pro
 
katewes said:
What makes Apple think it's only the Asian market that would like a 14" MacBook Air. I imagine a 14" might offer the feel of a larger 15", which preserving much of the compactness of the 13" -- particularly if Apple can do what HP did, and extend the screen more to the edges of the lid, rather than having a large edge margin.
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very true.. they could shrink the cace by 10% and increase the screen by an inch that would be great... i think the 13 inch size is perfect (i connect mine to a large HD cinema monitor when im at home.... if your MBP is a secondary computer just for portable needs.. but if its your only system then a 15 or 17 is much better.
 
MacRumors said:
In the global market, 14-inch models have an about 20-25% market share, but in Asia, the market share is about 35-40%, an indication of Asia consumers' fondness for 14-inch models, the sources noted.
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Asian consumers are obviously happy with their 14" computers, so no need for a 14" MBA.

Btw: How many 15" computers are available in asia, compared to the 14" computers?

----------
Digital Skunk said:
Even a 17" would find a market if Apple could keep the price down far below the 17" MBP.
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This is not possible before Broadwell.
 
Yvan256 said:
The whole planet uses metric, except the USA and UK...

And older Canadians. :rolleyes:
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Um, we're on the metric system in the UK. Have been for a long time. There's only a couple of thing's that still use imperial such as MPH. That said, it doesn't make a different. Internationally, screen sizes are advertised in inches, but the centimeter measurements are usually provided too.
 
1440x900 in 14" would be better

11" MBA for the mobility.

you always need a external monitor work with 13" MB/MBA/MBP, the text are so tiny and your hurting your eyes if you are on 13" laptop for daily use.

15" MPB sets you $1500 and up.

I highly doubt it is just for Asian market unless Tim Cook has different methods compared to Steve Jobs. If the new ideas are just better than steve, i agree if they are just trying to be different from Steve, just screw the new management.

Also iPad really changes the lots of mobile internet usage pattern and think the iPad 3 has higher resolution also.
 
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wisty said:
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.
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this by far the most insightful post I have seen here in a while.
 
DigiTimes has an uneven track record when it comes to rumors, but the site has on occasion offered accurate information and so is followed fairly closely for its claims.
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Translation:
DigiTimes throws enough crap at the wall that eventually some of it sticks.
 
acidfast7 said:
this by far the most insightful post I have seen here in a while.
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LOL, also, when ever i read Asia market you guys just assume as China market.

India has same population as Chinese, because of the exchange rates and price, Apple/Mac is not popular in India.

Apart from recent years couple (or three yeras), most of the APPLE sales came from Japan and Asia pacific (and NOT from China).
 
shanmugam said:
LOL, also, when ever i read Asia market you guys just assume as China market.

India has same population as Chinese, because of the exchange rates and price, Apple/Mac is not popular in India.

Apart from recent years couple (or three yeras), most of the APPLE sales came from Japan and Asia pacific (and NOT from China).
Click to expand...

The Indian and Chinese markets, and their satellites, are the only significantly growing unsaturated markets left for MBPs/MBAs.

So, why LOL me? His/her point makes a lot of sense.
 
You don't have a clue.
Steve Jobs' ghost told me it's going to be a 14" PowerBook G5.
 
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