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The MBA design was already topped & trounced by the 12" MacBook in 2015 & MacBook Pro from 2016 onwards.

The MBA has been using a very dated design that's now over 8 years old. Don't get me wrong, it served it's purpose but it won't be hard to beat when Apple has already done it twice with other models.

Whoa there! I'm not saying those aren't inherently better, they are, but I'm eager to see what Apple has in store for the next Air. That is all.
 
dam.. and i just got an Air... The only things i wish Apple could is if they are gonna introduce a Retiina screen in the new Air, the also move the Thunderbolt port to the their side of the machine next to the Megasafe port (like a Macbook Pro's)

The port, being on the opposite side, is just inconvenient. and now i need a longer Ethernet cable for the times i do use eithernet while using the laptop.
If "just got it" is within the return window of where you bought it, then return it.

If this thread is any indication, it seems like people are still wanting the Macbook Air to fall in line with the rest of Apple's notebook lineup. "we must have conformity!"

Not every person who wants a macOS-based notebook wants the same features and functions. For those of us who want a basic, solid, dependable, affordable notebook, the current Macbook Air serves that extremely well. $700-800 for a brand new entry-level MBA is money well-spent. Those tech-spec heads who look to benchmark scores to inform their purchase decisions, they have the Macbook Pro. Those with X-Men superhuman vision that can spot individual pixels on the current Macbook Air display from 10 feet away have the retina Macbook. :p

IMO, the current Macbook Air is the best value in the entire lineup. The Macbook Airs of the last 5 years have been rock solid in quality. They haven't experienced any of the issues that the rest of the line has.

Any new redesigned-Macbook Air has a slight chance of being equal in quality, but it will be impossible to be better.

For those who say that if Apple did such-n-such the Macbook Air would sell like hotcakes, well, it already does.

This is very similar to the debate surrounding the iPhone SE. There were some here who felt it was a personal insult to them that Apple would produce an iPhone SE when they did. There are some people who are angry that Apple still sells the Macbook Air in its current form. That's just a bit of narcissism on display, "well, if it doesn't suit MY needs then Apple shouldn't be selling it!"

But then again, I'm an avid Macbook Air fan (particularly of the 11" model). My 2014 4GB/128GB 11" MBA is still going strong 4+ years later. It has far exceeded my expectations, and has been far more reliable than all of the 15.4" Macbook Pros I've owned.

So if one dismisses my comments as simply those of a fanboy, I understand. :)
 
They need a bog-spec £699 version of the Air as a hook into the Mac portables range. In the same way, a Mini range should start at £499 with 8GB. Even the basic iMac 21.5" starts at over a grand at the moment! If Apple shifted the current focus to chipping away into the lower end market (previous gen specs are good enough for the basic tasks that people would use these for - they could still be very useful). As long as you can plug stuff into them - a display, external storage etc, I'd see a lot of people jumping into the Mac ecosystem on the back of this. Like houses, at the moment, the notion of 'an affordable Mac' is way off!
It’s true that Macs are expensive, but I think $699 would be a real stretch for a Mac notebook, I just don’t think it’s doable.

Assuming it’s not a retina screen, I do think it’s possible—maybe even likely—for the Mac Air replacement to come in below $999. But anything under $899 would be a tough number for Apple to hit. However, if they could somehow get to $799 they’d definitely sell a lot more, and it would grow the customer base, which fuels the services revenue.

re: iMac 1080p I could see it dropping from $1,099 to $999. Mac mini at $499 is a low margin product but I think it does need to start at $499. And yes it will be 8 GB, but obviously it and the iMac 1080p will still be equipped with HDD at their entry level price points.
 
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Can we please bring back jobs Punnett square of Pro/consumer: Laptop/desktop computers? That made sence To much fractionation in this
 
They need a bog-spec £699 version of the Air as a hook into the Mac portables range. In the same way, a Mini range should start at £499 with 8GB. Even the basic iMac 21.5" starts at over a grand at the moment! If Apple shifted the current focus to chipping away into the lower end market (previous gen specs are good enough for the basic tasks that people would use these for - they could still be very useful). As long as you can plug stuff into them - a display, external storage etc, I'd see a lot of people jumping into the Mac ecosystem on the back of this. Like houses, at the moment, the notion of 'an affordable Mac' is way off!

Affordable is very specific to the individual, for example my version of affordable is different that of someone else. If asked by Apple would I mind paying for the 12” MacBook as an entry level/“affordable” Mac I would be happy to pay it since I don’t think it’s that expensive for a device that most people will keep for a few years anyway. How ever if you were to ask a student the same question they would dissagree and probably want something as cheap as possible because they need to save their money and be a little more care (totally understandable).

So really the definition of affordable is going to be different for some than it is for others.

Personally I don’t like the really cheap Windows laptops that are made from plastic and last all of about 2 years before becoming slow and bogged down. I would rather pay the extra cash and get a decent latop (like the Mac). However I do agree that Apple should make the Air more affordable for students and people who need a lower priced device. or maybe remove the Air make a 13” version of the MacBook and drop the price of the 12” MacBook to £999.
 
From what Rene Ritchie is hinting at on podcasts, there will be no grand reveal of a new MacBook that replaces the Air and 12" MacBook. There will be an update to the Air as the low budget education model and they will continue to update the 12" MacBook with a spec upgrade. Sounds like Apple is going to stick with the confusing consumer MacBook lineup for another year. Dislike this for consumers, but will still likely upgrade my 2015 12" MacBook for a 2018.
 
Can we please bring back jobs Punnett square of Pro/consumer: Laptop/desktop computers? That made sence To much fractionation in this
I think it’s too simplistic in that there’s a ton of crossover between home/consumers and business/pros. Price is what stratifies the categories. If Jobs drew that matrix today, he might well use less expensive/more expensive instead of consumer/pro.

Additionally, people can handle having more than one choice. The matrix made perfect sense 20 years ago when Apple was drowning in a dozen product lines and needed to enforce discipline, but it’s very limiting.

Today:

iPad mini: more consumer than business (?)
iPad: consumer and business (also education)
iPad Pro: more business than consumer but lots of crossover

Mac mini: more consumer than business
iMac: consumer and business
iMac Pro/Mac Pro: mostly business with little crossover to consumer

Air/13” nTB: more consumer than business
MacBook: consumer and business
13” TB/15” MBP: more business than consumer, especially with the 15”

There’s room for debate in the above usage characterizations of course, but the general point is that there’s more of an overlapping continuum than a black and white division of consumer (home) vs business (Pro).
 
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Can we please bring back jobs Punnett square of Pro/consumer: Laptop/desktop computers? That made sence To much fractionation in this

Here’s how I see it now.

c3ebce23e973d50fef9c82b11bb14074.jpg
 
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Time to see what the future holds for the Apple laptops. Hopefully this new Air will not come with the ****** keyboard.

I haven't had an issue with their new keyboard, nor has my wife, nor none of my employees who've I've deployed the new MBP to.
 
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Am I the only one hoping for a return of the iBook? MacBook Air seems a little longwinded.

Although, if it were up to me we'd go back to having iBooks, MacBooks, and PowerBooks.
 
I'd find a way to begrudgingly live with USB-C and the lost MagSafe port -- but butterfly keyboard is still a dealbreaker for me.

Here's hoping they use the "old" keyboard as a "budget" move.

Controversial, but I'd live with a (good) plastic body if it saved weight and cost.
Seems the vocal minority is still grinding on this old keyboard as superior. I'm pretty sure Apple understands preference in terms of the keyboard. If the new one were that hated, it'd be gone. Most people like the butterfly keyboard.
 
Seems the vocal minority is still grinding on this old keyboard as superior. I'm pretty sure Apple understands preference in terms of the keyboard. If the new one were that hated, it'd be gone. Most people like the butterfly keyboard.

I honestly don't know anyone who likes the new keyboard. For me, it's a dealbreaker -- I simply will not buy a machine that has it, even if the price is really low. I also won't buy a touchbar machine without a physical escape key, as Escape is one of the most important keys.

My wife's work MB Pro keyboard just jammed after about a year and they gave her a MB Air as a temporary replacement. She was astonished at how much easier the Air was to type on.
 
There is no reason for Apple to update the air in 2018. Reduce the price of the MacBook and call it a day. Didn’t Shiller say that the MacBook Pro non-TB was the MacBook airs replacement?

Let’s face it. The MacBook Air, the iPhone SE and the iPad mini are long gone and there is no reason for Apple to continue to update/produce them this far in the lineup when there are other devices light years ahead.
 
I honestly don't know anyone who likes the new keyboard. For me, it's a dealbreaker -- I simply will not buy a machine that has it, even if the price is really low. I also won't buy a touchbar machine without a physical escape key, as Escape is one of the most important keys.

My wife's work MB Pro keyboard just jammed after about a year and they gave her a MB Air as a temporary replacement. She was astonished at how much easier the Air was to type on.
That's all nice, but anecdotal information. The new keyboard is fine or it'd be gone.
 
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That's all nice, but anecdotal information. The new keyboard is fine or it'd be gone.

I think they fixed it with the new MacBook Pro’s, I would think that the same will happen with the new 12” MacBook later this year and any other MacBook that they introduce also.
 
With zero ports and inductive charging.
and no headphone jack. :p

Whatever Apple do, if it looks just the same as the MBA's we've seen for over 10 years then I don't think people are going to want buy it. I'm so tired of seeing the same looking device. Whatever happened to design changes?

I think Dave245 has the right idea, retina display, thinner bezels and how about a black color? even Space Grey would suffice but even that color is getting tired.
Time for a design/color change Apple. Design fatigue has well and truly set in.
 
and no headphone jack. :p

Whatever Apple do, if it looks just the same as the MBA's we've seen for over 10 years then I don't think people are going to want buy it. I'm so tired of seeing the same looking device. Whatever happened to design changes?

I think Dave245 has the right idea, retina display, thinner bezels and how about a black color? even Space Grey would suffice but even that color is getting tired.
Time for a design/color change Apple. Design fatigue has well and truly set in.
WITH a headphone jack to piss off everyone.
 
Didn't they say the Mac mini was "an important part of their lineups"? And then they introduced the iMac Pro. And the MacBook Air has been hanging around as the current lower-cost laptop for years now.

The new Macs lineups should be lower-cost/consumer/pro and it's already part of the way there.

It's already like this for the iMac line:
  • iMac 21.5" (lower-cost)
  • 27" iMac (consumer)
  • iMac Pro
The stand-alone Macs are only missing one (consumer) and maybe part of the delay for the Mac mini and/or the Mac Pro are related to the rumours of modularity - maybe some parts will be common to two or three of these:
  • Mac mini (lower-cost)
  • Mac (consumer)
  • Mac Pro
The laptops are only missing one too (lower-cost):
  • MacBook mini (lower-cost, probably the reason the 11" MacBook Air has been discontinued)
  • MacBook (consumer)
  • MacBook Pro
 
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retina display, thinner bezels and how about a black color? even Space Grey would suffice but even that color is getting tired.
Time for a design/color change Apple. Design fatigue has well and truly set in.
The bare aluminium ("Silver") is timeless. Space Grey already looks more played out than it!
 
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Didn't they say the Mac mini was "an important part of their lineups"? And then they introduced the iMac Pro. And the MacBook Air has been hanging around as the current lower-cost laptop for years now.

The new Macs lineups should be lower-cost/consumer/pro and it's already part of the way there.

It's already like this for the iMac line:
  • iMac 21.5" (lower-cost)
  • 27" iMac (consumer)
  • iMac Pro
The stand-alone Macs are only missing one (consumer) and maybe part of the delay for the Mac mini and/or the Mac Pro are related to the rumours of modularity - maybe some parts will be common to two or three of these:
  • Mac mini (lower-cost)
  • Mac (consumer)
  • Mac Pro
The laptops are only missing one too (lower-cost):
  • MacBook mini (lower-cost)
  • MacBook (consumer)
  • MacBook Pro
Or even better,

Mac Short
Mac Tall
Mac Grande
 
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