Apple Ramping Up Production of 12-Inch MacBook Air for Q1 2015 Delivery

[icymountain]

I have a 2011 11"MBA, and am a big fan of this little laptop for when I travel light (I also use a 15"MBr when portability is less important), as it has pretty much all I need including ports. There is little doubt the new 12" would not fit the bill for me, and getting a 13" instead would be a downgrade. I did not expect the new 12"MBAr would be what I need anyway, but I certainly did not expect this fantastic 11" line be discontinued. How serious is that discontinuation rumor ?

After reading this thread, I am wondering whether I should not just upgrade right now to a 2014 11"MBA Ultimate, with much better battery life than my current, and that should last a long time (the current would become a backup laptop for the lab). Otherwise, if my current 11" goes tech in a year or two, I will really miss it very much, unless the new 12" catches up by then.

Am I thinking totally wrong ?

 

[mafaky]

No sweat !!!

I have a 2011 11"MBA, and am a big fan of this little laptop for when I travel light (I also use a 15"MBr when portability is less important), as it has pretty much all I need including ports. There is little doubt the new 12" would not fit the bill for me, and getting a 13" instead would be a downgrade. I did not expect the new 12"MBAr would be what I need anyway, but I certainly did not expect this fantastic 11" line be discontinued. How serious is that discontinuation rumor ?

After reading this thread, I am wondering whether I should not just upgrade right now to a 2014 11"MBA Ultimate, with much better battery life than my current, and that should last a long time (the current would become a backup laptop for the lab). Otherwise, if my current 11" goes tech in a year or two, I will really miss it very much, unless the new 12" catches up by then.

Am I thinking totally wrong ?

I'm pretty sure, even if the 2014 11" MBA (Haswell) line may be discontinued, it will remain in Applestore inventories for some time (like 2-3-4 months) after this new 12" rMBA (Broadwell) will be officially launched. You'll have enough time to fiddle with both, evaluate & compare: and maybe you may have the chance of buying the discontinued 11" MBA at some discounted rate.

 

[businezguy]

Jobs announces the dawn of the "Post PC Era" then Apple ramps up iOS device ads. With the honeymoon still going strong, iPads seemed destined to sell well over the long haul.

Fast forward to the present only to find iPads losing their luster. Oh sure, sales are still reasonably strong but for how long. Perhaps the bigger is better concept will help sell the upcoming new model, yet I'm not hearing interest expressed amongst all the enthusiasts I'm around.

It does make one wonder just where Apple is headed. With the iPhone their primary income stream it's getting a bit dull. A larger display after years of procrastination will only keep people's attention for so long.

Apple Watch? Another late to the party product that'll be helped by the Apple logo and carefully crafted "shortages". Give them six months after intro and the rest may be history.

I agree. If Apple doesn't innovate, they'll find less demand for their IOS products. I believe most of their innovation needs to be in the realm of software. I have the fourth generation iPad, and I find absolutely no reason to upgrade. It'd be nice to have a thinner, lighter iPad but that just isn't enough for me to upgrade.

Apple needs to focus on adding capabilities to IOS that utilize the need for more RAM and also the new, more powerful processors. The cool thing is they don't need to do this by simply writing new, crappy IOS releases. If the implemented true multitasking, and managed to get more powerful applications developed for their platform that utilize tons of resources, this would force people to upgrade, as long as those apps were viable and useful to the general public.

For instance, they need to make copy and paste way more seamless. Right now the best way to do that is with a mouse. Copying and pasting on a touch screen in a pain in the ass. But if Apple can make the process more seamless while utilizing more powerful hardware/graphics, they could make IOS more viable for desktop quality applications.

Apple should also add cursor support to IOS so those who use keyboards can more seamlessly maneuver on certain applications like word processors. And if, for instance, I want to make a newsletter for pages and use some existing photos I have taken, I should be able to have both apps opened at the same time, and just drag a picture from Photos over to Pages and place it in the exact location on Pages I desire. That would require a lot of graphics/processing power that older IOS devices could not handle. In a nutshell, Apple would be adding useful features to IOS which would make it more powerful, and also provide more marketing viability for their new IOS devices. If they can manage to make IOS more seamless, robust, while requiring considerably more powerful hardware, they can continue to market new devices to the consumer.

 

[sracer]

I'm pretty sure, even if the 2014 11" MBA (Haswell) line may be discontinued, it will remain in Applestore inventories for some time (like 2-3-4 months) after this new 12" rMBA (Broadwell) will be officially launched. You'll have enough time to fiddle with both, evaluate & compare: and maybe you may have the chance of buying the discontinued 11" MBA at some discounted rate.

I'm not so sure about that. Apple has shown with the iPod Classic, that if they want something dead ASAP they can do it.

In addition, the 2014 11" MBA has regularly been on sale at Best Buy over the last 12 months... they probably have a very accurate idea of what they need to do to sell off any inventory in the supply chain if they are going to discontinue it.

If a 2014 11" MBA fits the need now, I'd recommend getting it... there's no guarantee that whatever replaces it will be more desirable, and no guarantee that one will be able to buy later. With the great resale value that MBAs have, any loss will be minimal if there is any buyer's remorse.

 

[Z3man]

Still no solid info on this yet, if it was going to make a Q1 release i would have thought there would have been a bit more info leaked by now. Very disappointed.

 

[mafaky]

I'm not so sure about that. Apple has shown with the iPod Classic, that if they want something dead ASAP they can do it.

In addition, the 2014 11" MBA has regularly been on sale at Best Buy over the last 12 months... they probably have a very accurate idea of what they need to do to sell off any inventory in the supply chain if they are going to discontinue it.

If a 2014 11" MBA fits the need now, I'd recommend getting it... there's no guarantee that whatever replaces it will be more desirable, and no guarantee that one will be able to buy later. With the great resale value that MBAs have, any loss will be minimal if there is any buyer's remorse.

What you are prophetsizing may come out true but I still don't see a very high probability for that. Apple should still be producing these 11" MBA (Haswell) laptops nowadays, or if not, they must have stopped only recently and that will enable them to continue the sales at the local APRs and chains like Best Buy, even though they may stop selling them at their own Applestores once that new 12" rMBA (Broadwells) launches... The iPod Classic example & sad fate should not be compared to the 11" MBA. The iPod Classic was a more universal product immune from many different features that a laptop suffers (has to suffer) due to the different sales territories, etc. etc. iPod Classic was selling in real small numbers outside the US, and probably its production line was closed since 2 years, if not more!... (In non US territories, iPod Classic was little known and marketed, regretfully. When the first Applestore opened in Istanbul/Turkey in April 2014 there were no iPod Classics on sales/display here....)

What I'm really interested to learn (for my personal needs) is that if Apple will continue the production & sales of the non-retina 13" MBA (Haswells) or will they ever go on producing still a non-retina MBA 13" with Broadwells, giving over 12 hrs. battery time.

 

[pbasmadj]

It sounds like we will get one port that does it all with a hub, even charging!

I am sure you will be able to do what you want but it will reguire some proprietary hub to accomplish it. I like small but am not willing to pay that penalty, back to MBPro before I bought this.

All of this just so Apple can make it thinner!!

Agree. If they do the metal Apple over the translucent illuminated Apple, It is done for me. Just so many questionable rumors on this. can't wait to see what it really is.

 

[oldmacs]

I think port removal is a stupid idea, but if Apple wants to go down that past (I understand some users don't really care about ports) then I hope they don't think its good idea to apply to the rest of the Macbook range.

The more and more that Apple remove from this supposed 12 inch Macbook, the more and more it sounds like an iPad. In my view, there are 3 huge differences between the Mac and iPad, that make the Mac a proper computer. 1 is a full range of ports 2. is desktop software and 3. is processing power.

By removing 1. and probably 3. (to keep power down), its hardly a proper Mac!

 

[gpat]

What I'm really interested to learn (for my personal needs) is that if Apple will continue the production & sales of the non-retina 13" MBA (Haswells) or will they ever go on producing still a non-retina MBA 13" with Broadwells, giving over 12 hrs. battery time.

Definitely classic MBA 13" + broadwell. No brainer for their best seller.

 

[mutsaers-vr.nl]

and 4. it has a proper keyboard !!

I think port removal is a stupid idea, but if Apple wants to go down that past (I understand some users don't really care about ports) then I hope they don't think its good idea to apply to the rest of the Macbook range.

The more and more that Apple remove from this supposed 12 inch Macbook, the more and more it sounds like an iPad. In my view, there are 3 huge differences between the Mac and iPad, that make the Mac a proper computer. 1 is a full range of ports 2. is desktop software and 3. is processing power.

By removing 1. and probably 3. (to keep power down), its hardly a proper Mac!

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A second camera on the backside of the screen would be nice so you can make pictures at presentations of the overhead sheets shown.

 

[subsonix]

Sources close to Quanta further note that the 12-inch MacBook Air will replace the existing 11-inch MacBook Air, with Apple choosing to keep the 13-inch MacBook Air.

I find this a bit odd, in terms of features this new model is looking more like a new segment, than a MacBook Air replacement. From the rumors it should have a superior screen, but lack in ports and likely performance compared to the Air. When I saw that image of the lid with the iPad like Apple logo, I thought of it as an entry level model, think iPad Air 2 with a keyboard in terms of internals, but of course running OS X. I mean what will it end up retailing for and how will it compare to the 13 inch Air.

 

[Z3man]

Seems like this rumour was a load of tosh, they are talking about mid 2015 now.

If thats the case and they ramped up production in January, they are going to have one massive stock pile by June.

.