Have you actually given presentations with your suggested solutions? I have. They're not good solutions.
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Apple Ramping Up Production of 12-Inch MacBook Air for Q1 2015 Delivery
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Who even buys the MBA when they could buy a 13" retina pro? It's not like the rMBP isn't ultra-portable or doesn't have a great battery life already.
Sure the MBA might be a little lighter with a little better battery but it comes at an enormous performance cost. I mean I guess if you are a die-hard Starbucks dweller who needs to surf facebook for 12 hours, then I guess the Air is for you since it's about all it can do, somewhat negating the need for huge battery life IMO.
And it sounds like they are going to keep the 13" air with it's screen from 2003? lolol.
Sure the MBA might be a little lighter with a little better battery but it comes at an enormous performance cost. I mean I guess if you are a die-hard Starbucks dweller who needs to surf facebook for 12 hours, then I guess the Air is for you since it's about all it can do, somewhat negating the need for huge battery life IMO.
And it sounds like they are going to keep the 13" air with it's screen from 2003? lolol.
I think you are looking perhaps to narrowly at just computational workloads. The battery life issue of the MBA is really what power supply tasks comprise its workload. What is plugged in plays a substantive role there too. Some folks use their laptop as being the "bigger battery" for there smaller devices. Whether Apple works around that by moving that workload to the external power brick or not would play a role on the power workload.
Cranking up the pixels makes both the GPU and display consumption go up. Can be running the same application types, but this workload may trend up a bit.
Hiking up the power specs on USB also cranks up power draw from wider set of USB devices that are attached leveraging bus power.
The original MBA was a lightweight when it came to computational power. It was far more a play on being "fast enough to get some mainstream things down" than on being a "full power computer".
The competitive environment has substantially changed since 2008. That "full power" was primarily relative to the as cheap as possible netbooks of the same era. The rest of the Mac laptop line up was substantially better than the MBA.
Over time the "low voltage" U/ULV models get closer to performance ranges as the non low voltage offerings. That is just natural "Moore's Law" improvements over time seen across the computer industry. Similar thing will happen wth Core M. In 2-3 years Core M will be where the 'U' models are now. The 'U' models will be where their next level up cohorts are now.
What is changing is not the tech progress as much as user workloads. Some new stuff is coming that drive it up ( bulk pixel processing) but in many mainstream cases it isn't as much as the improvements coming.
The threat the "lightest, smallest" laptop is under is far more so from the keyboard-less tablets now trying to move up into their space.
The other issue for Apple specifically is that they have been trying to fill the Macbook/Powerbook (entry level computer) role with the MBA for the last couple of years. The necessarily powerful enough was a constraint it had to play to help justify its price point (far more than lighter, smaller, a substantive number of buyers were buying it because it was cheaper. )
I suspect Apple has traded higher display/GPU power consumption for lower components elsewhere ( better CPU , chipset, lower power radio infrastructure, lack of fan power draw , etc. ). This new model is probably in similar battery lifetime range as 'old' MBA 11" is now.
Power is in the good enough range if not looking for laptop to serve as charging dock for other battery powered (or just bus powered ) devices.
There's enough people out there who don't need cables and can rely on the cloud. So while your argument is valid, there's always going to be someone with a counter.
I'm in your camp. I need USB ports for what I do and an SD slot. I'm sure the day will come where we have wireless usb for our devices and that could work but we're not there yet... and for those who use wireless headsets, more power to you but nothing wireless goes near my brain. I love my wired headset, I use it for every phone call and podcasts.
Apple is pushing the cloud hard and what better way to do get people on it then to force them on it. Honestly it's a great business move for their agenda. When Apple no longer makes products that are useful for me I'll move on. I love OS X but I'll easily go back to Windows one day if Apple's direction no longer suits me.
I would prefer the same thickness as the present MBA and only change the screen to 12 inch retina + sky lake processor and keeping the present ports.
In what way? (I ask because the only limitation I've come across deals with the devices that lack wifi).
1. decreased battery life.
2. hassles of having to do locked , certification with each cell service vendor. 3G service contract leverage without the iPad like volumes.
3. space. Runs counter to thinnest. ( there aren't huge empty gaps on the finished motherboards . ) Drive the RAM mounting horizontal and crank down the case thickness and radios are sucking up room have forced other components into with other design constraints.
universal sim cards , streamlined certifications , space availability and limited impact on battery life would probably have much higher chances of making the final cut.
Right now can "punt" the 3G radio to a USB dongle and don't have to do production logistics. It is decent skill set to work on ( hence the R&D projects. ). Worst case can be assigned to more iOS projects were it is more deeply leveraged.
Considering I just bought the 11" MBA I'll bite....
I came from an original iPad Retina. It was a nice unit but I always used it with a keyboard and found it lacking for what I want to do (edit pictures and other stuff on the run). While it was great portable fun it always felt lacking for doing work. And by the time you added the keyboard case it was nearly as bulky as a laptop.
Looking to upgrade, I looked at the 128GB iPad Air and at $699 for it, $79 for a keyboard case, and $39 for the camera kit it was dangerously close to the 11" MBA in price and size. Played with the MBA and thought... Hmm, about the same price, more capabilities, about the same size, etc...
Performance has been fine with Lightroom and Photoshop editing RAW files from my D300. Not as fast as the iMac upstairs but not slow at all. Certainly not a dog, and IMHO an upgrade from any iPad. I love that I can tuck it behind the work laptop in the case and have it everywhere with me without noticing it at all.
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All points taken, and I'm sure most of them are right on target, at least from Apple's PoV. However, I strongly believe that having a few ports will not push away any potential buyer that hesitates between an ultra-portable laptop and a tablet, while the opposite (e.g. removing almost everything supporting wired connectivity) will alienate lots of users that actually use MBA for work (in my work, the MBA has become a really popular laptop). Pushing people towards MBP for anything else than a tablet-style usage, can have a serious backfire, since the future potential buyers will start thinking that maybe MBP is too expensive/overkill for their needs, while other PC laptops seem to look more and more attractive.
I'm really not convinced that this is another radical change of the MBA. After all, the professional who needs a powerful laptop will use Macbook Pro in a manner that - more or less - binds him to the Apple ecosystem. MBA, though, is a different story. The mainstream usage of the current MBA is such that allows its users to easily switch back to PC, in case the h/w doesn't cut it anymore.
Having said that, though, I caught myself forgetting that we are only commenting over a rumor. This new laptop may not even belong to the MBA line, or maybe it is offered as an additional option along the current models.
Why release a 12" iPad Pro and a 12" MacBook Air in the same year? Especially considering the rumoured 12" Air allegedly won't have any ports... like the iPad...
I'd rather have one or the other.
I think ditching the 11" Air is a bad idea. It's a great size for travel and you need the USB ports for connectivity.
I'd rather have one or the other.
I think ditching the 11" Air is a bad idea. It's a great size for travel and you need the USB ports for connectivity.
Sure, they were after market touch screens added as a modification to Macs. But going to my University, going to coffee shops, going out in general - how many Macs do I see serviced to add touch? None. To me anyway, other than the fact its third party doing these alterations and the added cost attributed to them, I don't find any need to touch my Mac screen. The way the OS is designed, the trackpad works great!
Touch is becoming affordable, there are very many cheap alternatives that actually run a full operating system. While Windows 8 (and 10 soon) might not be everyones cup of tea there are some serious competitors as compared to Chromebooks.
However, I like your perspective of looking at something that I normally wouldn't consider but I would still advise for cheaper alternatives (HP Stream 11 for instance) that can have more functional use.
The original MBA model was partially a stopgap. This revision likely is too.
I think what Apple will get some utility in measuring is the just how large/small this "burn off" is for these extra ports. The MBA later evolved up to USB two ports. When TB v3.0 comes either Apple will go to two Type C like ports (one is TB + USB 3.0 and the other just plain USB 3.0) or (if abandon TB ) just plain two USB Type C ports ( and probably nuke the headphone jack if can't move it down closer to the front edge.).
If count video and data connectivity ports going down to just one + headphone jack is one fewer than on original MBA. ( there was a mini DVI port on the original Air. ). I think the mix of video and data is a solution Apple is much more likely to cover Thunderbolt with.
It is too soon for TB v3.0. Besides, they are probably getting pretty close to max thin/flatness. The MBA 12" ver 2 or 3 major feature would be adding stuff back in ( similar MBA formula as last time).
Since it is too soon for the TB v3.0 solution, I suspect they'll leave the MBA 13" in play. [ the classic MBA 13" still is surprisingly in the store. Some number of folks must be buying them in sufficient numbers to keep Apple from killing it off. ] This "about as light as a tablet laptop" will only have to cover those coin flipping between a tablet/laptop if the older larger form factor stays around. "burn off" in a singular sub-product and most folks are still buying between a set of Apple products doesn't have much downside.
Long term they would be signaling the direction. Long term legacy USB type A ports are probably dead across the line up. If someone figures out a path to more affordable and more portable docking stations... that will likely turn into a profitable 3rd party opportunity.
As the average selling price of laptops drops into the iPad zone I don't think Apple is going to be very pressed to follow them down on a race to the bottom. Grudgingly dropping under $1000 is probably enough of a compromise. I doubt there is any strong desire to press lower than $899 unless. Apple does need a laptop to fill the MacBook role. It is somewhat questionable though that a product with the MBA's design constraints/objectives is best suited to fill that role.
Unless the iPad offering all move down and open a bigger gap, I doubt Apple is going to move the OS X laptops into more deep overlaps. Apple has single digit classic PC form factor market. Overall personal computer market share is bit up from that point (more than a bit actually). There is already a money making solution at those lower price points.
I doubt this is just rumor. The number of sources and the number of other vendors doing something similar with Core M announced at CES 2015. These rumors cranked more intensely as Dell and other released (or at least announced ) more thinnest , lightest , etc models it is likely not a coincidence. Apple isn't quite finished yet but they likely also are not trying to stay in complete stealth (cloaking ) mode either.
Core M's even smaller/slimmer physical packing optimizations, lower power but GPU improvements, silent implementation reference designs have Apple's fingerprints all over it.
Apple has also been converging the MBP 13" into the same space at the MBA. To keep two ( or more ) lines of 12-13" laptops there was bound to be some differentiation beyond the legacy MBA constraints coming down the road. Otherwise, the MBA would just disappear like the MacBook did as a product name.
The old and new Mac Pro is the same name not but not trying to cover exactly the same product market. It would be more clarify to shift the names though if the MBA 13" is decoupled from the MBA 12" in direction.
But what happens when someone/students/visitor arrive with talks/data/photos on a thumb drive EXPECTING you to be able to access them - you know, because EVERY COMPUTER FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS HAS AT LEAST ONE STANDARD USB PORT!
If I go any give a seminar somewhere, sometimes it is a requirement to copy the presentation onto a host computer system (more often than not, just a dumb non-networked laptop). I need to be able to copy over the final version of a talk (normally finished on the flight/train) to a thumb drive and then across to the presentation computer.
My point is: There is no need to make a laptop so thin that it can't house a standard USB slot surely?
USB is hardly a large port!
If I go any give a seminar somewhere, sometimes it is a requirement to copy the presentation onto a host computer system (more often than not, just a dumb non-networked laptop). I need to be able to copy over the final version of a talk (normally finished on the flight/train) to a thumb drive and then across to the presentation computer.
My point is: There is no need to make a laptop so thin that it can't house a standard USB slot surely?
USB is hardly a large port!
To where and from where?
There are a myriad of cloud storage options available that allows for this type of functionality to be done without having to physically transfer anything.
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Also, if you notice there is a still a USB-C port. I assume flash drives will keep up with new standard port tech.
There's also the ever-popular "just email it to yourself" option.
If what we see is legitimate (and not the musings of a fan, or a trial balloon floated by Apple itself), then there must be more to it than what has been revealed.
Remove the ports but keep the archaic 3.5mm headphone jack?! I'm sure someone will claim that it is important to keep the jack while at the same time defending the removable of all other ports. *shrug*
You outline a very narrow use case where this device makes sense. Even minimal devices like Chromebooks have more connectivity features.
Pricing may help position this device well... a $500 base price could make things interesting. $900, not so much.
Core M is too underpowered, they will use the Core U processor (5650U) else we even don't have to discuss one or 2 ports, retina or no retina display because than the present MBA is the better notebook.
In a word, NO
No way, because it's called price point. The people who don't want to drop over $600 will get the iPad.
No way, because it's called price point. The people who don't want to drop over $600 will get the iPad.
It's the other companies on the wrong road.
Sorry, but no way here for Apple.
Samsung, Google, Microsoft, etc. all seem to travel the wrong road & eventually host a fire sale, lick their wounds & watch share rice drop like oil stocks.
After that, Samsung and a few others get back to pirating all of Apple's products and increase the size of their legal staff. Hah!
Sorry, but no way here for Apple.
Samsung, Google, Microsoft, etc. all seem to travel the wrong road & eventually host a fire sale, lick their wounds & watch share rice drop like oil stocks.
After that, Samsung and a few others get back to pirating all of Apple's products and increase the size of their legal staff. Hah!
It's really obvious that Apple will supply a hub of some sort integrated into the power supply (cable), so that should be no problem, dongle free.
