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Apple Said to Delay Production of New MacBook Air With Retina Display to Second Half of 2018
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This is exactly why Apple is better off moving to their own chip design for laptops. All the "power users" think their laptops are garbage anyway, might as well cater to those that like their products.
How can a phantom device that hasn’t been announced by Apple (and may not even exist) be delayed? A retina MBA priced at $899 would basically kill the retina MacBook. How does that make any sense? Get rid of the MBA and make the MacBook cheaper.
Who says anything about MacBook Air? Just because MacRumours chose an unfortunate title doesn't mean that the new laptop to come will be called MacBook Air or resemble in in any shape or form. The rumours concern a "new entry-level laptop that will replace the MacBook Air", and they are still just rumours. I am sure that this laptop will be called "MacBook" and the Air will be phased out.
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Ask the journalists who are rushing out half-baked articles
when was the last time apple released a product on time?
If you want a portable laptop, and I mean really portable (i.e. no dongles no adapters full day battery life) and don't care about screen res, it makes a LOT of sense.
You spend less and still get a zippy machine, with a good keyboard and when you need better res you can hook it up to a monitor.
To me it is the laptop that makes more sense in Apple's lineup.
Most likely it's tied to the delay in Intel's 10nm ULV Cannonlake CPUs, which were meant to be out late 2016, but may only arrive in dribs and drabs later this year. If Intel's communication to their customers has been as bad as their performance on 10nm, and their investor notifications, then Apple may have designs with LPDDR4 ready, and were expecting the CPUs which now won't appear for even longer.
Intel's 14nm ULV chips only support LPDDR3, and probably Apple has had to go to a design using that and 14nm chips as a result of the Intel delays, resulting in a product release delay.
If Steve Jobs was alive, he'd be pretty angry with Intel for their non-performance, and I think the ARM migration would be definitely on by now.
My guess is Intel overpromised how quickly they could keep improving the Y-series of CPUs, and so Apple originally thought they could make the MacBook the new entry-level laptop. Instead, Y-series CPUs are still slow and pricey, so Apple has to keep the Air around longer than planned.
That is one explanation. Or is it (also) related to their plans to transition to ARM?
It is possible Apple had decided to release a MBA-based ARM laptop at WWDC but decided to stay with x86 (Intel or AMD) after the critical response to the idea across the web (granted the response is mixed positive and negative). It is also possible that Apple was going to stay with Intel but after the delay to Cannon Lake has decided to transition to ARM. Or Apple might just stick with Intel and is waiting for the new CPUs to release the new laptop (as you suggest).
Yeah, great laptops don't need a reliable user input device.
That could actually hurt Apple. Although Tim Cook wants secrecy at all costs, rumors about upcoming products has helped Apple. Rumors help maintain interest in their products during long product cycles, can help prevent buyer remorse, and can help defuse potentially divisive changes. Without rumors, Apple may find a more negative fan-base.
A product release can be delayed without a public announcement. Or are you suggesting that Apple don't have any kind of planned project / release schedules?
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Best selling Mac? Apple likes revenue more than (product management) logic.
Killing the Air doesn't make Air buyers automatically decide to pay hundreds more for a MB.
Besides, Apple seems to enjoy pocketing the cost gains of selling prior generation tech at the same price, rather than cutting price as component costs are cut. People still buy the Air anyway. People still by the Mini anyway. People still buy the Pro anyway. All are likely much more profitable being sold now than they were when they were actually new (tech). Apple probably looks at last year+ MB and sees them as fattening-margin Macs (because costs are probably falling) rather than something to discount to replace the Air line at the Air line's pricing.
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I know this isn't necessarily a popular opinion around here (really not sure why but thats for another thread...), but this is exactly why Apple should be sourcing CPUs from AMD as well as Intel. AMD has been on point this last year delivering great performance with Ryzen and forcing Intel to finally increase core counts (which Apple has for some reason not bothered to start updating the mac lineup with... but again, story for another thread...)
It just doesn't make any sense to continue holding the mac lineup hostage to Intel's delays, Apple already has a good relationship with AMD, and AMD already has CPU's that would fit really well into the mac lineup (65W 2700 8C/16T for 27" iMac, 15W 4C/8T Ryzen/Vega APUs for MB/MBA/MBP 13" come to mind as especially good fits).
This would also be a better long term choice, IMHO, than trying to force arm down mac users throats. Let Intel and AMD compete for your business Apple, you'll have a faster/cheaper (for Apple)/more interesting lineup without forcing a rough and unnecessary transition on your user/developer base.
These constant delays on the MBA updates has led me to buy a laptop elsewhere. I've now replaced my 2011 MBA with a Windows PC that was far more recently updated and better equiped, and with discount, less than similar MBA.
why have you ignored this so long Apple? All you needed to do is refresh the damn CPU/RAM/Storage options and upgrade the display to 1080p (minimum) and you'd have a killer Ultrabook
why have you ignored this so long Apple? All you needed to do is refresh the damn CPU/RAM/Storage options and upgrade the display to 1080p (minimum) and you'd have a killer Ultrabook
You mean the model that came out 3 Star Wars movies ago, before the Syrian refugee crisis started, and before Trump decided to run for president? That latest model mac?
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Absolutely right. It is very difficult to evolve computers. Look around at the obviously inferior computer-making competitors who don't have "$2XX Billion in the bank." Are their desktops & laptops evolved with the newer chipsets, etc or do they cling to the old chipsets just like Apple... only rolling out updated models pretty much at about the same time that Apple does?
Clearly the computer side of Apple is doing the very best it can with Apple computers. 400, 500, even 1000 days without a significant update is absolutely nothing to be worried about as a consumer. Just buy such computers anyway because it's hard to evolve them with newer technology. Give the richest company in the world a pass here because they're Apple... and consumer wants should only move in lockstep when Apple chooses to move. They are always right and what they have for sale now is all any consumer should want now.
Apple han't figured out yet how to cripple the Air while charging more for it.
To me, magsafe and a usable keyboard are the most important features, much more important than a retina screen. The ghost of Steve needs to pay a visit and explain why this new keyboard sucks so bad.
Laughable excuse when the current MacBook air is using 5 series Intel chips. Since then, INtel has released, 6 series, 7 series and now has had 8 series products available to OEMs for roughly 6 months.
This one is on Apple
The reason of the delay due to delay in Intel CPU sounds a bit strange. Why all major computer companies have already released new laptops with new Intel CPUs but Apple can’t?
If so, that just shows how idiotic Apple's current lineup is. The MBA and MBP are supposed aimed at different types of users and different price point. If both lines were kept reasonably up to date,there would be no reason for all the pent up demand to rush to the latest release, you could just buy the machine that suits your needs when you need one knowing it's up to date.
Remember where most macs were updated 1-2 times per year? Notice how every other PC vendor on the planet still updates their lines 1-2 times per year while the "most valuable company in the world" can only seem to handle an update every 4-5 years on their computers?
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Yeah, I'm pretty sure Intel has released new ultrabook CPUs since 2015
Nvidia graphics would be nice for those with CUDA dependent workflows, but i suspect that CUDA, along with weak OpenCL performance and higher price is exactly why Apple's is unwilling to give users that choice. Apple doesn't want to help Nvidia lock the market into CUDA any more than it already has. Sucks for users caught in the middle.
Over thinking and over designing the mac lineup certainly seems to be a very real problem for Apple since around the debut of the nMP (2013) ~ the present tbMBP. It's unfortunate that Apple doesn't realize that unless it can deliver something truly revolutionary (which it absolutely CANNOT every cycle, or even every few years, its just not possible and needlessly fatigues and delays the engineering team) there's no need to do anything more than modernize and update the internals of existing designs. Your main differentiator at this point is your OS, not the hardware it runs on.
No, the poster is full of crap. MacBook Airs are still being shipped with 5th Generation intel CPU's that were launched in 2015. There was absolutely nothing stopping Apple from upgrading to either 6th, 7th, or now 8th generation CPU's in the meantime.
this constant excuse some people are using that it's intel's fault is absolutely blindly listening to FUD about INtel and making excuses for Apple, who should be more than capable with their size to maintain their product lineups better than they have with their computer.
it's 2018 and the MacBook air is still shipping with a 3 year old CPU. and A display that hasn't been updated since 2012. a low quality, 768p TN panel, at a price point that everyone else is providing 1080, or even touch with.