Apple Said to Release New Entry-Level 13-inch MacBook This Year, Likely Replacing MacBook Air

[Loge]

The 2017 Macbooks are not underpowered compared with the MBAs - that's a criticism of the 2015 and 2016 models.

 

[KPOM]

I call malarkey. Apple's ARM processors are also vulnerable to Spectre. Moving to ARM would be motivated purely by profits.

Unfortunately, a move to ARM only--unless MS does the same--will be Apple's death knell.

More likely is that Apple will push kernel tasks and IO to the ARM to free up the Intel chip for applications. Particularly since the relative performance of the Core M will drop vs the 15W now that the latter is available in quad-core designs, being able to offload tasks would be useful.

The iMac Pro has an ARM coprocessor that handles IO tasks. It’s probably a prototype for the rest of the Mac line.

 

[bcave098]

Apple without Steve Jobs at the helm is heading for disaster and I have been using Macs for 16 years.

Not long enough it seems. If you think that TB3/USB-C isn’t something that Steve Jobs would do, then you’re mistaken.

When he came back to Apple in 1997, legacy ports disappeared from every product line by 2001, starting with the original iMac. Apple stopped using SCSI and ADB in favour of USB-A.

Thunderbolt 3 is the future, not an STD.

 

[Legionnaire]

I wonder if they'll axe the 12" instead?



Some people like how thin it is, and don't do much beyond e-mail and the occasional internet surfing. It's not for me, but I guess it is for some people.

Correct, this is the only laptop i want from apples line. 12 inch 2017 model nailed my needs for 10 years honestly. I do mundane task. I would choose expensive 12 over cheaper 13 everyday

 

[drewyboy]

I don't like the sound of this rumor. Why not drop the price of the 12" MacBook (possibly by making a 128GB model) and then releasing a 14" MacBook model. The 14" model should get two TB3 ports. Keep the MacBook Pro at 13" (eliminate non Touch Bar model) and 15". Bump the capacities in the Pro to differentiate further.

I'd also be interested in a 12" or 14" "iCloud" model. Sub $900 with little onboard storage and you get increased iCloud storage for free for that device.

128GB in a laptop should NEVER be happening in 2018, let alone a premium priced on.
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WHy you keep selling the MacBook Air take it out the line completely

Sadly the same reason they sell 3 year phones as "new". This is Tim's idea of "affordability".
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MacBook Air is my favourite Mac to date. I hope they don't lose sight of what makes a Mac great.

At this point they don't know what a Mac is. But they sure know what an iPad is and it's the solution to everything.
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Second half of 2018?

I was hoping the MacBooks would update earlier this year: March/April.

Typical Apple. Release all hardware and software within a two month window near the end of the year and expect everything to go swimmingly.

 

[Borddeleau54]

Macbook Air, especially the last iteration, will become a collector item; glad I have one. And it should push their market price up.

 

[Falhófnir]

Macbook Air, especially the last iteration, will become a collector item; glad I have one. And it should push their market price up.

Considering how many have been sold, and for how long for I’d suggest it’ll be a looong time before that happens.

 

[UL2RA]

I love my Air but the display is utter garbage compared to the rest of their laptops. This will be a nice upgrade.

 

[iLLUMI]

Now, maybe, I can finally upgrade my mid 2012 MBA.
A 13" MacBook would be nice. If it has at least one USB 3 port I will be happy.
Or could Apple release a 10th Anniversary MBA? ... wait and see I guess...

 

[Appleaker]

The MacBook Air branding is dead. If there is any truth to this rumor it’s probably the MacBook line becoming cheaper. Or an entry level to that line.

What in the world gave you the impression that I think the MacBook Air should/would be updated? I said the opposite for years, if you look at any related threads I have said the same thing. My point about the Air was based on I t’s I/O and keyboard.
Of course it will be the MacBook line.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

They'll probably keep the design of the current MacBook, but increase the screen size to 13". The thinner bezels and design would still make it smaller than the 13" MBP. And they'll just drop the price.

 

[ignatius345]

You'll get my Magsafe and real keyboard when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.

 

[seatton]

And I am still waiting for MacMini 2018 version sigh....

 

[kemal]

It will be a 13" MacBook with two ThunderBolt 3 ports. We will miss the Air.

 

[ccsicecoke]

we'll be extremely lucky if SD card slot is still there

 

[JOBS-3:16]

Come on, this is Apple we’re talking about.
When was the last time they just made something cheaper?

iPhone 5c

We saw how well that worked out

 

[atomicparker]

It had better have more than one port. The Air is actually useful and I recommend it a lot, but the plain Macbook is so crippled with 1 port it may as well be an iPad.

 

[Val-kyrie]

More likely is that Apple will push kernel tasks and IO to the ARM to free up the Intel chip for applications. Particularly since the relative performance of the Core M will drop vs the 15W now that the latter is available in quad-core designs, being able to offload tasks would be useful.

The iMac Pro has an ARM coprocessor that handles IO tasks. It’s probably a prototype for the rest of the Mac line.

That would make a lot more sense and that is what I would expect to happen as well.

 

[Jimmy James]

I bet it'll have one port which is also for charging.

 

[chleuasme]

Apple plans to release a new entry-level 13-inch MacBook in the second half of 2018

Nope.
That screen is not for a macOS laptop, it’s for an iBook running a new iOS flavor (supporting a physical trackpad), derived from the iPad one.
1 Lightning port + audio jack + FaceID, 128GB+, $999+.

 

[Val-kyrie]

I would of thought a 14" MacBook would of been better as was rumoured by Ming Chi Kuo last year, 13" does seem close to the already 12" MacBook.

It is possible that the 13" MBP in this rumor may be a 14" screen in a 13" form factor. This however would run contrary to the other rumor that there would be no major upgrades in 2018.

Ultimately, at some point in the next 18 months the logical line-up should be as simple as:

12" Macbook (with 2 USB-C ports)
14" Macbook (2/4 Core with Iris Graphics; 2-4 TB3 ports - choose 28w version with touchbar or 15w version without)
16" Macbook (4/6 Core with AMD Vega; 4 TB3 ports)

Note that the new 14 and 16" versions are Apple's secret fix for the keyboard and battery life problems in the 2016/17 model. Introduce a bigger shinier higher resolution retina screen while fixing both of those criticisms. You can't then compare apples with apples (ahem).

I would gladly take that fix!

But to go from 12" to 13" isn't really that much bigger it would make more sense to go 14" and higher specs.

It would also require adjusting the entire lineup to 12"-14"-16".

Echo the comments about the demise of the 11".

Now a 10" would be nice!

I can't fathom using a keyboard that small. The current MB keyboard feels too small for me.

 

[Mizouse]

The 2017 MacBook Air still has the scissor mechanism for the keyboard right?

It's not like butterfly switches on the MacBook and MacBook Pros?

I tried to like the bufferfly keyboard. But I just can't. :-/

 

[amegicfox]

oh no!!!! Tim is killing the only Macbbook with 12 hour battery, Magsafe, a real keyboard, SD Card reader, thunderbolt, multiple USB ports, the apple logo light and sosumi sound

the last great Mac laptop is dead. Fire this guy asap

 

[applefan]

It will be a 13" MacBook with two ThunderBolt 3 ports. We will miss the Air.

I expect this, and I think the lineup will be something like:

MBA: End of Life, RIP

Base 12" MB, 8/128 for $999, 8/256 for $1199
Base 13" MB, 8/256 for $1299. it will also have faster CPU and better battery life + several upgrade options.

MBP line stays about the same, but with incremental upgrades.

This provides a sub $1000 entry point and gets ride of the awkward 3rd wheel MBA.

 

[MacMikePro]

The best thing they could do - just update the air with a higher resolution (1920x1200?) IPS screen, modern chipset, and maybe a TB3/USB C instead of the TB2/ Mini display. If they really want to go to town then a force touch trackpad too. (a 15" option would also be nice though not holding my breath for that one)

Soooooooo...basically you want a current MacBook?