Apple to Debut Low-Cost MacBook Air With Retina Display, Revamped Pro-Focused Mac Mini in 2018

[pharris123]

Anyone who thinks Apple will release a 'MacBook Air' ought to have their heads examined.

Apple already makes the thinnest notebook they've ever made - the 12" MacBook.

For the name 'MacBook Air' to make any goddamned sense, it would need to be substantially thinner than the 12" MacBook.

They will NOT be releasing a MacBook Air. They will most likely drop the price of the current 12" MacBook to the $999 zone and introduce a larger MacBook - I think a 14" would be appropriate.

 

[Guy Clark]

Not Mint, but I too have moved to linux hardware. Have not retired my Apples (2006 and 2012 minis) yet, but its getting close. The only way Apple can get me back is to release a machine that has some reason for me to buy. macOS gives Apple some premium in price or at least used to (not many useful updates recently). At this point, I just don't see Apple's attraction (fashion statements are not my thing). BTW, I've never personally owned a non-Apple computer until the last few months.

And that is precisely where the issue lies. Modern Macs as either targeted towards the top end of the market such as the iMac Pro or are ladies handbag fashion statements such as the 12" MacBook.

 

[bluecoast]

These sound great!

It looks like the MBA’s primary feature will be low price (for Apple).

Fantastic that a Retina display is likely too.

I guess we’ll likely see soldered RAM and SSD but I’m ok with that. I guess most pc ultrabooks are the same - I only find this an issue on pro machines (which be definition should be more configurable and expandable).

And I guess we’ll be seeing USB-C (hopefully x2 ports) instead of TB3.

I’m ok with that too. These machines will be designed to be used with cloud services and primarily as laptops ie not driving 4K monitors - so no eGPU for you.

Interesting to see what the processor and GPU will be - I think we can expect something very mid-range and of course an integrated GPU. And again, that’s ok. These will be light productivity machines.

The new Mac mini sounds super interesting. I’d guess that SSD will be standard and that the RAM will even go up to 32GB if it’s a dev & admin focussed machine.

Will any of these be user replaceable? If the mini is going to be less mini, maybe we can dare to dream.

And we might even see i7 as well as the (likely) entry level i5.

If this machine is aimed at devs I’d expect we’ll see x2 TB3 with eGPU support too.

If so, I’d expect the GPU to be integrated and a pretty average one at that. And that’s fair enough. If you’re using it as a server it’s unfair that you have to pay for configure with a GPU that you don’t need.

Both machines really sound like Apple really gets what people are looking from it re the Mac. Exciting times potentially.

As many of said, I don’t know where this leaves the MB. The new MBA will likely be pretty light and I’d expect it to be more powerful.

Who out there is going to pay $250-300 more for a computer that’s likely a little bit lighter and less powerful?

I really think that the MB is going to disappear for now and take a little bit of time out...

... Only to return in 2020 as an ARM powered machine.

 

[pharris123]

And that is precisely where the issue lies. Modern Macs as either targeted towards the top end of the market such as the iMac Pro or are ladies handbag fashion statements such as the 12" MacBook.

Although th 12" MacBook may be fashionable, don't kid yourself - its a pretty powerful little machine. I used mine to create plenty of 1080P HD final cut edits. Did it take a few more minutes to render than had I used the MBP? Sure - its got a smaller processor. But unless yore editing 4K or doing heavy duty photoshop, the 12" MacBook is more computer than 90% of users could ever need.

 

[StellarVixen]

Mac Mini...

Please be true, please be true, please be true, please be...

 

[Brian Y]

Come on, give me a Mac mini with a current gen cpu, 16/32GB ram and a PCI-e SSD.

Hell, I wouldn't even mind if they solder the components down!

 

[mig0]

At this point i wish that you could just install macos on an Intel nuc pc without the ballache of hackintosh. MUCH faster hardware and way smaller than the Mac mini.

That's all they'd need to do with the mac mini and call it a day. A bigger desktop that doesn't support a GPU & the storage/ram are not upgradeable but costs double the existing mac mini would be silly, and even using a discrete gpu would be pointless in a system where gaming isn't a strong or selling point.

 

[HiRez]

I'm very skeptical about these new Minis being released this year, but this is great news anyway. At work we can literally use dozens—potentially hundreds—of these if they are semi-serious machines (4+ cores, SSD, 32+ GB RAM option, maybe DGPU option?). We have a lot of use cases like render farming that in our case needs to be Mac-based, but where Mac Pros and iMacs don't make sense because of cost, high space requirements, built-in screens that aren't used, etc. If they're somewhat more expensive than the old Minis that's just fine as they would still certainly be cheaper than other options. Although I can understand why consumers who want one won't be thrilled with a higher price.

 

[HowardEv]

If the Mac Mini specs are similar to the 15" MacBook Pro, I'd be somewhat ok with that, except for the soldered SSD and memory.

And with the same internal battery as the MBPro, which would last even longer without having to power a screen.

 

[Merkie]

What will be the point of the 13" MBP nTB once this comes out? It's basically the same laptop.

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

Please no butterfly keyboard. Please no butterfly keyboard. Please no...

Sorry only butterfly keyboards for all laptops, only USB-C and NO MORE MagSafe. But hey it will be thinner and if pushed it will throttle better than any PC can. Start saving for your dongles now.

 

[StellarVixen]

Come on, give me a Mac mini with a current gen cpu, 16/32GB ram and a PCI-e SSD.

Hell, I wouldn't even mind if they solder the components down!

I am not cool with that, but nevermind... Current gen CPU with 32 GB of RAM shall serve well for at least half a decade or so.

Paired with nice external GPU...I do not need anything else in my life, desktop wise.

 

[Zdigital2015]

I expect a mini replacement to be about the same price as the current mini. Today, the 8GB/256 SSD config is $899, and I don’t think that changes much.

Unfortunately, many in the “Mac mini is certainly coming” thread think that config should be $499. Their expectations are so ridiculous I gave up posting there.

At this point, I would be very happy with a Mac mini sporting the Core i7-8559U 8GB or DRAM and a 256GB SSD for the $899 price. Intel sells their equivalent NUC https://simplynuc.com/8i7beh-kit/ for $499 with no DRAM, no storage and no Operating system, which will bring the cost for their version right up to $899 (8GBDRAM/256GB m.2/Windows 10 Pro).

From Apple's website, 8GB of Apple DRAM is +$100 and the 256GB SSD is +$200 and the Core i7 upgrade is currently +$300, which brings that model up to $1199 with 3.0 GHz i7/8GB/256GB SSD, so I would be damn happy with $899.00, but I agree that the prices are going to stay pretty close to what we are seeing now and the base $499 model will be gone, making the starting price $699, which is more likely to get me the Core i5-8259U/8GB/1TB Fusion and the Core i5-8269U at $999.00 as we have right now with the older CPUs.

I think the wild card is whether or not they have a Core i7-8706G (65w TDP) BTO upgrade at the very high end which pushes the top price up to $1499 for a Core i7-8706G/8GB/256GB SSD). Vega GPUs probably won't show up in the 2018 iMac (Vega nano is the iMac wild card for 2018), so would they stick one in a Mac mini update? Curiouser and curiouser.

PS - I can almost bet though if they do give us the Core i7-8706G (65w TDP) CPU, the top spec'd Mac mini i7-8706G/32GB/1TB SSD will end up costing $2399.00. LOL!
[doublepost=1534800775][/doublepost]

What will be the point of the 13" MBP nTB once this comes out? It's basically the same laptop.

The nTB 13" MacBook Pro will disappear and be discontinued when the Apple Store comes back up after the event, if there is one.

 

[phpmaven]

Will be nice for all those mac mini owners who want to finally upgrade.

And nice for the rest of us who have been listening to them squeal about the mini for years.

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

This is correct but I believe the ‘low cost’ model will be a ‘MacBook’ rather than ‘MacBook Air’, and your confusion about it’s position also doesn’t take price cuts into consideration.
Anyway hopefully a second official report stops the ridiculous comments about a lack of Mac mini this year.

Umm I am still confused. Will a perspective smaller Macbook customer buy a 12inch Macbook, new 13inch Macbook Air or the new 13inch Macbook Pro? Lets assume all are retina, all have the fantastic new keyboard, with squishy crumb guard and no key travel, only USB-C and no MagSafe.

The current "Macbook" starts at $1299. Since is it is horribly slow doing anything more than web surfing (dont play those 1080p youtube videos) they new Air should be faster??????? With its 1 inch bigger Retina screen and faster CPU it will start at $1399 and of course the new 13inch Macbook Pro starts at $1799.

Lots of low cost, dongle book options to choose from
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By "Pro" they mean "Instagram Poster Pro"

Lol! Yes and it will be able to support 4K monitors at a full 60hz, welcome to 2016!!!!!

 

[redheeler]

Anyone who thinks Apple will release a 'MacBook Air' ought to have their heads examined.

Apple already makes the thinnest notebook they've ever made - the 12" MacBook.

For the name 'MacBook Air' to make any goddamned sense, it would need to be substantially thinner than the 12" MacBook.

They will NOT be releasing a MacBook Air. They will most likely drop the price of the current 12" MacBook to the $999 zone and introduce a larger MacBook - I think a 14" would be appropriate.

You're thinking of how Apple was a decade ago. Today's Apple is releasing new products in such a way that the product lines just become more and more confusing, or to put it in other words, slowly heading back to the 90's.

Just look at what an iPhone buyer has to decide: iPhone SE - smallest and cheapest, but older tech and no 3D Touch; iPhone 8 - larger and more expensive, newer tech; iPhone 8 Plus - larger than the 8 and X but screen is worse than the X; iPhone X - smaller but better screen than the 8 Plus, Face ID/no home button, higher price. And to confuse you even further, maybe you'd like a cheaper but older iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, or iPhone 7 Plus instead.

Ten years ago there was only one iPhone model. Today there really shouldn't be any more than three, all with feature and design parity (aside from a few features exclusive to the high-end models), and primarily different screen sizes to differentiate: SE, non-Plus, Plus.

 

[ignatius345]

The Mac mini made sense when it was introduced as the "switcher Mac" because back then most people still used desktop computers. But these days, most people use laptops so it doesn't make sense anymore to have a desktop computer as the switcher Mac option. It needs to be a low-cost laptop, which is what one of these rumours is about.

At the same time, power users have been asking for years for a headless Mac that's better than a laptop but not as expensive as a Mac Pro.

You make some good points. I guess Apple considers iPads and base-level laptops the "entry level" into the Apple ecosystem these days.

If a nice Mini came out for ~$1K, I'd be a bit conflicted myself about whether to buy a new iMac 5K (which is a gorgeous machine) or get a Mini and a good external 4K monitor. In any case, it's will be useful to be able to de-couple the CPU from the monitor, keyboard and mouse.

 

[itsmilo]

Just make a low spec MacBook which can be upgraded in specs to raise the price. Not that hard. The Air brand should have died with the iPad

 

[bluecoast]

To those that are saying that Apple will drop the ‘Air’ name because they did with the iPad Air...

I think it’s very likely that the Air name will stay.

People loved/love their MacBook Air and the name has huge brand recognition.

I could only see it going if the 12 inch MB is dropped and the ‘Air’ is the some new MacBook.

But I think it’s unlikely.

The Air stands for a low price thin-ish computer with a fan that’s great for light productivity with great battery life.

The MacBook now stands for Apple’s premium designed (and priced) ultra thin, light & portable light productivity computer with great battery life.

As I’ve said earlier in this thread, this makes the MacBook brand a likely candidate to rest for 18 months or so and come back as Apple’s first ARM computer with 5g, Face ID and 18 hour or so (on WiFi) battery life.

September and October are going to be pretty exciting months with some great products coming out. And hey let’s all allow ourselves to be a little bit positive and hopeful about this!

 

[QCassidy352]

I'm having a hard time imagining the place for the MacBook in the lineup if the new Air has a Retina display and smaller bezels. The MacBook and 13" MacBook Pro already overlap quite a bit, and this rumor makes it sound like the new Air is going to overlap a lot with the MacBook from the other end.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

We'll see, I don't really have high hopes for an improved mini. Once Ive gets done with it, it will be slimmer, sleeker, shinier and even more underpowered. But if he stays out of the way, maybe we'll actually get a usable computer. Unfortunately, it will be sunk by ports, soldered GPU, etc. to be nothing but another expensive (for the features) throwaway toy.

Keep in mind that the spectacular "El Capitan" G3 and G4 Towers, plus the Cheese Grater G5 and Mac Pro Towers were designed by Jony Ive, too...

 

[Wags]

The Pro-focused Mac Mini will probably start @ $999 USD

With 8g ram and fusion drive

 

[nutmac]

Anyone who thinks Apple will release a 'MacBook Air' ought to have their heads examined.

Apple already makes the thinnest notebook they've ever made - the 12" MacBook.

For the name 'MacBook Air' to make any goddamned sense, it would need to be substantially thinner than the 12" MacBook.

They will NOT be releasing a MacBook Air. They will most likely drop the price of the current 12" MacBook to the $999 zone and introduce a larger MacBook - I think a 14" would be appropriate.

If Apple takes current MacBook Air and does nothing else but replace the TN screen with IPS retina screen and keep the entry level price point at $999, a ton of people would be happy.

I think most likely scenario is that this model will be a cheaper version of last year's 13" $1299 MacBook Pro without Touch Bar.

 

[blacktape242]

i guess my question is, if all is true, WTF took them soooooooo long?!?!?!!?!?!

 

[HiRez]

Just what we wanted: A more expensive Mac Mini.

I think what most people want is a more capable Mac Mini. Nothing's free, you always pay for performance and options. Although I'd like to see them keep a stripped down low-end model as an option (except with a SSD, they really need to stop putting hard drives in new computers). For a long time you could get the low-end iMac for a good price, which was just fine except for the horrid 5400 RPM hard drive, which completely crippled the performance. To me that hurts Apple's brand because instead of a decently fast $1500 machine, you got a $1200 machine that felt like it was 10 years old already.