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

Hope they expand & renew their Mac-line with new Mac Pro and Mac Mini.
Would love to see a smaller MacBook Air 11' too.
Probably won’t happen as they have the 12' MacBook, but one can wish.

They really need to make some more money. They have a lot of use for them with their expansion.
Can't only make it on subscriptions, when market cools down about new phones every year.
Not everyone needs that. Make something new Apple, like new Macs ;)
 
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oneMadRssn said:
If this rumor is true, what would be the hardware difference between the new low-cost Macbook Air and the current non-Touch-Bar 13" Macbook Pro?

I bet they just drop the price of the 13" non-TB MBP, and rename it to the MBA. Maybe ditch the color options too to save money.
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This is the base consumer model. The color option is more than just an extra feature. My significant other is going to be disappointed if it doesn't come in gold. However, I have been informed tonight that she is so ready to move on from her 2010 Macbook Pro, that gold is not a requirement.
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lilrush said:
Interested in what a pro mac mini would look like. I really do hope this includes an iMac though!
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I'm getting nervous that an iMac is not coming. On the flip side, a nicely spec'ed Mac Mini for a $1,000 would save me a nice chunk of change over the iMac that I would buy.
 
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After reading all of these responses,I think there are going to be a lot of disappointed people. Apple does not use the word Pro the way most of us do. Pro is the top of the line. Not a system for those making their living using it. A Mac mini pro is most likely in my opinion a MacBook pro (2018) with no display or keyboard. I5,i7 (maybe i9) mobile processor with 6 cores, up to 32 GB of soldered RAM and Soldered SSD. Add a Mobile GPU and that's it. Want more? It has TB3 and you can use a EX Gpu. All in a sealed non-user accessible case.
 
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coolX said:
have you tried switching to Linux? would be perfect for your needs.
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Zero desire to use Linux for work. I'd screw around with it on a personal machine, but never for actual work. The last thing I need is to send a client something created in LibreOffice or Office through Wine or whatever and have it not go through properly. And filing in my state is e-filing and there are specific parameters for that. So, for me, it's Windows or macOS only.

I can link into my office's system through a Chrome tab and basically run a stripped down Windows 10 on a website, but that is not optimal.
 
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Abazigal said:
The iPhone would actually be the main entry point into the Apple ecosystem these days, since that is what more users would have (going by sales numbers).
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Yeah, but that's not really in the same category as a computer. We're at the point where an iPad is (for some people) a viable alternative to a computer.
 
current MacBook Air is about .5 kg heavier than the new more recent MacBook.
additionally, the MacBook line and even the current MacBook Air is about the same thinness.

going forward, the term "Air" would be absurd to use, even if this new MacBook Air becomes about the same weight as the current MacBook line.

So, to continue to market a separate line of mac books using the term "Air", the term "Air" needs to have a different meaning other than weight or thinness.

its only a matter of time before apple uses its own designed chip in such a notebook.
this year's A12 7nm process apple designed chip being manufactured by TSMC is about 20% better performance over the A11.
an A12 or next year's A13 would be enough power to run an iOS app based MacBook Air that has a built in trackpad and keyboard.
apple's own original apps (Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Safari, Mail, Messages, Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Maps, iBooks, Photos, Grab, Preview, Dictionary) are most likely fully ported to this already.
 
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chinito77 said:
Let's set our expectations low for a sec, it's Apple we are talking about. Even if the Mac Mini has an underpowered professor, , 1 HDMI port, 1 USB C and 1 USB 3 port, it would be an upgrade to my 2012 model and I'd buy it to show Apple that we need real computers again!
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Agreed. I mean, they can't screw up the keyboard on it and #donglelife isn't really a big deal on a desktop machine. We already know it will be sealed, RAM will likely be soldered in (sucks but every Mac is practically a sealed unit now except the RAM door they deigned to give us on the iMac 5K).

Provided they update the processor, I/O and graphics, I can't see how they could truly screw this up unless they price it insanely high or whatever.
 
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tdar said:
After reading all of these responses,I think there are going to be a lot of disappointed people. Apple does not use the word Pro the way most of us do. Pro is the top of the line. Not a system for those making their living using it. A Mac mini pro is most likely in my opinion a MacBook pro (2018) with no display or keyboard. I5,i7 (maybe i9) mobile processor with 6 cores, up to 32 GB of soldered RAM and Soldered SSD. Add a Mobile GPU and that's it. Want more? It has TB3 and you can use a EX Gpu. All in a sealed non-user accessible case.
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From past experience, when Apple uses the term, "Pro" They mean they will go for the gusto in pricing, not so much in the state of the art department and forget about cutting edge. Unless it involves emojis and dongles, then all bets are off.
 
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When the new mini is released, just remember Apple never said it was going to be a Mac Mini Pro. That’s just something users made up, based on a rumor that had no real meat.

Don't be surprised to see an 8GB/SSD/28W CPU mini that’s starts at $799, instead of a 4GB/HDD/15W CPU mini that starts at $499. RAM will be DDR4, socketed and upgradable to 32GB.

There will be plenty of ports: two USB-C Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, four USB 3.0 ports, Ethernet, a headphone jack and possibly an SDXC slot. Maybe USB-PD external power. The overall platform will use the 28W quads from the 2018 MBP, likely a dual-core for the entry level model.

I don’t think there will be a 45W CPU/dGPU mini; would there really be enough demand to support a second platform (based on the 15” MBP)? It would also need a different power supply and cooling solution. Apple would do it there were sufficient demand but I just don’t see a big market for it.
 
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KPandian1 said:
Why not just buy the best configuration you want at the best price you can afford and be done with it? It is not the 2000's.

It is a once in 6-7 years purchase anyway - spread the payments thin; it is the American way.
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Payments usually are with interest. Pretty sad if you’re making payments on a computer.
 
:rolleyes: This is a RUMOR people. Making the MBA retina, would definitely raise the price of it, it would not remain at it's current price. PERIOD. :rolleyes:

MBA is E.O.L. MacBook was always meant to replace it.

1) MacBook refresh
2) older MacBook will still be offered, price lowered, (yes, it will really happen this time, no, it won't be $999.)
3) MBA will still be sold for a few more months, as is. Period.

If anything, Apple needs to drop a form factor in the laptop lineup.

A new MBA is definitely NOT in the works. No one at Apple said this, "people" supposedly "familiar with the matter" are spreading rumors, nothing else.
 
jfrancis04 said:

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

autofree said:
I hope so too. It's the only thing that would prevent me from upgrading wife's 6 year old Macbook Air. The new keyboards are horrible.
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Whatever we say here, this decision has already been baked in the cake. But hopefully they've heard the years of howls about the pro KB that "stings like a butterfly and floats like a turd," and will give us one Mac notebook keyboard that's still to most users' liking.

Also up to at least16GB of RAM and a 4 (or 6) core i7 options.

I'll pony up for a loaded one with a TB drive. $2000 for an Air (give or take) will meet most of what a $4000 MBP with a detestable KB will get me, and for which I'd probably hold out another year hoping desperately for maybe another half millimeter of key travel (and a CPU shrink/low power DDR4 RAM).

And MagSafe (no retooling costs required!), 2 accessory ports (USB C and A, or two USB C).

Other options: a headset jack would still be used by many (including me), but it may have to go to keep Sir Jonny happy, about eliminating something, lol.

And this point SD cards are a declining specialty use that can aldo be dongled for those that still need 'em - making room for more battery for the retina display.

Wild card: with the bezel shrink a 13" display might fit into the old 11” chassis. I hope not. Cramped keys, smaller battery, etc.

But (and seems way unlikely) a 14” retina display would fit in the current 13” body.

Just saying. And not expecting.

Whatever, PLEASE release a Mac notebook I can buy without too many reservations for the first time in the last 4 years.
 
PickUrPoison said:
Don't be surprised to see an 8GB/SSD/28W CPU mini that’s starts at $799, instead of a 4GB/HDD/15W CPU mini that starts at $499. RAM will be DDR4, socketed and upgradable to 32GB
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I expect a $999 model that has a soldered on 256gb SSD, 8gb soldered on ram, and 2 or 3 USB-C ports. Available in space gray, silver, and gold. Probably the same CPU as the current MacBook has in the lowest end model.
 
betcha the new Mac mini looks like the appletv. completely sealed.
[doublepost=1534824526][/doublepost]I would love a new iPad mini with LTE. I hate phones.
 
With regard to price, the current Mac Mini line up has a range from $500 to $2K. I'm guessing with a rumored larger chassis, maybe a new low of $800, with the maxed out Mac Mini at $4K. That leaves a very large range for different SKUs for different needs. I also think that in the case of the Mini, 'pro' might mean they return some upgrade-ability options (RAM, storage) to the consumers.

Base model ($799): 8GBs RAM, 128GBs SSD, quad i5 CPU, two USB-C/TB3 ports. Should be adequate for low to mid level 'pro' requirements, including light to moderate video/audio work.

Edit: While I was contemplating and typing my master piece of genius, several others (including @PickUrPoison) posted even better guesses with more details.
 
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tdar said:
After reading all of these responses,I think there are going to be a lot of disappointed people. Apple does not use the word Pro the way most of us do. Pro is the top of the line. Not a system for those making their living using it. A Mac mini pro is most likely in my opinion a MacBook pro (2018) with no display or keyboard. I5,i7 (maybe i9) mobile processor with 6 cores, up to 32 GB of soldered RAM and Soldered SSD. Add a Mobile GPU and that's it. Want more? It has TB3 and you can use a EX Gpu. All in a sealed non-user accessible case.
Click to expand...
I think this would be best case scenario and a lot more than the $1000 that is being said here.
 
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