They probably only just began designing it in October of last year. What a disgrace.
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Apple to Debut Low-Cost MacBook Air With Retina Display, Revamped Pro-Focused Mac Mini in 2018
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They probably only just began designing it in October of last year. What a disgrace.
Excellent news if true for MacBook Air.
Looking forward to the Keynote in a few weeks.
Looking forward to the Keynote in a few weeks.
I kinda doubt the display will see the light of day now. My hunch (or hope) is that it will be an 8k display and unveiled in tandem with the new MacPro out next year. It would make sense for this sort of hardware, given its audience, to be highlighted during the WWDC keynote next June with a street date sometime before the end of the year (similar to the 2013 variant).
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.
Anyway hopefully a second official report stops the ridiculous comments about a lack of Mac mini this year.
Unless they are going to use either Magic Keyboard or the old style keyboard, a new Air doesn't matter. The new keyboard is too bad to use.
Still can’t beat the $650 deal I got from Best Buy for an Air!
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I'm not faulting MR. I'm excited that Apple is showing interest in Macs such that there are ANY rumors about Macs.
Why would it be a MacBook when the Air is already well known as an entry-level notebook?
If it's going to be a budget machine, it needs to compete with the Raspberry Pi. I don't see Apple making a computer that's 10x more expensive than the Pi, nevermind cheaper than that.
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A pro-focused Mac Mini would be very welcome news to me. A 2012 Mini with decked out RAM and SSD is my main development machine. It’s woefully inadequate when coding VR apps.
I can tolerate it being bigger and more expensive, as long as it’s more modular. Sadly, being “pro” at Apple these days mean only RAM is easily upgradable like the iMac Pro.
I can tolerate it being bigger and more expensive, as long as it’s more modular. Sadly, being “pro” at Apple these days mean only RAM is easily upgradable like the iMac Pro.
Well actually they do, there are a lot of people who just want a desktop for basic tasks and the current mini is still perfectly good for that purpose. The issue, as I see it at least is that it does not bridge the gap well enough between headless and AIO.
If nothing else this news is at least encouraging. A 4/8 i5 like the one in the MBP 13, decent ram (soldered or not, I don't care) and the option at least for a dGPU and sweet, I will have one.
Tim will make believe us with soldered product. Nevertheless, it is still welcome with any products. Lol
A few years ago I would have agreed that making the Mac mini more expensive would have been a mistake.
Since then, however, laptops have overtaken desktops in number of units sold, so it would be normal for Apple to switch on that position too. Just like the Mac mini was the perfect switcher machine when they introduced it, today it makes no sense to have a desktop box as your switcher machine since they are asking people to switch from a Windows laptop to an Apple desktop.
A 13" display in the 11" MacBook Air case would be possible by simply reducing the bezel, and by keeping the same case it would mean the ports and keyboard remain the same. I guess they could replace the Thunderbolt port and/or magsafe with USB-C to make it a bit future-proof, even if it's not 100% a high-speed port for external GPUs. It would also explain why Apple discontinued the 11" MacBook Air in 2015. It was to make room for this new low-cost laptop.
Not to mention that a lot of Mac mini users kept asking for more powerful options but the Mac Pro was too powerful/expensive for them, it seems like a win-win for Apple and might even fit with the "modularity" rumours we keep hearing about for the actual Mac Pro.
So with both of these in mind, I'm looking forward to the MacBook mini and the Mac Pro mini (or just plain Mac) in a few weeks.
Since then, however, laptops have overtaken desktops in number of units sold, so it would be normal for Apple to switch on that position too. Just like the Mac mini was the perfect switcher machine when they introduced it, today it makes no sense to have a desktop box as your switcher machine since they are asking people to switch from a Windows laptop to an Apple desktop.
A 13" display in the 11" MacBook Air case would be possible by simply reducing the bezel, and by keeping the same case it would mean the ports and keyboard remain the same. I guess they could replace the Thunderbolt port and/or magsafe with USB-C to make it a bit future-proof, even if it's not 100% a high-speed port for external GPUs. It would also explain why Apple discontinued the 11" MacBook Air in 2015. It was to make room for this new low-cost laptop.
Not to mention that a lot of Mac mini users kept asking for more powerful options but the Mac Pro was too powerful/expensive for them, it seems like a win-win for Apple and might even fit with the "modularity" rumours we keep hearing about for the actual Mac Pro.
So with both of these in mind, I'm looking forward to the MacBook mini and the Mac Pro mini (or just plain Mac) in a few weeks.
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magsafe2, USB3, more than one port, SD port? no butterfly keyboard with condoms for protection?
sounds too good to be true! There has to be a catch......
Agree with you. This would be a better and cheaper rMB basically with bigger screen, cheaper and better specced as thermals won't be limited.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I actually think you may be onto something here. I've had the same kind of thoughts and this rumor opens the door for that to pan out a bit wider.
"Modular" (external) power supplies? Buy how much power your "stack" needs? Upgrade your power supply as you add to your stack?
I'll differ with the "connect via thunderbolt" idea. Modern Apple would almost certainly roll out a new "pro-link", "Lightning Express" or other (proprietary) way for modules to connect so that anyone wanting to build a traditional pro from modules must buy Apple modules and/or third party modules have to pay Apple licensing fees. I don't think Thunderbolt connections would be as profitable for Apple.
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Surely you didn’t expect a new Mini to be cheaper??
Why would the 12” MacBook be called a MacBook when the Air is already well known as the thin and light notebook?
I don’t think that’s a valid argument for retaining the name.
I love the idea but until Apple releases Apple Cinema Displays to go with it then its a no buy from me. Currently its better to get the iMac because the screen is just very good and for the price tag its awesome.
Really miss the days when 30" Apple Cinema Display was the king of the hill. That display was by far the most beautiful thing on the market and I regret selling mine in 2012 (due to lot of traveling)
Anyway, when Apple releases their new lineup of displays then I will get this mac mini pro in a heartbeat.
Really miss the days when 30" Apple Cinema Display was the king of the hill. That display was by far the most beautiful thing on the market and I regret selling mine in 2012 (due to lot of traveling)
Anyway, when Apple releases their new lineup of displays then I will get this mac mini pro in a heartbeat.
It would be nice (in a way) to see a new MacBook Air introduction which would make me regret my recent purchase of a refurbished 2015 MacBook Pro - meaning a new Air with the same keyboard, at least one port other than USB-C, and a recent processor.
I still can't believe that the new MBA is going to have a retina screen and smaller bezels without also changing the keyboard and ports.