Apple Updates MacBook Airs with Faster Haswell Processors and $100 Price Drop [Updated]

[MattInOz]

I'm actually impressed with the new Macbook Air prices though. For example the high end 13inch price at AUD1399 is almost the same as in the US, when you take out GST and take into consideration the exchange rate.

These models have exchange rates of 90-95c US.
That is pretty high considering the dollars expected to be heading way south of 90c by the end of the year.

Given how bullish they seem to have been globally with currency I think they might be planning on some form of Price adjustment later in the year.

 

[michaelsviews]

Find a creditable source that states it as fact. Not an un-named source.

And any searches on those show 4 years not 10.

NO YOU go find a credible source YOUR the one with the issue not me.

Have a nice day

 

[maxwelltech]

The key is portability, and now it is possible with the new Intel chips. Apple should make a light (400 to 600 g) Mac, as small as possible and whih whatever form factor (clamshell, slider or tablet). Great for Keynote and PowerPoint presentations. The Mac in your pocket. Always.

They do have a product like that. It is called the iPad. Except it uses ARM chips that are far better for mobile use.

 

[rols]

This is the most important upgrade then! Didn't know that.

Except that it isn't because the last iteration of the MacBook Air already started using PCIe instead of SATA.

 

[Agent69]

Bought mine a month ago so will also try to get this refund - or of course would be happy with the newer model.

That's awesome if they did it because when I looked up the policy before I called today, it said you have 14 days to request the refund from the date of the price change.

From Apple's website:

Should Apple reduce its price on any Apple-branded product within 14 calendar days from the date you receive your product, feel free to visit an Apple Retail Store or contact the Apple Contact Center at 1-800-676-2775 to request a refund or credit of the difference between the price you were charged and the current selling price. To receive the refund or credit you must contact Apple within 14 calendar days of the price change.

 

[snprintf]

What do you use that you need more than 4GB for? It's the base model or model's. probably 98% of the people buying a MBA the 4GB would be more than enough.

Mavericks. It uses more RAM than any other version of Mac OS X. It feels slow even if you have 6GB of RAM.

 

[jbachandouris]

Mavericks. It uses more RAM than any other version of Mac OS X. It feels slow even if you have 6GB of RAM.

I've been running 4GB on my 2010 MBP. Not running slow for me. I did upgrade to SSD though.

 

[snprintf]

I've been running 4GB on my 2010 MBP. Not running slow for me. I did upgrade to SSD though.

That might have to do with it. I've tried it on many different Macs, all of them with HDDs, and it's noticeably slower than Mountain Lion. It was so bad on my 2008 Mac Pro that I downgraded.

 

[myrtlebee]

They are just making room for the 12" MacBook with Retina Display starting at $999.

 

[CalmEnvy]

No price drop here in Canada but surprised no Apple price hike here as everything they have been releasing has been going up in price.

 

[DrinkingLizard]

Ok may be cheaper in US - but did I say I was from US ? I'm in EU. Last November in Sydney I bought a MacBookAir with upgrades and an 32Gb ipad Air for the same price as a base MacBookAir in Europe - about a 40% saving (ok - includes 10% tax rebate at airport). Suffice it to say if I time it right, I could fly to Australia from Europe, buy a high end macbook pro there and fly back and still only spend the same as the macbookpro would cost me in Europe. You also have cheaper taxes on wages than we do so the relative cost versus displosable income is lower for you. Same goes for gopro cameras - retailing €450 in EU - equivalent in Aus is about €250. Same goes for Android phones.

So you make think you are hard done by compared to the US, but spare a thought for those of us in EU!! This kind of comparison is probably why you did not get a price drop - they absorb currecny fluctuations at times like spec bumps to discourage keep the cost relatively uniform across countries so that people aren't incentivised to travel to buy.

So if you'd spent any significant time in Sydney you would know that it has the second highest cost of living of any city in the world (only edged out by Tokyo)

There is no excuse for the way Apple (and others) price gouge Australians (and EU types too) especially given the amount of tax avoidance they engage in.

It really is ridiculous how much we pay for things here. My father just brought something from the USA for around $1200, locally he would have paid $2200... the kicker is that it was manufactured here!

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Seriously, the weight of a full Pringles tube is a deal breaker? Seems a lot of Apple customers could spend 10 minutes in a gym instead of those 30 minutes exercising on red tube.

Funniest thing I've ever seen posted here! Made my day, thanks.

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Apple could easily spend 30 minutes or more talking about this new rMBA product. But what is more likely apple will have an event to talk about some other new product or software. i.e. iOS 8, Mac OSX 10.10, 8th gen iphone, etc. and throw in the new rMBA somewhere during the event for 5-10min



but -

-1) thicker form factor
-2) heavier
-3) less battery life
-4) $200 more expensive

It's a trade off, I feel majority of users are better off with an Air.

PS: I just bought a 13" rMBP for myself. I don't care about the faster processor or expandability, but I very much care about the graphics and the retina display.

^^
My personal priorities



In my opinion, I strongly disagree.
4GB is plenty for majority of users... especially customers getting the air.

I currently have a rMBP with 8GB, but I tested 4GB machines, and if I could have gotten my rMBP for only 4GB and $100 less I would have.



Like someone else said, Thinner and Lighter is a Huge game changer, I understand why this is so underminded. When you use a product everyday, and bring it with you places, IMO the design/weight/portability is far more important that CPU speed.

also the air has better battery life.

I just wish they would align the release dates for updates to the air and the pro... if they bring out a 13" retina pro with a quad core cpu and higher max RAM (32gb at least) I'll buy it... otherwise I'd rather get a lighter machine.

btw. I haven't posted here in quite a while... wtf have the site owners done? three separate posts are all glued together... not what I wanted at all :-/

 

[tphilb]

12 inch Air rumor

In response to the rumors of a new 12-inch MBA...

Are we forgetting that the existing "11-inch" MBA is actually 11.6 inches? Couldn't the rumors simply be referring to an updated design for this? It doesn't make too much sense to make two models obsolete without replacing them with 2 new ones.

Remember, there used to be a 12" macbook back in ~2004, which Apple replaced with these 11" and 13" models. Since Steve Jobs passed, they're getting better and better about eking out minor updates for more products, so it's hard to imagine them reducing/streamlining their product line any time soon. (Heck, they still sell the ipod classic.)

 

[The Mercurian]

.

 

[UltimaKilo]

Yahoo, BING, Google, Pick one , when your done with your crap

It was rumored to be a 5 year product plan. Technology and markets change every year and there is no obligation to follow any plan by a former head.

P.S. Those aren't sources, they're search engines.

 

[MH01]

And you are forgetting US sales tax which is not included in the US Apple.com prices as it varies by state. The price you see on the website is not the final price you will pay in-store or even online (when I was last up-to-date on this at least).

By the way if you take a trip back to Aus then back to EU you can also get a 10% tax rebate on stuff you buy in Aus at the airport on your way back out. As you are living in EU you can tell them that and they will give it to you so long you are not bringing the equipment back into Aus - at least that is my understanding.

Look, at the end of the day I agree with you that EU gets spanked bad when it comes to pricing.

Best option is to safe up for trip to NY each year and buy in bulk there

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Only if the shop co-operates. In the UK, you will find that only shops specialising in selling expensive items to tourists will have the necessary forms available, and I can't see it being much different in other countries. On the other hand, there is usually import tax which you also have to pay.

I was just referring to the Apple stores.

In OZ it become even better, cause all you need is a receipt for an item you bought, you take that item and receipt to the airport and they give you back 10%, takes forms and shops out of the equation.

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Erm, no, well maybe.
Hong Kong is probably cheaper.
US prices don't even include taxes, prices for Macbook Pro's are all better in HK even before taxes.
Most of the time HK is cheaper, Mac Mini is just a bit more but if you add taxes which you have to pay
in most states in the US, the US is in fact almost if not always more expensive for Apple gear than Hong Kong!

13-inch: 2.4GHz
with Retina display
US-$1,299 HK$=$1,288

13-inch: 2.4GHz
with Retina display
US-$1,499 HK$=$1,482

Macbook pro
13-inch: 2.6GHz
with Retina display
US-$1,799 HK$ 13,888=$1791

15-inch: 2.0GHz
with Retina display
US-$1,999 HK$ 15,288=$1972

15-inch: 2.3GHz
with Retina display
US-$2,599 HK$ 19,988=$2,578

iMac
27-inch: 3.4GHz
US-$1,999 HK$=$1,997

That's good to know. That's what confused me when I was in HK, I was looking for camera gear, and everyone said it was cheaper, while I found the prices in store to be quite expansive, maybe I was in the wrong area of town looking for it.

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.....should refrain of such silly equations!
USA: No federal sales tax (local tax apply in brick-n-mortar stores)
Australia = 10% GST
Europe = Average 19 ~21 % VAT
Add up various consumer-protection laws applied in Europe

Hello!

My mistake was not including sales tax in the US, as it varies state to state, so the price would go up.

The other prices included VAT + GST, in OZ and UK they are included in the buy it now price.

Are you saying we have to pay more in the EU cause of the consumer protection laws????!!!??? Though that makes bugger all difference to people who buy Applecare.

 

[G4DP]

NO YOU go find a credible source YOUR the one with the issue not me.

Have a nice day

I have no issue, I just wish people would stop posting lies and FUD as the gospel truth.

It is all just rumour. Don't you think it's odd that no-one from Apple announced a plan? That would have done wonders for the stock price but no, they have kept silent on the matter.

 

[CitrusPisser]

Cheapest Macbook Air in Australia is still $1099.. :/

 

[michaelsviews]

It was rumored to be a 5 year product plan. Technology and markets change every year and there is no obligation to follow any plan by a former head.

P.S. Those aren't sources, they're search engines.

I was referencing search engines, but thank you and I know I saw and read in reference or that there definitely was a 10 year plan, call it what you want. I'm not loosing it yet

 

[lyngo]

So… If you have the opportunity to buy a 2013 model 11 inch MacBook air for $650 brand-new, would you? Or 2013 model 13 inch MacBook air for $750 brand-new, would you?

 

[osofast240sx]

Does anyone know how long it usually takes for B&H Photo to get the new Macbook Airs?

Buy from Sweetwater.com no tax#

 

[OmegaRed1723]

seriously, the weight of a full pringles tube is a deal breaker? Seems a lot of apple customers could spend 10 minutes in a gym instead of those 30 minutes seconds exercising on red tube.

ftfy

 

[winston1236]

Well at least Apple is finally recognizing the US economy is shrinking from the student loan crisis.

 

[thekeyring]

Dell, Lenovo, Samsung, and others pushed out notebooks with ppi higher than the mbp retina, but they're just spec improvements.

Isn't 'Retina' more than just higher PPI? Normally smaller pixels mean smaller UI elements, but doesn't Retina mean the UI elements are the same, just 4x more detailed?

 

[Gudi]

Mavericks. It uses more RAM than any other version of Mac OS X. It feels slow even if you have 6GB of RAM.

No. The opposite is true. OS X Mavericks – Advanced Technologies

That might have to do with it. I've tried it on many different Macs, all of them with HDDs, and it's noticeably slower than Mountain Lion. It was so bad on my 2008 Mac Pro that I downgraded.

It might have to do with it. It might? You can't be using spinning disks and complain about speed. More RAM only saves you from loading the same data from storage into memory a second time. It does nothing to speed up the first time. Swap your HDD for an SSD and 4GB RAM will be enough, especially with Mavericks new Compressed Memory feature.

 

[G4DP]

No. The opposite is true. OS X Mavericks – Advanced Technologies

It might have to do with it. It might? You can't be using spinning disks and complain about speed. More RAM only saves you from loading the same data from storage into memory a second time. It does nothing to speed up the first time. Swap your HDD for an SSD and 4GB RAM will be enough, especially with Mavericks new Compressed Memory feature.

Mavericks needs a minimum of 3 to run smoothly. Hell it takes at least 2 just to load the thing. No machine should ship with less than 8GB now.

You cannot magically have more RAM than you physically have installed. If you thik you can I have an old copy of RamDoubler for you.