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And in 2016..............
The new even thinner MacBook Air........ With
NO Keyboard and NO Screen.
But it's thin!!!!!
 
This has to come with some docking station-type interface. Otherwise, you cant use any mini-dp monitor, usb hub, and charge at the same time. That's a lot to give up for the sake of being slightly thinner.
 
Horrible. Simply horrible.

Oh yeah, and not very Apple in design. And an Apple laptop without Thunderbolt? Someone needs to put the crack pipe down.
 
I don't understand the point of this device.

2 failed products (the other being the Apple Watch) in 2015 is imminent.

What is difficult to understand? It is the evolution of a well-established product.

Power users in this thread are viewing an entry-level notebook through their speeds and feeds goggles. People say that it will only be good for browsing the web and sending e-mails - great, because that's exactly the audience that it is aimed at. The MacBook Pro line exists for those with more involved use cases.
 
Agreed. That's my only gripe so far. And I really hope that the loss of magsafe doesn't find it's way to the Macbook Pro.

It only works here because it is probably using a 4.5 TDP intel processor - basically a tablet chip. It doesn't need more power than an ipad. USB C is limited to 1 amp. It wouldn't work well for a bigger laptop that needs more than 1 amp.
 
the renderer is truly an idiot - if the esc key was there you'd power down your laptop off at least twice a day. and that doesn't even include pro software users - myself, i'd power down every 10-60 seconds using adobe products... Eff all that nonsense...

otherwise, this thing looks like a sweet mba if it's even close. retina means i'd actually consider it.

ninja edit: someone mentioned wireless charging earlier... i wouldn't be surprised, tbh. a simple mat you put the mba on as you jam out on your consumer laptop, freeing up the 'whatever' ports. and yes, there will be a thunderbolt port. no question.
 
Power button in a silly place.

I actually missed that until you pointed it out. I agree that's a horrible spot. If it's a key on the keyboard, it'll definitely be in the top right, not top left. Why on earth would you move the Escape Key from where it's been for at least 30 years (checking the Wikipedia page on the Escape Key, it looks like it may actually be 80 years, going back to teletypewriters, predating proper computer keyboards).

As for having a single connection, that makes it sound a lot like an iOS device. I hate the idea of charging via USB though, just because that seems like a step back from magsafe which worked in either orientation and was held magnetically.

I could see this going two ways:

1 - Induction for charging and USB for data transfer. But it would be a bit surprising if Apple chose the MacBook to be the first thing to be charged via induction rather than the Apple Watch.

2 - Forget USB, lightning for everything. This way, going forward, every non-stand accessory for iOS is compatible with MacBooks, and every MacBook accessory is compatible with iOS devices. External battery packs could work with either. Flash drives that work with either. Adapters that work with either. Car and wall chargers that work with either.

It retains the orientation insensitivity, but loses the magnets to hold it in place. So it's debatable if this is an upgrade over the idea of charging via USB or not.
 
Don't think so. USB-C allows you to to hook up some sort of hub which will handle USB and Thunderbolt, this includes powering both the host device and those that are hooked up to the hub. The one conclusion that I can come up with is that the hub will be a part of the charging adapter, in which will be a hub/charging adapter.

That would be a genius solution. Put all the ports on the charger.
 
This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. You can either transfer data OR charge your laptop. Also it's not a standard USB port. So you'll be losing the dongle everywhere.

Anyway if this can be done, it might fix everything that's wrong with this concept:

Image%202015-01-07%20at%2012.21.05%20AM.png
 
No MagSafe? Maybe it's too thin even for MagSafe 2

Seems like they could go with a new style magsafe type of connector kind of like on the SP3. And I'm referencing that for the thinness of the connector port, not the strange design of the cable connection.


And dump the round headphone jack. USB headphone jack, please.

Yes, let's make it incompatible out of the box with 99% of headphones out there.
 
This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. You can either transfer data OR charge your laptop. Also it's not a standard USB port. So you'll be losing the dongle everywhere.

Anyway if this can be done, it might fix everything that's wrong with this concept:

Image

i was thinking more along the lines of ports on the actual charger component (brick-thing). that thing is due for an upgrade anyway.
having usb connections so close to the body on a flimsy wire/casing would be nerve-wracking.
 
Power users in this thread are viewing an entry-level notebook through their speeds and feeds goggles. People say that it will only be good for browsing the web and sending e-mails - great, because that's exactly the audience that it is aimed at. The MacBook Pro line exists for those with more involved use cases.

USB ports are not what I would consider a "pro" feature.
 
This reminds me a LOT of the original MacBook Air with 1 USB port. This won't be for everyone, but people like me are going to like it a lot. Plunging on the deep end into USB 3.1 sounds just like something Apple would do (remember the original iMac that scuttled all the legacy ports for USB before USB was ubiquitous?), though I guess it means that even Apple is admitting that Thunderbolt is a bust.
 
Seems like they could go with a new style magsafe type of connector kind of like on the SP3. And I'm referencing that for the thinness of the connector port, not the strange design of the cable connection.




Yes, let's make it incompatible out of the box with 99% of headphones out there.

Someone on eBay will sell an adaptor. Things change. ;)
 
To those who are knocking it, if you need more ports and a larger screen then get the Pro, the Air is obviously not for you.

Having said that, I doubt USB is the only port on this device, the pics do not show the other side, there has to be a Thunderbolt there for when you need to dock it at home, a typical user scenario for the Air.
 
USB ports are not what I would consider a "pro" feature.

I don't disagree. However, iPads don't have USB ports either - something that many claimed would be the death of the product.

Most comments here lack context of the intended audience for the product and the fact that the imagery in the article are guesses based on unclear information.

tl;dr - everyone needs to chill out until we see the product.
 
i was thinking more along the lines of ports on the actual charger component (brick-thing). that thing is due for an upgrade anyway.
having usb connections so close to the body on a flimsy wire/casing would be nerve-wracking.

I agree. The brick itself makes the most sense. It's not without precedent either. The Surface Pro put a USB port on the charger, though it is for charging a phone and not for data.
 
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