Backlit Keyboard to Return in New MacBook Air?

[Neodym]

I want the more organic design back

I know it's probably a little OT and i'm perhaps the absolute minority here, but:

Even if Apple brought back backlit keyboard and ambient light sensor, i'm not sure whether i'd want to trade my Rev.B MBA for it. I absolutely LOVE the design of Rev A - C basically without visible ports. It's just a pleasure to look at even while working on it. Granted - there are some issues (like slow HD, little Ram, battery duration, overall speed), but hey - it's still a marvellous piece of design! (Hint: Now you can flame me as typical, elitist Apple fanboi, who only pays for the design

Unfortunately J. Ive chose to switch to a more "edgy" and neo-cool style, like MBA Rev. D compared to former revisions - or just look at the smooth curves of the iPad 1's back and compare them to the flat-out iPad 2. A little too much "form follows function" for my taste.

Now if only one could retrofit the coming MBA's PCB into the old Rev.A/B/C MBA housings... *sigh*

 

[hachaboob]

Apple needs to increase the size of the trackpad on their laptops. They also need to promote tap to click as default.

 

[cracker9]

waste of battery

since I know how to type and don't need to look at the keyboard to do so this is a waste of battery, I currently have a maxed out 11" and wouldn't use the backlight keyboard if it had it.. how about something more useful like
1. 4gig standard ram?
2. 256SSD option in the 11"?

I know sandy bridge and thunderbolt is a sure thing but with already fast SSD most people won't be able to tell the difference and there won't be any inexpensive TB external drives for a while

 

[daneoni]

This was the primary reason i didn't get one last year. Now there's only one more elephant in the room; the HD3000. At the very least Apple write decent drivers for it.

 

[hleewell]

Apple needs to increase the size of the trackpad on their laptops. They also need to promote tap to click as default.

The MBP 13 has the right trackpad size. The 15 inch however has disproportionately small trackpad. And when surfing the net on the 15, your hands will be more likely to rest on the warm part of the casing. That's why I bought the 13.

 

[Marx55]

Great. Bring also the matte display option. And a lighter and smaller model as well.

 

[Menneisyys2]

Close but... I work during the day, however sometimes my work runs into the evening, so... (wait for it)...I turn on a light.

But I might like the feature if the mood struck to work in bed. Either there are a lot of people who work in the dark or want a cool glowing keyboard.

What are the other uses of a back lit keyboard?

Before switching to a 17" MacBook Pros, I've only used high-end (the "p" A and, then, T series) IBM ThinkPads. All had a keyboard light LED up in the screen chassis. It was far-far, incomparably worse than that of the MBP. (And I'm speaking of high-end, business IBM notebooks!) The MBO is just orders of magnitude easier to use in a completely dark environment. Wouldn't purchase anything without a keyboard backlight.

 

[dawnrazor]

wow, what next thunderbolt...

 

[Skika]

Great. Bring also the matte display option. And a lighter and smaller model as well.

Smaller than 11"?

 

[samroberto]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS APPPPPLE THHHHAAAAAAANKYOUU!????

it was a deal breaker. Now it's a deal maker. A very, very happy camper right now.

 

[itf]

If it's Sandybridge, 4GB RAM as Standard, and has a backlit keyboard, this thing is going to sell like crazy if it keeps the current price point, especially with the back to school promotion as an added incentive.

 

[zedsdead]

hmmmm....this almost makes me want to sell my current model and upgrade...if it has a IR sensor as well, I might (I do a lot of Keynotes).

 

[nutjob]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS APPPPPLE THHHHAAAAAAANKYOUU!????

it was a deal breaker. Now it's a deal maker. A very, very happy camper right now.

It's a rumour, not fact.

 

[Oli3000]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS APPPPPLE THHHHAAAAAAANKYOUU!????

it was a deal breaker. Now it's a deal maker. A very, very happy camper right now.

I am still somewhat dubious about this rumour - and shall be until I see it on the shelf! Apple took it out for a reason, always presumed to be the amazingly thin form factor! They will have had to work some serious magic to fit it back in! If anything, I would say this is one of the least likely to be accurate rumours for the current spec upgrade!

 

[AAPLaday]

Brilliant news! Unlike some posters on here, although i can type good enough for daily use i cannot touch type. So the response that i should be able to work in the dark never helped me much. This would be a welcome return.

 

[hajime]

Cool. I wonder why they dropped it in Rev D in the first place.

Some RevD users may buy the new MBA because of this feature. So, they increase the sale by doing that?

 

[yly3]

11.6" :

- 4 GB Ram standard (To be honest I'm optimist that it will be done because all of the other Windows laptops in this category are offering it, last year there was nobody)

7h battery

Backlit Keyboard

100 $ for 256 SSD

Lion built in (99% sure)

20-25% lighter (but even now it's fine)

i5 standard (or a maximum of 100$ upgrade)

and I am in !

 

[KnightWRX]

I've not seen confirmation of the HD3000 graphics except as a component of the Sandy Bridge SOC.

Sandy Bridge CPUs are not SOCs. They still very much require a seperate PCH and are a 2 chip solution, which quite goes against the definition of System On a Chip.

As for the backlit keyboard, I'd wait for Apple to actually reveal this before I'd get too excited guys. Rumors are rumors and if you build up hype, you also build up disappointment if it doesn't materialize.

Some RevD users may buy the new MBA because of this feature. So, they increase the sale by doing that?

RevD buyers can touch type. My main keyboard at both work and home is a DAS ultimate... you know, the model without any inscriptions on the keys ?

 

[Optimus Frag]

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It's never been a consideration of mine while waiting for the sandy bridge versions before buying one.

But I'm pleased if it should return...

If only to shut up a lot of the people who continuously banged on about it.

 

[Rafterman]

LOL. Exactly as predicted by MANY people here last year - that Apple would release a "new and improved" Air with (gasp!) lighted keyboard. Nothing like purposely leaving out features now that can appear in an "upgraded" model later.

 

[torbjoern]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/9A5259f Safari/6533.18.5)

LOL. Exactly as predicted by MANY people here last year - that Apple would release a "new and improved" Air with (gasp!) lighted keyboard. Nothing like purposely leaving out features now that can appear in an "upgraded" model later.

Seems like Apple speculates in making products that have no more than 90% of all the desirable features.

Btw, I like your nick very much. FMJ is one of my favourite movies.

 

[Heilage]

Seems like Apple speculates in making products that have no more than 90% of all the desirable features.

They've been doing that for years. I've just accepted it as a part of Steve Jobs' insanity.

 

[iSayuSay]

hmm .. many people crazy about this backlit keyboard. Said that it would be useful on dark room although they can get the light from display itself. Not to mention it's not good for your eyes to use computer in a total dark room but display backlight

But each of their own, I personally don't really care about this feature. It's a bonus and frankly I hardly use it. And it doesn't improve performance whatsoever

 

[Roman2K~]

I used to be dead-set on not buying the 2011 MBA because I don't need Sandy Bridge-level of CPU power, and I prefer the 320M over the HD 3000 under Linux. So I bought one.

But now that they're bringing back the backlit keyboard, I might reconsider... A matte high-resolution 15" (1600x1050) and I'm sold .

 

[manu chao]

Queue the 'I-don't-need-it-because-I-can-type-in-the-dark-so-no-one-else-should-either' know-it-all in 3... 2... 1...

I can type in the dark (touch-type) but
(a) I need to first place my fingers, if my fingers are on the touchpad and I quickly want to hit a single key, I move to that key directly, not first search for the touch marks on the J and F keys to 'center' my fingers.
(b) I cannot touch-type the function keys (eg, for volume up and down)

In short I only need and use the backlight very occasionally but I still like to have the option.