Depends how much faster Apple Silicon is.. cause if it’s substantially faster they’d most likely start with the Pro as it’d be weird and a bad look if the Air was faster than the Pro
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Battery Likely for Upcoming MacBook Air Spotted in Certification Listings
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The chance of that is basically zero.
The Intel socket design (and electrical bus) is patented so Apple would need to completely replace the logic board.
If it isn't an ARM MacBook Pro first then people will just associate the low end models with ARM and high end models with Intel.
Apple Silicon based 13.3" MacBook Air in October 2020 would be smart move on Apple's part because it creates a base for the next iteration of MBA with 14.1" screen and features destined for 2021. Apple have been building chip design teams for a long time to move away from Intel and have Apple processors for MAC with much better price/performance than competitors. Apple wants to increase service revenue so the best way to do is sell lots of products that include MACs.
I still believe that Apple will keep both platforms, ARM, and Intel, for a long time. After all, the Universal macOS Binary format can even support Arm-Intel-PowerPC.
Apple is way too timid, it seems to take any chances like that?
[automerge]1595973184[/automerge]
Apple would lose revenue doing that.
I had the first MacBook 2015 and it was AWESOME. Except the keyboard. NOT underpowered. Not sure what you intended it for. Soldered RAM? Everyone is doing that. Now.
It's assumed you are a poweruser with a myopic view of the world.
Maybe it is not air, and will be Macbook 12, or iBook like, so that it won't jeopardise the userbase
Don't forget about the potential performance hit of Rosetta. CPUs in Air might not be fast enough to compensate for this. Apple needs to get great first impression and I think they want to show as much performance gain as possible to create good press. Good compatibility will not make news.
This makes sense, especially considering pro users are more picky about their needs with regards to software.
I wonder if Apple will keep the T2 chip which was already a variant of the A10 running a different OS alongside with the intel cpu on the macbook air.
One good thing about this whole change is that Apple could decide to have multiple arm cpu’s or even multiple socs and would still profit more than paying to Intel.
One good thing about this whole change is that Apple could decide to have multiple arm cpu’s or even multiple socs and would still profit more than paying to Intel.
I believe this is quite likely. They probably need to get ARM Mac chips in production with a somewhat limited demographic, work out potential issues, then move forward with larger ARM chips based on what they learn.
It’s not just about the hardware. They also need to gauge public interest and figure out the best way to market the new Macs. Etc.
Last edited:
I am also thinking that first ARM mac will be the Air when they first officially announced the ARM transition.
The reason is simple. When they released air without no heatsink connected to CPU in current generation, there are no reasonable explanation for choice. So my thoughts are: current air design is designed for ARM transition in the first place.
Macbook Air grade Arm processor will not need any cooling solution (maybe will be same as ipad line) and new designed (current design) internal layout and components etc will be used for next generation Arm based macbook air release.
The reason is simple. When they released air without no heatsink connected to CPU in current generation, there are no reasonable explanation for choice. So my thoughts are: current air design is designed for ARM transition in the first place.
Macbook Air grade Arm processor will not need any cooling solution (maybe will be same as ipad line) and new designed (current design) internal layout and components etc will be used for next generation Arm based macbook air release.
At one level reintroducing the rMB with Apple silicon makes sense (as long as they add a second port) as it would show the ability to introduce something low priced, small and powerful. On the other hand Apple might be keen to show just how powerful with a higher end product.
[automerge]1596011748[/automerge]
[automerge]1596011748[/automerge]
Cause it’s running iOS instead of Mac OS, and the Air has a bigger screen and runs more power hungry software.
If Intel hadn’t blown their transition to 10nm, they would have been delivering decent chips for the 12” MacBook by 2017.
The 2lb form factor can certainly return under Apple Silicon in December. It can simply be a 12” Air.
There’s no reason to think the Air will move to 14”. It could, but I think reducing the price is more important.
Whatever happens, I think there won’t be two different models of the 13” MBP as there are now.
Smaller display, less RAM, and a much less complex OS.
Can you imagine if macOS had simplified memory management like iOS and apps were killed in the background? A full desktop stack requires far more processing power.
So theoretically, if the Apple Silicon MBAs have the same battery size, they will have roughly the same battery life as the Intel models? Disappointing if true.
In my opinion, Macbook Air can wait. All the talks about AS being so kick-a$$ powerful an efficient is going to shine only in pro systems. Professionals are not going to buy an Air with 8GB Ram no matter how powerful or power efficient they make it. Considering the Dev Kit itself being 512GB Ram, i'm thinking along with air & Mac Mini there will one more device, either and 13"/14"/16" Macbook Pro. They will definitely not miss the AS+Pro combination for the initial launch, if they want to create any kind of buzz. Pro is the way.