I am skeptical of a 15 " MacBook Air.
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Display Industry Analyst Expresses Skepticism About 12-Inch MacBook Rumor
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Take the old 12“, reduce the bezels and you have something like 12.7“.
Keep the thing at 1kg and I won‘t care if they call it 12,13 or 345…..
Keep the thing at 1kg and I won‘t care if they call it 12,13 or 345…..
Same reasoning I'm using to predict a larger display iMac with an M(something) inside.
If the rumors of an iPhone 14 non-Pro Max pan out, I think there’s at least a little more weight to that, but still not anytime soon.
A MacBook SE would make sense, but basically that would be the M1 MacBook Air getting the M2 once the M2 MacBook Air gets the M3…
Of course they could launch a 12" M2 MacBook Air and price it at $999, it would definitely be an interesting product.
I use a 12" MacBook daily. I'd replace it with an iPad if the iPad ran macOS.
I would add the Butterfly keyboard and the starting price ($1299).
If they can come up with a design with the current keyboard and hit the starting price at $999 (effectively replacing the M1 Macbook Air) with M2 processor and Retina Display, they may have something.
Their lineup would then be Macbook/Macbook Air/Macbook Pro.
Many believe that the original 12" MacBook was released to serve as a replacement for the 11" and 13" non-Retina MacBook Air, but it did not succeed in the marketplace (to the level Apple expected) so Apple re-trenched and released a Retina 13" MacBook Air and discontinued the MacBook Air.
I don't expect customer preferences have changed since then, so I am skeptical a 12" MacBook would sell very well against the 13" MacBook Air since they would effectively serve the same market.
I don't expect customer preferences have changed since then, so I am skeptical a 12" MacBook would sell very well against the 13" MacBook Air since they would effectively serve the same market.
I don’t think there will be a 12” laptop because I don’t think there’s enough of a market for it. How many people will desire a 12” over a 13”? I don’t think there would be enough differentiation between the 2 sizes to be worth manufacturing both.
At this point, Apple’s laptop market is starting to get muddy. What should you get? An M1 MBA, an M2 MBA, an M2 13” MBP, or one of the many, many other configurations of MacBook Pros they offer? And should you get the M2, M1, M1 Pro, or M1 Max? Or, should you just get an iPad (Air, Pro, or 12.9 inch Pro) for simple computing tasks? In the past one of the benefits of Apple’s line-up was its simplicity. Now it‘s becoming like buying a Dell in the early 2000s.
At this point, Apple’s laptop market is starting to get muddy. What should you get? An M1 MBA, an M2 MBA, an M2 13” MBP, or one of the many, many other configurations of MacBook Pros they offer? And should you get the M2, M1, M1 Pro, or M1 Max? Or, should you just get an iPad (Air, Pro, or 12.9 inch Pro) for simple computing tasks? In the past one of the benefits of Apple’s line-up was its simplicity. Now it‘s becoming like buying a Dell in the early 2000s.
Yes, there is a maket for that. The 11'' MacBook Air was very beloved and the 12'' MacBook would have if it wasn't the most slow Mac Apple ever made. I had the first Gen and loved the form factor. It's a perfect travel notebook to solve work problems in the strangest places (did that). But after two or three major updates it became so slow I barely kept myself from throwing it against a wall. And also, the bad keyboard, of course. And the one-port situation.
But the design was perfekt: The lightest Mac ever made (I think) with a retina display, full keyboard and trackpad. It only needed performance (and one port more).
None of the iPads will provide the same (full) functional experience with a full keyboard and a trackpad in a closing that light and thin.
But the design was perfekt: The lightest Mac ever made (I think) with a retina display, full keyboard and trackpad. It only needed performance (and one port more).
None of the iPads will provide the same (full) functional experience with a full keyboard and a trackpad in a closing that light and thin.
I think this will come down to what offers the versatility/perfromance in preferred MBA sizes. With the M1/M2 you have ample performance. Lots here liked the thought of a 12" laptop that was that much smaller then the M2 MBA. In comparison we have the same speculations going on with iPad Pro's with the thought of a 14" model compared to a 15" MBA out there. Both of those are impacted by customer preferences as being on the large side to what can easily be transported and held. A smaller MBA would have absolutely no negatives with easily be transported and held. But all this is rumors so lets see what a larger consensus shows.
10.9" iPad Air or 11" iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard fill the size void for most people. But for frequent flyers, 12" MacBook is considerably nicer than 13" MacBook Air. Like iPhone mini before it, that niche probably isn't big enough for Apple.
It probably was intended with white bezels until everyone gave **** about it. Changing the colours of the bezels is the easiest thing they could do amid pre-production.
Absolutely loved my 12” MacBook. iPads are just bedside displays for watching movies, reading books, and playing some games occasionally. And a 12” MacBook was a computer—an extremely portable computer I used to take everywhere and do my job everywhere. It would greatly benefit from the arm64 architecture transition.
I do not like the idea of a 15” Air. A big laptop should be powerful enough to justify itself.
However though, I don't believe Apple resurrecting the 12-inch. It would render all those iPad gimmicks useless and cannibalize the entire iPad "Pro" lineup almost completely.
Unless they testing the waters for now with the Studio+Apple Display (SE). When salesnumbers decline they will release the mini and/or bigger iMac.
The product line is chaotic AF cause they want to focus in all areas (which i kind of understand with all the competition). I also believe this chaotic line-up is created by marketing, you could tell by seeing they have a really hard time giving a proper name to new products: Air/Max/Ultra/SE/God.
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MacRumors ought to create a credibility index for analysts which measures what percentage of the time their predictions were correct. Then link to it every time they quote an analyst.
if people are happy with the iPad mini, there are people who would be happy with 12.5" MacBook. some of us travel often and want a quality keyboard and light weight slim device we can put on airplane tray tables and comfortably adjust the screen. I dont want some 11" top heavy iPad on a shaky airplane. the 12" was fantastic to write reports and emails on the go. I cant get over it.
Damn, you broke my dreams Ross.
I believe Mr. Ross Young, he has a very accurate trajectory of leaks/predictions.
On this one, I truly wish he is wrong… Because I’d love to see a 12” MacBook again.
Let’s hope he’s also accurate with the 5.7” iPhone SE 4th gen…
I believe Mr. Ross Young, he has a very accurate trajectory of leaks/predictions.
On this one, I truly wish he is wrong… Because I’d love to see a 12” MacBook again.
Let’s hope he’s also accurate with the 5.7” iPhone SE 4th gen…