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.
Five Features to Look Forward to in the 2022 MacBook Air
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
"White bezels" - please! Bezels should make for an organic whole with the screen. White bezels will serve no purpose and will be an insufferable eye sore.
Also, there should be at least 2 more ThunderBolt 4 / USB-C ports (apart from HDMI and MagSafe).
The bezels should be thin and the screen size - at least an inch larger.
Hopefully, 32GB and greater RAM. And at least up to 4TB fast storage.
Else, what's the use of a design upgrade?
Also, there should be at least 2 more ThunderBolt 4 / USB-C ports (apart from HDMI and MagSafe).
The bezels should be thin and the screen size - at least an inch larger.
Hopefully, 32GB and greater RAM. And at least up to 4TB fast storage.
Else, what's the use of a design upgrade?
Darth Tulhu
macrumors 68020
I find that the contrary is true. When I have clearly defined screen edges, I can line up the edge of my windows quicker. White/silver bezels make it immediately apparent where the screen ends.
I think only the MBPs will have this, but we'll see. I'm of the mind that it's better to have and not need, than to need and not have.
I'd love a 14" Air. Heck, I'd LOVE a 17". I'm a size queen when it comes to screens.
Some people (myself included) will buy based on aesthetics first. Aesthetics is what brought me to, and keeps me with Apple. Otherwise, I'd be using a far more flexible PC (I do for work). I find generally Windows hardware and software to be uglier than what Apple (or even Linux) offers.
That said, computers have become so powerful nowadays that for non-pros an iPad (as in my case) or even an iPhone has way more power they'll ever actually use. A consumer model like the Air line will be simple, and it should be IMO.
The M1 already made the MBA something a Pro machine or at least a Pro lite. Now you can do video editing on it. The current Air is now one of the best bang-for-the-buck computers on the market—period. And it has more power than most people will ever need.
But thats not good enough the the tiny percentage of whiners who want it to be indistinguishable from the actual 14in. Pro.
Fortunately Apple will likely not be listening to them. They’ll make the new Air a device attractive and appealing to the majority of customers it is intended for. And this constant whining about bezels and the supposed superiority of black over white is complete bs.
But thats not good enough the the tiny percentage of whiners who want it to be indistinguishable from the actual 14in. Pro.
Fortunately Apple will likely not be listening to them. They’ll make the new Air a device attractive and appealing to the majority of customers it is intended for. And this constant whining about bezels and the supposed superiority of black over white is complete bs.
If you can live with the smaller screen - it is retina so you can show a LOT of pixesl - then get the MacBook Air M1.
It's the best Mac laptop I've ever had.
1- It looks good (I have one in gold and one in graphite - both gorgeous)
2 - It lasts the entire day on battery, never need to bring a charger
3 - It barely gets warm
4 - It has one of the best keyboards on a mac I've ever seen - blows my mind they fit this in there!
5 - Sound is surprisingly good for the size
6 - Its cheap
7 - It's super fast - handily beats my old 8-core i9 MBP at _everythiing_ - it feels crazy fast
8 - No fan
The only downside was, 13" screen is sometimes really tight. I can do development on that, but a bigger screen would be much better.
So now I got a new M1 Pro 16" - can't say yet how well it performs, but one thing that is obvious is that it is absolutely massive - physically. It's HUGE. Not sure I like that. Everything else about it - retro design, blacked keyboard, cloth power cable for mag safe - is epic. But the size - that is one massive brick! Significantly bigger than the previous 16" MBP. I think on paper it's not that much bigger, but in real life, it just feels humongous. Like a Soviet MacBook Pro.
I was going to say the same thing.
I am actually willing to bet that's exactly what they're going to be offering.
If the design is flat and square, iMac M1-like, then you would end up with a thinner version of the old Titanium MacBook Pro, which was gorgeous. It would be crazy thin. It would come in 13 and 15" versions, likely without notch.
Compare with Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 15" - that is a 1kg / 2lb 15" laptop - unbelievable.
I personally would love it since I don't need the extra features and power of the M1 Pro - I only got the new 16" MBP for the screen (and apparently because the money is burning a hole in my pocket). But would be much better for me to get a smaller, thinner, lighter, 15" retina mac with M2, or even M1 - as long as I can get 16GB of memory, I am all good.
I don't need 32 graphics cores, I don't do any graphics stuff. I just need a larger MacBook Air M1 - that machine I've had for a few months now, and I absolutely love it. I will keep this for a very long time, for sure.
Yea they ain't making an all white MBA. If anything with a white bezel, they're making it minty colored aluminum with white keys and bezel. More like this color scheme. The thing is that the white MacBook is at least uniform, and doesn't look like a clown costume. It looks like a standardized color scheme. The new ones are bizarre colors anodized to the aluminum, which are objectively ugly...moreso than a silver aluminum/white bezel+keyboard or a white plastic/white bezel+keyboard color scheme.So... umm, don't buy one.
No one asked for this iBook either, yet it was an extremely popular laptop.
I'm starting to wonder if this whole bezel thing is some kind of phobia - because it makes absolutely no sense to hate on them. Picture frames, window frames, door frames, curbs on the side of a road, margins on a printed page... these are all "bezels" - a transitional space to separate disparate content, areas, or views.
Last edited:
I suppose you can select the silver option for the iMac and avoid the clown costume. The same will probably be true of the new MBA model.Yea they ain't making an all white MBA. If anything with a white bezel, they're making it minty colored aluminum with white keys and bezel. More like this color scheme. The thing is that the white MacBook is at least uniform, and doesn't look like a clown costume. It looks like a standardized color scheme. The new ones are bizarre colors anodized to the aluminum, which are objectively ugly...moreso than a silver aluminum/white bezel+keyboard or a white plastic/white bezel+keyboard color scheme.
Yea they ain't making an all white MBA. If anything with a white bezel, they're making it minty colored aluminum with white keys and bezel. More like this color scheme. The thing is that the white MacBook is at least uniform, and doesn't look like a clown costume. It looks like a standardized color scheme. The new ones are bizarre colors anodized to the aluminum, which are objectively ugly...moreso than a silver aluminum/white bezel+keyboard or a white plastic/white bezel+keyboard color scheme.
Yeah, when I saw the new color scheme for the iMacs, first thing I thought of was, "Oh! Pastels! Here come the complaints from overly masculine men who aren't comfortable with their sexuality." Well whether you like the color scheme or not is subjective. Many people will like it and they will sell regardless. Even the original bold colored "Toilet seat" iBooks sold extremely well. (History repeating itself, because the comments made here about this new color scheme are reminiscent of then.)
Also, that "Snow White" iBook was actually white and silver (very light silver). Which is actually a color option with the new iMacs. So if you don't like the colors, you can always choose the silver model. Anyway, the argument wasn't about colors, it was about a white bezel... of which Apple has had many models of Macs with white bezels and they all sold well... One of my favorites being the "Luxo" iMac.
With all the different types of plastic's availble today I would think that Apple would be looking into bringing back the white and black macbooks
They just might have their finger in the pulse sufficiently to consider what is the most recyclable material to make them from?
People get focused on numbers often without understanding what those numbers mean.
Would an M2 pro be better than an M1X Pro? It depends on the intended use. If you don’t need the crazy power of the M1X then the M2 will make a lot more sense as a very solid all around machine. But if you have VERY demanding requirements for a computer then the M1X (with its higher price tag) is the better choice.
A current generation Intel i3 is going to be better than an older generation i5. Even so so many people insist on “needing” an i5 because thats what they’ve been told. And there is nothing wrong with getting an i5 even though many people’s needs can be met easily with a current generation i3 or an AMD Ryzen 3 or Ryzen 5.
The forthcoming M2 is going to make the new redesigned MacBook Air and Pro even better than they currently are, but they still won’t be as powerful as the current M1X Pro and Max for what they’re intended for.
Back in the ‘70s big V8 engines ruled the land. Many were convinced big displacement would always be superior to the small engined imports that were getting popular at the time. But the American big cars had a number of significant failings the imports were beginning illustrate. The big V8s were heavy, thirsty, had lousy handling and were generally unreliable. The big V8s had power, but meaningful only in a straight line. They would struggle to keep up with lesser powered imports that exhibited superior handling and much better fuel evonomy.
I’ll never forget when my father (who drove a 73 Mercury Meteor with a 400 cubic inch V8) drove from Toronto to south of Quebec City in my brother’s ‘76 Volkswagen Rabbit (with 1.7lL 4cyl. and 4-spd. manual). That Rabbit flew while sipping gas, and when it came to the winding two-lanes of the Quebec countryside there was no contest. The Rabbit was in its element on those European like roads while my father’s Meteor would have been wallowing like a drunken cow on those roads. My Dad was simply astounded. And he sang the Rabbit’s praises to the disbelieving ears of our relations who still swore by the big V8 boats they drove.
I find it ironic that once again the North American market looks to be totally clueless. At a time when people should be conserving (on many fronts) they are rushing out to buy expensive oversized pickups and SUVs that are in no way superior to more modest sized cars they are rejecting. Collectively people can be dumb as cattle.
Would an M2 pro be better than an M1X Pro? It depends on the intended use. If you don’t need the crazy power of the M1X then the M2 will make a lot more sense as a very solid all around machine. But if you have VERY demanding requirements for a computer then the M1X (with its higher price tag) is the better choice.
A current generation Intel i3 is going to be better than an older generation i5. Even so so many people insist on “needing” an i5 because thats what they’ve been told. And there is nothing wrong with getting an i5 even though many people’s needs can be met easily with a current generation i3 or an AMD Ryzen 3 or Ryzen 5.
The forthcoming M2 is going to make the new redesigned MacBook Air and Pro even better than they currently are, but they still won’t be as powerful as the current M1X Pro and Max for what they’re intended for.
Back in the ‘70s big V8 engines ruled the land. Many were convinced big displacement would always be superior to the small engined imports that were getting popular at the time. But the American big cars had a number of significant failings the imports were beginning illustrate. The big V8s were heavy, thirsty, had lousy handling and were generally unreliable. The big V8s had power, but meaningful only in a straight line. They would struggle to keep up with lesser powered imports that exhibited superior handling and much better fuel evonomy.
I’ll never forget when my father (who drove a 73 Mercury Meteor with a 400 cubic inch V8) drove from Toronto to south of Quebec City in my brother’s ‘76 Volkswagen Rabbit (with 1.7lL 4cyl. and 4-spd. manual). That Rabbit flew while sipping gas, and when it came to the winding two-lanes of the Quebec countryside there was no contest. The Rabbit was in its element on those European like roads while my father’s Meteor would have been wallowing like a drunken cow on those roads. My Dad was simply astounded. And he sang the Rabbit’s praises to the disbelieving ears of our relations who still swore by the big V8 boats they drove.
I find it ironic that once again the North American market looks to be totally clueless. At a time when people should be conserving (on many fronts) they are rushing out to buy expensive oversized pickups and SUVs that are in no way superior to more modest sized cars they are rejecting. Collectively people can be dumb as cattle.
I have an idea. Why not make all the bezels into Touch Bars that can change colours?
Call me, Tim.
Call me, Tim.
Come on people apple is smart these are rumors as much as i want a white bezzel apple isnt stupid a white bezel with dark mode Apple is smarter than this for example the latest iMac they managedf that perfectly but a dark mode and white bezzel Apple wont do it if they do im not buying it.( for the record they are not Apple is not like the Huawei Locos)
(google and samgsung i respect)
(google and samgsung i respect)
Maybe Apple need to talk with BMW?
BMW unveils car that changes colour at touch of a button
This article is more than 4 months oldElectronic ink wrap around electric model changes between black and white and even light and dark stripes
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...-that-changes-colour-at-the-touch-of-a-button
It's default mode could be a barcode... Or camouflage for hiding in a herd of zebra.
Pretty cool stuff.
But sadly, that innovative Apple might have tried something like this decades ago. Today, it’s about mass volume sales and shareholder profits.
When has it never been about mass volume sales and shareholder profits?
Genuine innovation is rare and doesn’t come about on an assembly line basis whenever you want it. Many if not all things we have today and take for granted were once innovations, but then became commonplace and only refined over time. A fork, when first invented, was an innovation. But there are limits to what form a fork can take (and still be a fork). Since it’s invention a fork has been basically refined and tweaked, but nothing truly innovative has been done with it.
Today’s smartphones are basically stuck in a commonplace rut. From year to year smartphones are tweaked and finessed with incremental changes and no radical game-changing improvements. Would a durable, folding display really be that innovative or really just a gimmick for a few while everyone else sticks with the established and proven optimal design? The smartphone won’t radically change for the foreseeable future unless someone finds a way to make it usable in a distinctly different yet still widely practical way.
What can you really do different with a tablet or laptop or desktop computer? They have been in the same basic form and function for years and decades with incremental improvements year to year. If anything I would say the M1 chip was an innovation particularly for the consumer market. The M1 made Apple’s Pro laptop effectively redundant and pointless by being offered in their entry level laptop and without an increase in retail price. It not only offers significant increases in power and efficiency, but also easily doubles the battery life between charges. The innovation of the M1 has to be experienced to be appreciated because it’s not something you can see sitting on the table in front of you.
The current M1 iMac 24 has been widely derided around here, but from a consumer perspective it basically replaced Apple’s previous entire AIO iMac lineup. Previously you needed pretty much the top tier spec’d out iMac 27 to get what the current iMac 24 gives you at its entry level price point.
Both the M1 MacBook Air and the iMac 24 are solid examples of improved and better technology made available at affordable price points. They’re clear examples of better technology also being cheaper than what came before.
An example of the unexpected and, for a long time, unnoticed impact of the inventions on our physical, physiological beings.
Seems that since the invention and availability of forks, humans have tended to develop overbite. Archaeological evidence apparently tends to separate out pre-fork age skeletal remains from those which are post-fork age on this basis alone. Of course, the actual making and use of forks wasn't a single event. (Out of ignorance, I wonder if chopsticks in China, non-implement eating in Sri Lanka, etc., also provide a break between fork usage and non-usage/development of overbite?)
Goodness knows what other impacts of inventions have yet to be identified.
These modest redesign top 5 are so dumb. Who cares about the body/colors/etc. Agree that performance is still pretty good.
What do we really want Apple?
1. Affordable storage and RAM. OK maybe you can continue to gouge professionals on RAM, but so many people just want enough room to clear out their iPhones now that $400 for 1tb of storage and $800 for 2tb is brutal. I know it's very fast storage, but people dont NEED that speed. They need room for all the new photos and 4k videos that these 12mp cameras are taking.
2. Larger screen sizes without the price. My parents are 70 and want 15" screens to make it easier to see. They don't need a $2500 laptop with 10 cores, mini-LED, etc. Give us the 15-16" air equivalent with an M2 non-pro for under $1500.
Seriously. Everything else is minor. OLED/mini-led screens like 2% better than what's out there. Your touchpads/keyboards are great. M1 chips are super fast. Stop ****ing us on storage. I don't want to have to use a NAS or external USB-C hard drive.
Use slower storage if you have to for secondary storage. 98% of your users would be infinitely happier with 1-2tb of storage at affordable rates ($100-$200) rather than paying $800 for stupid fast onboard SOC storage of static images that we access a few times a year.
I'm fairly technical and even for me it's a nightmare to manage backing up iPhones to various places. I splurged the extra $200 for to go from 512gb->1tb of storage ($400/gb since you lose the initial 512) but really wanted 2tb.
This is such a huge problem that it's ridiculous. People constantly are just losing photos, deleting them one by one, hitting storage limits, etc that it's maddening. It's 2022. Storage isn't that expensive anymore. Give us a solution.
What do we really want Apple?
1. Affordable storage and RAM. OK maybe you can continue to gouge professionals on RAM, but so many people just want enough room to clear out their iPhones now that $400 for 1tb of storage and $800 for 2tb is brutal. I know it's very fast storage, but people dont NEED that speed. They need room for all the new photos and 4k videos that these 12mp cameras are taking.
2. Larger screen sizes without the price. My parents are 70 and want 15" screens to make it easier to see. They don't need a $2500 laptop with 10 cores, mini-LED, etc. Give us the 15-16" air equivalent with an M2 non-pro for under $1500.
Seriously. Everything else is minor. OLED/mini-led screens like 2% better than what's out there. Your touchpads/keyboards are great. M1 chips are super fast. Stop ****ing us on storage. I don't want to have to use a NAS or external USB-C hard drive.
Use slower storage if you have to for secondary storage. 98% of your users would be infinitely happier with 1-2tb of storage at affordable rates ($100-$200) rather than paying $800 for stupid fast onboard SOC storage of static images that we access a few times a year.
I'm fairly technical and even for me it's a nightmare to manage backing up iPhones to various places. I splurged the extra $200 for to go from 512gb->1tb of storage ($400/gb since you lose the initial 512) but really wanted 2tb.
This is such a huge problem that it's ridiculous. People constantly are just losing photos, deleting them one by one, hitting storage limits, etc that it's maddening. It's 2022. Storage isn't that expensive anymore. Give us a solution.
I hope you, at least, subscribe to iCloud storage for those photos. Then you don’t absolutely need to keep all of them locally.
This is a very good point
For a huge swath of consumers, all of these storage access/transfer speeds are just complete overkill
Space is now more in need than any further speed gains.
Given how modern Apple is pivoting to a "service provider" wherever possible, I'm pressed to believe that a lot of this hardware design behavior is just a ploy to drive iCloud subscription revenue.
That's an even more expensive solution than fixed storage, because you only have to pay for fixed storage once and can use cheaper backup plans. 2TB is $10/mo or $600 over 5 years.
You forgot to factor in the cost of the 2TB of backup storage x 2.