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Maybe next year for the res boost? I just think thats the differing factor between the retina macbook so they are trying to keep the air without retina.
 
I am really interested in how battery will perform under truly heavy usage with demanding software such as cinema 4d, after effects, premiere/fcp, zbrush & of course renderings while connected to iphone via bluetooth for internet access along with an ipad as secondary monitor via wifi on dedicated vpn

On an Air with just Intel graphics? That's like wondering how a stock Chevy Impala will perform on the Nürburgring.

Maybe you are being sarcastic, I can't tell b/c no one expects the Air to be a power pro machine, nor does Apple market in that manner.
 
On an Air with just Intel graphics? That's like wondering how a stock Chevy Impala will perform on the Nürburgring.

Maybe you are being sarcastic, I can't tell b/c no one expects the Air to be a power pro machine, nor does Apple market in that manner.

even with the HD3000 mind you.
It does pull-off stuff, very pleased, just not the Lord of the Rings or Finding Nemo. If on the clock, try another machine
 
I'm not stupid either. I know they sell a retina MBP. If I wanted one, I would go out and get one, but I don't want to. I prefer the Air over the MBP.

Advantages the Air has over the Pro:

lighter
thinner
cheaper
better battery life

All of these would be not exist or be greatly reduced if they put in a retina display. You'd need more processing and graphical power to run it, and a bigger battery, and it would cost more. So you'd end up with a 13 inch rMBP.

Maybe it will happen in the future, but not soon.
 
I completely agree with everything you said except about your claim that most people have bought into "Apple's marketing hype"

I am sure that even you have seen the Retina display on the Macbook.
It is a stunning display and a lot of us would want a display as gorgeous on our Macbook Airs. I would gladly pay the extra money for one.

So get the rMBP... Its as Air as you're going to get without sacrificing battery life.
 
Ouch this is tough, I really want to replace my MacBook Late 2007 but I want to see what happens to the regular MacBook Pro line up. If the 13" MacBook Pro sticks with the 1280 x 800 I don't know what I'll do.

Then Alienware comes out with 1080p IPS panels on their notebooks. I could easily get a refurbished or even used Mac mini at that point.

Rumours are that the regular MBPs (with dvd drives) will not be updated again. They'll stay with the same specs as they are today until Apple discontinues them.
 
Rumours are that the regular MBPs (with dvd drives) will not be updated again. They'll stay with the same specs as they are today until Apple discontinues them.
I read Page 1 just like anyone else. I've had the money for years now but never the volition. There is no way that in 2013 I'm going to buy a laptop with a 1280 x 800 display. It's disgusting.
 
I read Page 1 just like anyone else. I've had the money for years now but never the volition. There is no way that in 2013 I'm going to buy a laptop with a 1280 x 800 display. It's disgusting.

Our definitions of disgusting must be different. If you experience revulsion or strong indignation because an entry-level laptop display isn't the top tech available, you need to seek counseling.
 
I read Page 1 just like anyone else. I've had the money for years now but never the volition. There is no way that in 2013 I'm going to buy a laptop with a 1280 x 800 display. It's disgusting.

Toshiba has a very nice machine with retina screen for you. And even touch screen. This update for me is what I desire. As many others have said, battery life is now amazing. I can work on my dissertation for a few hours more away from my desk with this upgrade.

Personal preference, yes. Disgusting, no. Just not for you.
 
:rolleyes: Smoke unfortunately has been a no-go on my MBA

At my school, I have seen a bunch of people run Maya for animation, modeling, and rigging on an old 13 inch MBP running on much older integrated graphics. So I honestly suspect the new MBA will handle some pretty simple stuff just fine. And in terms of rendering, I would just submit jobs to my desktop anyways.

But I know you mentioned AE, and I would definitely like to see some render times on some complex comps in that.
 
Our definitions of disgusting must be different. If you experience revulsion or strong indignation because an entry-level laptop display isn't the top tech available, you need to seek counseling.
Toshiba has a very nice machine with retina screen for you. And even touch screen. This update for me is what I desire. As many others have said, battery life is now amazing. I can work on my dissertation for a few hours more away from my desk with this upgrade.

Personal preference, yes. Disgusting, no. Just not for you.
Talk to AMD and their Kabini whitebook in the 13" - 14" range pulling 1080p. This is APPLE we're talking about.
 
The 13" is a great upgrade - Lower price, more storage, great battery improvements (might be even better with 10.9 - I refuse to call it whatevericks), faster storage, 802.11ac. Now it would have been a blast if there also was a retina upgrade - but still on a 13" non-retina 1440x900 is not bad.

Still not buying one though - may be Haswell rMBP with AMD GPU and all the retina glitches fixed.
 
At my school, I have seen a bunch of people run Maya for animation, modeling, and rigging on an old 13 inch MBP running on much older integrated graphics. So I honestly suspect the new MBA will handle some pretty simple stuff just fine. And in terms of rendering, I would just submit jobs to my desktop anyways.

But I know you mentioned AE, and I would definitely like to see some render times on some complex comps in that.

if you have a project at hand which you'd like to benchmark on my 2011 mba, send it over
 
riddle me this Apple fans!

I have a macbook unibody, the one before they changed it to mbp.

I use my mac for watching movies, surfing the web(multiple, mupltiple, multi.. tabs ^^) and thats it, no video editing or heavy gaming except the occational world of warcraft.

My MB 2009 is slow as hell in WoW on low settings and has a heavy time streaming HD videos. It sports 4 gb ram and 5400rpm hdd.

Will the new MBA kick user experience up a notch or can I expect the same ?

(I have no computer tech knowledge so don´t flame me if I´ve written anything wrong :p)
 
Eye strain? That's nonsense. If anything retina gives u less eye strains because everything are physically bigger due to lower effective resolution by default on rMBP15 compared to the native 1680px one I have.

No sir, are you sitting your face touching the screen? How can a perfectly fine screen give you eye strain when you were perfectly fine before retina was invented? You exactly have fallen to the marketing hype of retina!

The OP I was replying to stated: "To me it shows that people have bought into Apple's marketing hype that Retina = superior, non-retina = inferior"

All screens give you eye strain, the retina gives you less.

I have excellent vision (yearly checkup last week, still 20/10), so it isn't my eyes. What I notice is that my eyes are less tired when using the higher resolution machines. Stare at a screen 12-16 hours a day (such a healthy thing....) and you should notice a difference. You make an assumption to say I was "fine before." I was better than previously (i.e., using the 1440x900 screen compared to 1,680 by 1,050) but the scaled 1,920 by 1,200 is better than those. And by better I mean I can stare at it much longer before my eyes get tired. For me less eye strain = increased productivity. But hey, you probably know my body better than I do....
 
riddle me this Apple fans!

I have a macbook unibody, the one before they changed it to mbp.

I use my mac for watching movies, surfing the web(multiple, mupltiple, multi.. tabs ^^) and thats it, no video editing or heavy gaming except the occational world of warcraft.

My MB 2009 is slow as hell in WoW on low settings and has a heavy time streaming HD videos. It sports 4 gb ram and 5400rpm hdd.

Will the new MBA kick user experience up a notch or can I expect the same ?

(I have no computer tech knowledge so don´t flame me if I´ve written anything wrong :p)

try de-cluttering your computer before buying a new one
 
I read Page 1 just like anyone else. I've had the money for years now but never the volition. There is no way that in 2013 I'm going to buy a laptop with a 1280 x 800 display. It's disgusting.

Get a MBP with 2560x1600 display then?
 
Get a MBP with 2560x1600 display then?
You lost me at soldered RAM and the 13" model with the IGP. I've seen good things from Haswel GT3e. On top of that, what are that many pixels going to do for me or even attempting to play a game scaled down. I shudder to think about that.

All this money and nothing to spend it on.
 
riddle me this Apple fans!

I have a macbook unibody, the one before they changed it to mbp.

I use my mac for watching movies, surfing the web(multiple, mupltiple, multi.. tabs ^^) and thats it, no video editing or heavy gaming except the occational world of warcraft.

My MB 2009 is slow as hell in WoW on low settings and has a heavy time streaming HD videos. It sports 4 gb ram and 5400rpm hdd.

Will the new MBA kick user experience up a notch or can I expect the same ?

(I have no computer tech knowledge so don´t flame me if I´ve written anything wrong :p)

Your user experience should improve dramatically. Having a modern SSD in place of a 5400rpm HD is like trading your Honda Civic for an F-22 jet. According to Geekbench you should see a 75% improvement in CPU intensive tasks and the new Intel 5000 graphics should be a significant improvement over the 9400M or 9600M that you currently have.
 
This will not sell outside of fanboys.

This is a rip-off, Intel did all the work with Haswell to save battery, Apple didn't even update the RAM or the SSD which are getting extra cheap on the market.

This is an unacceptably weak update.
 
I pulled the trigger on an i7/8GB 13" because I can't wait any longer for a new notebook. I hope that the screen is not as bad as the previous one, but I'm afraid the situation is not very promising regarding that. Are there any display reviews already available ?

The display should be the same as the previous model. I'm curious, what's so bad about it? I had a 2008 MBP that was 15" and had the same resolution as the current 13" MBA. I found it to be more than decent. Is it the color accuracy or brightness or what that makes it so bad? (genuinely curious, not defending it or anything, haven't really had the chance to thoroughly test it)

Woyzeck said:
The stupid 8GB limit is just a marketing wall to prevent a drop in sales of the more profitable MBP. It's comfortable to sit on a monopoly I guess. I know no other PC company that can constantly deliver far-from-perfect products at a high price. Well done, marketing department.

Monopoly isn't the same as business tactic, and Apple is nowhere near the only manufacturer "restricting" specs on lower end models. Camera manufacturers could make a 50mpix sensor any day but they increase the resolution only slightly every refresh to keep it interesting and profitable. Flash memory manufacturers already have prototype 2tb chips but still the biggest SD card you'll find on a store shelf is 128gb. Etc etc etc.
 
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