Here's to hoping for new MBAs in 2016

[toddzrx]

I'm not optimistic about the future of the MacBook Air, which is unfortunate because for what it is, it's a solid machine.

That said, yeah, as someone said earlier, if you want a Retina display, go with a 13" Pro. The only other differences between a (retina) 13" Pro and a 13" Air are higher clock speeds on the Pro, a slightly thicker profile (and with it, a near negligible weight difference), support for 16GB of RAM and better graphics. If you need one of these features, there's no reason to not get all of them.

So, no, I don't think think there will be a retina version of the MacBook Air. They'll get 16GB of RAM when the chipset they use starts supporting it. For everything else, it's helpful to remember that this machine is positioned to be the modern-day version of the polycarbonate MacBooks of old and soon, Apple will position the machine currently titled MacBook to replace it, much like the MacBook Air did with the machine previously titled "MacBook". Both systems were, for their respective times, Apple's vision of the consumer laptop. Apple doesn't believe we need ports, the philosophy that we had with the MacBook Air when it first came out and they reiterate that now with the MacBook. History is repeating.

Right now I see Apple's whole computer lineup about to hit a big transition. Other than the new rMB, every computer line, both laptops and desktops, have not had a redesign in at least 2 or 3 years (redesign defined as a new chassis, not just upgraded components). Additionally, USB-C as a physical connector is showing up on lots of non-Apple equipment, which means it is gaining traction, along with Thunderbolt 3. We haven't seen a lot of Skylake processors applied to any of Apple's computers yet: the 27" iMac is the only one that's got it so far. While it's been a long wait, I think we'll see some significant changes across the board this spring and/or at WWDC.

That said, I agree that MBA's days are numbered due to the new rMB. Skylake in the rMB will pretty much give it the extra power it needs to get it close to where the MBA is now. I think Apple will release a 14" rMB as well as a lower end 12" rMB (4GB RAM and 128GB SSD) for their $1K price point. This new rMB lineup will replace the MBA, which Apple might keep around for another year for those who want one, just as the non-retina MBP hung around for a while. Since the MBP is due for a redesign, it's not hard to see new 14" and 16" MBP that replace the current 13 and 15" models but remain about the same size. USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 across the board as well, with maybe a single USB-A port for legacy connectivity.

We'll know in 4 or 5 months how it all pans out, but that's my guess at the moment.

 

[navaira]

This exactly. I can imagine (at a small stretch) the 11" MBA hanging around as entry level cheap Mac but otherwise I agree with pretty much all your predictions.

One thing I wish I could understand is why current iMacs do not have USB-C. iOS devices have Lightning, Macbook has USB-C, iMacs have USB3 and Thunderbolt 2. This all makes zero sense.

 

[oneMadRssn]

http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/macbook-pro-13-9.jpg

http://www.gizmag.com/retina-macbook-pro-13-inch-review/26373/pictures#14

The numbers speak for themselves.

Wow, it looks like the 13" rMBP might actually be smaller. If you calculate the volume, ignoring the tapering of the MBA and taking only it's thickest point (which I think is fair, it's only as thin as it's thickest part), then it does have a slightly smaller volume. But, the MBA is undeniably lighter which matters a lot.

13" MBA:

• Height: 0.11-0.68 inch (0.3-1.7 cm)
• Width: 12.8 inches (32.5 cm)
• Depth: 8.94 inches (22.7 cm)
• Weight: 2.96 pounds (1.35 kg)
• Volume: 77.89 inches^3 (1254.2 cm^3)

13" rMBP

• Height: 0.71 inch (1.8 cm)
• Width: 12.35 inches (31.4 cm)
• Depth: 8.62 inches (21.9 cm)
• Weight: 3.48 pounds (1.58 kg)
• Volume: 76.58 inches^3 (1237.7 cm^3)

 

[macbook_21]

Yeah, the rmbp is definitely smaller. I was astonished by how much less space it took up in my laptop sleeve compared to the mba.

The half pound difference is hard to notice. I carry it in a messenger style bag and I have to say, this style of bag allows me to carry everything with far more comfort than a backpack.

I can carry my 2008 macbook (5lbs) comfortably in my messenger bag as well.

 

[bwhaley]

Yeah, the rmbp is definitely smaller. I was astonished by how much less space it took up in my laptop sleeve compared to the mba.

I really don't see how anyone can make this argument with a straight face. As I said earlier in the thread, the numbers speak for themselves. The MBA is thinner (though almost as thick at its thickest point). It's lighter by ~14%. MBA is slightly wider and deeper, but only by about 1cm. It's definitely smaller. And somebody said that "it's only as thin as the widest point", which is true and yet the taper is what makes the MBA more comfortable to work on.

Nonetheless, I'm starting to be convinced by this thread that the next gen 13" rMBP may be the right choice for me. We'll have to see what we get in the coming months.

 

[macbook_21]

I really don't see how anyone can make this argument with a straight face. As I said earlier in the thread, the numbers speak for themselves. The MBA is thinner (though almost as thick at its thickest point). It's lighter by ~14%. MBA is slightly wider and deeper, but only by about 1cm. It's definitely smaller. And somebody said that "it's only as thin as the widest point", which is true and yet the taper is what makes the MBA more comfortable to work on.

Nonetheless, I'm starting to be convinced by this thread that the next gen 13" rMBP may be the right choice for me. We'll have to see what we get in the coming months.

rssn has already calculated volume. The rmbp is smaller. I've owned both. The rmbp takes up less space in the same sleeve.
[doublepost=1454008118][/doublepost]

Now I acknowledge that nobody here is more informed than MacRumors itself, and this is more or less just a circlejerk where we drool over possibilities from Apple. With that said...

I'm desperate for an upgrade this year! I love the MBA and have been using it since the first release. It's exactly the right blend of capability and convenience. The MB is underpowered, the MBP is too heavy/bulky. But the MBA has fallen a bit behind.

My dream MBA release this year would include:
- New form factor that is closer to the MB (e.g. thinner and lighter than current MBA)
- Skylake processors
- Option for 16GB
- Retina

Am I dreaming, or does it seem possible given the latest rumors?

It's a bit of an exaggeration to say that the rmbp is heavy and bulky. It's a half pound heavier with the same screen size. However, that extra half pound affords you a higher res and much more color accurate display, more usability with ports, faster processing and graphics, and a slightly smaller footprint and volume.

I think the mba is a fantastic computer. However, the 13 mba and rmbp are so close in price with the same storage, it's hard to make a case in favor of the mba unless you absolutely cannot go past $1K as your price point, or unless the longest battery life is an absolute priority.

I see tons of mba's in use (along with various iterations of mbp's and rmbp's, including 15" rmbp's), so it's obvious that there's no absolute preference among mac users.

The rmbp's are a clear favorite for photo and video editing, but otherwise the mba is a fine computer.

 

[jmoore5196]

It's hard to make a case in favor of the MBA unless you've had your new, fully-spec'd 13" rMBP stutter when playing back critical audio in Audition CC. I wasted an entire afternoon trying to get my brand-new 2014 i7 to render and play back audio files correctly. Maybe the next-gen processors will make up for what the 2.8GHz i7 lacked, but I'll have to see it before I spend the money.

I'm not arguing that the 13" rMBP isn't a lovely machine ... it is. Like every laptop, however, the MBP is a study in compromise ... something several posters have done their best to ignore. The MBA may well be lacking as others have noted, but at least it can process audio without a hiccup because it's not trying to drive all those pixels in a retina display.

 

[macbook_21]

It's hard to make a case in favor of the MBA unless you've had your new, fully-spec'd 13" rMBP stutter when playing back critical audio in Audition CC. I wasted an entire afternoon trying to get my brand-new 2014 i7 to render and play back audio files correctly. Maybe the next-gen processors will make up for what the 2.8GHz i7 lacked, but I'll have to see it before I spend the money.

I'm not arguing that the 13" rMBP isn't a lovely machine ... it is. Like every laptop, however, the MBP is a study in compromise ... something several posters have done their best to ignore. The MBA may well be lacking as others have noted, but at least it can process audio without a hiccup because it's not trying to drive all those pixels in a retina display.

What are the specs of your rmbp? Perhaps there wasn't enough storage available in the ssd?

Did you have a bunch of other apps open?

Did you try a restart and closing other apps?

Perhaps store the files on an external drive with abundant free space?

You can't really draw generalizations without giving specifics. The rmbp is for power users; I really doubt that the retina display is the limiting factor. Maybe use the default display setting?

There's too little info to be making generalizations such as yours above.

 

[jmoore5196]

I'm happy to provide more info. Having owned at least one iteration of every Apple laptop since the PowerBook 100, I feel confident that I tried to remedy the problem with every option available to me. I had no other apps open, I tried restarting, and I did not need an external HDD since the SSD had more than 200GB open.

I am, in a word, a Power User. I have been since I fell in love with the PowerBook 520c back in the 1990s. Do you remember back that far?

Anyway, as my post says, the 13" rMBP was full-spec. At the time, this was a 2.8GHz i7 dual-core processor, 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD. So I guess "full-spec" isn't entirely accurate; I probably could have gotten a 1TB SSD had I been willing to waste even more money.

"Too little info" is a relative term. There was certainly enough "info" to allow me to conclude that further attempts to create multi-track audio on the 13" rMBP would be a futile waste of my time.

I'll be sticking with my 15" rMBP (2.5GHz i7 QC with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD and discrete graphics) and taking along my 11" MacBook Air (2013, full-spec) when the 15" is impractical for travel. Given the present configuration, the 13" rMBP is a non-starter for me.

 

[macbook_21]

Or, perhaps it's a problem with the program itself. Did you contact the company and report your issues?

Also, how much of your storage had you used when using the program? When ssd storage is nearly full the computer can bog down a lot.

 

[jmoore5196]

Or, perhaps it's a problem with the program itself. Did you contact the company and report your issues?

Also, how much of your storage had you used when using the program? When ssd storage is nearly full the computer can bog down a lot.

I'm curious: Do I just strike you as insanely stupid? Or are you really 21 and still using your high school MacBook?

 

[cincygolfgrrl]

I have opinions, but I don't know if Apple is going to extend the MBA line, or not.

What I do know is that I have no intention of replacing my 11" mid-2011 i5, 4GB 128GB MBA until it dies and there is no hope of a reasonably priced revival. It runs osx 10.11 flawlessly, and see no reason 10.12 and 10.13 won't work equally well (yep, I admit I could be wrong about that, but don't think so). Admittedly I don't ask a lot of my MBA, Lightroom and a good text editor. It's not as fast as my iMac, but I use it primarily for travel.

I'm anxious to see what Apple announces as its next low end laptop. I won't be buying, but it should be interesting.

 

[FattyMembrane]

I've been using MBAs since 2010 and have been waiting since 2013 for Apple to produce a new model worth upgrading to. The two biggest factors that I like are the weight savings and usable screen real-estate over the rMBP.

Apple's move to retina displays has meant a move toward less screen real estate unless you choose to go with a scaled resolution. The MBA 13 provides quite a bit more room than the rMBA 13 and way more than the rMB. Whatever the name of the device is, I'd really like to see Apple sell something for those of us who want an extremely portable machine that also has enough performance and screen real estate to get work done.

Something with the Skylake i7 and 16gb of ram seems like a given, and I'd be happy with either the screen out of the iPad Pro (more usable area than the rMBP 13 or MBA 13, but with a more square ratio), or something like Dell has done with the XPS-13, where they've put a 13 inch 1080p monitor in a notebook that's sized more like an 11/12 inch model. I doubt they would go with the second option, as it isn't retina, but having a 1080p display without the performance hit of retina would be great.

 

[MadDane]

I've been using MBAs since 2010 and have been waiting since 2013 for Apple to produce a new model worth upgrading to. The two biggest factors that I like are the weight savings and usable screen real-estate over the rMBP.

Apple's move to retina displays has meant a move toward less screen real estate unless you choose to go with a scaled resolution. The MBA 13 provides quite a bit more room than the rMBA 13 and way more than the rMB. Whatever the name of the device is, I'd really like to see Apple sell something for those of us who want an extremely portable machine that also has enough performance and screen real estate to get work done.

Something with the Skylake i7 and 16gb of ram seems like a given, and I'd be happy with either the screen out of the iPad Pro (more usable area than the rMBP 13 or MBA 13, but with a more square ratio), or something like Dell has done with the XPS-13, where they've put a 13 inch 1080p monitor in a notebook that's sized more like an 11/12 inch model. I doubt they would go with the second option, as it isn't retina, but having a 1080p display without the performance hit of retina would be great.

I have been using my 13" rMBP with the 1680x1050 setting for over two years. I can't stand looking at the 'best for retina' low resolution. But with 'scaled' it is really good. And the resolution and screen real estate is higher than the MBA that way.

 

[MazG]

I'm in the same "waiting to buy" boat. I have a 2013 MBA 13" which I love and wasn't looking to upgrade but my son wants a computer and its a good opportunity for me to upgrade (256GB SSD and/or 8GB RAM) by passing mine along to him.

I'm not impressed by the rMB (other than the size and weight). I'm not sure I can live without a display port for my 24" 2nd screen, SDCard *and* the "slower" processor, especially for the price (and the adapter runs another $100CDN). I run Capture One "sessions" and a VM for MS Project 2016. I've looked at the rMBPro but the added weight and bulk are off-putting.

I'm looking at the current 2015 MBA but now there are lots of rumours surfacing that new models are imminent (March?). The added complication is that I'm Canadian and our dollar is dropping like crazy so new models likely mean new higher prices (2013 was $999, 2015 is $1199 thanks to exchange rates). To buy now or to wait.....?

 

[SmOgER]

I'm pretty sure you will be granted your wishes, except it will be called Retina Macbook 2nd generation and probably priced $1299+.

You forgot to mention that it will have zero ports (wireless charging) and no headphone jack.
Who's using ports these days? Lame!

 

[Bars_12]

the 13" will/might be replaced by the 14" MBA or RMBP, hopefully the PCI SSD will still be user-upgradable and the RAM from 8GB to 32GB.