Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Holding off on purchasing MBA until refresh

B

boodyup

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 3, 2009
49
0
Hi,

After reading the rumor round-up on the MBP it seems like the trusted source was CNET. CNET rumored that there would be an MBA Update in June using the new Sandy Bridge processors. Not that I've been fully aware of CNET's track record with rumors but it seems they can't be throwing something like that out there without some certainty.

With that in mind, there is also a planned launch of Lion in the summer as well. Wouldn't it make sense to wait for the MBA refresh and get it with Lion installed so that you don't have to pay for both separately? I'm assuming that the price wouldn't go up for the newly updated MBA.

I've also been somewhat concerned by the options about the graphics capabilities with Sandy Bridge on the MBA. My understanding is that even if it were slightly less powerful video-wise, it may end up just being a wash or not a very noticeable difference. Also, if there is the slightest chance that it would have a thunderbolt port, that could be an even better deal.

Now, here's hoping for a 3G model :D
 
It isn't an unreasonable assumption that there will be a refresh later this year, perhaps in June (or whenever the Lion release actually occurs), and that when it occurs, it will bring the Sandy Bridge chips to the MacBook Air line, and possibly the Thunderbolt port. I say possibly because the MacBook Air doesn't have Firewire, the iFixit teardown of the new Pro indicates that the Thunderbolt chip takes up a lot of room on the logic board, and Apple could conclude that Air users by and large aren't interested in a Thunderbolt port, at least not yet.

Even if we assume that CNet is correct, that is still several months off, and the latest model was released just 4.5 months ago You can always hold off since there is always something better around the corner. My suggestion is that if you need a computer now, get one. If the Air is updated in June, fine, but in the meantime you'll have a great computer now, and it will still work fine. Lion will run on the current generation MacBook Air.
 
It may indeed be wise to wait for an update. Aside from having Lion installed and SB chips, it may also have the much-discussed BL keyboard back in place.
 
june mba update:

-SB proc (blows c2d out of the water)
-Thunderbolt (a very necessary addition)
-Additional SSD space (512GB?)
-Longer battery life (+10~20% thanks to SB)

back-lit keyboard is very unlikely due to the battery drain. if you dont NEED one now, i highly recommend you wait until june.

latest is august, imo. Apple definitely wants to update the "future of notebooks" in time for the back to school rush.

as for lion, there is much speculation that it will release early in the summer, so there is a decent chance that it will be paired up with the updated mba. either way, the upcoming mba update is definitely worth waiting for. sure, the c2d may be fine for you now, but if you choose to run more demanding programs later on, wouldn't it be nice to have a nice SB proc on reserve instead?
 
Last edited:
lshirase said:
june mba update:

-SB proc (blows c2d out of the water)
-Thunderbolt (a very necessary addition)
-Additional SSD space (512GB?)
-Longer battery life (+10~20% thanks to SB)

back-lit keyboard is very unlikely due to the battery drain. if you dont NEED one now, i highly recommend you wait until june.

Latest is august, imo. Apple definitely wants to update the "future of notebooks" in time for the back to school rush.
Click to expand...

About the only thing that's certain is that the Core 2 Duo/NVIDIA 320m combo will be replaced by a Sandy Bridge chip. We don't know which one (it likely won't be the 2.3GHz Core i5 that graces the MacBook Pro). Thunderbolt may or may not be present. I'm guessing yes, but that's just a guess. There may not be room for a 512GB SSD, and Apple did not increase the battery rating of the new MacBook Pro, so why would they do so for the Air?
 
KPOM said:
About the only thing that's certain is that the Core 2 Duo/NVIDIA 320m combo will be replaced by a Sandy Bridge chip. We don't know which one (it likely won't be the 2.3GHz Core i5 that graces the MacBook Pro). Thunderbolt may or may not be present. I'm guessing yes, but that's just a guess. There may not be room for a 512GB SSD, and Apple did not increase the battery rating of the new MacBook Pro, so why would they do so for the Air?
Click to expand...

the mba will utilize the ulv variant. have you seen the new mbp performance chart? the lowest end i5 SB 13inch mbp kills the last gens high end i5 and i7s. so even if apple puts in a less powerful ulv sb proc, it will still run laps around the current c2d mba.....
 
I know many others are wondering the same thing-get one now or hold off. I guess the biggest thing that made me decide to hold off was the idea that I would have to pay for a computer in addition to an operating system this year. I already have a Mac Mini that would need to be upgraded and having to spring for another copy is too much.


It's a shame that thunderbolt may not make it this time-around due to it's space requirements but that's not going to be a deciding factor. The backlighting seems to be an issue for many (I love the way it looks on the MBP) but again, that's a luxury item and I would gladly substitute that for greater portability.
 
I really don't see storage going up to 512 GB flash. I think they'll be a new processor, thunderbolt, and Lion. Everything else, including the disk space and battery life will be kept the same. Apple doesn't seem to change every single element of their products at once and when you look at the current MBA its weak point is the processor, so expect that to be the major change. But if you're thinking they will have a 512 GB flash option, I have a feeling you will be disappointed.
 
KPOM said:
About the only thing that's certain is that the Core 2 Duo/NVIDIA 320m combo will be replaced by a Sandy Bridge chip. We don't know which one (it likely won't be the 2.3GHz Core i5 that graces the MacBook Pro). Thunderbolt may or may not be present. I'm guessing yes, but that's just a guess. There may not be room for a 512GB SSD, and Apple did not increase the battery rating of the new MacBook Pro, so why would they do so for the Air?
Click to expand...

Sorry mate, that's almost completely incorrect on the battery-side, the battery capacity did in fact increase on all models except from the 17".

Due to how recent the last MBA was released, the battery capacities are unlikely to change. On the other hand, even if there is a back-lit keyboard, the battery length should increase due to the lower TDP of the SB CPUs vs the current C2Ds + 320M iGP. For the MacBook air, heat output is more of an issue than battery-length as it is really tiny and has tiny fans. Sandy Bridge ULV CPUs will almost definitely go on the 11" MBAs with the SB LV CPUs going on the 13" MBAs. Check my detailed explanation at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1103979/
 
I believe the update will be in june and it fits nicely with a 8-9 month cycle.

However I dont believe it will be enough of an update to warrant waiting for.

The 11" air is about getting things done on the go. It certainly can handle most business tasks right now perfectly.
 
tigres said:
I don't think the MBA will get an update until next year, earliest.
Previous Gen owners waited forever for this one. Plan on being happy for >6months for this awesome machine. :cool:
Click to expand...

you will be severely disappointed when summer comes around :). Honestly, though, if you are happy with the performance of the current gen MBA's, there is no reason for you to wait for the next gen.
 
tigres said:
I don't think the MBA will get an update until next year, earliest.
Previous Gen owners waited forever for this one. Plan on being happy for >6months for this awesome machine. :cool:
Click to expand...

Previous gen was a flop, the new one isn't. I'm betting June alongside Lion intro. October at the latest.
 
I dont think I can wait...Im wanting an MBA as soon as Uncle Sam sends my check...however my look on it is this...and correct me if Im wrong...but as much as these products hold their re-sale value, if a new and improved MBA comes out in June-October, Ill sell the old one on Ebay etc...lose maybe 200-300? and just consider it was the price I paid(rent) to enjoy one for the next 6 mos or so?

Also, with how Im reading some might even PREFER this gen MBA over the possible refresh, they may hold their value even more than usual?
 
I hope the MBA 11" will have a SB-upgrade in June, but on cpu-world.com I found that technically Apple could get the SU9400 C2D (that is the 1,4GHZ found in the base MBA 11") as late as October 2011. Hopefully the upgrade will come sooner than that, 'cause I'm waiting for that one too!
Hopefully vingochr is right in his tread that Apple will use the i7-2617M or i7-2657M. That's a 1,5GHZ or 1,6GHZ i7 SandyBridge... :D

SOURCE
"Last order date is April 29, 2011 and last shipment date is October 14, 2011"
 
Last edited:
I agree with brudog. Need it?, buy it. And when the new model rolls out and it has enough spec to make you want to switch, sell it and recoup part of the money to get the new model. So far, for every Apple product that I've sold on Craigslist, I was able to get 70% of the money back. One was even a 2008 macbook (aluminum version) which I sold recently. Of course I do take care of my stuff and keep all the original packaging which WILL make the difference.

As far as the update goes, even if sandy bridge processor comes out with the new one, I don't think it will impact that much on the efficiency of the type of software that most MBA users utilize. It would have to be the inclusion of the hard-to-predict additions such as the backlit keyboard, larger SSD, or Thunderbolt port that would really want me to get the new model.
 
rugox said:
I agree with brudog. Need it?, buy it. And when the new model rolls out and it has enough spec to make you want to switch, sell it and recoup part of the money to get the new model. So far, for every Apple product that I've sold on Craigslist, I was able to get 70% of the money back. One was even a 2008 macbook (aluminum version) which I sold recently. Of course I do take care of my stuff and keep all the original packaging which WILL make the difference.

As far as the update goes, even if sandy bridge processor comes out with the new one, I don't think it will impact that much on the efficiency of the type of software that most MBA users utilize. It would have to be the inclusion of the hard-to-predict additions such as the backlit keyboard, larger SSD, or Thunderbolt port that would really want me to get the new model.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more
 
Wouldn't the MacMini's and Mac Pro's need a refresh prior to the MBAs? Is it wrong to assume that because no one is talking about the Mini's and the Mac Pro's being updated that we shouldn't even dream of a MBA update?
 
I've bought an MBA 13" 128GB SSD 4GB RAM today, with an education discount + free ipod touch which I will sell on Ebay (i.e., take off another AUD$200-250 from the price). So I've paid AUD$1400 instead of AUD$1750. When the new MBA comes out, if I like it, I'll likely be able to sell this MBA for more than $1400, and buy the new one. If I don't like the refresh, I'll stick with what I have.
 
I am waiting.

I just hope they'll have the back-lit keyboard. I did not think this was important until I used mother-in-law's MBA. I currently have MBP with back-lit keyboard and after using hers, I realized I was taking it for granted.
 
What are the chances for 3G? Any chance if Apple made it, that they would bake in 4g for the future?
 
rugox said:
I agree with brudog. Need it?, buy it. And when the new model rolls out and it has enough spec to make you want to switch, sell it and recoup part of the money to get the new model. So far, for every Apple product that I've sold on Craigslist, I was able to get 70% of the money back. One was even a 2008 macbook (aluminum version) which I sold recently. Of course I do take care of my stuff and keep all the original packaging which WILL make the difference.

As far as the update goes, even if sandy bridge processor comes out with the new one, I don't think it will impact that much on the efficiency of the type of software that most MBA users utilize. It would have to be the inclusion of the hard-to-predict additions such as the backlit keyboard, larger SSD, or Thunderbolt port that would really want me to get the new model.
Click to expand...

Very good point !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back