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If the next MBA has Retina display, will my current 2013 MBA be "obsolete" ???
- Thread starter Jaranson
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Depends on whether anyone left alive still places a premium on 12-hour battery life.
I imagine a market will still exist. I'm sure Apple is moving their entire product line to retina (eventually) but there are trade offs to be made. Some people will make them; others won't.
I, for one, would rather be getting work done on my non-retina MBA while the guy in the seat next to me on that trans-Pacific flight is staring at his black retina screen.
I imagine a market will still exist. I'm sure Apple is moving their entire product line to retina (eventually) but there are trade offs to be made. Some people will make them; others won't.
I, for one, would rather be getting work done on my non-retina MBA while the guy in the seat next to me on that trans-Pacific flight is staring at his black retina screen.
funny you should mention that... I fly TPAC roundtrip once a month.(except July and August) The flight is 14 hours nonstop and that's one of the reasons I got the MBA. While every flight that I've been on in the last couple of years had at-seat power outlets, it's more convenient not to have to take the charger out.
I doubt a Retina MBA will have a shorter battery life than what it replaces. That's not the way Apple has done things when bringing in retina.
funny you should mention that... I fly TPAC roundtrip once a month.(except July and August) The flight is 14 hours nonstop and that's one of the reasons I got the MBA. While every flight that I've been on in the last couple of years had at-seat power outlets, it's more convenient not to have to take the charger out.
Those power outlets can be VERY unreliable. If you breath on them wrong they stop working.
I think, if MBA will adopt retina display, battrey will no longer for 12 hours, just 5 or 7 hours
Unless they use an ARM processor instead of Intel
Your current MBA 2013 will be obsolete when Apple stops releasing operating system software that supports the hardware.
My MacBook (late 2006) became obsolete last year when Apple released OSX Mountain Lion 10.8, which no longer supported that old notebook.
We don't know exactly when Apple will drop support for the Haswell MBAs, but I'm guessing that it'll be somewhere in the 2017-2019 timeframe.
Of course, you are welcome to upgrade your computing hardware before it is obsolete. Until then, enjoy your MBA 2013.
My MacBook (late 2006) became obsolete last year when Apple released OSX Mountain Lion 10.8, which no longer supported that old notebook.
We don't know exactly when Apple will drop support for the Haswell MBAs, but I'm guessing that it'll be somewhere in the 2017-2019 timeframe.
Of course, you are welcome to upgrade your computing hardware before it is obsolete. Until then, enjoy your MBA 2013.
so once Apple drops support, the MBA will become unusable and commence self-destruct sequence?
How soon? New MBA will likely use Intel's mobile Broadwell chip which is estimated to come out in Q3 2014 at the earliest.
Yet it would seem odd to me for Apple to have retina in booth MBA and MBP. It would seem more probably to have the MBA at a max of 1920x1080 or 1200 until the 13" MBP moves higher than 2560x1600 which I don't see happening any time soon.
Also even if the Broadwell GPU is as fast as it is hoped to be (30-80% faster), retina would still be pushing 3x the pixels.
However, if a retina MBA comes out in 2014 and you think that your existing MBA is obsolete, I will gladly take it. My "latest" mac laptop is a 12" PowerBook.
so once Apple drops support, the MBA will become unusable and commence self-destruct sequence?
Yes. When you hear a Siri-like voice start counting down from 10, you should probably take cover.
Based on my experience and those of others, the answer is decidedly NO.so once Apple drops support, the MBA will become unusable and commence self-destruct sequence?
A 2013 MBA will work fine for next couple of years, relax... I just bought a 2013 i7/8gb/256 and its faster than a 2.4 i5 MBP .. and to be honest i compared both retina and MBA and there is more working space on the MBA ..
I don't think apple will move to retina on MBA but they will move to IGZO to still keep the battery life high...
Be happy with your AIR.
I don't think apple will move to retina on MBA but they will move to IGZO to still keep the battery life high...
Be happy with your AIR.
Huahaha, LOL...Unless they use an ARM processor instead of Intel
u're right... retina with ARM processor maybe will keep battrey perform for 12 hours
Huahaha, LOL...
u're right... retina with ARM processor maybe will keep battrey perform for 12 hours
Now now, my worst nightmare is that Apple releases a 12" Macbook Air, with a sleek black iodized aluminum exterior, an edge to edge keyboard, and... an arm CPU. Effectively locking everyone into the app store, and preventing me from using it for work.
Is the ARM cpu a subset of a RISC processor? Can it even run an OS if the OS was rewritten for it to match a comparable OS on a CISC processor?
I was thinking, if the OS and all of the applications were rewritten for the Apple A8, A9, etc, processor, similar to when Apple went from IBM's RISC chip to Intel's CISC chip, then would it not work out to the same as what we have now?
I was thinking, if the OS and all of the applications were rewritten for the Apple A8, A9, etc, processor, similar to when Apple went from IBM's RISC chip to Intel's CISC chip, then would it not work out to the same as what we have now?
Depends on what model you have I suppose. For instance, if it were a hi res matte 15" model I personally would much prefer that over the glossy retina models.
so once Apple drops support, the MBA will become unusable and commence self-destruct sequence?
Yes, you should sell it immediately to "future-proof" yourself.
so once Apple drops support, the MBA will become unusable and commence self-destruct sequence?
No, it will remain functional until it eventually dies. The only difference on your end is that you won't receive updates past that point.
There was a rumor based on one of the more known analysts predictions that next year apple will introduce a 12 inch retina display laptop, even thinner and lighter than current MBA, in a redesigned clamshell form factor. It will supposedly redefine laptops again as MBA did. I would be getting one if true
I wish that was true, I've used both and I kick myself for using a Retina display notebook since 2012. It's very hard to go back and I have a 13" Air (2011) my wife never uses since I bought her an iMac I've toyed with.
Though I bet Ivy has a working Retina Air prototype in the shop, rumor has it there was a prototype Air running on Apples Ax series processor. The battery size in the MBA vs iPad, an IGZO screen and Arm chips, heck toss in 4 A7's with the MBA's battery size, rock out 8 core Air.
Remember Apple had OS X running on Intel for quite a while before switching to them, I'm willing to bet they have a version of OS X running on Arm processors. Once the Arms go Quad-core, you could toss in a minimum of 2, heck go 4 for a 16 Core Air, IGZO Retina screen and still probably net a 12-16 hour battery life.
Sadly I don't think Cook has the balls to do a drastic CPU change like Jobs did with Intel. But I wouldn't be surprised if Apple moves to Arms in their notebooks in the next few years, probably get good gaming performance without a dedicated GPU. I'm betting Apple goes IGZO Retina on Airs in 2014.
There was a rumor based on one of the more known analysts predictions that next year apple will introduce a 12 inch retina display laptop, even thinner and lighter than current MBA, in a redesigned clamshell form factor. It will supposedly redefine laptops again as MBA did. I would be getting one if true
I also saw this somewhere. As I remember it, Apple started getting high yields of 12" retina screens with one of its Asian suppliers. I think the rumor source said it was likely that Apple would merge its 11" and 13" MBA's into a 12" retina MBA at equal or lower prices (due to the efficiency of the high yields).
Interestingly, the new iPad is branded as the iPad Air. This would indicate that Apple is shifting it's "Air" product name to a sub-brand that includes stratified products at different performance and price levels (such as the iPad Air).
I guess the 2 sub-brands would then be:
Air = consumer/portability
Pro = productivity/slightly less portability
Yeah I know a lot of people are using a MBA for productivity.