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iPad Air and MacBook Air Stocks Running Low at Apple Stores, With New Models Likely Coming Soon

I’m waiting for the MacBook Air M4 - that chip seems to quite speedy and power efficient. My only wish is that Apple would provide a slightly lighter shade of blue that would also hide fingerprints better. When I get it, we will have someone in the house with an M2, M3, and M4 MacBook Air.
 
I thought I read Feb 18 being a possibility right after President’s day as if something occurs as far as new devices. Otherwise we go into March for the usual possibilities. Only speculation.
 
The new iPad Air needs FaceID. Not the fingerprint button that you have to work out where it is. FaceID is not a Pro feature on iPhone, so it should not be on iPad either.

And iPad Air and Pro should have GPS and eSIM as standard.

But of course Apple wil milk extra revenue from us with these features.
 
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I'll get the M4 MacBook Air when the Back-To-School sale starts here in Canada. We don't need the M4, but the sales on the M3 (and M2) models have been unimpressive.

iPad is unlikely to get M4 IMO. M3 more likely, just for marketing reasons.
 
I've been using the iPad Air 4 since its launch in 2020. I would love for Apple to give me a reason to upgrade it, but there's been nothing new in the iPad Air line in 5 years, just a faster chip and more RAM. The Air 4 is still sufficient to meet my needs, given that I have no interest in Apple Intelligence.
 
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Strebor said:
The new iPad Air needs FaceID. Not the fingerprint button that you have to work out where it is. FaceID is not a Pro feature on iPhone, so it should not be on iPad either.
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It literally tells you on screen which corner it's in if you can't keep track yourself though...
 
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Strebor said:
F new iPad Air needs FaceID. Not the fingerprint button that you have to work out where it is. FaceID is not a Pro feature on nv, so it should not be on iPad either.
E
And iPad Air and Pro should have GPS and eSIM as standard.

But of course Apple wil milk extra revenue from us with these features.
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Doesn’t the physics of Touch ID vs Face ID frequency render this as really using specific iPads differently depending on usage length. Example your more likey to be consistent usage, not closing or interrupting usage on the iPad Pros vs Airs/Mini? I have a mini and have used the pro enough to know you don’t’ use them for similar usage comparably thus the selection of one vs the other is not as much cost as it the frequency of using the function? Touch ID clearly has some advantages on iPads you move around often in usage. Just as Face ID is preferred when using Pro line where you are using it continuously. Anyway yet another engineering perspective on why Apple offers them with different features.
 
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With a Magic Keyboard I don't like TouchID on an iPad. With my iPad Pro, I just tap the space bar and look at the screen and I'm logged in. It's less annoying than having to hold my finger on the TouchID button.

Ironically though, I prefer TouchID on iPhones. When I take off my glasses, I have to hold my phone closer to my face to read it, but at that short distance, FaceID often fails.
 
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Isn't the M4 way more efficient than the M3, or was that the M3 over the M2? Efficiency should take priority in a product like the MacBook Air as it would extend battery life with similar power, or keep the same batter life with significant power boosts in a device that has no fan. I mean this is how chip upgrades go in all MacBooks, nothing new there, but why bother with the M3 on a fanless thin and light if the M4 is more efficient? The M4 is already in the Mac mini base model which is similar to the MacBook Air (in terms of product affordability and placement relative to the category).

Also, there is no reason in the world why the MacBook Air should only have an IPS display option. Make a MacBook Air+ or something, one step above, and overcharge me for an microLED or OLED. I don't care, take my money. Apple seems to be the only company that still sees OLED as this untouchable, expensive feature that should only be the most high-end laptops, and that is just not the case with most PC competitors in the same price categories. We don't even have an OLED option in the insanely priced MacBook Pro's yet!

I think Apple knows that many people who buy the MacBook Pros do so for the design, ports and the better 'pro' display, not always for the power, so they have to keep the better display options for the pro-line only. I am sure many MacBook Pro users today (who don't actually do heavy pro work) would switch to a thinner and lighter MacBook Air with an OLED or microLED display, no fan, and with more than enough power.

But what do I know, I am still waiting for a new, 5G embedded, tiny, '12 Inch MacBook' now that Apple actually has the efficient chips to produce their smallest and lightest MacBook to date. But, of course they won't because they know it would eat into the more profitable iPad Pro sales.
 
Sowelu said:
Also, there is no reason in the world why the MacBook Air should only have an IPS display option. Make a MacBook Air+ or something, one step above, and overcharge me for an microLED or OLED. I don't care, take my money. Apple seems to be the only company that still sees OLED as this untouchable, expensive feature that should only be the most high-end laptops, and that is just not the case with most PC competitors in the same price categories. We don't even have an OLED option in the insanely priced MacBook Pro's yet!

I think Apple knows that many people who buy the MacBook Pros do so for the design, ports and the better 'pro' display, not always for the power, so they have to keep the better display options for the pro-line only. I am sure many MacBook Pro users today (who don't actually do heavy pro work) would switch to a thinner and lighter MacBook Air with an OLED or microLED display, no fan, and with more than enough power.
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I think you answered your own question. There isn't much point in creating a bunch of extra SKUs for a product that will be already covered by the MacBook Pro, to target customers that actually care about this. OLED is coming, but not to the MacBook Air anytime soon.

And microLED is vapourware. Giant $110000 screens with ultra low pixel density don't count.
 
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EugW said:
I think you answered your own question. There isn't much point in creating a bunch of extra SKUs for a product that is already covered by the MacBook Pro. OLED is coming, but not to the MacBook Air anytime soon.

And microLED is vapourware. Giant $110000 screens with low pixel density don't count.
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True, I agree. But I'd take a miniLED at least over the default IPS for the MacBook Air. Maybe once the MacBook Pro's get OLED, the MacBook Air's will at least get miniLED. While not OLED, it's way better than IPS (in my view, at least).
 
Sowelu said:
True, I agree. But I'd take a miniLED at least over the default IPS for the MacBook Air. Maybe once the MacBook Pro's get OLED, the MacBook Air's will at least get miniLED. While not OLED, it's way better than IPS (in my view, at least).
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I really think you should go with the MacBook Pro. Most people in the market for the MacBook Air likely don't even know what mini-LED is, let alone actually care about it. And even when they do know about it, they are usually fine without it, because they are not willing to pay extra for it.
 
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EugW said:
I really think you should go with the MacBook Pro. Most people in the market for the MacBook Air likely don't even know what mini-LED is, let alone actually care about it. And even when they do know about it, they are usually fine without it, because they are not willing to pay extra for it.
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I have had both 16" and 14" MacBook Pros! Great machines, way too bulky and heavy for my use. Traded them both in after a year or two of using each. Once you get used to the thin and lightness of a MacBook Air, and you don't need that pro power, which I do not, it's hard to go back. The 15" MacBook Air hit every mark for me, except for the display. I have two 13" Airs too. This is not to say that the IPS display panels Apple is using aren't very good, they are, I just wish we had another display option and IMHO, miniLED should be the bottom for MacBooks in 2025.
 
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