It's 2015 and macbook air still doesn't have 1080p

[dmitrivich]

I don't see it shaking out that way. Air implies lightweight. Apple now has a naming problem/inconsistency in their lineup. The Macbook "Air" is now heavier and bulkier than the Macbook. Nomenclaturally, it would have made sense to call the MBA just the Macbook and the new 12" the Air if they intended to keep both. Their is a level of absurdity to that, though. But, they didn't do that, so clearly the Air will fade away, with no more significant changes.

What they will do if sales of the 12" macbook disappoint and the MBA continues to be extremely popular, I don't know. If they can get the price of the rMBP down a little more, it won't matter.

 

[dexterbell]

Not putting retina on the Airs is a marketing decision. If they came out with the Macbook (12") with retina and updated the Airs to retina, no one would even touch a 12" Macbook. I think they will make some significant changes to the Airs in the next refresh and many of those changes will derive from the new Macbook. This allows them to have a clear distinction between the Macbook and Air lines NOW, allow the public to infatuate themselves with the new Macbook, and then when these changes are replicated to the Airs, many of the Macbook buyers will jump back to the Air line. If nothing else, this keeps the revenue stream running at full tilt.

Tim Cook is a brilliant marketer and this is the way I see this shaking out.

Sorry to say but the MBA is pretty much dead, at least the 13. Releasing a MBA 13 with retina would be redundant. I think they will make a MBA 11 thats even smaller than the new Macbook with the USB-C port and that will be it for the Air line.

 

[motrek]

Sorry to say but the MBA is pretty much dead, at least the 13. Releasing a MBA 13 with retina would be redundant. I think they will make a MBA 11 thats even smaller than the new Macbook with the USB-C port and that will be it for the Air line.

Dunno how they could make it any smaller. The new rMB is the width of a full size keyboard and the length necessary for a 16:10 screen. A smaller laptop will either have a squished screen or a smaller than full size keyboard, which would be pretty awful.

 

[Saturn1217]

Not putting retina on the Airs is a marketing decision. If they came out with the Macbook (12") with retina and updated the Airs to retina, no one would even touch a 12" Macbook. I think they will make some significant changes to the Airs in the next refresh and many of those changes will derive from the new Macbook. This allows them to have a clear distinction between the Macbook and Air lines NOW, allow the public to infatuate themselves with the new Macbook, and then when these changes are replicated to the Airs, many of the Macbook buyers will jump back to the Air line. If nothing else, this keeps the revenue stream running at full tilt.

Tim Cook is a brilliant marketer and this is the way I see this shaking out.

While that would be awesome and I hope you are right I think the following scenario is more likely:

They keep the current Macbook Air line as is for a while alongside the rMBPs and the new Macbook (just as they are doing with the 13" non-retina MBP). This way consumers still have something to buy that actually suites their needs. But it is likely that sales of the current Macbook Air will drop off because Apple is training us to think that anything without a retina display is "old".

Eventually Apple will redesign the rMBPs to make them even thinner and lighter, while still retaining ports and performance. The new Macbook will come down in price and the current market for the Macbook Airs will be able to choose between a machine just as (or nearly) as lightweight as the current 13" MBA if they valued performance more than weight OR the new cheaper Macbook if they valued price or weight more than performance. Apple will be back to two laptop lines, Macbook and Pro with very clear differentiation between them.

NOTE: I don't like this plan. I think Apple's best notebooks have occurred at exactly the times when they lost some of that product line differentiation that they profess to love so much. But I guess it is good for shareholders.

The 13" MBA will likely die. The 11" MBA will 100% certainly die. It is the less popular model to begin with. They will not ever get retina. I don't care about retina but I will be very sad to see the end of the Macbook Air line. This is the best computer I've ever owned.

 

[Ulenspiegel]

...I don't care about retina but I will be very sad to see the end of the Macbook Air line. This is the best computer I've ever owned.

I share your view.

 

[newellj]

Eventually Apple will redesign the rMBPs to make them even thinner and lighter, while still retaining ports and performance. The new Macbook will come down in price and the current market for the Macbook Airs will be able to choose between a machine just as (or nearly) as lightweight as the current 13" MBA if they valued performance more than weight OR the new cheaper Macbook if they valued price or weight more than performance. Apple will be back to two laptop lines, Macbook and Pro with very clear differentiation between them.

That seems like the most logical scenario to me, too, but my track record on predicting what Apple will do is pretty poor.

 

[EightyTwenty]

After dabbling with some Windows laptops that are supposedly comparable with the Air I can say the Air is the best notebook ever made. Even with its lower resolution screen it just about perfect. Would it be nice to have a hi res display? Sure, but not if it means sacrificing 12+ hour battery life.

The Air's price tag is justified in its flawless design down to the last detail.

It's not flawless. The screen resolution and screen type (cheapo TN panel) are significant flaws.

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Sorry to say but the MBA is pretty much dead, at least the 13. Releasing a MBA 13 with retina would be redundant. I think they will make a MBA 11 thats even smaller than the new Macbook with the USB-C port and that will be it for the Air line.

Why would they drop the 13" Air, but keep the 11.6" Air?

 

[jjfcpa]

Sorry to say but the MBA is pretty much dead, at least the 13. Releasing a MBA 13 with retina would be redundant. I think they will make a MBA 11 thats even smaller than the new Macbook with the USB-C port and that will be it for the Air line.

It's not redundant at all if they want to keep a 12", 13" in the "Air" versions and a 13" and 15" in the "Pro" versions.

I think the 12" Macbook and 13" MBA will be merged into a Macbook line. There WILL be a 13" Macbook with lesser power/ports to compliment the 12". Just makes sense because for some people the additional real estate is a must. The 12" only scales to 1440 X 900, but if you look at the 13" rMBP, it will scale nicely to 1680 X 1050 and is quite usable. I should know, I have one and that's the resolution I run it at.

So in a sense, you are correct, the so called "Air" line will disappear. It doesn't make sense to call it an "Air" and it weighs more than the Macbook. Duh!

 

[JCrz]

NameGate

I, too, am confused about Apple's naming strategy. Unless they come out with a new Air that's even thinner and lighter than the current "new MacBook" then it's completely silly.

I call this "NameGate".

 

[dexterbell]

Why would they drop the 13" Air, but keep the 11.6" Air?

Because they could barely squeeze one port and enough batteries into a 12 inch screen with the Macbook. There is absolutely no way you will ever see a 13.3 inch Macbook Air thats smaller and lighter then the new 12 inch Macbook, especially with a retina display. 11 inch is much easier to work with.

 

[EightyTwenty]

Because they could barely squeeze one port and enough batteries into a 12 inch screen with the Macbook. There is absolutely no way you will ever see a 13.3 inch Macbook Air thats smaller and lighter then the new 12 inch Macbook, especially with a retina display. 11 inch is much easier to work with.

But it's 11.6 inches. They can just make the 12" rMP thinner if that's what they want.

The Air is likely a dead end product. Maybe 1 more refresh. That is unless the new MP bombs in the marketplace.