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KGI: Apple to Launch Cheaper MacBook Air in 2Q 2018
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If Apple is actually working on an update to the MacBook Air, then I think that's great, but you have to remember, this is Apple. When these updates do happen, they tend to infuriate as much as they delight. Here is what I can envisage them doing -
Delight - CPU - Intel has discontinued higher end Broadwell CPUs and the CPUs that Apple is using in the current MBA have no Broadwell-based successor. I do not think Apple would go with Skylake CPUs at this point, since the U-series (6360U,6660U) were superseded by Kaby Lake U-Series (7360U, 7660U) so quickly. Couple that with the inevitable update to quad-core Coffee Lake U-Series in the 13" MacBook Pro at some point this year, leaving dual-core Kaby Lake as a logical choice. It also ensures compatibility with HEVC and HEIF in future macOS updates. So minimum Skylake, but I am hedging towards Kaby Lake U-Series.
Both - RAM - 8GB LPDDR3 standard, 16GB LPDDR3 BTO. Apple is not giving you a DIMM slot for your own upgrades, let it go.
Infuriate - Flash Storage - 128, 256, 512 and new 1TB BTO options, nVME, but slower than MacBook Pro storage. Apple is going to solder this to the board after years of using a proprietary slot.
Neither - GPU - Built-in...it's a MacBook Air, if you want a discrete GPU, buy an MBP.
Both - Ports - USB 3 Type-A (x2), SDXC Card reader, headphone jack and TB3 replaces TB2, with two ports, one of which replaces the MagSafe port. Again, let it go. MagSafe had it's day and Apple wants to standardize power delivery to USB-C.
Both - Display - 1680X1050, but it will be an IP-S panel. I think Apple can get IP-S at the price it wants and I don't think the battery hit will be that bad, given that the CPU is a bit more power efficient. Apple is not going to put a Retina display in a "value" portable. If you want Retina, they are going to push you to a 12" MacBook or a 13" MacBook Pro.
Both - Keyboard - Not the current keyboard, but not the butterfly one either...more than likely, the Magic Keyboard mechanism will be used. It's cheaper to implement in a value portable and allows Apple to discontinue manufacturing the current MacBook Air mechanism. Also, expect it have the arrow keys that NOBODY seems to like.
Both - Trackpad - Force Touch, and bigger, but not as big as it's Pro siblings.
I think we might see some minor chassis mods for revised airflow, the revised ports, larger trackpad, etc. I expect the lighted Apple logo to disappear to fall in line with the current MBP ID. My opinion is that Apple management thinks it's cheesy and not dignified enough.
The iSight will stay at 720p. I think the screen will be made a tad thinner, maybe the body as well, but I wouldn't count on it if Apple is trying to maximize it's existing investment without retooling the innards too much. hopefully, tiered/terraced batteries make an appearance and we still get the phenomenal battery life that made the MBA famous.
We'll see if I'm right, if Apple actually releases an update, but that's a big IF.
Delight - CPU - Intel has discontinued higher end Broadwell CPUs and the CPUs that Apple is using in the current MBA have no Broadwell-based successor. I do not think Apple would go with Skylake CPUs at this point, since the U-series (6360U,6660U) were superseded by Kaby Lake U-Series (7360U, 7660U) so quickly. Couple that with the inevitable update to quad-core Coffee Lake U-Series in the 13" MacBook Pro at some point this year, leaving dual-core Kaby Lake as a logical choice. It also ensures compatibility with HEVC and HEIF in future macOS updates. So minimum Skylake, but I am hedging towards Kaby Lake U-Series.
Both - RAM - 8GB LPDDR3 standard, 16GB LPDDR3 BTO. Apple is not giving you a DIMM slot for your own upgrades, let it go.
Infuriate - Flash Storage - 128, 256, 512 and new 1TB BTO options, nVME, but slower than MacBook Pro storage. Apple is going to solder this to the board after years of using a proprietary slot.
Neither - GPU - Built-in...it's a MacBook Air, if you want a discrete GPU, buy an MBP.
Both - Ports - USB 3 Type-A (x2), SDXC Card reader, headphone jack and TB3 replaces TB2, with two ports, one of which replaces the MagSafe port. Again, let it go. MagSafe had it's day and Apple wants to standardize power delivery to USB-C.
Both - Display - 1680X1050, but it will be an IP-S panel. I think Apple can get IP-S at the price it wants and I don't think the battery hit will be that bad, given that the CPU is a bit more power efficient. Apple is not going to put a Retina display in a "value" portable. If you want Retina, they are going to push you to a 12" MacBook or a 13" MacBook Pro.
Both - Keyboard - Not the current keyboard, but not the butterfly one either...more than likely, the Magic Keyboard mechanism will be used. It's cheaper to implement in a value portable and allows Apple to discontinue manufacturing the current MacBook Air mechanism. Also, expect it have the arrow keys that NOBODY seems to like.
Both - Trackpad - Force Touch, and bigger, but not as big as it's Pro siblings.
I think we might see some minor chassis mods for revised airflow, the revised ports, larger trackpad, etc. I expect the lighted Apple logo to disappear to fall in line with the current MBP ID. My opinion is that Apple management thinks it's cheesy and not dignified enough.
The iSight will stay at 720p. I think the screen will be made a tad thinner, maybe the body as well, but I wouldn't count on it if Apple is trying to maximize it's existing investment without retooling the innards too much. hopefully, tiered/terraced batteries make an appearance and we still get the phenomenal battery life that made the MBA famous.
We'll see if I'm right, if Apple actually releases an update, but that's a big IF.
This is what needs to happen. I bought my Pro back in 2015 and paid about $1650 CAD after tax, the base model MacBook is now roughly $1950 CAD after tax, that's kind of ridiculous. I don't expect a price drop on the MB or Pro to actually happen though. Basically they're just pricing out a lot of the mid - high range customers and telling them to buy an Air.
I don't understand some of the posts here. The 13" MBP is lousy with just two USB-C ports. I'm looking at the MacBook Air because it has ports: USB-A, SD card slot, etc. I hope they keep the Air around as a version with actual ports, as opposed to the "it will be great someday" MBP with nothing but USB-C and the required handful of dongles.
I really miss the days when Apple had a clear "Professional" and "Consumer" line of both a Desktop and Notebook each. Their product lines have gotten so muddled and confusing over the years.
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The only thing you'll find from Apple to compete with a $300 laptop is the iPad at $329. Don't expect them to make a notebook at that price. It's beneath them.
USB-C is great today. Just because you're unwilling to let go of the past doesn't make it not great.
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The only thing you'll find from Apple to compete with a $300 laptop is the iPad at $329. Don't expect them to make a notebook at that price. It's beneath them.
USB-C is great today. Just because you're unwilling to let go of the past doesn't make it not great.
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OK, below are the details. Note the Kaby Lake numbers are for the Mac only, since Apple uses TDP up.
Broadwell i5-5350U: 1.8 GHz base, 2.9 GHz single-core Turbo Boost, 2.7 GHz dual-core Turbo Boost
Broadwell i7-5650U: 2.2 GHz base, 3.2 GHz single-core Turbo Boost, 3.1 GHz dual-core Turbo Boost
Kaby Lake m3-7Y32: 1.2 GHz base, 3.0 GHz single-core Turbo Boost, ??? GHz dual-core Turbo Boost
Kaby Lake i5-7Y54: 1.3 GHz base, 3.2 GHz single-core Turbo Boost, 2.8 GHz dual-core Turbo Boost
Kaby Lake i7-7Y75: 1.4 GHz base, 3.6 GHz single-core Turbo Boost, 3.4 GHz dual-core Turbo Boost
There is an IPC difference between the two platforms, but as you likely know it's overall not huge (although it can be as much as 30% higher for Kaby Lake for some very specific individual tests).
In terms of the Turbo Boost speeds, interestingly when we ran the tests on Kaby Lake Y here using 4 instances of the YES command in the Terminal and monitoring with Intel Power Gadget, they all maxed out at 2.6 GHz. So, while the on-paper Turbo Boost speeds for Y series look good, and probably are what account for the much better Geekbench 4 scores for Kaby Lake Y, when truly pushed hard for extended periods, they'll throttle to 2.6 GHz (but usually not lower). However, it would seem to me that YES testing isn't a great test either, since it's more than what would be needed for a heavy duty bench, although I guess not as bad as power virus type testing. So, for sake of ease, I'll report Cinebench testing, on test #1 and test #10, which would be after about half an hour of continuous Cinebench testing:
m3: 265 / 246 (7.2% speed drop)
i5: 264 / 249 (5.7% speed drop)
i7: 274 / 258 (5.8% speed drop)
Note that when I did the m3 test on a granite counter (which presumably wicks away heat better), my scores were 264 / 253 (4.2% speed drop). The 265 / 246 score above was on a wood table at ~21C room temp.
Furthermore, the recovery seems to be very good. The reason my data stops at 10 runs is because around the 11th or 12th run I moved the computer over a few inches just because it was more comfortable and noticed the speed went back up in the next run. I then realized it was because I had moved it to a cooler spot on the table, which affected throttling. Similarly, the guy who ran the i5 test noticed the speed go up in the run after a run that got interrupted after a phone call. What I'm saying here is that if you're doing any sort of bursty work, which is almost everything except like compiles and rendering, the Y series will likely run near its usual max speed. That max speed is not the Turbo Boost speed, but that's true for any recent Intel CPU.
For reference, the Broadwell i5-5350U gets around 277 which is roughly Kaby Lake i7-7Y75 speed, and Broadwell i7-5650U gets around 296 which is 7-8% higher than Kaby Lake i7-7Y75. Using those numbers, it would seem that Broadwell U i7 in Cinebench would start off about 7.5% faster than Kaby Lake Y i7 and after 30 minutes of sustained load would be about 15% faster. OTOH, with bursty work, the two machines would be about the same, or else Kaby Lake might be a bit faster.
Replace the Air with a redesigned iPad Pro - move the Lightning port to the side allowing it to be placed on a keyboard "dock". Give it the ability to close like a laptop - it becomes your entry level ultra portable.
You guys are thinking it wrong. You still don't know Apple's strategy. Think about this. You think MBA is expensive because it's 999, but the MacBook pro is starting at $1299. What if MacBook pro started at $2299? Doesn't that make MBA much cheaper?
A pretty realistic preciction. I think a Retina display is still a no go for this price point. It would cannibalize 12” and especially 13” base MBP sales. Not going to happen. I also highly doubt they will have TB3. The cheapest TB3 notebooks cost about $800-$1000 and there aren’t that many. It’s still a premium feature that Apple will charge more for and USB-C does not mean TB3. Even the 12” MacBook doesn’t have it. I think it will remain pro only for a while. USB-C 3.1 gen 1 will be there. Most likely two USB-C 3.1 gen 1 ports, one USB-C 3.1 and one TB2 or two USB-C and a TB2 port. TB2 is still not dead and enough bandwidth for a value MacBook.
They will get rid of the SDXC slot as well. They will make people buy an adapter. Also the USB-C digital A/V adapter with USB type A and hdmi ports. No more than 8GB ram base at 1866mhz and 128GB storage but nowhere near as fast as the MBPs. And a headphone jack.
Their entire hardware strategy outside of 'muh iPhone' has been increasingly confused. And even the iPhone product offerings were much more simple a short while ago.
Beginning to remind me more and more like Apples 90s strategy with LC, Performa, PowerMac, II series, Quadra, Centra, ect.
Should get back to the 'good, better, best' model of product lineups.
According to the report, all Kuo said was that the Macbook Air is getting a price drop, nothing about a redesign. While it's fun to speculate and make a wish list of improvements, I cannot see Apple changing it entirely. The article was about a lower price. Apple cannot add a lot of premium features and make their profit margins. And as mentioned, if the Macbook Air is too attractive, they have to worry about hurting 12-inch Macbook and 13-inch Macbook Pro sales.
Due to Meltdown and Spectre, Apple might update the CPU and add a USB-C port. I think they'll keep the remaining ports, because by doing so, Apple can claim that they are still giving their customers a port selection.
If the resolution is improved, it will be slight, perhaps 1080p. I honestly cannot see Apple making a Retina Macbook Air. If you want Retina, you'll have to upgrade. Retina is what differentiates an entry-level machine with a higher-end machine.
Why are they keeping the Macbook Air at all? They'd probably like to eliminate it, but they know how many they sell. It's just business. Until they can make the Macbook 12-inch more powerful, add more ports, and lower the price, they need it. Like the iPhone SE, the lower priced Macbook Air gets consumers in the door and buying apps. By offering a more budget model, today's Macbook Air customers are future Macbook Pro buyers.
Due to Meltdown and Spectre, Apple might update the CPU and add a USB-C port. I think they'll keep the remaining ports, because by doing so, Apple can claim that they are still giving their customers a port selection.
If the resolution is improved, it will be slight, perhaps 1080p. I honestly cannot see Apple making a Retina Macbook Air. If you want Retina, you'll have to upgrade. Retina is what differentiates an entry-level machine with a higher-end machine.
Why are they keeping the Macbook Air at all? They'd probably like to eliminate it, but they know how many they sell. It's just business. Until they can make the Macbook 12-inch more powerful, add more ports, and lower the price, they need it. Like the iPhone SE, the lower priced Macbook Air gets consumers in the door and buying apps. By offering a more budget model, today's Macbook Air customers are future Macbook Pro buyers.
While Apple is happy to sell you a $1150 iPhone X, they also offer a $350 iPhone SE.
While Apple is happy to sell you a $999 iPad Pro 10.5, they also offer a $350 iPad 9.7.
The Mac Mini was originally the "cheap" way to enter the Mac ecosystem, but even if Apple had kept it updated on a regular basis, 80% of Mac sales are now laptops so if someone is looking for the least expensive way to enter the Mac ecosystem, they will want a laptop, not a desktop. While the MacBook Air is cheaper than a MacBook or MacBook Escape, it's still not "cheap" like a Mac Mini is compared to the other desktops (iMac / Mac Pro) in the lineup.
If Apple can get the MacBook Air in it's current form to $899 or, better yet, $799, that makes it more attractive to new entrants.
While one could argue a less-expensive MacBook Air taking over the role of the "entry point" into the Mac ecosystem would invalidate the need for the Mac Mini and therefore lead to it's demise, pretty much everyone buying a Mac Mini these past couple of years are doing so not because it is cheap, but because it offers certain advantages (size, power, cooling) over an iMac for them.
With it no longer having to hit a $500 base price point, Apple would be free to make the Mini a more powerful (and expensive) system with greater appeal to those buyers.
Indeed, probably a non intel custom Apple CPU and few bucks / pounds saving. Most likely a poor deal for the consumer.
Things aren't as Simple as they were in 2001, sorry the world is moving on. It's nothing like the LC/Performa days, it's something different. There's more choice than the "Good/better/best" days but the choices are more distinct. The LC/Performa days had lots of SKUs generally doing the same thing, which is not the case now.
I'd rather we drop the Macbook, bring MBA up to snuff with modern tech, while keeping a 999 price point. It's more than enough.
Meltdown/Spectre is irrelevant here. In order to address this in hardware, it'd have to be a future CPU. The Air isn't going to get that.
I'm not convinced a 1080p monitor would be a good idea in a 13" Air. The pixel density is too high for proper font sizing, and the pixel density is too low for top quality font scaling.
The Macbook 12-inch is a JOKE. And a stupid joke att that. I would like to see some sales figures, cause I suspect only imbeciles would find it attractive.
I didn’t mention Jobs, I was simply talking about Tim Cook. But now we’re on the subject, while we can never know, I think it’s safe to say he wouldn’t have left so many products untouched for so long. He cared about the products more than Cook, and seems to listen/respond to complaints because he genuinely cared about the product. Cook only seems to care most when it makes Apple look bad/impacts sales. You seem to be saying because they were both in the CEO position, they would both do the same in this situation. I don’t agree with that.
Don’t believe any of it
IMO to the mb air will happen the same as to the iPad Air
It will disappear with the MacBook being the new entry level mb with a possibly lower price point
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That’s quite harsh but exactly the reason why I chose the mb air over the mb 12inch
IMO to the mb air will happen the same as to the iPad Air
It will disappear with the MacBook being the new entry level mb with a possibly lower price point
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That’s quite harsh but exactly the reason why I chose the mb air over the mb 12inch
Maybe Apple will test the waters by putting an ARM A11X/A12 (tuned and packaged for a higher TDP) running full macOS into a low-end MacBook Air shell. No Intel tax. The edu market already buys lots of ARM-powered Chromebooks and iPads. Power users who run Windows apps rarely buy the Air models anyway, so the lack of being able to run x86 code (via bootcamp or a native VM) won't cost any sales. Port Apple's productivity suite and Xcode for edu and learn-to-code programs, and that will completely cover a huge segment of the non-pro/non-game market (e.g. edu).
That's very true about Meltdown/Spectre. It's going to be the end of 2018 or early 2019. If the rumor is true, I would be surprised if they didn't update the existing Broadwell CPU.
That's interesting about the 1080p monitor. I tried a 1920 x 1080 Dell XPS but it had issues. Can you tell me what resolution would be best on a Macbook Air?
I actually bought the i7 CPU, 512 GB Macbook Air model last week thinking there wouldn't be an update. I'm planning on returning it but I'm definitely in the market for this device if they don't change it too much by removing all of the port selections.
I agree. I don't think Jobs would have ignored products, including the Macbook Air. I think he would have been embarrassed to release an Apple product with such outdated specifications. Jobs would have probably removed these items from the line or updated them long before now.
According to Tim Cook when releasing the new iPad Pro, “I think if you’re looking at a PC, why would you buy a PC anymore?” Cook said in an interview with The Telegraph. “No really, why would you buy one? Yes, the iPad Pro is a replacement for a notebook or a desktop for many, many people. They will start using it and conclude they no longer need to use anything else, other than their phones.”
If you have this attitude, it's not hard to imagine why he's not taking as much interest in PCs. I like my iPad but it's a consumption device for me. It's impractical for my job requirements.