MacBook Air 2018

[sracer]

Well they didn't seem to care for the former "Pro" MacBook fans, when they removed the magsafe, the keyboard, the ports etc - so I wouldn't be surprised if they changed the machine radically again. I'd like to think it being the Air (a more consumer level laptop) that they may be more cautious, but then I remember they removed the headphone jack, the button/TouchID, added a notch etc on the iPhone - so yeah...

I hear ya. I think I'm a good barometer of what Apple WON'T be doing. These days, if I LIKE something, Apple will remove it or discontinue it. 🙂

 

[Dave245]

Yes, it will be interesting. And because those who are fans of the current Macbook Air have different reasons for loving it, if what is announced tomorrow departs from the current MBA (beyond faster processor, retina display) it will result in some fans being former-fans. I'll be in that category if they simply enlarge the current retina Macbook and call it an Air.

It will be interesting in this thread tomorrow I think, we will all be posting our opinions on what was announced no doubt.

Personally I’m going to be watching with a very keen interest in both the new iPad Pros and what Mac’s are announced.

 

[Wild-Bill]

If it’s got that crappy butterfly keyboard they can keep it. If it’s got no ports other than USB-C, they can keep it.
If it’s got a gimmicky touchbar and extremely large trackpad, they can keep it.

Most likely? They can keep it. Given their horrible track record in the computer department over the last few years I fully expect to be underwhelmed.

 

[TomOSeven]

I hear ya. I think I'm a good barometer of what Apple WON'T be doing. These days, if I LIKE something, Apple will remove it or discontinue it. 🙂

Same here.

"Man I love the iPhone SE" discontinued.
"The MBA with a retina display would be a perfect computer!" discontinued.
"I can't believe they put a graphics chip, two hard drives, a quad core CPU and user replaceable RAM into this tiny computer! The Mac Mini is so cool!" basically discontinued.
"At least I have my trusty iPad Mini!" discontinued.
[doublepost=1540828491][/doublepost]

If it’s got that crappy butterfly keyboard they can keep it. If it’s got no ports other than USB-C, they can keep it.
If it’s got a gimmicky touchbar and extremely large trackpad, they can keep it.

Most likely? They can keep it. Given their horrible track record in the computer department over the last few years I fully expect to be underwhelmed.

Same, except I love the extremely large trackpad.

Most likely, I will end up buying a T480s tomorrow.

 

[- rob -]

Given their horrible track record in the computer department over the last few years I fully expect to be underwhelmed.

I’m not a pessimistic person, but this is sadly the case. There has been some good stuff done for iMac but the entire Mac laptop line has had dissapointing releases since about 2015.

Major missteps around the touchbar, keyboard and battery performance. And the general system performance / price has lagged.

I’ve wanted to chalk this up as an Intel problem and “just wait for the ARM notebook” but it has been a bigger problem than this.

 

[Abs_p]

If it’s got that crappy butterfly keyboard they can keep it. If it’s got no ports other than USB-C, they can keep it.
If it’s got a gimmicky touchbar and extremely large trackpad, they can keep it.

Most likely? They can keep it. Given their horrible track record in the computer department over the last few years I fully expect to be underwhelmed.

It will have the butterfly keyboard with speakers like the 13'mbp and 2xUSB-C and 1 3.5mm.

 

[Non-Polar]

There are so many things that Apple could put in that will make me not purchase the device.

1) Butterfly keyboard of any kind
2) T2 chip that has caused so much headache for MBP users (Check their thread - it's over 100 pages)
3) Hard-to-remove battery

 

[coolX]

There are so many things that Apple could put in that will make me not purchase the device.

1) Butterfly keyboard of any kind
2) T2 chip that has caused so much headache for MBP users (Check their thread - it's over 100 pages)
3) Hard-to-remove battery

so what windows laptop will you buy instead?

 

[Mainsail]

Tweleve Hours before the Oct 30 event and not one credible leak or photo of a new 13in MBA. At this point, you have to wonder if the new low cost MacBook is just a low spec 128GB rMB with last year’s internals.

 

[Abs_p]

Tweleve Hours before the Oct 30 event and not one credible leak or photo of a new 13in MBA. At this point, you have to wonder if the new low cost MacBook is just a low spec 128GB rMB with last year’s internals.

Trust me, we are getting a new MacBook Air. Yes it will be a new MacBook Air.

Whether it replaces the 12 inch rMB or not, I don't know but it will be a MBA with 2USBxC ports.
[doublepost=1540875878][/doublepost]

There are so many things that Apple could put in that will make me not purchase the device.

1) Butterfly keyboard of any kind
2) T2 chip that has caused so much headache for MBP users (Check their thread - it's over 100 pages)
3) Hard-to-remove battery

This is a joke right?

Hard to remove battery? really?

 

[Chancha]

Tweleve Hours before the Oct 30 event and not one credible leak or photo of a new 13in MBA. At this point, you have to wonder if the new low cost MacBook is just a low spec 128GB rMB with last year’s internals.

The irony is if they do put out something new, it probably will suck more than a discounted rMB.

 

[SomeGit]

Honestly the quality barometer. for me is the butterfly keyboard. If it has one I'm out, if it doesn't it's my future laptop.

I still can't believe they still insist on such a terrible mechanism, when they had by far the best laptop keyboard on the market. If they add one to the new MBA it's essentially Apple admitting that they are more concerned with their ego, rather than making good computers.

 

[Dave245]

Honestly the quality barometer. for me is the butterfly keyboard. If it has one I'm out, if it doesn't it's my future laptop.

I still can't believe they still insist on such a terrible mechanism, when they had by far the best laptop keyboard on the market. If they add one to the new MBA it's essentially Apple admitting that they are more concerned with their ego, rather than making good computers.

I think the issues with the butterfly keyboard have been fixed in gen 3, the MacBook Pro that was updated in July got the gen 3.

 

[SomeGit]

I think the issues with the butterfly keyboard have been fixed in gen 3, the MacBook Pro that was updated in July got the gen 3.

It really hasn't, they included a membrane to reduce the likelihood of dust making through, but the keyword is reduced.

It should be more reliable than gen 1 and 2 but still more likely to fail than old keboards, and its other issues like the keytravel, the loud noise (although not as loud as gen 1/2), the stiffness and such still remain.

 

[Dave245]

It really hasn't, they included a membrane to reduce the likelihood of dust making through, but the keyword is reduced.

It should be more reliable than gen 1 and 2 but still more likely to fail than old keboards, and its other issues like the keytravel, the loud noise (although not as loud as gen 1/2), the stiffness and such still remain.

The membrane seems to be working tho, there are less complaints about the new keyboard. The key travel is less for a reason, that was intentional on Apple's part. If you don't like the keyboard that's fine, there are a few who don't! personally i've tried it in the Apple store and on a friend's MacBook Pro from 2016 and i actually like it, i can type a lot better without missing keys. Each to their own i guess.

Personally i wouldn't have a problem with them putting the butterfly keyboard into this new 13" MacBook/Air, which is something they might very well do, especially if they are upgrading everything else like a Retina display and thinner bezels.

Not long until we find out now anyway 🙂

 

[SomeGit]

The membrane seems to be working tho, there are less complaints about the new keyboard. The key travel is less for a reason, that was intentional on Apple's part. If you don't like the keyboard that's fine, there are a few who don't! personally i've tried it in the Apple store and on a friend's MacBook Pro from 2016 and i actually like it, i can type a lot better without missing keys. Each to their own i guess.

Personally i wouldn't have a problem with them putting the butterfly keyboard into this new 13" MacBook/Air, which is something they might very well do, especially if they are upgrading everything else like a Retina display and thinner bezels.

Not long until we find out now anyway 🙂

It's too soon to tell really, old gen only started getting reports after a while, but checking r/apple there have been a lot of double press and stuck key reports for 3rd gen as well. It might been reduced, but it's still not a reliable mechanism.

Yeah, to each their own I can't stand my opinion as better then your's obviously. But typing on a 2017 MBP it gets physically uncomfortable after 10 minutes of heavy keyboard use and I can't stand the clicking sounds... and comes from someone who uses Cherry MX Blue daily.

 

[Abs_p]

Seriously, I can't help but laugh when people still go "if it has butterfly keyboard I am out". It most certainly will have a butterfly keyboard, asking for something else is almost as funny as people asking for a 3.5mm jack on iPhones.

Enjoy your windows laptops I guess?

 

[kirkj1s]

Mark Gurman from Bloomberg has just released a new report stating that:

The new laptop will look similar to the current MacBook Air, but will include thinner bezels around the screen. The display, which will remain about 13-inches, will be a higher-resolution "Retina" version that Apple uses on other products, the people said.

If Apple do this and rather than remove the Air, adding a Retina display and reducing the bezels will you buy one? And what do you think about Apple doing this?

Personally I think it’s a great idea, a Retina display in the MacBook Air and thinner bezels will make it look more modern, add that to a cheaper price point and I think it will be very popular indeed.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...plan-revamped-low-cost-macs-to-reignite-sales

OLED Touch display PLEASE!!

 

[Dave245]

OLED Touch display PLEASE!!

That will not happen!

 

[Ma2k5]

The membrane seems to be working tho, there are less complaints about the new keyboard. The key travel is less for a reason, that was intentional on Apple's part. If you don't like the keyboard that's fine, there are a few who don't! personally i've tried it in the Apple store and on a friend's MacBook Pro from 2016 and i actually like it, i can type a lot better without missing keys. Each to their own i guess.

Personally i wouldn't have a problem with them putting the butterfly keyboard into this new 13" MacBook/Air, which is something they might very well do, especially if they are upgrading everything else like a Retina display and thinner bezels.

Not long until we find out now anyway 🙂

I thought this too, but the thread in the rMBP sub-forum thread (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/gen-3-butterfly-keyboard.2127111/unread) about the new gen 3 keyboard seems to indicate it still suffers from issues 🙁. In 2018, we shouldn't be having any of these issues on premium laptops at this price.

 

[Dave245]

I thought this too, but the thread in the rMBP sub-forum thread (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/gen-3-butterfly-keyboard.2127111/unread) about the new gen 3 keyboard seems to indicate it still suffers from issues 🙁. In 2018, we shouldn't be having any of these issues on premium laptops at this price.

At that price they shouldn’t have any issues! I thought Apple had fixed it. If they introduce new Mac’s today I’m hoping they have fixed the keyboards. I don’t mind the lack of travel and the feel of them, but I do want the keyboard to be reliable!

 

[Ma2k5]

At that price they shouldn’t have any issues! I thought Apple had fixed it. If they introduce new Mac’s today I’m hoping they have fixed the keyboards. I don’t mind the lack of travel and the feel of them, but I do want the keyboard to be reliable!

Here is a post from someone on that thread, sad to see double key press issues still occur, that would be a programming nightmare:

I had double space bar issues for 1.5 days (Unshaky counts double presses), then they disappeared. Then I randomly had small issues with E, 1, and something else... I or T perhaps? – but they also disappeared.

I might end up keeping this MBP, being prepared for keyboard problems, and once (not if, sigh) something happens and it goes to be repaired I'll buy a Macbook or the-new-Air-or-whatever-it's-called to keep me afloat from another of those resellers who allow returns for 30 days. No, I'm not happy that I need an app to catch double presses. Yes, I love everything else about this machine... I also looked at software I would need to buy again for Windows only to realise two of the programs I use most often don't even exist in Windows versions.

If they update the actual Air with a better screen and keep the keyboard as it is now (small chance) I'm getting one and returning the MBP, though.

 

[sracer]

Seriously, I can't help but laugh when people still go "if it has butterfly keyboard I am out". It most certainly will have a butterfly keyboard, asking for something else is almost as funny as people asking for a 3.5mm jack on iPhones.

Enjoy your windows laptops I guess?

Not quite. The difference between this and the 3.5mm jack on iPhones is that the jack is gone on the iPhone, it isn't coming back. The classic keyboard on the MBA is not yet gone. If it goes, that is a turning point...which some here have indicated.

A Windows laptop is not the only option for people moving beyond the Macbook Air. But if that's what you think, I can understand where you are coming from.

 

[TomOSeven]

My anus is ready.

Give us ~~liberty~~ a classic keyboard or give us hell!

 

[Ma2k5]

Will they start wth the Mac or the iPad lineup I wonder?