It’s said to be getting Kaby Lake, I don’t know about specs but my guess would be something that’s faster than the 12” MacBook but not as fast as the MacBook Pro, something in between which is what this new Air will be positioned as I think.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MacBook Air 2018
- Thread starter Dave245
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It’s said to be getting Kaby Lake, I don’t know about specs but my guess would be something that’s faster than the 12” MacBook but not as fast as the MacBook Pro, something in between which is what this new Air will be positioned as I think.
The only reason I can see for eliminating the MBA as the entry level laptop in Apple’s lineup is that Tim believes so deeply in the iPad and the future of iOS for productivity and education that they decide the iPad with keyboard and pencil better fills the need of the current entry level laptop consumer.
I don’t necessarily agree, but I could see how Apple might adopt this philosophy and point of view. This would streamline things for their mobile computer offering:
iPad and iPad Pro
MacBook and MacBook Pro
That’s an interesting thought but it looks like the Air is getting an update, I think it makes sense since the Air has and still is a popular Mac for consumers and students.
Perhaps, but who in their right mind would buy a slower MacBook costing hundreds more? I’d be curious how Apple would position the MB?
Well yes, slower and more expensive.
However today there is a compelling reason to buy a MacBook over an Air. It’s retina screen.
What happens when the Air goes Retina?
It already did in 2016, they just decided to call it a Macbook Pro. No touchbar edition.
Nope. The Macbook Pro non-TB of 2016 is NOT a rebadged Macbook Air.
The 2016 MBP nTB is missing:
- magsafe
- SD card slot
- USB-A ports
- price
For those who want a fast, light macbook with a retina display, yes... the Macbook Pro is it... and they can buy that today. For the rest of us who want/need what the current Macbook Air offers, our days are numbered. I think that the "new" Macbook Air will be nothing more than the current retina Macbook with some internal tweaks and a $1000 starting price.
I think Apple know that they need a consumer laptop, the 12” MacBook isn’t it because it’s too expensive and the same could be said for the MacBook Pro none Touch Bar, most people including students don’t want to spend much more than £1000 on a new computer, enter the MacBook Air.
Also Apple need a computer in the £999 area because at the moment other companies are offering that. If Apple bring out a £999 machine with Retina display, less bezel than the Air and (as quoted by Mark Gurman “look similar to the current MacBook Air” then i think it would be a BIG hit.
Of course this all counts on Mark Gurman being right which to be fair he very often is, he has multiple sources inside of Apple (it’s even been rumoured in the past they some of the leaks are fed to him from the higher ups) but obviously no one is immune to mistakes.
I find it very interesting tho that on his Twitter he has pinned the latest article with a Tweet that reads:
“Get ready for a Retina MacBook Air with thinner bezels and a Pro-focused Mac Mini focused on media centre/server farm/developer users”
The non-TB MBP is very much a rebadged MBA, Apple even billed it as the replacement during the reveal. They’ve moved on from the ports you noted, so they’re “missing” by design. The important similarity in my mind is the 15W processor, making the non-TB model nothing more than an updated MBA with Retina display. I think the 12” is moving down to the $1k price point where it belongs and this new 13” model will replace the non-TB Pro and keep the 15W class chip and have a $1200 to $1300 price point. It’ll be wedge shaped and dongles for the USB-C ports will be optional.
Last edited:
The macbook air/pro lines will now be distinguished by performance mainly. four cores and above for the pro line, and the dual core version for the non-pro line. That's how I think Apple is going to differentiate them...the interesting thing is that this strategy could backfire, b/c many people don't need four cores, or don't even know if they need them and will just see a similar retina display, similar weight, similar keyboard, similar thiness, and say well i can't tell a meaningful difference so why not just buy the air. And if Apple keeps legacy ports and just one USB c port, well shoot....you'll have alot of pros who buy the air on purpose, figuring that the disadvantages in performance are offset by the increased usability and the lower price. I have had terrible luck with the 2016 mbp, all kinds of hardware issues, just seems very fragile.
[doublepost=1535043021][/doublepost]
Disappointed with this post, because I think that it is likely to be more or less correct. All we are getting is a retina screen, which is huge actually and the sole reason I didn't buy an air. But I bet storage, keyboard, processor, port selection, battery life, will actually be side grades or regressions compared to the air. This new air will likely only please one type of person: someone who was happy with the old air but just wants it to have a retina screen. I think it may overlap with the 2016 non Touch Bar MacBook Pro. I'd expect general disappointment when the new air is revealed, seriously.
[doublepost=1535043021][/doublepost]
My thoughts on the new Air...
Processor: Apple will probably be careful what they put into this new Air because of their product positioning, they'll want to clearly differentiate between the Air, 12" and Pro. For that reason, I can't see the Air having a Quad Core option, it'll be a low end 8th gen dual core, and probably in the same speed/GHz neighbourhood as the current Air, 1.6-1.8. I would be surprised if they even added an option to upgrade to an i7 this time. When they release the new Air, we'll probably also see the 12" receive the 8 gen upgrade otherwise it may hurt the 12" since it'll be the new MacBook that lag's behind.
Screen: The Retina they use will most likely NOT have P3 DCI Color, unless they also plan on upgrading the 12" to P3. Right now, the Pro having the P3 DCI display differentiates it from the MacBook 12", but once the Air get's upgrade, I think Apple will want to differentiate BOTH the 12" and Pro from the Air.
Keyboard: The new Air will most likely adopt the 3rd Gen Butterfly keyboard. The keyboard isn't something so awesome and unique that it IS the thing separating the Air from the Pro and 12", and Apple probably wants to make it standard across it's devices. Including the iMac's. Unless I'm wrong, I also don't think it's cheaper for them to maintain the current keyboard in the Air. Then again... Apple may keep the old keyboard in the Air to make the product positioning between the Air and the rest of the line clear, but I don't think it'll be for cost.
Ports: Magsafe is gone, and it'll be replaced with USB-C on the new Air, something Apple clearly wants to push and make standard throughout it's product lines, and now that other products are being updated this year. For this reason also, we probably won't see any other ports. Think about it logically... they won't add HDMI and USB-A just because people still want those. IF Apple listened to the demands of their Pro customer's, they would have stuck those 2 ports on the Pro notebooks already, so they certainly won't be added to the new Air. The Air is about Cost savings for both the consumer and Apple, so USB-C is my guess all we'll see on the new Air. Now how Many is another thing... no more then 2 for sure, but again, we may see the 12" upgraded with 2 ports if that happens, or in reverse the 12" will get 2, and the Air being value will only see 1.
Storage: 128GB default base IMO. Yes I know 128GB is weak in 2018, but for the market the Air is designed for; School/University, and those looking just to get into OSX, it's enough, and they'll probably add an option for 256GB max.
Everyone wants to see the Air updated with a fast 8th gen cpu, upgrade options like 512/1tb of storage, Retina screen, slim bezels, SD Card Reader, and same keyboard, but then what separates this from the Pro and 12"... Remember this is going to be a "Value" or "Educational" Mac, much like that old Education iMac back in the day.
Apple wouldn't upgrade this new Air to 8th Gen, Retina, same keyboard everyone loves, an SD Card slot, because it'll then most likely be used by many for Pro work... and they want you to buy their Pro line for that. This is a low cost, not overly powerful new "Air" and if you need faster and more power & options, the 12" and the Pro line await.
What the original Air laptop was is gone, and it's been replaced with the 12", and when more power is needed the 13" Pro awaits. The Air's target market will now be "Value" and "Educational" which is a bit surprising they are keeping the name apparently, and not changing it something like eMacbook, again like that old Education iMac back in the day.
Just my 2 cents. I could be all wrong
Disappointed with this post, because I think that it is likely to be more or less correct. All we are getting is a retina screen, which is huge actually and the sole reason I didn't buy an air. But I bet storage, keyboard, processor, port selection, battery life, will actually be side grades or regressions compared to the air. This new air will likely only please one type of person: someone who was happy with the old air but just wants it to have a retina screen. I think it may overlap with the 2016 non Touch Bar MacBook Pro. I'd expect general disappointment when the new air is revealed, seriously.
Last edited:
Apple can say anything they want but it doesn't make it true. They could claim that the MBP-nTB replaces an iPhone...I wouldn't believe it. And of course those changes were "by design"... those ports weren't accidentally removed.
Either you completely ignored my point or I was not skillful in explaining the issue. For those of us who look to the Macbook Air (and choose it over the other Apple notebooks), we have no other option once it is gone. The Macbook Pro is NOT an equivalent alternative.
I've owned plenty of Macbook Pros in the past. I can easily afford to buy any Macbook Pro now if I wanted to. I choose the current Macbook Air (when I need to replace my 2014 11" MBA)... and I'm far from alone in that. There's more to what some of us need than to have an Apple logo on the lid.
Don’t get me wrong, I have two 11” MBA’s in the family including a BTO 2015, so I share your fondness for them. I don’t mean to ignore your point but how you use a computer and why you prefer the MBA is irrelevant to my point. I’m stating my opinion on where Apple is taking their entire laptop line and how this new 13” model fits in. The legacy MBA, like the old MBP with CD drive that lingered on forever before it, will be dropped (again, in my opinion), meaning the new 13” will be the closest available option for anyone looking to replace a MBA with a modern day equivalent in terms of 15W dual core processing power and basic design/shape, not so much for ports obviously.Apple can say anything they want but it doesn't make it true. They could claim that the MBP-nTB replaces an iPhone...I wouldn't believe it. And of course those changes were "by design"... those ports weren't accidentally removed.
Either you completely ignored my point or I was not skillful in explaining the issue. For those of us who look to the Macbook Air (and choose it over the other Apple notebooks), we have no other option once it is gone. The Macbook Pro is NOT an equivalent alternative.
I've owned plenty of Macbook Pros in the past. I can easily afford to buy any Macbook Pro now if I wanted to. I choose the current Macbook Air (when I need to replace my 2014 11" MBA)... and I'm far from alone in that. There's more to what some of us need than to have an Apple logo on the lid.
Last edited:
If the 2018 MBA is a retina screen drop in, and a marginally improved keyboard (using MBA I like this keyboard but there are dead spots unlike my MBP where any corner or spot of the key or spacebar works, assuming it isn't defective -- surely there must be some in between thats perfect?) I would seriously consider flipping my 2016 nTB and 'going back'. I like the tapered body too.
I miss MagSafe, Apple logo glow, and I'm ok without 'legacy' ports but at the same time having them never hurt anyone.
I miss MagSafe, Apple logo glow, and I'm ok without 'legacy' ports but at the same time having them never hurt anyone.
If they used the new magic keyboard mechanism that would be best of both worlds - that key mechanism deserves a place in a Mac notebook, it’s far superior to the butterfly mechanism in feel and reliability.
If apple want the Air to be an "all day" laptop they could very well go for a FHD display over a retina, and if they keep more or less the same chassis, make it a 14" display.
I could see them leaving dropping thunderbolt and being USB3.1/2 only, and if the Air is intended t be the mass market model, perhaps keep at least one USB-A port.
One novel thing i think they could do is recess the power button and integrate a fingerprint reader into it.
CPU could be interesting, could go for then 8th generation Intels with the UHD620 graphics, putting them a slight peg under the pros, or they could adopt an AMD based processor - they did just announce an update to their Ravel Ridge chips that will likely be based on a 12 or 7nm process. Or Apple could finally take that experimental leap and replace x86 altogether with an ARM based A-series.
Oh, one last piece of speculation, Apple will kill the 2port MacBook Pro.
I could see them leaving dropping thunderbolt and being USB3.1/2 only, and if the Air is intended t be the mass market model, perhaps keep at least one USB-A port.
One novel thing i think they could do is recess the power button and integrate a fingerprint reader into it.
CPU could be interesting, could go for then 8th generation Intels with the UHD620 graphics, putting them a slight peg under the pros, or they could adopt an AMD based processor - they did just announce an update to their Ravel Ridge chips that will likely be based on a 12 or 7nm process. Or Apple could finally take that experimental leap and replace x86 altogether with an ARM based A-series.
Oh, one last piece of speculation, Apple will kill the 2port MacBook Pro.
Gross - if its panel resolution is not an integer multiple of 1280x800 or 1440x900 then the end result will be a subtly fuzzy image because the macOS frame is being downsampled to fit on the panel. The rMB 12" with OOTB settings already does this.
It's very plausible because Apple need their ways to punish people for not spending MBP $$$
I'm certain it'd look fine - the plus iPhones already interpolate a 1242x2208 image to the 1080p panel and it's not fuzzy or blurred at all - I don't think the pixel density as such comes into it so it'd probably work just as well at 13.3" as it does at 5.5". I don't see them going with a 1080p though, retina is one of their selling points, they're going to want to have it across their product line and I doubt sourcing a 1920x1200 screen is realistically going to cost much less than a 2560x1600 one - it's the extras like P3 colour gamut and high brightness they will omit to save costs.
The cost of retina displays has probably dropped over the years so I could see Apple putting in a Retina display st hardly any overall cost really. The MacBook Pro has a P3 display I think, would the average consumer really need that? I get why they have it on the Pro, because of photography work.
I’m interested to see what happens, Mark Gurman is a very reliable and very accurate guy when it comes to Apple and he’s said “get ready for a retina Air with thinner bezels” he doesn’t go into detail about what the resolution of the Retina display will be tho. I guess we won’t have long to find out if they are announced at the September keynote.
As the story goes, Apple needed to hassle Intel into providing the Iris iGPUs with 64/128 eDRAM to be able to handle 2560+ resolution comfortably.
Maybe these days, UHD Graphics 620 is kinda sorta good enough?
I'm certain they could use the panel from the 2012-2015 13" pro - and that if they could sell that machine for $1,299 then by now the panel would be cost effective in a $999 one. Yeah as retina doesn't have a specific set of attributes it does make it difficult but I think to qualify you at least have to have the reverse pixel-binning effect that displays one 'point' across 4 physical pixels (using @2x as an example).
If the rMB can push it's display on anaemic HD615 I'm sure UHD 620 or 630 would be adequate. I think only the 15" suffers slightly because it's another million pixels on top (5 vs 4) - or 25% more pixels to push. Being that much lower I guess it's easier on the GPU. By comparison the rMB is at about 3.3 million pixels so the 13" panel has approx 700,000 (20%) more pixels.
Here's an interesting fact: Trying to get macOS High Sierra on my laptop (Hackintosh) with a Kaby Lake-R processor and the verbose log is calling the messages with 2018 MacBook-Air.local
For those of us that are not that tech savvy what does that mean? are you saying that you've found code that references a 2018 MacBook Air? similar to how last year there was reference to iPhone's and so on?
As more as I think of it...dreaming about it...I really want a small mac now, instead of iPad.
If there’s thinner bezels a 12" and a 14" will make more sense then 11" and a 13"
And why not a 12" when they have MacBook 12".
So what will be the difference between MB Air and MacBook be? If the Air will get retina too.
Will MB disappear or be more exclusive then it is now, comparing to a new MB Air.
Looking forward to the event
If there’s thinner bezels a 12" and a 14" will make more sense then 11" and a 13"
And why not a 12" when they have MacBook 12".
So what will be the difference between MB Air and MacBook be? If the Air will get retina too.
Will MB disappear or be more exclusive then it is now, comparing to a new MB Air.
Looking forward to the event