MacBook Air Refresh 2015

[ThaRagingAsian]

Well today is the last day for me to return my MBA 11" 2014. I hear a lot of rumors of a refresh tomorrow but can't find the actual source. Does anyone have that? Should I return it today and anticipate a new refresh tomorrow?

Thanks.

 

[Boyd01]

How about this? https://www.macrumors.com/2015/02/09/macbook-air-update-february/

a new rumor out of foreign news website Letem svetem Applem points to a smaller refresh of the existing MacBook Air line hitting as early as February 24.

The website, citing sources from the Czech reseller network, states the update will come with no fanfare or keynote presentation, unsurprising considering a lack of major changes for the lineup.

 

[harleymhs]

Why wouldnt u return it? U can ALWAYS re buy it or just get the ALL new 12" Retina when it comes out? New air will blow away the older 11" JMO

 

[ThaRagingAsian]

I have it restored and packed up ready to go back.

I can wait a day, 1 week tops for a refresh.

I really hope the refresh happens tomorrow though.

 

[motrek]

I have it restored and packed up ready to go back.

I can wait a day, 1 week tops for a refresh.

I really hope the refresh happens tomorrow though.

Do you guys actually use your laptops for anything or do you just sit around agonizing over whether or not you have the latest model?

 

[Meister]

Do you guys actually use your laptops for anything or do you just sit around agonizing over whether or not you have the latest model?

I bet on agonizing.

 

[MRrainer]

Can't you just get a subscription from Apple where you get every refresh of the same model, provided you pay the deprecation?
;-)

I did a quick google search and somebody seems to plan to launch such a service.

I really wonder why no-one came up with this before.

 

[tmarks11]

Well today is the last day for me to return my MBA 11" 2014. I hear a lot of rumors of a refresh tomorrow but can't find the actual source.

My bet: no "minor refresh" tomorrow.

Apple will hold refreshing the MBA line until they release the MBA r12, which will happen in a couple of months at the earliest.

Think how ticked a customer would be to "upgrade" to a brand new MBA11 tomorrow, only to have Apple announce the MBA r12 (same dimension frame, thinner, with a bigger screen) 45 days later.

Think of all the outraged iPad 3 owners when the iPad 4 came out 6 months later....

So if you take your MBA back tomorrow, be prepared to wait a couple of months.

FULL DISCLOSURE: my apple prognosticating abilities are approximately 9.78% accurate. A wild monkey throwing banana peels at the wall has a better chance of determining what and when Apple will release next (not unlike some tech writers).

Remember iPad 3 retina screens? Yeah, I said it wouldn't happen the day before the release. But I bought one anyhow... Remember Mini 3? yeah, I said it would get a resolution bump...

 

[soulreaver99]

Do you guys actually use your laptops for anything or do you just sit around agonizing over whether or not you have the latest model?

Sort of like the people who only use their devices to check their battery life.

 

[motrek]

...
FULL DISCLOSURE: my apple prognosticating abilities are approximately 9.78% accurate. A wild monkey throwing banana peels at the wall has a better chance of determining what and when Apple will release next (not unlike some tech writers).

Remember iPad 3 retina screens? Yeah, I said it wouldn't happen the day before the release. But I bought one anyhow... Remember Mini 3? yeah, I said it would get a resolution bump...

It's nice to see somebody admitting this instead of continuing to show perfect confidence in their own predictions/assumptions.

And of course mine aren't any better either.

I could see a minor, basically silent MBA refresh to Broadwell before a major new model is released. Like the 0.1GHz spec bump from the 2013 MBA to the 2014 MBA. If people barely even realize that there's a new model then probably nobody will be upset when Apple releases an actual new model with much fanfare.

 

[Meister]

Once the mba retina comes out I wouldn't want to be an earlier adopter.
The 2013/14 mbas are well proven and considered the best laptops ever made.
If you need one, buy one now!

 

[Woochoo]

Once the mba retina comes out I wouldn't want to be an earlier adopter.
The 2013/14 mbas are well proven and considered the best laptops ever made.
If you need one, buy one now!

Didn't you learn in all this time here, that if they buy now they wouldn't have the lastest piece of hardware and in a few months it would be outdated?

 

[qcmacmini]

Once the mba retina comes out I wouldn't want to be an earlier adopter.
The 2013/14 mbas are well proven and considered the best laptops ever made.
If you need one, buy one now!

Agreed. That is why I recently bought the 2014 model. It's a great laptop.

 

[dave343]

I was really hoping the rumors of a refresh would happen today, i checked at midnight, but at 7am when Apple's website looked no different... I knew it wasn't going to happen.
I'm extra doubtful it'll happen tomorrow but I'll remain hopefull.

I REALLY want a broadwell Air. I don't care much about the extra CPU horsepowere (which isn't much) but the HD6000 should add some punch.

 

[PDFierro]

I was really hoping the rumors of a refresh would happen today, i checked at midnight, but at 7am when Apple's website looked no different... I knew it wasn't going to happen.
I'm extra doubtful it'll happen tomorrow but I'll remain hopefull.

I REALLY want a broadwell Air. I don't care much about the extra CPU horsepowere (which isn't much) but the HD6000 should add some punch.

Good luck. I don't think it's coming...except the 12-inch rMBA.

 

[lambertjohn]

Do you guys actually use your laptops for anything or do you just sit around agonizing over whether or not you have the latest model?

Ha! That's funny. I've had my Macbook for four years, and for 3.999 of those years, I've actually used it to get stuff done. The other .1 years, I fretted over whether to get the latest retina model or whatever goodie Apple was coming out with. Glad I didn't. I used the money to enjoy life instead. You only get one go at life guys; why waste it on whatever contraption Apple's coming out with next? Go skydiving for goodness sakes; that's something you'll remember into your twilight years. Not a silly computer.

 

[lazydog]

Ha! That's funny. I've had my Macbook for four years, and for 3.999 of those years, I've actually used it to get stuff done. The other .1 years, I fretted over whether to get the latest retina model or whatever goodie Apple was coming out with. Glad I didn't. I used the money to enjoy life instead. You only get one go at life guys; why waste it on whatever contraption Apple's coming out with next? Go skydiving for goodness sakes; that's something you'll remember into your twilight years. Not a silly computer.

If I went skydiving I would be fretting over my parachute and whether I should update it to the latest and greatest!

b e n

 

[ctyrider]

Well today is the last day for me to return my MBA 11" 2014. I hear a lot of rumors of a refresh tomorrow but can't find the actual source. Does anyone have that? Should I return it today and anticipate a new refresh tomorrow?

I don't understand why people keep creating the same threads after about 15 identical ones that already exist.

Return it.. keep it.. no one cares.. and no one knows when the new MBA refresh will land. It may be next week, it may be next month, it may be WWDC, it may be September. Does that narrow it down for you, or did you expect the exact date of the refresh?

 

[ThaRagingAsian]

I definitely agree with you guys. No use worrying about refreshes. I ended up just keeping it. Such a nice laptop. really love the portability of the 11"

 

[mafaky]

I definitely agree with you guys. No use worrying about refreshes. I ended up just keeping it. Such a nice laptop. really love the portability of the 11"

Immmph; I won't fully agree with you, particularly for the 13" MBA version (for users that can afford for less portability but bigger screen...). I indeed love the 13"'s aesthetics & the footprint, I don't like the non-retina screen (when compared to my 13" rMBP's screen), I love the 12 hrs. battery life that you can attain with the Haswell chips but I really look forward to own that rumored forthcoming Broadwell version that will give us minimum 13, maybe 13.5-14 hrs. battery life (assuming nothing else will be changed for the 13" MBA except for the CPU/GPU; i.e. refreshing to Broadwell from Haswell....)

 

[PDFierro]

Immmph; I won't fully agree with you, particularly for the 13" MBA version (for users that can afford for less portability but bigger screen...). I indeed love the 13"'s aesthetics & the footprint, I don't like the non-retina screen (when compared to my 13" rMBP's screen), I love the 12 hrs. battery life that you can attain with the Haswell chips but I really look forward to own that rumored forthcoming Broadwell version that will give us minimum 13, maybe 13.5-14 hrs. battery life (assuming nothing else will be changed for the 13" MBA except for the CPU/GPU; i.e. refreshing to Broadwell from Haswell....)

I don't know if that will happen. Something tells me that Apple is going to drop the current MBAs, but I guess it is possible.

 

[mafaky]

I don't know if that will happen. Something tells me that Apple is going to drop the current MBAs, but I guess it is possible.

I just hope your "evil predictions" will remain as your gut feel, at the least until the end of Broadwell era. My gut feel is that Broadwell-M processors will power the rumored really MBA (11" & 13") as well as the rumoured (early/mid 2015) 12" rMBA.

In early 2016 (or maybe even late 2015), we will certainly see the Skylake (remember that Skylake will be Intel's "tick") in the 12" rMBA, but I can't really predict anything for the 11" & 13" members.

The answer (prophecy) to this last case will partly lie in the features & specs of the rumoured (early/mid-2015) (???) 12" rMBA. The (late 2015/early 2016) 12 " rMBA will need to carry improvements over the forthcoming Broadwell-M based design (the CPU/GPU, battery life, maybe wireless charging etc.). Now to accompany this 12" baby, what will Apple add? Any 11" or 13" addition (Skylake + retina screen) will need have a too close resemblance with the 12" rMBA and just for that sake, they should be eliminated... If so, may we expect a re-designed, re-cased 14" rMBA (with Skylake, and still achieving the battery life of the Broadwell based non-retina 13" MBA...), in (early to mid) 2016?

If yes, will Apple drop the 13" rMBP with Haswell and have the 15" rMBP versions plus a totally new (actually a re-incarnated) 17" rMBP with 32GB RAM & 1 TB PCIe flash storage and say with 8-10 hrs. battery life? This 17" may not remain as a wishful thinking; it will be in relatively high demand in most markets (as a portable desktop...) and by 2016 Apple should have its vendors available for ample supply of 17" retina screens...

And Maybe these 2016 15" & 17" will have a new casing, but (hopefully) decreasing the battery life achieved with Broadwell. (I'm assuming the 13" & 15" rMBP will exist in the current casing, with Broadwell; launching in mid-2105)

IMO, one have to think MBA and (r)MBP lines co-existing, but not overlapping one another.

???? ????

 

[PDFierro]

I just hope your "evil predictions" will remain as your gut feel, at the least until the end of Broadwell era. My gut feel is that Broadwell-M processors will power the rumored really MBA (11" & 13") as well as the rumoured (early/mid 2015) 12" rMBA.

In early 2016 (or maybe even late 2015), we will certainly see the Skylake (remember that Skylake will be Intel's "tick") in the 12" rMBA, but I can't really predict anything for the 11" & 13" members.

The answer (prophecy) to this last case will partly lie in the features & specs of the rumoured (early/mid-2015) (???) 12" rMBA. The (late 2015/early 2016) 12 " rMBA will need to carry improvements over the forthcoming Broadwell-M based design (the CPU/GPU, battery life, maybe wireless charging etc.). Now to accompany this 12" baby, what will Apple add? Any 11" or 13" addition (Skylake + retina screen) will need have a too close resemblance with the 12" rMBA and just for that sake, they should be eliminated... If so, may we expect a re-designed, re-cased 14" rMBA (with Skylake, and still achieving the battery life of the Broadwell based non-retina 13" MBA...), in (early to mid) 2016?

If yes, will Apple drop the 13" rMBP with Haswell and have the 15" rMBP versions plus a totally new (actually a re-incarnated) 17" rMBP with 32GB RAM & 1 TB PCIe flash storage and say with 8-10 hrs. battery life? This 17" may not remain as a wishful thinking; it will be in relatively high demand in most markets (as a portable desktop...) and by 2016 Apple should have its vendors available for ample supply of 17" retina screens...

And Maybe these 2016 15" & 17" will have a new casing, but (hopefully) decreasing the battery life achieved with Broadwell. (I'm assuming the 13" & 15" rMBP will exist in the current casing, with Broadwell; launching in mid-2105)

IMO, one have to think MBA and (r)MBP lines co-existing, but not overlapping one another.

???? ????

You could be right! We'll have to see what happens. Even though i'm only interested in the 12-inch rMBA, I'm very interested to see what Apple does.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I reckon that a refresh is coming soon. I just picked up an 11 inch MBA today and it had been reduced by £50 so maybe they are trying to clear out old stock. Anyhow I don't mind. I'm skeptical about how much I need a laptop let alone having the latest and greatest specs so the current model will do me hair fine.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Agreed. That is why I recently bought the 2014 model. It's a great laptop.

Me too! Just bought a fully loaded to the max MBAir 13 and could not be more happy with it. It will go a few years and we will see how the MS Surface Pro 4 or 5 is looking!