no, more along the lines of, no ports of any kind, no functionality, just a big apple logo and shiny everywhere.
Hahaha, you just made my day. I remember that!
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MacBook Air Supplies Dwindle, Refresh Coming Soon?
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Hahaha, you just made my day. I remember that!
They both don't have to go. If can reasonably separate them then perhaps OK to keep both. However, they can be separated. Reducing the screen size would separate them. 11.6" would be for those who want a much smaller volume and footprint and willing to take slight performance penalty. The MBP 13' would remain present for those who want to trade performance and flexibility for margin increase in size.
Likewise the overall ultramobile category has grown in number of models that are smaller, thinner, ligher than the MBA. MBA hasn't followed them down. It could be smaller and still not give up full size keyboard (loose space between keys and/or outside keyboard ) .
One issue is the unit volume sold after differentiation and resources. There is only a limited number of Mac engineering resources. If removing the MBA puts them on a longer cycle then Apple may get rid of it. Remember, Apple purposely only goes after a subset of the overall market place. It is in part an exercise of a limited number of models to cover as much of the market. They know they are going to leave some gaps. If Apple can't find a large enough market to make producing the MBA they will kill it. (this summer the MBA was ranked below the MacPro in unit sales. That's whack when take into account that it is about twice as expensive. That is a clear indicator that product is not exactly aimed right. ) Explicitly cannibalizing the MBP 13" market (with a merge) isn't an answer to that problem. That is a cover up.
If the MBP 13" lost optical to get better graphics that wouldn't necessarily be a fusion. The weight and size would not drop much if have to add another fan (like the other MBP units) to pump out the additional heat. It would just kill off optical drive usage.
That is a temporary issue. I think that is one reason why Apple didn't go that route. By next March-June there will be solutions can use in a MBP 13" that don't dump the graphics into the crapper and still keep the optical.
Right now there is no more proven, cost effective way of distributing the operating system than on DVDs.
That is not a differentiation that is a removal. Something that doesn't exist can't be 'different' .
For instance if the MBA evolved into 11.6" / 4GB / small SSD standard / AMD Zacate / 8 hr battery life / 2.2-2.5 lbs solution at the $1499-1599 price point. I think would keep a large block of the folks who need "smallest usage computer that carry all day long" folks. The folks who weighted "horsepower" would suck it up and use a MBP 13" . After moaning and groaning about it a couple of weeks ... vast majority would find out that MBP 13" worked for them as well as the other folks to skipped the MBA.
With a 2.0-2.3 lbs gap between the MBP 13" and revised MBA that would be much more significant differentiating factor than 1.5 lbs (the weight of a power cord). The MBA would be creeping in on iPad weight (1.6 lbs ). Right now, the MBA is 100% heavier than the iPad ( and the standard lightweight battery version of Sony X ). Likewise the volume and 2D footprint of MBA would be much close to that of iPad and Sony X.
Same thing happened Dec '09 - March '10 on the MBP line. Lots of wailing and moaning about how Apple was lazy and how the world was ending because had not shipped new product.
Newer Nvidia GPUs shipped that are core ingredient to new MBPs and ta-da ... new MBPs .
MBA may limp out with tame upgrade. If so then very likely the CPU+GPU solution targeting for next edition have also slid out on 2011 schedule timeline also and they need a stopgap that will last longer. (e.g., like extented stopgap for MacPro which will wait till next year this time to update. )
the "premium" "elite" .... please marketing to the Grey Poupon crowd does nothing productive for the MBA long term. Exactly reason bottom fell out when MBP 13" got added and slightly less of a drop when iPad got added.
There are customer needs, not wish lists, that need to be matched. Building a "I'm special because I have a XXXX " product is just following trendy fads. I think that is why there is a lots of noise associated with the MBA forums. I don't think Apple really orientates itself around that though.
First of all, I agree with most of what you said in your very thoughtful reply and appreciate the energy you've invested in thinking about the future of the Air. From the number of new forums popping up we can see allot of people are quite interested - even if they haven't and won't ever buy one
. From what I left of your post above, I still think there is room for a merger. If the 13" cannibalized the AIR sales, as you say, then a merge isn't really a cover up. That's too...sneaky. It's evolutionary convergence. The MBP's evolutionary trajectory is to become smaller, lighter, more powerful, and, well, easy on the eyes. The air was a concept machine but the 13" MBP is a workhorse and a cheaper option - hence the better sales, and sudden drop of AIR sales upon it's emergence. Making it (the 13"MBP) without an optical drive, with a matte screen, and with a slightly slimmed down form factor is what is going to happen, be it this refresh or 4 refreshes from now in distant future of Fall 2012. I'm just saying it seems that merging it with the AIR is a viable strategy that will cover the same market shares with a single product rather than two - even if it means a slight price bump (worked for the mini
) and minor graphics enhancements.
It will be updated this coming Tues. Oct. 12
Or the following Tuesday of the 12th, or the following Tuesday of the originally followed Tuesday.
I read this as you think the Air was a concept for where all of the laptops are headed. I don't buy into that. It is a concept vehicle, but it was as much a concept vehicle for the iPad as much as the laptops in general. ( MBA wired outputs 1 video , 1 usb , 1 audio ..... iPad wired outputs 1 video , 1 usb , 1 audo . Putting aside the touch interface, would any buy a computer with just those outputs. The MBA answered that question. )
I don't think that long term evolution of laptops in general is to throw away as many ports as possible just for thinness sake. There is lots of utility the the Air throws out the window ( substantially faster wired Ethernet speeds, utility as a desktop replacement , "horsepower" , etc. ) . That is not where laptops are going in general.
Laptops aren't going to get smaller either if want to keep a full sized keyboard and 13-18" screens. Those components will keep the dimensions larger. Again the thinness for gratuitous thinness sake is a dubious track in general. Can see shedding what don't need, but at some point you are left with what you have left.
Power is in conflict with smaller and lighter. If want to make the laptop more powerful year over year then easiest to keep dimensions and weight constraints the same and use better components.
The MBA dropped because it was the wrong product, but the only one closest to what folks wanted. A replacement for the Powerbook 12" was a primary factor that many folks were looking for. That meant being a mostly complete offering. Not something stripped down to a minimally useful set of ports / drives. More inexpensive played a role but if there was widespread perceived value the higher price wouldn't have mattered as much.
The "every smaller , lighter" market is what the MBA initially went after, but the standards have changed now. The MBA is what has been stuck in stone. Because Apple using metal cases, one of the primary ways to shed weight is to shed volume. Going from a 13" to 11.6" screen is going to enable shedding volume and therefore weight. They could go carbon fiber shell but I doubt they'll to do. Metal and glass is what bulking up the MBA.
Not necessarily. It would be one thing if stripping out the optical and not putting anything else in. That wouldn't necessarily happen for MBP 13". That design is space constrained to point had to throw out elements that other MBP have. In the optical drive space, Apple could insert fan and now have room and cooling for discrete graphics and associated VRAM. Could possible pad out the battery a bit to make up for marginal increases in power consumption.
Likewise optional matte screen. I wouldn't hold my breath if that didn't turn out to be significantly chosen option on the MBP 15" line.
Also wouldn't count on 4 refreshes over next 2 years. Intel is moving toward every 12 month updates to CPU models. I don't see how folks can pump out computer systems with significant updates faster than the components roll out. For example Intel rolled out Arrandale in 1Q 2010. the next gen equivalents aren't coming till 1Q 2011.
Likewise the iOS devices update on a 12 month cycle and yet every yelps about how Apple has abandoned the Macs. ... with a shorter cycle.
Lots of folks moan and groan loudly about small incremental upgrades. Another, sometimes overlapping faction, moan and groan about not getting more upgrades inside of a single calendar year. ( as if folks buy more than one computer of same money each here. )
PC market is maturing. The "frantic churn" .... there is no technology reason for that anymore. It is mainly now driven by the fact that lots of products don't have any differentiation and gobs of overlapping models. That's just smoke.
The markets aren't shared. What that strategy does is aim for the intersection of the two markets. The alternative strategy more directly targets the two distinct markets. It doesn't aim at the intersection. It aims at the core of those markets that are not in the intersection. With Apple's approach the folks in the interaction have to pick a side. Generally, that is how you minimize cannibalism. It is also more profitable when there are more customers outside the intersection than in it. If you have two large, adjacent markets that is also generally true.
even if it means a slight price bump (worked for the mini
That only works for the mini because it is at the bottom. The users are forced to follow or just quit Mac OS X all together ( or go used box. ). The MBP 13 and MBA don't have the option because not at one of the edges. Higher prices will simply only mean sell less. The MBP 13" can't move up because it will bump into the MBP 15". It can't move down because it will bump into the Macbook. It is squeezed.
There is a $1099 hole that 11.6" the MBA could wiggle into with perhaps a hard drive instead of a SSD. However, if Apple wants to boost the perceived speed would lower the other component costs (by ~$200-300 ) and add SDD to stay at $1499 price point. A Zacate with a SSD is going to often "feel" faster than the old entry MBA.
I have owned a MacBook Air. Rev 1, I believe it was. Battery life of MAYBE 4 hours is unacceptable. Understandable, given its size, but unacceptable for any sort of productivity. The point of the machine is to be lightweight and mobile, thus I would not want to be tethered to a power adapter on such a machine. However, with the Air, it's almost required.
Air struggles to run decent VMs, mostly due to a lack of RAM. I use VMs every day for business and personal purposes, makes the Air unacceptable.
No glass trackpad = unacceptable.
Fan constantly running = unacceptable.
In short, it was a nice LOOKING machine that was not worth full retail, which is why I bought it used, and even at the price I paid used ($800) it was still stretching it a bit. It's not the processor, it's everything else. If it had identical specs to the white MacBook, in its current form factor, at the MacBook's price point of $1k, then I would see its value. No way for $1800 should a machine be that underpowered and you know it.
There's a reason there's an overstock of that gaudy Dolce & Gabana Motorola RAZR to this day. Sometimes, paying premiums for something that is not functional doesn't make sense.
As far as the iPad I've owned two, own one currently, and I stick by my review. It's a solution in search of a problem. It's for people who want to waste time. It's a pasttime device, NOT a productivity device, I don't care what Apple advertises. The people who love iPhones for the games, rather than business functionality, will love the iPad. People who text all day long instead of doing their work will love the iPad. People who surf the web instead of spending time with their families will love the iPad.
It's a diversion. Nothing more.
As long as you can justify the price AND you understand and accept that's what it is, it's a decent device. It's not the Holy Grail everyone is making it out to be. You're limited on what you can install on it, you have to pay for applications that have free versions on any PC or Mac, and you can't join domains. Nor can you set security procedures, encryption, or audit storage. You can't do anything but "have fun". That's fine...for people who want that, but it's useless for people who want to get stuff done.
The difference between iPad and MBA is that the iPad has one redeeming factor: battery life. IT's a crying shame that it has better battery life than the MBA at a fraction of the MBA's cost. It is.
Bam!
How quickly an engaging little MBA critique veers into a sour swipe at iPad users.
Eat sh** - millions of flies can't be wrong!
If numbers would be the one and only criteria any Apple computer would be irrelevant, as Windows boxes still top off Apple's sales numbers easily.
More ontopic: The Air still has the better screen, because it is optically coated to minimize reflections (at least on 2nd gen). And for people who type a lot, a virtual keyboard on a glass screen may not be that desirable...
There are not that many devices on the market who offer better battery life within that form factor. Maybe not "your tool", but far from being generally "unacceptable".
I doubt you can judge that for "_ANY_ sort of productivity"! Maybe for the fraction you're working in...
Care to explain?
Known issue for 1st gen MBA's - but not applicable on later revisions.
If that'd be the case you would cry "murder" as the entry level MacBook would be overpriced in comparison. The MBA has a higher price point due to its compactness and better components (e.g. screen and body material). You may not value that, but others do.
Why don't you complain as well that every iMac offers more power at the same price point (or even at a lower price point) than the Apple notebooks in general? After all you could also take the iMac with you and work on it (using e.g. a car battery for power).
Your personal requirements are not the blueprint for each and everyone on this world!
I'm pretty sure that you also have areas within your life where one could argue about how you're "paying premiums for something that is not functional".
SURPRISE, Mr Workaholic - life is more than just productivity! A nice candlelight dinner is also not a good approach for providing energy to your body from a productivity point of view. BTW: Pure productivity may even be counterproductive in some creative jobs.
I have a hard time imagining your "family life" with you being so focused on work and productivity...
Shhht - don't tell anybody, but that actually is part of the whole concept! Hint: Think of gated communities.
There is nothing like "free (insert favourite item here)". The applications you refer to also have to be funded - be it by advertisement or somehow else, even if it is "only" the enthusiasm of the programmer (which always is a limited resource, as everyone needs to earn his or her living!).
Another SURPRISE - there is a world outside your domain-ruled business world! And in that parallel world you can even make use of an IT device without joining a domain! *GASP*
I'll tell you a secret: Ultimately all of the people who "want to get stuff done" are actually financed by and depending on people who want to "have fun" a.k.a. who simply like to live their life. If you tell me the oh-so-serious-business you're working in, i'll tell you your individual connection to the "fun world" out there...
Mmmh - your business obviously is not engineering- or production-related. With the same "logic" i could call it a crying shame that a VW Golf runs a longer distance on its fuel than a Porsche Cayenne at a fraction of the cost (HA - there you have your infamous car comparison).
Sorry, but your point of view looks amazingly twisted, self-centred and disconnected from normal everyday life.
Congratulations for figuring out that not every laptop computer may suit your needs. The 13" MBP has excellent battery life and sounds like the better fit for you; the caveats being that it's thicker and weighs more than the Air (in part due to the larger battery, the trade off for longer battery life)...
13" MacBook Pro. Which oh by the way is CHEAPER by a long margin AND stronger by a wide margin. That's my point.
Compare how long a graphic artist can work in Photoshop off the cord on the MBA vs. the MBP. Compare how long a web developer can work in Dreamweaver off the cord on the MBA vs. the MBP. Compare how long a Flash developer can work in Flash off the cord on the MBA vs. the MBP. Compare how long one can run a Keynote presentation off the cord on the MBA vs. the MBP.
There are no productivity cases where there is equal battery life between the MBA and even the 13" MBP. None. That's the problem. You can't compare to PCs, I'm comparing within Apple's own product line, the point being the Air has issues AND is overpriced compared to Apple's superior other offerings.
Without a glass trackpad, right clicking on the MBA is a pain. You don't have the full multitouch experience, either. It gets worn down like any PC's touchpad, unlike the MBP's glass trackpad, which is what the Air should have had. Not including this is mind-boggling. It's almost like Apple just didn't care.
Maybe. But on a $1800 device sold as a luxury item, it should never have been an issue to begin with.
Err, the MBA does not have a better screen than the white MacBook. Maybe you haven't seen it in a while. When I judge superior screens, I look at them, not specs. Looking at them head-on they are identical. Compactness is not a valid excuse for overpricing. There's nothing in the MBA's configuration that justifies its cost and I am not including SSD, because that is an option, NOT a requirement.
If Apple wants to come clean and say "you know what, yes, we are overcharging for this and yes, it is a luxury item, and yes, we know it doesn't have any horsepower. Buy it because it's cute!", fine. They won't do that, they'll fool people like you into thinking that the MBA is somehow required to be so expensive when people who know anything about technology know better.
Not the same internal components. We went away from using desktop processors in laptops a long time ago. Laptop processors are always more expensive than their desktop counterparts due to limited room and space to engineer. Same with laptop RAM. That's exactly my point - if the Air were using some newfangled microchip processor that was insanely fast and combined with 4GB of RAM yielded 6+ hours of battery life, then its price would be more than justified. It does not. It has a processor that even the white MacBook surpasses. Its RAM is no better than any of the current line. It's not even the DDR3 RAM. Again, it's like Apple didn't even try.
Good job of using selective quoting there.
EVERYTHING that I own has a purpose. I don't buy it unless I can produce a reason I should own it in the long term. The only "Premium" things I have in my home right now is my 17" MacBook Pro 2010, which has long since paid for itself in terms of unifying my work and home life into one machine, allowing me to basically get rid of three others - especially since I only effectively paid ~$1500 for it - and my Altima 2009, which while I paid a pretty penny for it upfront, pays for itself daily in the gas mileage that's saved over my previous car that got about 14 miles to the gallon.
Nice job of selective quoting there.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news...-home-invasion-in-gated-community-869457.html
The notion that a gated space is somehow "safer" is a myth. Anyone can get into a gated community, and in fact most criminals look at gated communities as choice targets BECAUSE they're gated - which logically means there is more than likely something worth taking/harming. Additionally,
http://www.houstontomorrow.org/livability/story/gated-communities-no-safer-have-many-drawbacks/
Houston Tomorrow said:
I pay for applications that have a value attached that is worth paying the rated price. I do not pay for or download applications that want to charge a price not representative of the functionality of the application.
For example, there are people who would ask you to pay $20 for the "privilege" of copying music files from your iPod to your computer. A feature that should be part of iTunes and is not. To me that should be a free or MAYBE $5 application. Watts is a $7 app significantly more useful, and I paid it.
There are other people who would ask you to pay $15 to get photos off of your iPod Touch. Yet, iPhoto does this free. And you think that $15 is justified?
On the iPad side, LogMeIn Ignitiion and GoToMyPC and all of these other remote apps want you to pay $30 just to get the app, then a subscription fee. On a computer you can download the app at no charge and just pay the subscription. Why should I pay a fee to download an app in that case? The computer would be the superior experience anyway given the presence of a keyboard, mouse, and a larger screen.
In summary: The Air is overpriced, and underpowered. If Apple puts it in parity with the white MacBook in terms of specs AND drops its price...no more than $1399 at the topside...they will have a win. If they come back out with a machine not much improved over the current line, put a fork in it.
But only if they wanted to traverse the ABC like Ubuntu does. Then they could call it the MacBook Brick
I've tested one for a short period about a year ago and I was really disappointed... it was slow, atrocious battery life and lacked almost every port one would expect from a business portable.
Whoever thinks it is unmatched by *ANY* of its measures is clearly hopelessly clueless about laptops - almost any Thinkpad beats it while still being the same price.
In short: there are plenty of devices that offer better battery life at the same price/size.
PS: all that being said, when is the new one arriving? Looking to replace my CEOs aging MBP with something lightweight Apple unit...
Whoever thinks it is unmatched by *ANY* of its measures is clearly hopelessly clueless about laptops - almost any Thinkpad beats it while still being the same price.
In short: there are plenty of devices that offer better battery life at the same price/size.
PS: all that being said, when is the new one arriving?
Looking to replace my CEOs aging MBP with something lightweight Apple unit...
Plenty is relative. Do you need more than like 5? Well, anyway the first ones that come to mind:
ThinkPad X301
ThinkPad X201
Adamo XPS
The Adamo XPS doesn't offer better battery life than the MBA, and the ThinkPad X301 is not the same price, but rather more expensive.
The ThinkPad X201 is a good example of meeting kamm's criteria of offering "better battery life at the same price/size", though it does weigh over 25% more than the MBA.
No Refresh imminent
Apple supplies the MBA again with the same specs. Stocks are replenished as foreseen by many on Oct 12 -today- but no new specs.
That's at least what my reseller just confirmed to me. The one I will get tomorrow out of the new stock will just be the same as last month, last year...
I can only guess that the dilemma with the available CPUs/GFX chips has to be solved before we can hope for a refresh of the MBA.
Apple supplies the MBA again with the same specs. Stocks are replenished as foreseen by many on Oct 12 -today- but no new specs.
That's at least what my reseller just confirmed to me. The one I will get tomorrow out of the new stock will just be the same as last month, last year...
I can only guess that the dilemma with the available CPUs/GFX chips has to be solved before we can hope for a refresh of the MBA.
Err, no, not really - as a matter of fact a default ThinkPad X201s laptop is lighter than any MBA while being faster, providing tad better battery life, sporting far superior ports and I/O as well as extras (ThinkLight, fingerprint reader, programmable always-on USB for charging, built-in WWAN support, rolling cage design etc.)
If you add a better battery you still only matching MBA and getting better battery life.
If you add a 9-cell you will get closer to 4 lbs but get an amazing 9-10-hours battery life.
Now if you take the regular X201 (non-s) or X201i (no clue what's the diff) they are roughly a match by weight with 4-cell but only get you 4-5 hours - realistically you want something like mine, an X201 w/ 6-cell, ending up around 3.2lbs and ~6 hours battery life (browsing via wifi, lots of Flash, some VPN/RDP sprinkled in.)
Also if you get a retail model around ~$1200 you'll get Win 7 Pro and a full docking station w/ extra ports + DVDRW preinstalled in the box for free.
Seriously, I don't think MBA has any chance against current top business laptops from Lenovo or Dell or HP...
Err, yes, really.
You're correct that the four-cell ThinkPad X201 does weigh less at 2.89 lbs vs. the MBA's 3.00 lbs., however the X201 is rated by Lenovo as having "up to 3.3 hours for a 4-cell battery" while Apple rates the MBA as having "up to 5 hrs wireless productivity", so it doesn't meet the criteria you yourself set of "better battery life at the same price/size".
This one looks like it meets kamm's criteria, though it it's pretty close in price and the battery life looks only marginally better.
Okay so we're up to a total of one machine that has "better battery life at the same price/size"...
...let's just keep moving towards that stated goal of "plenty".
In other words, yes, X201s by default weighs LESS than MBA. So does X100e. The X201/i matches it. So does the $1500 X301.
And this is only Lenovo...
Check out Dell's lightweight Latitude-series, their new Vostro also has some ~3lbs models.
Check out Sony, I'm sure they can beat Apple any time.
Check out HP, I recall a 3.x lbs Pavilion dmz or whatever it's called one with AMD Turion II and ATI Mobility... (Pavilion - what a stupid, cheesy name!)