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New Slim 12" MacBook and MacBook Air Updates Soon

Was it a few weeks ago a news item on here said that it looked as though there were no straight up upgrades from the current MBA CPU's in Intel's next generation? If this is true, looks like ARM might be quite a possibility
 
brianvictor7 said:
There are touch-only track pads on the market now and the iPad and iPhone already are touch sensitive keyboards so I don't know if that would be so impressive as a new product category. Then again, maybe apple has something more in mind.
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I mean something like the Acer Iconia only well implemented. Sure it's been done before but never well or with any true consistency of experience. Having a vertical touch screen on a notebook form factor tends to suck but having a context sensitive pressure sensitive screen on the horizontal plane could be great, theoretically.

img-0317.jpg
 
brianvictor7 said:
I know it can seem that way given how they came out with the iPhone in 2007 and then the iPad in 2010 but really they average a new product class about once every 5 or so years.
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I mean with respect to the wearable technology that's already on the market. Even Razer has made a wearable before apple. In this case, I think they're slow.
Then again, now that I think about it. How good are these first gen wearables any way? I wouldn't consider buying one, by the time everyone else is ready for an update apple may have launched something amazing. Here's hoping
 
Commy1 said:
I mean with respect to the wearable technology that's already on the market. Even Razer has made a wearable before apple. In this case, I think they're slow.
Then again, now that I think about it. How good are these first gen wearables any way? I wouldn't consider buying one, by the time everyone else is ready for an update apple may have launched something amazing. Here's hoping
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There were Smart Phones a decade before the iPhone, there were buyable touch screen tablets in shops in 2003, 7 years before the iPad.

Was Apple slow here too? - I would argue that they waited the appropriate amount of time so that the technology required to make these devices great became available.

They will do the same with wearables. Let everyone else bring out rinky-dink face suckers and wrist clingers and then when the technology is mature enough Apple will jump in.
 
This is what Apple has to do:

There has to be more choice so Apple should have the following lines:

11" Non-Retina MacBook Air
12" 16:10 Non-Retina MacBook Air
12" 4:3 Non-Retina MacBook Air (like the popular old Powerbook)
12" 16:10 Non-Retina MacBook Air
12" 16:10 Retina MacBook Air
13" Non-Retina MacBook Air
13" Retina MacBook Air
13" Non-Retina MacBook Pro
13" Retina MacBook Pro
15" Non-Retina MacBook Pro
15" Retina MacBook Pro
17" Non-Retina MacBook Pro
17" Retina MacBook Pro

And what's with these names? So hard to pinpoint which model is which. Apple needs better product names, for instance X109-11-SMBA14 for the Non-Retina MacBook Air and X109-13-RMBP14 for the 13" Retina MacBook Pro. "MacBook Pro" and MacBook Air" are too vague. This would give us choice and make the lines more differentiated and clear.

:D
 
Shaun said:
How do you know the new MBA won't have a touch screen? Think outside the box my friend. Almost all new Windows laptops have a touch screen now. Maybe it will have a detachable screen so that it can function as a laptop and a tablet? Keyboard/trackpad based laptops are on the way out.
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Because had you been paying any attention - you'd know that Apple has been very clear they don't see a future in hybrid laptops, which aren't good at any one thing. Those hybrid Windows laptops has been a market failure, starting with Surface. Apple's strategy is very simple:

  • iOS and Touch Apps for Tablets/Smartphones
  • Mac OS and Keyboard/Mouse/Trackpad Apps for x86 laptops/desktops
You will not see any mixing between the two, not this decade.
 
proline said:
Apple does not aspire to be a niche company and never has, though they ended up that way for a few years in the 90s. Apple is out to change the world not to pleasure a very small group of geeks. While it may be neat to imagine what Apple's engineering prowess could do for you, it just isn't going to happen.

Btw, what exactly do you think Apple could contribute to the 'desktop replacement' category that current entrants haven't already accomplished? Apple's hardware skills lie primarily in miniaturization, battery life, quietness, and aesthetics, which are all things you don't care about anyways.
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I never said that Apple aspired to be niche, although they were comfortable being that for a long time, as they covered (and cornered) the high(er)-end PC market.

I am not using my imagination too much here. I am mourning the loss of devices with capabilities they already produced. Especially products that to this day have absolutely zero comparable alternatives in the market (like my treasured 2011 17" MBP). It is highly disappointing to watch a keynote expecting an update on your favorite Apple product only to find out it has been discontinued. So it's not, as you say, "neat to imagine what Apple's engineering prowess could do for you". It's sad to visualize what Apple's engineering prowess had already been doing for you, but won't be anymore.

Apple left the desktop replacement market when it killed the 17"MBP, as it was the only entrant in the space. The 15" is NOT an alternative. They replaced a desktop, umm, replacement with an ultra-portable. Less capacity, less flexibility, less ports, smaller screen.

Not everything needs to be miniaturized. A bigger screen is more useful (i.e. visible) than a smaller one. When it comes to this you cannot replace bigger with smaller. More hard drive space follows the same concept. One can make tradeoffs based on needs if the products exist. Apple kills products and leaves you with a big, fat nothing to replace them.

I am, and have been, an Apple customer for decades. Of course I care about aesthetics (which Apple customer doesn't?), quietness (I'm a musician), etc. For you to say that I don't, when you don't know me, makes you come off a bit jerk-ish. Perhaps you don't mean to do so.
 
Yr Blues said:
instead, they should make the 13" MacBook pro smaller by shrinking the bezel to edge-to-edge without changing keyboard and screen size
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This is probably what they are doing. I've assumed that reports of "iPad Maxi" have been based on screen sourcing for a redesign of 13" Retina Pros and Airs. To have somewhat reduced bevel, and larger visible screen area, which is where the 12"figure comes from. Possibly also having a single screen-topcase assembly common to the 13" Pro and Air to simplify production.
 
12 inch iPad

Sounds like the 12 inch iPad to me! I hope they stick with intel for the processor, unless this is the pro version of the iPad and iOS or something. Might be where the rumors are all getting messed up, its a laptop but running iOS or something. 12 inch iPad, etc.
 
ValSalva said:
This is what Apple has to do:

There has to be more choice so Apple should have the following lines:

11" Non-Retina MacBook Air
12" 16:10 Non-Retina MacBook Air
12" 4:3 Non-Retina MacBook Air (like the popular old Powerbook)
12" 16:10 Non-Retina MacBook Air
12" 16:10 Retina MacBook Air
13" Non-Retina MacBook Air
13" Retina MacBook Air
13" Non-Retina MacBook Pro
13" Retina MacBook Pro
15" Non-Retina MacBook Pro
15" Retina MacBook Pro
17" Non-Retina MacBook Pro
17" Retina MacBook Pro

And what's with these names? So hard to pinpoint which model is which. Apple needs better product names, for instance X109-11-SMBA14 for the Non-Retina MacBook Air and X109-13-RMBP14 for the 13" Retina MacBook Pro. "MacBook Pro" and MacBook Air" are too vague. This would give us choice and make the lines more differentiated and clear.

:D
Click to expand...

This would be almost entirely not what Apple does. Apple hugely dislikes having more than a handful of models available for sale at any one time, and with good reason. Fragmentation is not good when you're a high-margin quality orientated producer.

Other makers do this, because they're slapping together plastic pressings, and can make a hundred variations of that plastic injection mold and call one the Premario Delux, another the Vesbusty Gustapro, and just flood the the market for the "I just want the cheapest/flashiest/highest-numbered one that's on display in PC World" shopper.

But for Apple there are huge benefits, both on production and at sale, to having a small number of clearly defined models.
 
barberio said:
This is probably what they are doing. I've assumed that reports of "iPad Maxi" have been based on screen sourcing for a redesign of 13" Retina Pros and Airs. To have somewhat reduced bevel, and larger visible screen area, which is where the 12"figure comes from. Possibly also having a single screen-topcase assembly common to the 13" Pro and Air to simplify production.
Click to expand...

I heard they are going I call it the maxi pad.
 
the fat bezel

if they keep that style of metal fat bezel i will not give you all my moolah no no no

trim that down to near nothing or as thin as the iPad mini retina's side bezel then yes yes yes

i don't like the wedged tapered form factor either, ew !

uniformity in design don't go over the top, let it still look like a computer please!


Love you all thank you.
 
Quu said:
There were Smart Phones a decade before the iPhone, there were buyable touch screen tablets in shops in 2003, 7 years before the iPad.

Was Apple slow here too? - I would argue that they waited the appropriate amount of time so that the technology required to make these devices great became available.

They will do the same with wearables. Let everyone else bring out rinky-dink face suckers and wrist clingers and then when the technology is mature enough Apple will jump in.
Click to expand...

That's basically what I just said.. You're preaching to the convinced.
 
Apple and Strategic Leaks

Why pay for advertisements when you can get all the free ads you want with a few carefully selected leakers.
 
Yr Blues said:
go by year, like cars. 2014 12" MacBook … 2014 9.7" iPad, 2014 7.9" iPad (or 10" and 8" for simplicity)

it's classier and minimalistic
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I really like this idea. We kind of do it this way already, but I think it would sound great if Apple adopted this nomenclature.
 
I would love to see an update line of MBs with 12/14/16" displays, or at least a 15" 4K resolution display.

melendezest said:
Sounds like yet another too damn small appliance from Apple.

What the hell, they'll have an 11", 12", 13", and 15", but no 17"???

What will be the big difference between a 12" and a 13" MBP? A quarter-pound? This is stupid.

A 2" gap between models makes more sense.

Apple is still ignoring the desktop replacement category. It is niche (OK, very niche), but still compelling. I'd be happy as hell with a 5-7 pound 17" MBP. Screw thinner-and lighter (than the 17" MBP already was).

I want screen real-estate and power in portable form. A REAL desktop replacement, from Apple. GIVE IT TO US, APPLE. DANG IT!!!
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Haswell ULX/5000 or Iris Pro?

So, the fanless design is almost certainly some sort of hybrid of the Haswell ULX, with about half the wattage of requirements of the current MBA. As to the hybrid part would be a deal with intel to Include 5000 or IrisPro on die graphics. This lower wattage would also allow more energy for the display to retain battery life, but would likely cut down some performance for processor intense activities, with probably the hardest to take would be AAA gaming titles. (Most other processor rich tasks would still be possible and fast enough for casual/prosumer use with those that simply have to have processor getting a beefier machine). The AAA issue may simply mean that the MBA will remain simply out of the AAA gamer range until the next generation which will be Broadwell ULX and whatever the next IGA core is.
 
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