New Slim 12" MacBook and MacBook Air Updates Soon

[wassup121]

The 11" is too small, thats why I've had the 13" for years (MBA). However, they can take the 11", and lose the bezel, and easily get the 12" without compromising anything. Heck, they can take the 13" and make it a 14" if they wanted.
Love the bezel-less look, and i think apple will head that way, i.e. iPad Air and Mini, and probably next iPhone.

 

[Jimmy James]

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.

Why do they need 2 sets of:
12" 16:10 Non-Retina MacBook Air?

The 13" I could understand but the 12?

Also, they need more options than this overall.

 

[Serban]

Apple likes to simplifies things.
So there will be a best in both world from 11 and 13" MBA and a better screen so just 1 option for the MBA and the 13 with 15" MBP

 

[lolkthxbai]

A new "slim" Macbook Air?

It's still not slim enough?
I'm all in about thinner and lighter, but when I buy a $999 piece of electronic, I would expect it to be a bit sturdier.

I don't think it meant slimmer than the current MBA because that one is already "ultra-slim". I understood "slim" as in slimmer than the 13" rMBP but thicker than the MBA.

 

[DaveN]

Still hanging in there with a black core2duo SnowLeopard MacBook. If a 12' retina model can run Logic Pro I'm in.

Just shy of 8 year old MacBook 1,1 here (94 months) and am in the market for a new laptop. Looks like I'll put it off until I reach the 96 month mark. Fanless is a good thing.

 

[hleewell]

.....

I would think such a big change – and thinner bezels – would warrant a design language shift (sorry.. been reading Leander Kahney's Jony Ive book) that would carry over to a new Retina iMac lineup and a new Retina Display lineup.

Everything retina across all their products.

Hey, that is a nice design slogan for the new generation of Apple products:

"Everything retina"

 

[theluggage]

Yeah let's just keep fragmenting all the product lines.

The 13" 'Classic' MBP will probably disappear at the next refresh. The 12" Air (if it exists) will likely replace one or both of the existing Airs.

For the 12th time.. MacBooks won't switch to ARM processors. That's not a possibility.

That's what we were all saying about Intel back in 2005. I'll bet you an Internet that there's an ARM-based Mac whirring away somewhere in the dark recesses of Apple HQ lest Intel fail to deliver the goods on low-power chips, or Chromebooks suddenly take off. While some applications will never run on ARM, for many others it will just be a case of flipping a switch in XCode and re-compiling, and there are plenty of consumers who just want the web, facebook, email and Pages or Google Docs. I don't think its likely, but its certainly possible.

MacBook Pro 17"? Where art thou?

No disrespect to your wishes, but I would be astonished if Apple ever reintroduced a 17" MBP. I think that the market is simply too small to be of interest to Apple.

I agree - I'm currently a happy 17" owner, but I've been looking at the 15" rMBP and, in 'scaled' 1920x1200 mode, it offers comparable screen real-estate and is far lighter and more portable. I was initially skeptical about the lack of upgradeability, but now 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD doesn't cost much more than I've paid for my 17" (including upgrades) and seems likely to be more than adequate for some years. Obviously, a few people actually need more than >32GB, but they'll probably need more than the 1-2TB of disc storage and low-power CPU/GPU that you can fit in a slimline laptop. The 17" PC laptops that offer that sort of thing are big, sweaty beasts.

 

[Gudi]

Or they could just call it the Macbook with Retina - now in 12", 13", 15"

No they can not do that. The Pro line must continue, because those higher TDP Intel chips are much more powerful. Only the Air line can go fan-less with using Broadwell ULX = Ultra Low eXtreme TDP chips. Only because all MacBooks will have Retina displays, the distinction between Pro and Air will not go away.

 

[kristoffer4]

Just shy of 8 year old MacBook 1,1 here (94 months) and am in the market for a new laptop. Looks like I'll put it off until I reach the 96 month mark. Fanless is a good thing.

That's impressive!

 

[69650]

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.

i

 

[ValSalva]

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.

Why do they need 2 sets of:
12" 16:10 Non-Retina MacBook Air?

The 13" I could understand but the 12?

Also, they need more options than this overall.

I thought it was more clear that I was being sarcastic. Apple would never do this. Just poking fun at Sony in particular. This is the name of a current Sony laptop: Sony VAIO Pro SVP13215PXB 13.3-Inch Core i7 Touchscreen Ultrabook. Crazy

I think this 12" Retina MacBook Air will eventually replace both the 11" and 13" non-Retina MacBook Airs. There might be a year or so of overlap where all of them are sold but I believe that would be temporary. The display is not going to be as good as the Retina MacBook Pro displays but will be an improvement over the current barely acceptable MBA displays.

And the new 12" Retina MBA, if fanless, will still have an Intel processor, for a variety of reasons.

 

[69650]

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.

Is this the same Apple that said they would never make a smaller iPad?

What would you call an iPad with a keyboard case?

There is no reason Apple can't make an iPad with a docking keyboard and call it the new MBA.

iOS devices represent 80% of Apple's business now so it makes sense to diversify their iOS hardware and reduce the range of OSX hardware.

----------

I disagree. Keyboard/trackpad based laptops are NOT "on the way out". We have seen the rise of touchscreen / tablet platforms since the iPad was introduced, and yes, these may replace traditional PC's for some lightweight users. But a large part of the population still wants and needs a traditional computer with a hardware keyboard and pointing device. IMO, Both of these form factors can co-exist in harmony.

Yes I agree but why does Apple need 2 lines of MB? Why do they need a MBA and MBP? It's just overlap. It's 2 products basically doing the same thing. It makes no sense. They may simply restructure their line up so we end up with a 12" MBA, 14" MBP and 16" MBP. That I could understand.

 

[ctyrider]

What would you call an iPad with a keyboard case?

There is no reason Apple can't make an iPad with a docking keyboard and call it the new MBA.

I would call an iPad with a keyboard case "an iPad with a keyboard case".

There is no reason Apple can't make "an iPad with a docking keyboard and call it the new MBA", other than the fact it would be utterly ridiculous.

Thankfully, Apple is a disciplined company who knows what their customers want. And they won't stoop to playing silly gimmickry games (i.e. laptops with removable tablet screens), like their competitors in Windows world do. So you can sit here and throw out these wild "what if" possibilities until you're blue in the face.. But they won't materialize. Don't take my word for it - just wait and see for yourself.

 

[2298754]

Finally.

Let's go Apple. It's time for me to replace my MBA.

 

[Freida]

No disrespect to your wishes, but I would be astonished if Apple ever reintroduced a 17" MBP. I think that the market is simply too small to be of interest to Apple.

I know that Dell, HP and Lenovo all produce 17" workstation laptops for the professional community, but my feeling is that these big machines just don't align to Apple's marketing "vision".

I appreciate that there is a real use-case for these machines - if you need a fast quad-core machine with 32GB RAM and multiple drives (the Lenovo W510 supports 2 HDD/SDD + an mSATA drive even in the 15" model, I believe), then your only option is to go with a non-Apple solution and use Windows or Linux.

However, I think Apple has firmly gone into the consumer electronics business and the sales of "wow factor" super slim and light laptops easily compensates for any lost sales to the scientific, engineering and software development users who might want a more powerful portable computer.

Sorry for your loss....

That said, maybe you need to consider why you want a 17" laptop? If it just screen size, then the solution is easy - plug in to an external. I travel all the time with my MBA and I *always* connect to an external monitor in my customer's offices if available - just about any office or lab will have a monitor you can use if you ask nicely.

If the problem is CPU / memory grunt, then consider either a portable server (I take my 16GB 2xSSD Mac Mini with me to augment my laptop), connect to a server back at base (I have a 32GB machine in the office for the purpose), or subscribe to a cloud provider such as Amazon, Google or Azure.

I really think the time when you need to cart around a big laptop is coming to an end for many types of work. If you do video editing or some task that need lots of power on the local machine, you may still need a beast machine, but these use cases are becoming less frequent. But if you need it, then you need it! You may just have to look at non-Apple products to meet your needs.

Well, you might be right but its good to dream. You never know.
What I need from 17" is the screen space. At home I have extra screen but on the go I'm not so lucky. And you said that you get extra screen everywhere but I am not in the same situation. If I was then maybe I wouldn't mind 15" so much.
The other benefit of 17" would be more space for more power but that is not what I'm after but it would undoubtedly be the hidden benefit of the extra space. I simply fail to understand why it was discontinued as they could have left it for BTO on the website. I still think that 13" 15" is not enough and there should be something bigger. If they make it 12, 14, 16" then at least there is a better choice and would benefit everyone. The bezel is huge anyway so if its reduced then I see no reason why having 16" with the current form of 15"

 

[Eric5273]

I agree that if they add a retina display to the air, it becomes almost identical to the retina macbook pro. So what is really the difference then?

I think they probably have something else in mind. Personally I would love to see a Macbook/iPad hybrid which runs iOS, not OSX. Add mouse support to iOS8, release it in the summer with this new device, and make this device a laptop form factor with a removable screen. Tons of people are buying these keyboard cases for their iPads, so why not make a device that already has it built in? Also, this idea of a buttonless mouse would be perfect for iOS as it would simply replicate the touch screen which has no buttons either.

Put an arm processor in a 12" laptop and you can probably get 20+ hours of battery life. That means you can go away for a 3 day business trip and not need to bring your charger. It would also probably come in around half an inch thick.

 

[edry.hilario]

to those saying using the microsoft surface pro as an example of what apple is trying to do.. (but do it right).. well guess what that also uses a fan.. soooo... yeah.

ps. For those crying over the 17 inch.. Well stop trying to make it happen because it wont happen. Sorry for your lost. Just move on.

 

[iRock1]

there will be no distinction between the air and pro

just have a line of Macbooks of varying sizes, all of which have retina

drop the pro/air label

LOL. Good luck putting a dedicated and decent GPU on that.

Come on... They can't even do that on the current 13" MacBook "Pro".

 

[DaveN]

That's impressive!

Kudos to Apple for building a reliable laptop. I've been through several batteries and am on my third charger but it keeps going. However, the screen is beginning to flicker and freeze unless you open the screen just right. I think I'll keep it around though as it runs some programs that no longer run on newer Macs.

 

[kathyricks]

I'd disagree about iMovie. The new layout is simple as can be.

The new iMovie has horrible consumer reviews. Geeks love the challenge of software complexity so the new iMovie is well suited to them, but the Mac is supposed to be geared to regular, everyday people.

 

[Renzatic]

If it is an i3 or i5 it would have to at least not go backwards in performance if it has to power 4 times the pixels... I can't imagine apple pushing out a less powerful MBA.

Personally, looking at how much Apple has poured into ARM research it would not surprising if to me if Apple has a laptop sized ARM-chip (64bit) with the ability to easily perform with the power efficiency Intel cannot supply with their chips, and Apple could use a program similar to the discontinued Rosetta to run intel applications. This also opens up a major possibility, OSX and IOS can now share the same programs, the ability for hundreds of thousands of apps to also support OSX as well. Arguably giving Apple the best set of applications in the Post-PC era.

I wouldn't doubt Apple has a few Macs running on ARM chips lying around in their labs. From a purely technical standpoint, there's no reason why it couldn't be done. No reason why it couldn't run the same applications roughly as well.

But, like I said above, there aren't many technical advantages to using ARM chips when you start playing around in the higher end of the CPU spectrum. With Haswell, Intel has come very, very close to matching ARM chips on a performance per watt basis. ARM still has a slight advantage. It will run a little cooler and give you a little more battery life than an equivalent Haswell era chip. But can an ARM chip scale as well on the high end? Are the gains worth the disadvantages?

If you ask me, they're not. It's a lateral upgrade that sacrifices too much to make the jump. Mainly in applications. Yeah, they could use an emulator to support x86 applications that haven't been ported to ARM yet, but that would entirely negate the reason for jumping over to ARM in the first place. Emulators are computationally expensive. Apps like Photoshop, Pixelmator, Lightroom, or Aperture wouldn't perform even half as well as they would native, and it'd require a helluva lot more CPU time to run them. That'd eat through the battery like a chubby kid eats through cake.

Though these same apps running natively on ARM would work about as well and last a little longer on battery. But the difference wouldn't be night and day. Haswell MBAs can last up to 14 hours on a charge. An ARM MBA wouldn't offer you much more than that. Maybe 15-16 hours on a pure guesstimation. Would that extra 2 hours be worth having to wait a year or two for everyone's favorite apps to get ported over to the architecture? Would they perform better? Would ARM MBA's sell during that downtime?

I just don't think there are enough advantages to justify an ARM MBA.

 

[Edsel]

This is getting silly. Apple is fishing for innovation. Try a new lure, maybe new bait to catch more consumers?

 

[nikaru]

Rumors for 12 inch ipad for months now, which may actually be just a 12 inch retina display for MBA.

 

[Rossatron]

no fans in a laptop doesn't sound all that good to me

 

[TallManNY]

12"

12" is popular size overseas and I see no reason why Apple can't make it. The certainly sell enough computers to justify the R&D (which presumably would be minimal).