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.
New Slim 12" MacBook and MacBook Air Updates Soon
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Common sense.
That is thinking inside of the box. Laptop makers seeing the sales numbers of tablets and having the idea that a laptop with a touchscreen might participate in the growth of touch computing. It does not work that way.
Both CPUs with x86/64 instruction set and mouse/keyboard control are a given in future MacBooks. But weight, heat, noise and battery life can take a lesson from iPads. A future MacBook Air might even have LTE and GPS.
Totally agree here.
Apple has it right regarding screens that sit up away from you - people would rather use a trackpad on their desk, a mouse and a keyboard to interact with the screen. It's uncomfortable, awkward and tiring to reach up and press things and drag things around a touch screen that's horizontal.
For something on your lap vertically, or where it's on a table vertically, like tablets are used, touch screens are great, because there is no room for a keyboard or mouse. The screen IS the keyboard and mouse together.
If you already have those, I see it as such a waste. Everyone I've talked to that's had a PC with a touch screen (along with a keyboard and mouse), loved it for the first couple of days, but don't use it anymore as it felt just like a gimmick. Sure, occasionally, they feel like they want to touch something on the screen if it's on a web page with a big font and big buttons. But for daily activity, they don't. 95% of what they do on a laptop is too small and too precise for a finger to really work. And you need a keyboard anyways, so why not just have some input device next to the keyboard, or a part of the keyboard, so you don't have to keep moving your hands up to the screen.
For a tablet, awesome, for a laptop not so much.
I agree with you except I could see apple developing a custom ARM processor for the air at some point if they could make one powerful enough and it allowed for improved battery life.
Really doubtful.
While it gets better performance for its battery life - ARM overall is still way too slow. Plus Intel has been working on improving their efficiency as of late.
----------
Who needs a keyboard? I demand brain scanners!
It's a natural progression IMO, another sensor.
Sooner or later Macbooks will have touchscreens, LTE, GPS and many other chips, it's just progress.
Besides have you tried using a Windows laptop with a touchscreen? It's really good, especially when you want to scroll show somebody something, you can just touch the screen and scroll. Feels like a more immersive experience.
Agree. There are tons of high quality 17" laptops on the market. If Apple doesn't want the business, it's time to move on.
Agree with Jan. The answer is that after age 50, I don't want to squint on a 12" screen, even retina. I would prefer a 14" IPS.
Yes. 99% of people use them as desktop replacements that happen to be mobile for meetings or to work outdoors if it's a nice day
very nice standing up for your 17inch macbook >.>
If you want to use touch as a main input method, you have to adapt every user interface element in the whole OS and all its applications. Traditional computing with a mouse pointer is much too mature and useful as it is now, to simply throw it away. And if you have to redo all UI applications anyway, you could as well build a new touch-based OS. That's what iOS is.
After 30 years of development you can't just completely change the underlying interaction model of the OS. Either you change too little and the new input method remains a gimmick or you change too much and destroy everything your OS has become known for. Windows 8 suffers from both problems. Experienced users miss the start menu and still touch feels like a second thought.
Touch is not just another sensor.
Yes. 99% of people use them as desktop replacements that happen to be mobile for meetings or to work outdoors if it's a nice day
No one wants to buy a 2.5k laptop.
So you use external display..I was talking about relying on the the machine itself as the main compter wthout any extra equipment.
12 inches is very small to be used comfortably (at home).
The option to choose 11 / 13 inches is much better than forcing 12 inches only.
Igzo? Isn't he that skateboarding rat the ninja turtles had to fight all the time?
Also, those two things aren't mutually exclusive.
Retina isn't a panel technology. It's an Apple marketing term. You're thinking of "drop IPS" which is a panel type. This would still be incorrect, because IGZO is not an actual panel type. I suggest you do some reading before making any assertions on what should be used.
Shame on Apple for replacing their devices with more capable ones.
Progress – why can it not be stopped?
Yeah. I'm right there with you. It really bums me out. I love the company but lately have been feeling more in sync with non apple products.
well, then go there, unless ur a troll, you know you never will
----------
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.
aint happin!
Agreed. That's why I think iOS is the future and OSX is the past. With every version of each operating system over the past 5 years, they keep moving them closer together. Eventually they will just merge them and you will basically get iOS with mouse support and multitasking.
It's very easy to add mouse support to iOS. On the other hand, it would be very difficult to add touch support to OSX. I think we will eventually get iOS look and feel with OSX back end.
That the MacBook I was waiting for! I want a retina screen in a small package. And I can't stand the fan noise.
I dunno-- the differences between the MBA and MBP are fading as the MBP gets smaller and lighter. If they go retina on the MBA, then moving to ARM would be a differentiator. The 13" MBP ensures they won't loose much marketshare if the ARM switch turns out to be a mistake.
Intel has been "working on improving efficiency" since Netburst nearly melted the planet. They seem to be culturally inhibited from sacrificing any performance for efficiency. ARM on the other hand has been working on improving performance and has been much more successful-- particularly in multicore architectures.
I always thought an ARM based Mac was a bad idea, but after reading all of this I can kind of see it. Maybe it's just my mood and I'll change my mind tomorrow...
Now or wait?
Awwww man ... September. I am yearning for a rMBP. Had been fantasising about a June release - gah, September!
What do you think folks - rMBP 15" now, or wait? I'm on a 14" i5 PC laptop, it's fine, battery's still holding around 5 hours after almost a year of daily cycles, nothing's broken, doesn't get particularly hot (yay Tecra!). But I got the rMBP itch. I'm surrounded by rMBP's at work - that delicate keyboard action, the super-sharp displays, the sturdy build ... Gah! September+ ?!
I realise the bias here, but I'm thinking: buy into the current model because it's at the mature end of the release cycle.
On balance, do you think 2014 rMBP will likely ship with unforeseen/significant build/component issues, or does Apple have good track record with MBP releases?
Awwww man ... September. I am yearning for a rMBP. Had been fantasising about a June release - gah, September!
What do you think folks - rMBP 15" now, or wait? I'm on a 14" i5 PC laptop, it's fine, battery's still holding around 5 hours after almost a year of daily cycles, nothing's broken, doesn't get particularly hot (yay Tecra!). But I got the rMBP itch. I'm surrounded by rMBP's at work - that delicate keyboard action, the super-sharp displays, the sturdy build ... Gah! September+ ?!
I realise the bias here, but I'm thinking: buy into the current model because it's at the mature end of the release cycle.
On balance, do you think 2014 rMBP will likely ship with unforeseen/significant build/component issues, or does Apple have good track record with MBP releases?