New Slim 12" MacBook and MacBook Air Updates Soon

[Santabean2000]

12" MBA interesting, I wonder what that would do to the 11" and 13" MBA. There's so much overlap its hard to have all three in the line up.

Yep.

there will be 12" MBA and 13 with 15" MBP from later this year.
the classic MBP is coming to an end i guess

This.

Yes I guess so too. I can definately see that happening. One thing that I'm unsure is whether they will just call it MacBook instead of Air and Pro.

Thank god they will be discontinue the classic MBP this year because I feel sorry for those who doesn't know computer and buy the nearly 2 years old tech, HDD, non-Retina and heavier etc... It would be a terrible for first time Mac buyers.

Don't get me wrong, it was an awesome computer back in 2009, but not in 2014, especially for new buyers.

I still recommend this model to new owners who would have just the one Mac in their house. SSD space is still too much of a premium for significant storage capacity (esp if you're limited to buying Apple's blade thingos).

[Doesn't mean my friends listened, mind you; they bought a MBA. It'll take them a few months, but they'll fill it soon enough - and then their sleek portable machine will be forever tied into ugly external extras...]

 

[scottsjack]

I just bout a Macbook Air 11" today. Should I return it? When do you guys think it will be released?

Yes you should always return any Apple product that you've just purchased. You'll always find rumors of the next, better version on the Apple fan/rumor/enthusiast websites.

 

[maflynn]

there will be 12" MBA and 13 with 15" MBP from later this year.
the classic MBP is coming to an end i guess

Based on what I see in the MBA/MBP forums, though most people are gravitating towards the 13" rMBP over the MBA. There's really little reason for that laptop other then battery life, given the screen of the rMBP. That's my point,I can see the cMBP being killed off, but the 13 rMBP is probably affecting 13" MBA sales.

 

[MacDarcy]

Based on what I see in the MBA/MBP forums, though most people are gravitating towards the 13" rMBP over the MBA. There's really little reason for that laptop other then battery life, given the screen of the rMBP. That's my point,I can see the cMBP being killed off, but the 13 rMBP is probably affecting 13" MBA sales.

Soon as the 13" MBA gets a retina screen, I'm sure those statistics will change. More & more people have become accustomed to the retina screen now, and anything less seems inferior. Before the MBPros went retina, many opted for the MBAs.

 

[Macula]

Three words: Pressure-sensitive multitouch. Pressure will replace mechanical clicking. Apparently Apple is looking for something less vague and error-prone than simple "tapping."

 

[Sy7ygy]

12" Retina Display Air?

#Want

 

[johngwheeler]

17" MBP is now too niche for Apple

Yeah I did. And I also think that we will see them this year. Its just a question of when. I would also kill for 17" rMBP. That would make me super happy

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.

 

[panther quest]

the 13 rMBP is probably affecting 13" MBA sales.

I have a feeling it's the other way around.

 

[steve119]

Need the entry level rMbp to up its hard drive capacity to 256gb and make it 8gb memory as standard before I even consider buying one. I know you can pay more for hard drive and memory but it then takes it out of my price range tbh.

 

[Bibbler]

Why? What's the point in having a MBA and MBP if the only difference is the Intel processor? Might as well scrap the MBA in that case.

Wouldn't it make more sense to try and get all those new Apple users who've bought an iPhone or iPad to add a MB to their collection. If the MBA has ARM + iOS it makes that migration less daunting because you can use your iPad apps on your MBA.

Maybe, but in my opinion that would be a whole new machine - or class of machine and not a member of the Macbook family. Essentially, you're talking about an iPad in a laptop case with a keyboard and running iOS (once a cursor is added to the OS). I can't believe Apple would bastardize the Macbook line with different processor let alone one that simply doesn't have the horsepower to run a full blown version of OS X at a decent speed.

Someday, I do see laptops and even desktops being built especially for lightweight mobile OS's and SOC processors (I love playing with my Raspberry Pi). And a lot of these machines will be for the folks you mention - people who are familiar with tablets like the iPad or Android tablets.

I personally can see the value to both platforms, but people do still need "trucks" and all this talk of eventually merging mobile OS's and hardware with their desktop sisters into one common platform (by anyone not just Apple) isn't a good idea IMHO.

 

[panther quest]

Funny I remember I have seen this function but never turned it on. Is this a new feature on 10.9? After reading this news I thought I need to enable this to get used to it I really like it so far

I think this is the way to go. The trackpad click is pretty nosy.

I think it's been there since at least Leopard or Snow Leopard. I have been using tap to click (and all track pad gestures) exclusively since the 2011 Macbook Air.

 

[rols]

Will this be the Apple product that FINALLY uses "Liquid Metal"?
.

No

 

[69650]

I don't mean to be rude, but you are talking utter nonsense. Touch based iPad apps on a keyboard/trackpad based laptop? Just stop and think before you type more stuff..

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.

 

[TopToffee]

Think no mechanical trackpad click is a horrible mistake.

It's one of the best things about MacBooks compared to most PC laptops - the ability to not have those horrible "accidental clicks" that you get all the time with non mechanical track pads.

Plus the mac trackpads make dragging items SO much easier.

 

[panther quest]

Here's a crazy thought, what if the 12" machine has a pressure sensitive screen where the physical keyboard and trackpad are now. That would definitely count as a "new product category" I think.

 

[Bibbler]

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.

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.

 

[slal03]

Current devices : 64gb iPhone 4S and 128gb 13" 2013 MBA!

I have always been after the 13" rMBP but got the air as an interim temporary laptop until SSD prices are low enough to make 512gb or 1tb on the rMBP worth paying for, because in my opinion the 13" rMBP is very portable anyway!!!

I am amazed no one has mentioned IGZO in this thread. Sharp claim 60-80% power savings over traditional LCDs. I personally just cannot wait till apple uses the same IGZO display as on the iPad on a RMBP to give them 24hrs of battery life!!!

I find it astounding that my current 13" air gives me 13 hours of battery life. Probably the best thing to have ever happened to the air apart from it's ultra portability!!!! Just not having to worry about laptop dying has made the air so like able for me. But it lacks the extra little bit of computing power and storage I want.

Come on apple give us IGZO rMBP/A's #####

Was going to get the 5S but still not a fan of the two tone design at the back. Wish it was all glass like iPhone 4/4s or all aluminum. Although the thinness and weight of the 5/5s feels incredible in the hand I must admit I am waiting for what the 6 has to offer.

 

[iRun26.2]

so they will cancel the 13 inch MBA?
I don't want a 12" MBA,I want a 13" MBA with Retina screen.
12" too small for those who want to use it as their one and only computer.

My 11" MBA is my one and only computer for home use and at my job (electrical engineering).

I love the ultra portability. I just want a retina screen so I can see the same high resolution graphics on the road as I can on an external display.

 

[mchoffa]

I had a 12" powerbook about 7 years ago. It's too small for me to be productive on, but the size was nice. Having the choice of 11 or 13 is much better. I like my 13" Air, but even that's only good for rare (mobile) occasions when I can't use my iMac+TBs

 

[brianvictor7]

Awwwwwsome. I'm happy with my rMBP but still interested to see.
Disappointing about the iWatch though, apple is slow to the plate these days it seems..

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.

 

[Gudi]

12" and 15" MBA ?

12" and 14" MBA.
And 13" and 15" MBP.

How's that for a lineup? I'd love to have a noiseless 14" MBA.

 

[NutsNGum]

Here's a crazy thought, what if the 12" machine has a pressure sensitive screen where the physical keyboard and trackpad are now. That would definitely count as a "new product category" I think.

That would be an iPad.

 

[brianvictor7]

Here's a crazy thought, what if the 12" machine has a pressure sensitive screen where the physical keyboard and trackpad are now. That would definitely count as a "new product category" I think.

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.

 

[D.T.]

A 12 inch Macbook Air would be a nice replacement for both 11 and 13 inch models. There is zero difference between the two besides screen size.

The line would then be: 12 inch retina Macbook Air, 13 inch Retina Macbook, and 15 inch Retina Macbook Pro.

I would suspect the retina display on the Air won't be up to par with the MBP, maybe non-IPS? Hopefully it is though.

Yeah, the really fine line where the pro isn’t “pro enough” is between this mysterious 12” model and the 13”. If this 12” is released (based on the last several months, I think it’s pretty real), and it has a retina display, the 13” should at the very least have a discrete graphics option like the 15”.

I also thought Apple might do something interesting like go to even numbered resolutions, and provide more range in their display sizes: i.e., this new 12” model, then 14” and 16” pro models. The latter have 16 and 32GB RAM options, discrete graphics options, 1TB SSD options - same size chassis, just edge-to-edge displays for the additional 1”.

The button-less trackpad sounds stupid though. I much prefer tap to click, but you need to click for some things, like dragging windows. There better be a better way to move around windows with the new solution.



No please. 16:10 is far superior for laptops.

I use BTT to extend the input options, and on my track pad settings I’ve got “three finger drag” enabled and it works pretty great (there’s a small adoption curve, but after that, it’s second nature).

Agree about the 16:10, I’ve always preferred a little more height, since my computing tasks are generally “tall intensive”


Agree with all the won’t/can’t be ARM comments

OT
What is the product between a Mac Mini & a Mac Pro?

Yes! The nMini / xMac - I think we know this will never happen, but I’d like to image the nMP case with consumer spec internals, a “real” GPU upgrade over the iMac ... plus, colors!

Did someone just piss on your Cheerios?

It was me actually. Walked by, needed to go, saw the cereal on the table ... it just came together.

 

[brianvictor7]

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.

The 15" MacBook has a quad core i7. If you need more power than that chances are you also need multiple screens and need to be a workstation running a Mac Pro.