I think there are a lot of valid points made by everyone responding to this thread. My thought is that Apple is going to constantly improve the Air because the PC market seems to be really going after this niche laptop market because of Windows 7 and getting great margins compared to the netbooks. I just went to Fry's and played around with the 13" HP Envy which is a clear rip off the MacBook Pro with similiar specs to the base Air. They are charging $1800 for this underpowered machine, which makes the Air look like an incredible deal. I think Apple let's the PC posers continue to copy and then come out with products that makes the market rethink about specs and design choices. I am glad there is competition to keep Apple innovating their products.
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Next Macbook Air Revision
- Thread starter lefse
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All I know is that if Apple released a RevD tomorrow with 4gb RAM and a 256gb SDD I'd buy it in a heartbeat - no other changes required from RevC for me
I loved my RevA and would be using it today if it were not for its capacity limitations. Those limitations are not a problem for many people but were for me often enough I switched to a Macbook.
I don't find the Macbook nearly as enjoyable and while my comfort zones is 4gb and 250gb, I keep trying to rationalize a 2gb/128gbSSD MBA. If iTunes and iPhoto were optimizes for remote storage (caching highly compressed local content and seamlessly accessing higher volume remote content) I could live with the storage limitations. And while I find 2gb of ram ok for all my native Mac applications, I run one or more VM's often enough that 2gb is a pain.
So if you are listening Apple, please bring out a RevD with 4gb or RAM and a fast 256gb SSD!
I loved my RevA and would be using it today if it were not for its capacity limitations. Those limitations are not a problem for many people but were for me often enough I switched to a Macbook.
I don't find the Macbook nearly as enjoyable and while my comfort zones is 4gb and 250gb, I keep trying to rationalize a 2gb/128gbSSD MBA. If iTunes and iPhoto were optimizes for remote storage (caching highly compressed local content and seamlessly accessing higher volume remote content) I could live with the storage limitations. And while I find 2gb of ram ok for all my native Mac applications, I run one or more VM's often enough that 2gb is a pain.
So if you are listening Apple, please bring out a RevD with 4gb or RAM and a fast 256gb SSD!
Bettery, battery, battery
As a second machine, I can live with 2GB RAM, I can live with 128 SSD but sitting at an all day conference when everyone hogs up available power supply, a 3.5 hr battery doesn't cut it.
Take a multi socket adapter with you.
I love gaming and I have my Air for work and light stuff and bought an Asus gaming laptop for the latest games. I would love to be able to play games on the next revision of the Air so I don't always have to lug around my 8 pound windows machine to play the latest.
my dream scenario:
january, apple introduces tablet with carbon fiber shell and announces that all carbon fiber parts will be produced and assembled in USA with more products to come. then all carbon fiber MBA around march, carbon fiber iphone in june.
sound plausible?
this would explain the increased shipping costs and increased capital expenditures for "tooling" machinery that was explained at the financial report
january, apple introduces tablet with carbon fiber shell and announces that all carbon fiber parts will be produced and assembled in USA with more products to come. then all carbon fiber MBA around march, carbon fiber iphone in june.
sound plausible?
this would explain the increased shipping costs and increased capital expenditures for "tooling" machinery that was explained at the financial report
what do you think CF would do other then look and sound cool? Devices that use their chasis as a heatsink (IE apple laptops) would cook if they were made of CF!
I wonder if Apple will add the sort of "all day battery" advertising claim to it and bring it up to around 7-8 hours.
well, i hope apple listens to others as well, cause that wouldn't really be a rev D.
Cf looks cool, sounds cool, functions cool (strong, dent resistant), weighs cool (much lighter than aluminum, a HUGE factor for the 'ultraportable' MBA), and the heat sink is no big deal on a computer that's not meant to be powerful. seems like the perfect material to me. im holding out for a 15" version.
They can't because there is no room. They already use an internal battery in the Air. Don't expect much of a difference.
Including the DRM and no permanent copy.
You're not really paying for the disc, but its content. Plus, you cannot press chips, thus you will have dramatically increased production costs moving from discs.
If this were true then it is as much a testament to Apple's poor thermal engineering as anything else. How is it that Sony and Lenovo manage to make laptops that are lighter, faster, and run cooler than Apple's, yet they use materials such as CF, polycarbonate, and magnesium?
What would CF do? A lot. Why are the world's fastest, lightest, most advanced cars, boats, and airplanes using CF extensively? Because it is extremely strong and light. CF would allow the MBA to be even lighter, while maintaining a very strong structure, and would most likely resist scratches and wear better than anodized aluminum. (I'm thinking of the very tough, matte finish that Thinkpads have on their palmrests).
Take the Lenovo X200 as an example: C2D 2.4 GHz, 12.1" 1280x800, weighs 2.95 lbs with 4-cell battery and only 3.24 lbs with 6-cell battery. So we have a laptop that is faster, lighter, more compact, and has better battery life than the MBA. And I can attest to the X200's excellent thermal management, i.e., it doesn't overheat!
Of course it looks butt-ugly compared to an MBA, and for a lot of customers, this would be a deterrent. It's like Lenovo engineers took the maxim form follows function to its logical limits. Utilitarian, almost military-inspired, and the screen isn't as nice. At the same time, I like its "functional beauty", and the keyboard and matte black finish feel very high-quality.
If the MBA is EOL'd, then Apple is left with a gaping hole in the thin-and-light laptop class, and count me among those that don't think a tablet will be replacing a full-featured laptop any time soon. Considering that this is a nascent market, and very much the direction consumer laptops seems to be moving, I can't imagine Apple not having big plans for the MBA!
For me, if it would include Arrandale CPU, 4 GB RAM, and glass trackpad i would be VERY happy with it.
Actually i use it mostly of my time, and i only find these three points necessaries to revise. All the other possible increases on its capacity would be welcome, but really for my daily work and the main purpose of MBA (remember that it is mostly the MOST portable Apple computer) it would be enough.
Actually i use it mostly of my time, and i only find these three points necessaries to revise. All the other possible increases on its capacity would be welcome, but really for my daily work and the main purpose of MBA (remember that it is mostly the MOST portable Apple computer) it would be enough.