I have an 8 year old MBP and have been wanting to upgrade for a couple of years, waiting on the new generation 13" MB. When will we see these freaking things? I love the new MB, but 12" is too small.
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Okay, it's October, when do we see a new 13" Macbook?
- Thread starter miamialley
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This is the MacBook Air (MBA) forum. If you are interested in the MacBook (MB), there's another forum for that: https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/macbook.129/
But if you really mean MBA, of course nobody really knows. There is an Apple event at the end of the month (on the 27th?) but no real consensus about what might happen with the MBA. See this: https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-air/
It's possible they will update it in a way that disappoints people, like they did with the 2014 Mini. If that happens, it may be hard to get the current MBA. That's what happened to the 2012 Mini almost immediately after the 2014 was introduced.
But if you really mean MBA, of course nobody really knows. There is an Apple event at the end of the month (on the 27th?) but no real consensus about what might happen with the MBA. See this: https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-air/
It's possible they will update it in a way that disappoints people, like they did with the 2014 Mini. If that happens, it may be hard to get the current MBA. That's what happened to the 2012 Mini almost immediately after the 2014 was introduced.
I'm aware of the forum. I want a new, thin, 13" mac laptop. I don't know what they'll call it.
They're gonna come out with a brand new rMBA 13 tomorrow. I know this because I just bought the current one for my daughter, so I've basically taken one for the team.
Nah, just kidding. I really did buy one today though.
Nah, just kidding. I really did buy one today though.
I can't wait for the new MBA or I'll even consider the new Pro; just release it already.
Nobody knows what goes on in the collective Apple mind, and I guess they are working on something really good, but I just don't see why the company can't keep the hardware roughly up to date with an annual revision. I would have bought nine months ago. It hurts me and it doesn't help Apple make sales.
A simple explanation could be that it's getting phased out but they'll keep them around until people stop buying...
But they haven't released any 13" or 15" updates in a long time. The current computer are near identical hardware-wise to my 2008 MBP. (Not speed of course)
They are taking advantage of their monopoly with Mac OS. No way they would be able to do it if there was competition for building hardware for Mac OS.
By selling old hardware on current platforms they are ensuring two things
- Those who buy now will probably need to upgrade sooner.
- For those willing to wait, it creates pent up demand for their new platform(s). [New rMBP in this case.]
It's pretty clear that they wanted to favor the rMB. It probably did not sell as well as they would have liked it to.
What I'm fearing is that the new design must have some serious warts if they have to resort to these kinds of tactics to create demand.
If they took the 12" hardware as is and put it in 13" machine with a similar DPI, the graphics would likely be very slow. The 12" already has borderline performance. If you want any kind of future proofing (i.e. last beyond 3 years), it should be blazing fast today, which it isn't.
Maybe the new Kabylake chip that will go into it will help this?
I am interested to see if a new 13" MacBook replaces the air and what it will be like. Apple may be able to get some more power into it than the 12" plus get at least 1 more USB-C port.
It has the makings of a great laptop
Even if it does, it will be borderline OK for a 13". Definitely not something that can be useful more than 3 years, most likely it will have a good life of 2 years like the current rMB. I just don't think fanless designs are there yet. Heck even phones and iPads seem to have a good life of only 2 years. It's not like they stop working, but you just have to work in slow motion, which gets old pretty quick.
this is why I tend to work on an annual upgrade and treat my purchases as a hire. They are going through a business so get the tax deduction in a year, and it tends to work out reasonably cheap to do this. It is a bit of hassle but worth it
This hasn't happened though over the last few years for me due to slow upgrades etc but will be on it again after this one, no matter what. Have written off all my mac gear well and truly now and has paid for itself many times over.
Personal purchases - well that's a different matter, and I consider those very carefully.
Well your signature says you have a 6 year old core2duo 13" MBP. I have an 8 year old 15" MBP with those same specs, and it might be described as "slow motion" in some respects. But that's a far cry from your 2 year example.
I stopped using my 8 year old computer a few years ago, but my three year old i7/8gb/512gb MBA still feels very responsive and I have no plans to replace it anytime soon.
Well your signature says you have a 6 year old core2duo 13" MBP. I have an 8 year old 15" MBP with those same specs, and it might be described as "slow motion" in some respects. But that's a far cry from your 2 year example.
I stopped using my 8 year old computer a few years ago, but my three year old i7/8gb/512gb MBA still feels very responsive and I have no plans to replace it anytime soon.
The 2 year example refers to the new hardware currently in the rMB.
My computer was blazing fast when I first bought it. For the last 2 years I would say it has been quite slow. I'd say it had a good life of 4 years. I have stretched it a bit. I actually bought an rMBP about 2 years ago, but had a bad experience on first boot up and decided to return it. I didn't feel like buying anything else for a bit. And then the waiting game started.
I'd say current MBA hardware will have a good life of 3 years (instead of 4 if it was on skylake/kaby lake).
All things being equal, why would the same computer suddenly get slower after some date? Or do you mean it won't run the latest software and operating system acceptably? I still have Mountain Lion on my 2013 MBA and it doesn't feel any slower than the day I bought it. In my case, I have a lot of expensive legacy software. I retired a few years ago and the old software is perfectly fine for my current needs. If I upgrade to Sierra, I'm sure some of it will break and I would be looking at about $6000 to update to current versions of everything.
There are two reasons for this -- software (OS) updates and the content of websites. With respect to content, websites support richer and richer content (flash, high resolution pics and video), browsers get updated with more functionality (and security) and so it slows down performance even if the base OS is kept the same. Also, because of security, I prefer to have the latest version of OS and all apps.
Well, just "by the numbers"…. my 2013 11" MBA has a geekbench score of 7241. The same model current MBA scores 8070. That's only a 10% difference, not much to get excited about. Certainly not worth upgrading for that, and the max RAM is still 8gb and max SSD is 512gb - just like my 2013.
Maybe a new model will blow that out of the water? Since this is the 11" MBA, I'd say it's equally likely they won't update it at all or will completely eliminate it.
Maybe a new model will blow that out of the water? Since this is the 11" MBA, I'd say it's equally likely they won't update it at all or will completely eliminate it.
What about GPU performance? Is that also similar?
Keep in mind the "current" model is 2 generations old at this point. The geekbench score with a kaby lake would probably be a LOT higher.
Hopefully by the end of this month we have an announcement. I too am waiting for the MBP update. I have a mid 2012 air that has done me very well, but its time for an upgrade. Im getting impatient though. lol
The 2015 will be the last MacBook Air, trust me. In 2017 Macbook will lower the price to the current Air and this will be discontinued.
I really think Apple needs to have an entry level MacBook ($1,000). The 13 in MBA is the gateway computer for college students and Apple newbies that get customers hooked on the eco-system. I have 2 kids in college, and the MBA is extremely popular on campus. The current versions of the rMB and rMBP don't fit the entry computer.....just too much of a niche product and too expensive. I really don't think it takes much to update the MBA so it will be viable for another 4 years in the MacBook line-up.
Here is my list of updates:
I am somewhat biased because our family got sucked into the Apple ecosystem by using MacBooks. It started with my kids' participation in the laptop program in middle school. Those white poly MacBooks were just so cool. The kids loved them, and we started replacing our family computers with Apple products as a result. Over the last 10 years, we have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on Apple products......probably would not have happened if there hadn't been an entry level Macbook to get us started.
Here is my list of updates:
- Routine Processor update
- IPS display for better viewing angles (doesn't need to be retina)
- Smaller bezel around screen
- Force touch track pad (probably more cost effective to only make one type of trackpad anyway)
- Color Options
I am somewhat biased because our family got sucked into the Apple ecosystem by using MacBooks. It started with my kids' participation in the laptop program in middle school. Those white poly MacBooks were just so cool. The kids loved them, and we started replacing our family computers with Apple products as a result. Over the last 10 years, we have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on Apple products......probably would not have happened if there hadn't been an entry level Macbook to get us started.