I'd love a 12.7" MacBook Air, but I don't think they'll make one. I suspect it will be 13-14", with a notch.
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Possible screen sizes of an M2 MacBook (Air) with notch
- Thread starter ozthegweat
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Based on the new rumor of a 13.6" screen size I created another mockup. This comes in at a device size of 30 x 21.3 cm / 11.8 x 8.4 in, which is 16% more than the 12" MacBook with 28 x 19.7 cm.
Nice mockup, surely one with the 15.2” size stated by Ross Young? ?
As these are new panels, one would presume they’ll be 254ppi like the new Pros (rather than the 227ppi with imperfect software scaling we’ve tolerated for years).
If so, I would guess resolutions of 2880x1874 (actually closer to 13.5”) and 3232x2094 (15.2”). The smaller one is easier to guess obviously because its just the current 2880x1800 + 74px for the notch.
I think the 15.2” model will weigh around 3.4/3.5lbs (scaling the M1 Air’s density to match the footprint), making it essentially identical in weight to the 14.2” Pro, which I think is a great balance of portability and screen size. A 16.2” consumer model would still need to weigh about 4lbs and would still be much too big for airplane tray tables. This would be by far the most compact 15” notebook Apple has made based on estimated X and Y dimensions of 33.41cm and 23.46cm.
Yes but it runs at a simulated 2880x1800 by default, which coincidentally would be 254ppi were that the true resolution of the display.
Now all you have to do is stack them on top of each other and replace the 13” MacBook Pro on Apple’s compare page and you can have your very own “leaked image” ?
EDIT: Had a go myself just out of curiosity
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254 ppi would be ideal but they could stick with 227 ppi just for cost, and 98% of their customers wouldn’t know the difference.
Keep the perfect 2X scaling for the Pros and imperfect (but still excellent) scaling for the Airs.
Very possible, but Apple seems to be moving away from imperfect scaling, like how the 24” iMac is 4.5K and how the 5.5” iPhones used to have imperfect scaling but now all iPhones are exactly 2x (LCD) or 3x (OLED). Upping these new panels to 254ppi but leaving out newer tech like miniLED and ProMotion should keep costs down enough. Also, it’s likely that these panels can use the same pixel arrangement as the Pro panels but with a cheaper conventional LED backlight.
Ambitious on the pricing but looking good otherwise ??
Nice!
I think they would keep the same $999 pricing for the MacBook/MacBook Air, perhaps with M1. Also, along with the continued use of M1 for this iteration, keeping the 227 ppi screen with no mini-LED and no Pro Motion would make it easier to hit that psychological sub-$1000 mark, which Apple has stuck with for all these years. This is typed on a 2017 MacBook Air that would have been $999 at launch.
The other question is whether or not they discontinue the 13" MacBook Pro. It would make sense to discontinue it but if they don't, that 13" MacBook Pro could get a higher resolution 254 ppi screen with mini-LED and Pro Motion, along with M2.
My theory on Kuo’s rumor about the Air staying with M1 is that he got his wires crossed. The current Air with M1 is sticking around and the new design (which people call Air but I don’t think will be) is getting M2. The MacBook Air with M1 is Apple’s volume seller, has likely gotten quite cheap to produce, and still doesn’t really have an equal at its price point. Apple needs to stimulate demand in the $1200-2000 zone to lift ASP among non-Pro buyers, and a new design (plus a more expensive 15” option) helps to do that.
Apple has a precedent of not releasing new designs at $999. The current Air design launched in 2018 at $1,199, while the old Air (which was an ancient piece of $#!+ at that point) stuck around below $1000. The previous design launched in 2010 and started at $1,199 for a 13” model (they did have the 11” at $999 but with a weaker processor and 64GB storage). Even if Apple didn’t increase pixel density that isn’t really a huge cost factor, the newer techniques required for thinner bezels/notch and the lower yield you initially get from a new design would probably outweigh that. With inflation, the semiconductor shortage, etc, an all-new $999 MacBook doesn’t seem likely.
It also makes no sense for an entry-level MacBook Pro to stick around if you have a 15” model. They would likely end up being very similar in price, and then you’d have two options competing with each other, as well as cannibalising the $1,999+ Pro models. It also doesn’t make sense to keep an old design sandwiched between two newer designs, nor to add a 13” miniLED or ProMotion panel when a 14” one already exists and there are now rumours of miniLED shortages.
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Could someone create a mockup of a colorful new M2 MacBook Air with white bezels & no notch? My thinking is that Apple wouldn't have made the macOS Monterey menu bar black in full screen if they intended to have a product with white bezels & a notch. Alternately, if there's going to be a notch on the new M2 MacBook Air, could that person create one with a black bezel & notch? I think those 2 options are more realistic than the new MacBook Air having a white bezel with a notch.
I think the rumoured 13.6" and 15.2" sizes strongly point to having a notch, regardless of what the bezel colours are.
The math for the screen sizes vs. resolutions vs. pixel density works very well if there is a notch. If the sizes are correct but there is no notch, then it's harder to reconcile the math.
That's completely fine & totally understandable! But the surrounding frame will probably be black. I think it would be interesting to get a glimpse at a possible colorful design with a black bezel. I'm not saying that Apple won't make a white bezel with a notch as I have been wrong before & fully admit it! It just seems like they wouldn't have gone through the effort to code macOS in full screen to have a black full screen menu bar if the surrounding frame with a notch is white. On the new MacBook Pros, the mini-LEDs can hide the notch really well with almost pure pitch black. Not so much if it's white!
Black would be better in this context, but I don't think we can be so definitive about this with Apple. I wouldn't put it past them to make the bezel white.
Here now both sizes in one image:
Maybe with a black bar at the top like the macbook pros, but since the notch is in white it’s contrasting with it. Then another one with the icon still shown without a black bar.
I think It will look repulsive unfortunately.
OP, would you please show how an app would look with an app in full screen mode?
Maybe with a black bar at the top like the macbook pros, but since the notch is in white it’s contrasting with it. Then another one with the icon still shown without a black bar.
I think It will look repulsive unfortunately.
I tried a few variants, and I think that it looks best with a fullscreen menubar in light gray (sorry for the quick hackjob, the menubar contents are not from Safari and the address bar is empty):
Nice job, but 2 things:
1. maybe the exterior part of the bezel should be surrounded by a thin, light gray (or could it be blue?) rubber gasket.
2. maybe the notch doesn't need to have the thin black line around it, like the rest of the display, because the screen pixels do go on behind it, don't they? This would allow the white notch to look much more seamless than previously expected (except in the dark where it would look like crap).
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Great render! But the notch itself is so repugnant. It’s fine with a grey menubar but fullscreen apps should not have the menubar showing. What if i’m watching a movie for example?
Thanks.
While the notch is not ideal, a white/light bezel looks quite acceptable in this context. I don't think it would be a deal killer for most of the target audience, judging by your render.
No it's a cutout, the cursor will go behind the notch as if there was screen there, but there aren't actually any pixels behind the notch.
Loving these renders… this is my thinking with the release of this new Air…
If Kuo is correct that the new Air is going to retain M1… I expect Apple to refresh the entry MBP with M2 (like what was rumoured for the spring event) quite possibly at WWDC, this will remain at the $1299 price point then the new Air will directly replace the current Air at $999 and still retain M1, this will then give a reason to have an entry level MacBook Pro in the line up with the newer chip and it’s definitely a very Apple thing to do… however, that old style MacBook Pro will start to get very long in the tooth in terms of design but maybe Apple want to keep it around in the short term for those who want the Touch Bar, who knows.
If Kuo is wrong though and the new Air is getting M2, I fully expect it will directly replace the entry level MBP and could potentially just be called MacBook, but calling it ‘MacBook’ is going to be strange as in the iPad line up, the model just called ‘iPad’ is the lowest end whereas with the MacBook will be the middle tier, seems a little confusing for the consumer IMO.
It is for that reason I think that Kuo saying this new Air still retaining M1 could potentially happen, at the end of the day, the customers this Mac is targeted at won’t give two sh**s whether it has got M1 or M2, they will buy just because they like the way it looks and let’s be honest M1 is more than enough for those customers… maybe Apple giving the new Air M1 is going to be similar to how the new iPhone 14 (standard) is going to retain the A15 chip, I think the chip shortage is starting to hit Apple quite hard at the moment.
If Kuo is correct that the new Air is going to retain M1… I expect Apple to refresh the entry MBP with M2 (like what was rumoured for the spring event) quite possibly at WWDC, this will remain at the $1299 price point then the new Air will directly replace the current Air at $999 and still retain M1, this will then give a reason to have an entry level MacBook Pro in the line up with the newer chip and it’s definitely a very Apple thing to do… however, that old style MacBook Pro will start to get very long in the tooth in terms of design but maybe Apple want to keep it around in the short term for those who want the Touch Bar, who knows.
If Kuo is wrong though and the new Air is getting M2, I fully expect it will directly replace the entry level MBP and could potentially just be called MacBook, but calling it ‘MacBook’ is going to be strange as in the iPad line up, the model just called ‘iPad’ is the lowest end whereas with the MacBook will be the middle tier, seems a little confusing for the consumer IMO.
It is for that reason I think that Kuo saying this new Air still retaining M1 could potentially happen, at the end of the day, the customers this Mac is targeted at won’t give two sh**s whether it has got M1 or M2, they will buy just because they like the way it looks and let’s be honest M1 is more than enough for those customers… maybe Apple giving the new Air M1 is going to be similar to how the new iPhone 14 (standard) is going to retain the A15 chip, I think the chip shortage is starting to hit Apple quite hard at the moment.
Beautiful renders throughout this thread, nice job!
It's probably a single line of code to change the color of the Menu Bar, I venture that Apple has the resources to do that. This is the company that once invented a "remote disk" software that could run (*on Windows!*) to let 1st Gen MacBook Air users feel better about the fact that the laptop didn't have a dvd drive... So I doubt they'll be daunted by the task of making the menubar white.
FWIW, I'm using a 14" MBP as a temporary machine and, while I dislike a lot of things about this laptop (the weight, the thickness, the retro-useless ports) the one thing I truly like is the notch. In fact, if there was a way to make the menubar pale grey currently to make the notch stand out more, I would use it. When I'm not in fullscreen mode, I select pale color backgrounds to emphasize it. Just saying -- I know this is not everybody's opinion, but not everybody hates the notch either.
As for watching movies, sure, but that's hardly what a laptop is for, especially an ultraportable. Apple may well say that you could buy literally any other device in their lineup if that's a problem for you. But, you know, they used to sell iPads with white bezels (I had one) and people used to watch movies on them without trauma. I suspect people would get used to the white notch too. But I agree it's not ideal.
It's probably a single line of code to change the color of the Menu Bar, I venture that Apple has the resources to do that. This is the company that once invented a "remote disk" software that could run (*on Windows!*) to let 1st Gen MacBook Air users feel better about the fact that the laptop didn't have a dvd drive... So I doubt they'll be daunted by the task of making the menubar white.
FWIW, I'm using a 14" MBP as a temporary machine and, while I dislike a lot of things about this laptop (the weight, the thickness, the retro-useless ports) the one thing I truly like is the notch. In fact, if there was a way to make the menubar pale grey currently to make the notch stand out more, I would use it. When I'm not in fullscreen mode, I select pale color backgrounds to emphasize it. Just saying -- I know this is not everybody's opinion, but not everybody hates the notch either.
As for watching movies, sure, but that's hardly what a laptop is for, especially an ultraportable. Apple may well say that you could buy literally any other device in their lineup if that's a problem for you. But, you know, they used to sell iPads with white bezels (I had one) and people used to watch movies on them without trauma. I suspect people would get used to the white notch too. But I agree it's not ideal.