The MacBook Air was a fine machine two years ago. Now, it's just one of the several ultrabooks available in the market. It's not even the top-end one. Now, look at the ultrabooks unveiled at Computex this week. Very thin and light laptops, with premium materials, and IPS touch screens with resolutions up to 2560x1440. They're MacBook Air killers. But I'm afraid Apple will keep the old design. I'm not buying one of these. I want a top-notch laptop, and the MacBook Air is not the cream of the crop.
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Pricing Leak Suggests MacBook Air Release at WWDC, Retina MacBook Pro Update Shipping Later?
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The MacBook Air was a fine machine two years ago. Now, it's just one of the several ultrabooks available in the market. It's not even the top-end one. Now, look at the ultrabooks unveiled at Computex this week. Very thin and light laptops, with premium materials, and IPS touch screens with resolutions up to 2560x1440. They're MacBook Air killers. But I'm afraid Apple will keep the old design. I'm not buying one of these. I want a top-notch laptop, and the MacBook Air is not the cream of the crop.
I'm deeply considering getting a Haswell MBA when they come out. The one thing that'll keep me from doing so is if the new rev is still using the 1366x768 - 1440x900 screens. I'm not expecting retina quality displays on the Air yet, but keeping things the same as they are now would be an almost tragic lack of effort on Apple's part. Not when even the lower end "crap PC junk" ultrabooks give us 1920x1080 these days.
I couldn't agree more. If I didn't have to use OSX for anything, I think I would probably switch over to one of the Windows Ultra-books.
Sad, it is...
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Maybe they are trying to steer us to the MBP. It sure seems like Apple could create a better computer than the Windows Ultra-books. I suspect they might just give up on their previous MBA 'Flagship' concept that has previously been the 'future of laptops'.
It may now be the past...
A lot of weird freaking out going on here. It makes sense to me. All speculation but this is what I suspect:
New MBA lineup with 4600 Haswell chips, storage capacity bumped a level on each model, maybe RAM, would love to see a black screen bezel but won't hold my breath, same prices
Announced new rMBP lineup with 5200 Haswell chips to be released Aug/Sep when they become available, storage capacity bumped a level on each model, maybe RAM
Who knows what they'll do with the non-retina MBP. They need to have a good option in that price range and I doubt they'll be able to lower the entry level rMBP to that price. Wouldn't be shocked if they made the MBA a MB and tried to make the 13" its replacement.
New MBA lineup with 4600 Haswell chips, storage capacity bumped a level on each model, maybe RAM, would love to see a black screen bezel but won't hold my breath, same prices
Announced new rMBP lineup with 5200 Haswell chips to be released Aug/Sep when they become available, storage capacity bumped a level on each model, maybe RAM
Who knows what they'll do with the non-retina MBP. They need to have a good option in that price range and I doubt they'll be able to lower the entry level rMBP to that price. Wouldn't be shocked if they made the MBA a MB and tried to make the 13" its replacement.
Exactly what I was wondering. With these new, ultra-low power chips, we could surely expect significantly longer battery life, unless APPLE decides to give us a smaller battery, so they could shave yet another mm off the thickness of the MBA.
"This is the second version of the company's main desktop and laptop chips that will be produced on its 22nm Tri-Gate process, following the current Ivy Bridge chips introduced last year at this time. In particular, it should be the first generation of the Core processors to allow notebooks to act more like tablets or phones by running at new ultra-low power processoring states at idle, so they can still connect to the Internet on a periodic basis and offer "instant-on" features while using very little power."
Source: http://forwardthinking.pcmag.com/ch...eally-boost-battery-performance-by-50-percent
It's very possible. Apple could consolidate their entire laptop line down to the 13" rMBP as their entry level device, and the 15" for people who need a little more power. With Haswell, they could make the 13" almost as thin as the Airs are now without sacrificing much at all.
Actually, that would kinda make sense. While I was typing up the paragraph above, I realized that the new iPads could easily take the place of the Airs with a little bit of work. The only thing keeping iOS from being as capable as OSX is Apple's pigheaded decision to keep it locked down as tightly as possible. With a next gen ARM processor, coupled with another gig or two of ram, an iPad could come close to mimicking the 11" Air's general usage spread.
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Don't forget further. Thanks to 'beamforming', 802.11.ac does a better job of reaching further, even through walls.
I guess it's "retina" or nothing for Apple. Well, for me too. I already have a laptop with a 1920x1080 screen resolution, and I'm searching for a display which is so sharp that I cannot see the individual pixels on the screen. I have to frequently zoom out documents and they become pixelated and difficult to read. I want retina displays, and that's the main reason why I'm not considering a MBA.
why would apple want to make only the 13' slimmer
it makes me angry there even changing the body so early.
I know this won't happen but I'd love a 14" notebook. Always have.
Kill off Macbook Air line.
Have 12" for budget/portability - dual core, integrated graphics.
Have 14" for middle compromise - low quad core, dedicated graphics.
Have 16" for power users - high end quad core and graphics.
All retina of course.
Kill off Macbook Air line.
Have 12" for budget/portability - dual core, integrated graphics.
Have 14" for middle compromise - low quad core, dedicated graphics.
Have 16" for power users - high end quad core and graphics.
All retina of course.
+1 , i also missed it earlier
If you already had a good machine, i don't see performance increase in haswell is worth the difference from selling your current mac and getting a new one.
"... and the price-points correspond to Apples current pricing for the 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models."
I read that as "current price tags = new price tags"
Tim Cook steers Apple ship without wind in the sails
Where the H3ll is the Mac Pro? Who care about these BS little upgrades and tweaks. I'm surprised they haven't released MB Airs in colors. I have a rMBP 13 at work, a rMBP 15 at home (this one turned out to be a piece of lemon at least when plugged into the TB 27 LED Cinema display because the graphic card is weak as water!). Sure let's let mess around with watches and "flat" user interfaces. Make something new, darn it!
Where the H3ll is the Mac Pro? Who care about these BS little upgrades and tweaks. I'm surprised they haven't released MB Airs in colors. I have a rMBP 13 at work, a rMBP 15 at home (this one turned out to be a piece of lemon at least when plugged into the TB 27 LED Cinema display because the graphic card is weak as water!). Sure let's let mess around with watches and "flat" user interfaces. Make something new, darn it!
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The MacBook Air is the desired form factor without the Tech or Specs.
Look at what ASUS is doing and Lenovo.
It's a no brainer that they would upgrade their components (Screen, CPU, GPU ..etc ..)
But lets see how thick that bezel will be.
And lets not forget that we are in a TOUCH world now.
Whatever they announce will be 3-4 years behind the touch OS of windows and Android.
Anything you buy this year will be OBSOLETE next year, this has never been as true as it is now.
We could always say that with a smirk, but now it's a frown.
It is well known that Apple is merging iOS with OSX and some kind of Hybrid will hit the shelves in 2014 .
((((( DON"T BUY ))))))
Look at what ASUS is doing and Lenovo.
It's a no brainer that they would upgrade their components (Screen, CPU, GPU ..etc ..)
But lets see how thick that bezel will be.
And lets not forget that we are in a TOUCH world now.
Whatever they announce will be 3-4 years behind the touch OS of windows and Android.
Anything you buy this year will be OBSOLETE next year, this has never been as true as it is now.
We could always say that with a smirk, but now it's a frown.
It is well known that Apple is merging iOS with OSX and some kind of Hybrid will hit the shelves in 2014 .
((((( DON"T BUY ))))))
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I tried ordering a CTO, it gave me this date ...... soooooo ...... ehm
almost full three weeks for a CTO to deliver?
almost full three weeks for a CTO to deliver?
At first I thought the same, but then I questioned whether they were referring to an estimated average of "price points" which identified the products, rather than the exact prices.
My reasoning was based on widely held expectations that there may be major upgrades (retina, chip, features etc) and so I would be pleasantly surprised if they kept the exact pricing they currently have. However, I am skeptical that it would be the case and that if the prices are the same, this may perhaps point to a minor update, not worthy of a price increase?
I qualify this by the fact that only last week they appeared to have removed a $7-$10 camera from an iPod so they could charge $30 less for it.
Instead of calling the standard its technical 802.11ac, can we just call it the Slater standard?