The Argument for an 11.88-Inch Retina MacBook Air

[kazmac]

If

If this becomes a reality, I would jump IF:

1) I could read on this at a distance as well as I can the current rMBPs
2) Great battery life
3) Light weight
4) Cheaper than the rMBPs

I may very well consider it as a back up to whatever desktop replaces this 2010 iMac.

as far as the author's argument, it makes sense given Apple's specific screen sizes.

 

[KimJonNumberUn]

I'd buy it. My only complaint about the 13" rMBP is the weight.

or maybe u should start exercise their bertha

 

[xmichaelp]

16:9 display on a laptop? No thanks.

Especially if this means it would only come in one size.

 

[dampfnudel]

As another poster replied, I disagree with this. If it does ever happen, it'll be after a major OS X revision that lays the foundation for such a transition.

In other words: way off.

Hopefully, not too way off. And as another poster said (replying to me), iOS is the future, time to get the ball moving.

 

[willcapellaro]

Ever heard of manufacturing?

They could literally use THE SAME display panels as the iPad Air, but just a little larger. They just cut the sheets differently........and if you'd actually read the article you would understand this.

I think the rgb cells are oriented differently for iPad vs Mac displays. Laptop and desktop displays are oriented for landscape displays and typically enable subpixel rendering. iPads have a portrait orientation and disable subpixel rendering because users can reorient views. So it's a minor detraction and/or technical hurdle that they tend to avoid. They may just avoid because it seems untidy, and they don't need to pinch pennies (and don't want to appear to pinch pennies at their user's expense). Any display they include will be produced at such high volumes that they never need to spread them over several skus. That's why anyone reading the tea leaves from apple or any other big display/PC/tablet maker is stretching their evidence pretty thin. In Apple's case especially. In the past this was less true, but nowadays anybody can spec any size of great display options at this point.

 

[kaellar]

That "analytics" are nonsense, simply because Apple won't make the rMBA with the resolution and DPI that's higher than more expensive 13" rMBP. Say whatever you want, call "screen real estate" your main reason, but if 12" rMBA will see light, it'll have the resolution that's something like 23**x14**

 

[benji888]

I predict a rMBA/iPad hybrid will be released.

I really don't see this. I think Apple will have to drop the MBA line if they are going to have a higher priced, larger display iPad. They may also drop the price a bit for the non-retina MacBook Pros. I'm guessing they won't be discontinuing those before next year.

2014:

no more producing MBA (at some point, probably Q3 or Q4)

iPad Mini & rMini 7.9
iPad Air 9.7
drop iPad 2, add 11.88 inch iPad Air (Elite?) (no, it won't be called "iPad Pro")

13/15 inch MBP
13/15 inch rMBP
maybe add 17 inch rMBP?

iMac 21 & 27
may add a smaller screen sized retina iMac

Mac Pro

27" thunderbolt display will remain, may change to iMac form factor w/TB2 & USB3 ports by end of year?

may introduce Apple branded 4K display(s)

We will also see: iOS in the car by Q2, an iWatch sometime this year, probably 4" & 4.8" iPhone 6 (4.8" will be thinnest smart phone on market), and maybe an innovative new smart TV that will be on the path to replacing cable & current set-top boxes by end of year. This could be TVs or set-top boxes, but, not a simple updated Apple TV, something radically different with multi-iOS device enabled multi-player gaming, glasses free 3D, and social.

I could be wrong, but, those are my thoughts.

 

[ecyrblim]

It makes sense to me that the Retina display for a new MBA should come from current iPad screen production lines and not rMBP lines, since the IGZO screens currently used in the iPads would allow the MBA to retain its current battery life even after going Retina.

 

[bbbb4b]

Unless they intend to replace it with an 11" iPad, this is just silly.

Actually it's a bit silly either way. How do you decide between an 11" and 13" MBA?

It's all about foot print. Presumably (and from looking at mockup picture) body size stays the same.

Edit: Assuming what you meant to type was "between an 12" and 13" MBA".

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I use my 11" MBA as my only computer. It's not that bad. The portability makes up for the smaller screen real estate. A retina display would make it perfect.

You are making assumptions that other people see things exactly as you do.

Totally agree. Especially if you learn to utilize the great screen management features in current OS X. "Mission Control", "Spaces", "Fullscreen Mode".

I love it.

 

[chleuasme]

That's not for an hypothetical retina MacBook Air, that screen is for the future and first iOS touchscreen laptop, able to run at launch in letterbox any landscape iPad app.
No iOS 8 before the end of 2014 with its launch, but release of iOS 7.5 at WWDC to support the new iPhone size coming mid-14.
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=18648892#post18648892

 

[iZac]

Differentiating the Air and the Pro lines is pretty important since the 13" MBP has been variously described as a Macbook Air with a high res screen.

Imagine too if the new Air shared the design language of the proposed iPad Pro? same design, in tablet and clamshell, one running iOS, one running OSX!

Edit: Major wildcard - OSX to include fully fledged consumer focused iOS simulation mode to use iPad Apps on Macs. Opened with the Launchpad icon on the keyboard. - But probably not, considering Apples insistence that touch screens on laptops make no sense.

 

[Daud]

How about a 15" MB Air so ppl can actually use the thing? ... I know a lot of users - myself included - for whom the only drawback of the 13" MBA is a dearth of screen real estate. ... but I'm nearly positive that 15" MBA would find a greater market that an 11" or 12", even with a retina display. Hear my prayers, Apple. Hear them and be benevolent!

Count me in, even without Retina display..like Samsung ATIV Book 9...it is doable with 3.5lb

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Not quite. Remember the 12" PB used a 4:3 aspect ratio display. This could very well mean the 11" MBA's footprint is already wider than the 12" PB's footprint which is why they don't need to make an edge-to-edge keyboard.

Is the MBA keyboard more compressed than their other keyboards? If it is I'd like to see enlarged but going edge-to-edge for its own sake is not something we should be requesting.

I thought that the edge-to-edge keyboard gave the computer some style and personality. I think the current crop of laptops are lifeless and dull.

 

[solipsism]

I thought that the edge-to-edge keyboard gave the computer some style and personality. I think the current crop of laptops are lifeless and dull.

I certainly had a fondness for my 12" PB (my first Apple notebook) but I don't think that giving laptops edge-to-edge keyboards at the expense of usability and structural integrity is a valid option.

PS: Before that PB my work had given me a $5k Compaq notebook where the keyboard would "shrink in" and the keys would lower. I forget the model. That was pretty cool and had personality but with so many complex moving parts of a device you throw around it wasn't practical.

 

[RogueWarrior65]

Not just no, but hell no.

I'll make a deal with you. You can have your mickey-mouse nano notebook when I can buy a 17"+ Retina MBP.

 

[batman75]

I would get this instantly. This is exactly what I wanted last year when I ended up settling for the 11" MBA.

 

[osx11]

13/15 inch MBP
13/15 inch rMBP
maybe add 17 inch rMBP?

Why would they reintroduce non-Retina MacBook Pro models? This whole Retina thing is not just a fad - it's the future. I'm willing to bet in 2015 (at the latest) all screens that ship on all Apple Products will be of Retina quality.

 

[batman75]

Hardly. I would say its almost a definite.

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What? Isn't that the whole point? They have an 11" and 13" non retina now.

Ditch them both, and introduce one 12" Retina model...price it at $999, and be done. How does that not work for everyone looking for a MBA?

Might not work for the people buying 13s. They will find 11.88 small. As a percentage of screen real-estate it's still a big difference.

As an owner of an MBA 11' I'm going to love this.

 

[mrnoglue]

Or, knowing Tim:

Apple will keep the current non retina airs, and add the 12 inch retina air. Add it all to the current lineup, so that there are 6 macbook models with little differentiation on price and specs.

Hope it won't happen, but worried it will.

 

[iRun26.2]

no way they use a resolution higher than 13" retina mbp. I think 2304x1440 is the right res. 12" will be the new macbookair, it can replace both 11,6" (with similar size) and 13,3" air (because of higher res). I hope they use the same simmetric design of rMBP, I never liked the air design.

If you never liked the MBA design (and obviously a lot of other people did), why should Apple care what you want in the new design?

 

[Belly-laughs]

matte. did i hear matte!?!!

 

[iRun26.2]

What Apple says and what they do a couple of years later can often be two different things. The iPad needs to evolve to remain relevant in the next few years and the only way that be accomplished is to get OS X and iOS together in some way. How do you think the iPad/iOS will evolve in the next couple of years? More to the point, would you buy a sleek rMBA/iPad hybrid? I have a feeling the answer will be yes for most users who are currently critical of such a device.

My answer is absolutely not!

What the hell would I want a sleek rMBA / iPad hybrid if it was a toy running iOS? Software that is currently available for x86 processors blows iOS programs away. That may change eventually but Apple would be guaranteed to lose a lot of professionals who want the highest quality x86 ultra book available (even capable of running al Windows software) if they move the MBA to an ARM processor.

 

[Tech198]

Is it just "technology isn't available at the time ?" or some other reason why Apple couldn't have made this BEFORE..

Maybe they have to test it first on a larger display, and then say "I bet we could do it on a smaller one"

But as they found out quicker with the 7.9-inch ipad mini, retina was hard to do.

It would be the same on any SMALLER screen they do...

Wouldn't it been better to work your way up, than first see whats possible, then try and work you way down again ?

 

[michaelsviews]

How about a 15" MB Air so ppl can actually use the thing? Every time I pick an 11" model in the Apple Store, I simply can't imagine attempting to use it as anything more than a portable movie player. I know a lot of users - myself included - for whom the only drawback of the 13" MBA is a dearth of screen real estate. You can design on a 15" screen if you really want to, but losing those last two inches make it challenging to fit in all the tool palates. (I rock a 17" now and sometimes even that's not enough.) Of course we don't need MB's in every size and configuration, but I'm nearly positive that 15" MBA would find a greater market that an 11" or 12", even with a retina display. Hear my prayers, Apple. Hear them and be benevolent!

15" MBA with or without a Retina IGZO or the same type display, BUT Do not take away from the battery life i'm getting with a maxed out 13" which so far exceeds 12 hour's .

 

[iRun26.2]

Well it's all in the marketing.

If they market this as the "worlds thinnest, lightest, most powerful Ultra-book" then people will probably buy the 11.8" MBA even if they would actually prefer a 13.3" display. They'll tell us that this is the best Mac ever made and it's revolutionary...... and people will buy it. You can't forget Apple's extremely successful marketing campaigns.

But if it a 11.8" MBA with retina display, it truly will be the best Mac ever.