The Verge: The MacBook Air is on the path to extinction

[navaira]

Apologies if this has been posted, I didn't see it anywhere.

MacBook Air is on the path to extinction:

Apple is comfortable with keeping the Air as a technological straggler in its lineup. That leaves us with a choice of two most likely scenarios: either the Air is destined for a future overhaul and its first redesign in five years or it has no future at all. There’s not enough room in Apple’s lineup for a MacBook, a MacBook Air, and a MacBook Pro — the MacBook is Apple’s ultraportable machine of the future and the MacBook Pro is the do-it-all laptop of today. The MacBook Air’s position seems tenuous already, and if the alleged iPad Pro does indeed materialize, then we may as well bid adieu to the Air entirely.

I'm quite bummed about this. I'm really not into a laptop with one USB-C socket. MacBook Pro is cool, but starts at 1449 euro here in the Netherlands. So does the new MacBook. Sure, it's even thinner. But I can live with something as terribly obese as 1.7 cm. From what I have read, Air is also faster and has a longer battery life. Price-wise, Air starts at 999 euro. I'm not very rich. I'd love to have a Mac laptop again (I still have a white iBook but it won't connect to wifi and weighs about as much as ten Airs stacked on top of each other). But if they phase out Air and the cheapest Apple laptop starts at 1449 euro... well, hopefully it will be possible to get the Air second hand for a while longer...

I have to agree with what The Verge say – there is no reason to have a computer named MacBook Air if you have a MacBook that is thinner and lighter. Maybe the Air could be renamed MacBook 6s+

 

[Daniva]

Hold close your MBA, the last real innovation of Apple, because its value will increase over time.
Everything else, inelegant watches, pink phones and expensive golden laptop will not make history.

 

[Shirasaki]

Once this is done, my only choice of new MacBook if I want to replace is MacBook Pro. With or without large SSD storage.

MacBook Air is the perfect balance between portability and usability. MacBook is just something, uh, I don't want to see anymore if possible. Too few ports, way underpowered, and no Apple logo backlight, and no 720P front facing camera. Plus the price is sky high.

 

[nutmac]

Well, it's obvious isn't it? All good things eventually come to an end. MacBook will eventually cost around $1000. And 13" rMBP will become thinner and lighter.

 

[0007776]

The new MacBook will do the same thing as the MacBook Air did to the old MacBook. Apple will improve it over the next few generations and drop the price until between the improvements and changes in how we use our computers allow it to be a viable low end machine. For now though they will let the people with the money try out the new technology while they work on getting it affordable and useful enough for most people.

 

[Cheffy Dave]

I just wish,the 11 & 13" would just get a Retina screen,especially the 11", keep the 12" Macbook,13" Retina
MBP,15" MBP And be done with it

 

[mafaky]

I just wish,the 11 & 13" would just get a Retina screen,especially the 11", keep the 12" Macbook,13" Retina
MBP,15" MBP And be done with it

MBA, if its going to live for a few more years (but let's keep in mind that 2015 has been the 6th [sixth] year in the present day casing and basic aesthetics...) they will never let it have a retina screen. Maybe, maybe the MBA will see the Skylake CPU family and finished for good!... Just see what happened in the 2015 Broadwell MBAs: despite the CPU's energy saving (compared to 2014), they still fixed the battery life at 12 hrs. for the 13"...

 

[riviera74]

A rMBA is not happening because it is meant for very long battery life. The fastest way to drain a battery is to raise the screen resolution (especially by a lot). A Skylake MBA is certainly possible. As for the rMB, it is generation one. Eventually, few notebooks will have a lot of ports anyway. The rMB is essentially Apple's next big deal in notebook computing. Remember the first iMac from 1998? No FDD, no serial or parallel ports, all USB all the time. Within five years, PCs ultimately caught up with the Apple set. The MBA mainstreamed SSD usage in a notebook in 2010.

Even though I am not a fan of the rMB, I suspect that it is the future and the MBA will be the past. The rMB should match the rMBP in screen size, though.

 

[stillone]

We understand that the MacBook will change over time but for me and others it is physically too small. The MacBook Air has room to the right and left of the trackpad to rest your palms when typing. My palms have nowhere to rest on the MacBook and I use my Air sitting on my lap for hours each day.

 

[oldtime]

I love my 5,2. Picked it up on Black Friday 3 years ago and it's been my primary machine since. I was hoping to replace it in a year or two with the latest greatest MBA, and if I can't do that it'll be a real bummer. Not a fan of the Macbook and the MBPs are a bit beefier than I need my laptop to be. I imagine a lot of people will be stuck in the same position if they jettison the MBA.

 

[iapplelove]

Some of you just need to let go.

 

[Boyd01]

Apologies if this has been posted, I didn't see it anywhere.

I dunno, not much of a "news flash", seems like they are stating the obvious. We have discussed it here in countless threads ever since the rMB was released.

I still love my 11" 2013 i7/8gb/512gb MBA and use it as a primary computer. I'm sure it will last me several more years. And when I'm ready to upgrade, I'm sure there will be another Mac that I like. Time passes, things change. I also loved my PowerBook Duo, but I got over it.

 

[MacBoook160]

I dunno, not much of a "news flash", seems like they are stating the obvious. We have discussed it here in countless threads ever since the rMB was released.

I still love my 11" 2013 i7/8gb/512gb MBA and use it as a primary computer. I'm sure it will last me several more years. And when I'm ready to upgrade, I'm sure there will be another Mac that I like. Time passes, things change. I also loved my PowerBook Duo, but I got over it.

I'm of the same mind. I bought a refurbished 11" 2015 this year, and other than some issues with battery life (which I should mention in a different thread) this machine will last me a long while, until we're at the point that the rMB has developed a few more years, and the port situation settles out. In the meantime, I'm happy that 2 things I was hoping for - power (this is my only computer) and portability - are satisfied. The screen, well, clearly it's not perfect, but everything has a downside.

 

[HoiPiet]

Seems as if every new product announcement includes improvements in screen technology that often include energy savings from partial refresh to the pixel opening to the controller chip. Skylake will also use less energy. It will have a smaller motherboard and they might use their new keyboard for more space saving which could be used for battery. I don't think a new MBA with a significantly better screen and a Skylake chip is like planning a trip to Mars the way some people describe it.

Having said that, I'd guess they're going to do a whiz-bang redo of the pro and I could see them going to the 2 lines and killing the Air. If they do I'll grab one. I almost pulled the trigger on a refurb...

 

[navaira]

I'm kinda getting ready to order a Macbook Air the moment they kill it. (It will disappear from apple.com but external stores should have a supply still.) I am not at all interested in a machine with one socket even if it has the most amazing screen ever made. And I can't spend 1500 euro or more on a laptop.

 

[CreatorCode]

It may be a long time before Apple actually kills it. Apple still offers the 2012 MacBook Pro (non-Retina) for the handful of people who need optical drives, prefer modular components, or are feeling nostalgic. They may well just neglect the Air until nobody buys it anymore

 

[ahall52]

I have a 12" MacBook that I purchased several months ago so I could work during my frequent 3-hr plane flights. It's gorgeous and fits perfectly on those tiny seat-back tray-tables (which is something my 15" rMBP cannot do).

When I put it on that tray table, I admire it and can't wait to start working. And then I start typing on it, immediately regretting my purchase decision. Every time. I slam away at the keys for 3-5 minutes and then watch a movie. It's good for that, but so is my iPad.

I wanted the MacBook, but should have purchased an 11" Air and saved more than a few bucks. I'll be sad if they discontinue the line without at least one more update.

 

[theluggage]

MacBook Pro is cool, but starts at 1449 euro here in the Netherlands.

...but look at all the "Should I buy a MBA or a 13" rMBP?" threads here. The ranges already overlap. The next iteration of the 13" rMBP will probably have a more power-efficient Skylake processor, thinner TB3/USB-C ports and could use Apple's new 'layered' battery to adopt an Air-like layered design.

I don't think the 13" Air will disappear so much as merge with the 13" rMBP range.

 

[AlliFlowers]

Do you know what I love most about this thread? The fact that there's another thread suggesting The Verge is on the edge of extinction.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

...The Verge, on the verge of extinction. Fitting, really.

 

[markovchain]

I have a 12" MacBook that I purchased several months ago so I could work during my frequent 3-hr plane flights. It's gorgeous and fits perfectly on those tiny seat-back tray-tables (which is something my 15" rMBP cannot do).

When I put it on that tray table, I admire it and can't wait to start working. And then I start typing on it, immediately regretting my purchase decision. Every time. I slam away at the keys for 3-5 minutes and then watch a movie. It's good for that, but so is my iPad.

I wanted the MacBook, but should have purchased an 11" Air and saved more than a few bucks. I'll be sad if they discontinue the line without at least one more update.

what's wrong with it? And how 11" Air is better?

 

[theluggage]

what's wrong with it? And how 11" Air is better?

The keyboard on the Air is pretty much the same short-travel Chicklet/Scrabble-tile keyboard as used across the Mac range (and now copied by everybody else).

The keyboard on the retina MacBook is a new ultra-short travel affair. I tried one in a shop and that was the end of the MacBook for me. All I can say is that it was probably better than typing on an iPad touchscreen. Probably.

Maybe if you give it time... and there will always be someone who actually likes it (I even know someone who liked the hockey puck mouse) but, seriously, try it first.

 

[ahall52]

The keyboard on the Air is pretty much the same short-travel Chicklet/Scrabble-tile keyboard as used across the Mac range (and now copied by everybody else).

The keyboard on the retina MacBook is a new ultra-short travel affair. I tried one in a shop and that was the end of the MacBook for me. All I can say is that it was probably better than typing on an iPad touchscreen. Probably.

Maybe if you give it time... and there will always be someone who actually likes it (I even know someone who liked the hockey puck mouse) but, seriously, try it first.

Very much this.

I read reviews that "for some people, it will take some time to get comfortable with the new keyboard." I tried it out in store before purchasing and it seemed okay, but the more I use it, the more I hate it. To be specific, I very regularly miss keystrokes on my outside fingers and when writing code, a missed keystroke can waste quite a bit of time.

I use the standard Apple keyboard with numeric keypad at home and at both offices. My rMBP has the exact same keyboard (minus the numeric keypad) when I'm on the go. I will be pretty devastated if they move to the new keyboard across the line. It's not worth the millimeter in thickness that is saves.

 

[iPhysicist]

Hold close your MBA, the last real innovation of Apple, because its value will increase over time.
Everything else, inelegant watches, pink phones and expensive golden laptop will not make history.

Hahahaha! INcrease? Not at all my friend.

 

[markovchain]

The keyboard on the Air is pretty much the same short-travel Chicklet/Scrabble-tile keyboard as used across the Mac range (and now copied by everybody else).

The keyboard on the retina MacBook is a new ultra-short travel affair. I tried one in a shop and that was the end of the MacBook for me. All I can say is that it was probably better than typing on an iPad touchscreen. Probably.

Maybe if you give it time... and there will always be someone who actually likes it (I even know someone who liked the hockey puck mouse) but, seriously, try it first.

thanks. Now I remember I tried months ago. its like typing on a hard surface and feels less bouncing feedback.

My Air 11" is a bit "hollow" by comparison.

My cMBP 15" and the Apple numeric KB are the best IMO.