My theory is that apple will kill the macbook air line because they plan on slimming down the pro line to mba levels in the next few years. the 13" mbp already has the force touchpad, it's making it's way to thinner innards with skylake and above.
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Theory: Apple is killing the macbook air line because future rmbp will be that size
- Thread starter FrozenDarkness
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Thats a pretty good theory that will likely come true. We'll have 12 inch macbooks. 13 inch MBP's and 15 inch MBP's. I think they'll keep the AIRs around for 2-3 years though they are just so poular.
The Macbook will go down and down in price as the airs have
Thats a pretty good theory that will likely come true. We'll have 12 inch macbooks. 13 inch MBP's and 15 inch MBP's. I think they'll keep the AIRs around for 2-3 years though they are just so poular.
The Macbook will go down and down in price as the airs have
I think they'll slowly drop the price of the macbook to macbook air levels and then kill the air line. So it'll be macbook and macbook pro again. This might happen ~2 years out. They might also make another macbook at 13.3" with more ports. I can't imagine they'll keep a non-retina line of computers for much longer.
I don't think they'll thin out the macbook pro line much. I can't imagine making a non-click trackpad actually saves much space, and the different keyboard type is a compromise and already has some negative reviews. A couple mm isn't worth a full redesign. Once USB 3.1 C is getting wide adoption, I think they may drop thunderbolt for 2 usb C connections.
I don't think they'll thin out the macbook pro line much. I can't imagine making a non-click trackpad actually saves much space, and the different keyboard type is a compromise and already has some negative reviews. A couple mm isn't worth a full redesign. Once USB 3.1 C is getting wide adoption, I think they may drop thunderbolt for 2 usb C connections.
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Probably in 2 years the Macbook will be the $999 entry model, and just in the 12" size.
Macbook Pro 13" and 15" will stick around, maybe with a wedge redesign.
Or maybe even with a single 14" model instead (13" form factor can easily take a 14" screen if you reduce the bezel). But that's just fantasy.
Macbook Pro 13" and 15" will stick around, maybe with a wedge redesign.
Or maybe even with a single 14" model instead (13" form factor can easily take a 14" screen if you reduce the bezel). But that's just fantasy.
Yup, that is the exact prediction I made too. But CausticPuppy brings up a good point about a 14" model. Though I think if a 14" model is added, it will only be for the rMB. So basically my predicted lineup quoted below could add a 14" rMB.
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I think it will be 12/14 MacBook and 14/16 MacBook Pro, in a new thinner and smaller case design that puts a 14" screen in the footprint of the current 13.3 and a 16" screen in the footprint of the current 15.4. Both totally doable. Case redesign coming first with Skylake.
And then, yeah, the Air will slowly die. It will become the super-cheap low-end machine, and then finally go away. And then maybe come back in the future.
And then, yeah, the Air will slowly die. It will become the super-cheap low-end machine, and then finally go away. And then maybe come back in the future.
They can do whatever as long as the Pro line doesn't change to the wedge design 
I much prefer the look of my late-2013 rMBP. Good thing I won't need to upgrade for a few years, and if they do go with the wedge design I might just get an iMac and new iPad.
I much prefer the look of my late-2013 rMBP. Good thing I won't need to upgrade for a few years, and if they do go with the wedge design I might just get an iMac and new iPad.
Yep, I thought this exact thing. The biggest thing being that they updated the trackpad on the 13" pro but not the 15". Sad
I do think that the 13" rMBP replaces the 13" Air in the long run, with the 12" MBP replacing the 11".
I don't see a tangible physical difference between the 13" rMBP and 13" Air at this point anyway. One's 0.5 lbs heavier but has a smaller footprint, it's a wash to me. I imagine the next gen 13" rMBP loses a bit of weight.
I doubt it will. I know a lot of people like it, but the Air design always seemed impractical to me ergonomically. I think it actually looks outdated compared to the current rMBP, which is strange since it's technically the newer design (rMBP just follows the MBP design at a smaller scale).
I don't see a tangible physical difference between the 13" rMBP and 13" Air at this point anyway. One's 0.5 lbs heavier but has a smaller footprint, it's a wash to me. I imagine the next gen 13" rMBP loses a bit of weight.
They can do whatever as long as the Pro line doesn't change to the wedge design
I doubt it will. I know a lot of people like it, but the Air design always seemed impractical to me ergonomically. I think it actually looks outdated compared to the current rMBP, which is strange since it's technically the newer design (rMBP just follows the MBP design at a smaller scale).
A 12/14/16" set of screens does make more sense than 12/13/15". I wouldn't be surprised if that happens. If the Dell XPS 13 can have such a thin bezel, I have no doubts Apple could do the same thing and fit a 14" screen in the 13" rMBP chassis and a 16" screen in the 15" rMBP chassis.
I'm going to amend my prediction for the future MacBook line as follows with all three being retina:
- 12" MacBook
- 14" MacBook Pro
- 16" MacBook Pro
Until intel can make a i5/i7 caliber CPU that does not need a fan.. mac proline will never go the way of the "new" macbook. It will always be the slightly thicker one. I guess apple will probably develop a "big" super thin fan combined with the new battery layering process + keyboard to shave it down some more. But to reach that new macbook levels of thinness gonna be tough.
That's only because Apple is waiting for quad-core Broadwell processors to go in the 15", and possibly NVIDIA 900 series graphics.
They can do whatever as long as the Pro line doesn't change to the wedge design
I thought I was the only one who doesn't want the wedge design. I understand if they pursue a thinner profile they may have to go that way, but i just don't like it. I like current rMBP look design.
My dream Apple line up would be:
12" Macbook (the one announced Monday)
13.3" Macbook (same style as new, bigger with more ports, usb-c only still)
~14" rMBP (current style, edge to edge lcd, keep form factor with bigger screen)
~16" rMBP (current style, edge to edge lcd, keep form factor with bigger screen)
Obviously have force touchpad on all models and maybe some minor styling changes on rMBP as well as the typical spec bumps. I would really like to see high end integrated graphics (i.e. Iris Pro on the 13.3/14" rMBP to differentiate between Macbook and Pro. (Yes, I understand this means you need a quad core cpu. That be nice too)
I also wouldn't mind seeing the current 13" Air become a budget model for like $900 and dump the pos cMPB (or make it an education only model)
edit...upon reading more of the thread, apparently other people had the same idea...lol
12" Macbook (the one announced Monday)
13.3" Macbook (same style as new, bigger with more ports, usb-c only still)
~14" rMBP (current style, edge to edge lcd, keep form factor with bigger screen)
~16" rMBP (current style, edge to edge lcd, keep form factor with bigger screen)
Obviously have force touchpad on all models and maybe some minor styling changes on rMBP as well as the typical spec bumps. I would really like to see high end integrated graphics (i.e. Iris Pro on the 13.3/14" rMBP to differentiate between Macbook and Pro. (Yes, I understand this means you need a quad core cpu. That be nice too)
I also wouldn't mind seeing the current 13" Air become a budget model for like $900 and dump the pos cMPB (or make it an education only model)
edit...upon reading more of the thread, apparently other people had the same idea...lol
Yeah upon furthering reading this seems to be the case. I'm glad; I plan on getting a 15" rMBP in the near future
for the pro's i wouldn't want a wedge design
I don't think we'll see a wedge design for Pro models, it would be counter-productive for now. And yeah, I would hate that too. And I think Apple knows that pros don't want that. I can see a slightly thinner/lighter version of the current rMBP being the way forward, with smaller bezels and revised ports, although maybe also with some more cues from the new MacBook.
