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Thinner MacBook Air in 13" and 15" Sizes Coming at WWDC 2016?
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Introducing the 12" MacBook and persisting with the Air line doesn't make any sense. What does make absolute sense is a slightly thinner & lighter Pro range whilst not sacrificing the ports.
I'd like to see 12" & 14" MacBook's which would serve as the "thin & light" Air replacements and the continuation of the 13" & 15" Pro models. However, I don't like the thought of a 14" MacBook being a fanless design. It'd need a 15w U-Series CPU to be competitive with other Ultrabooks on the market. A Y-Series CPU won't cut it.
Having the MacBook, Air & Pro models all coexisting together in 2016 doesn't really make any sense.
I'd like to see 12" & 14" MacBook's which would serve as the "thin & light" Air replacements and the continuation of the 13" & 15" Pro models. However, I don't like the thought of a 14" MacBook being a fanless design. It'd need a 15w U-Series CPU to be competitive with other Ultrabooks on the market. A Y-Series CPU won't cut it.
Having the MacBook, Air & Pro models all coexisting together in 2016 doesn't really make any sense.
That is what I have been saying: The new rMBPs are 14" and 16".
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ly-for-most-macs.1911965/page-2#post-21771109
This redesign is long overdue.
MacBook Air with Retina + reduced bezel size = Win
(I'll buy one or two for our family)
Will they switch to usb-c?
Also wondering what Apple will do to boost the MacBook Pro (dedicated GPUs on all models + a little thinner + usb-c)
— And ... Do we really have to wait until june 2016 for anything significant to happen to Apple's notebook lineup - any chance that it will happen before summer?
MacBook Air with Retina + reduced bezel size = Win
(I'll buy one or two for our family)
Will they switch to usb-c?
Also wondering what Apple will do to boost the MacBook Pro (dedicated GPUs on all models + a little thinner + usb-c)
— And ... Do we really have to wait until june 2016 for anything significant to happen to Apple's notebook lineup - any chance that it will happen before summer?
Sheesh why not just release a 14" retina MacBook and call it a day.
I'm thinking the current retina MacBook was just a precursor to the retina MacBook Air. I'm expecting that the retina MacBook Air will look identical to the 12" retina MacBooks but bigger in size and more powerful. For some reason after the latest El Capitan updates I have had almost no problems with the retina MacBook in the power department.
I'm thinking the current retina MacBook was just a precursor to the retina MacBook Air. I'm expecting that the retina MacBook Air will look identical to the 12" retina MacBooks but bigger in size and more powerful. For some reason after the latest El Capitan updates I have had almost no problems with the retina MacBook in the power department.
what if it's the pro that dies?
or that they share a case design and the only differentiator is the insides (the pro obviously having more powerful processor/gpu/configuration options)
Like many rumors, the ideas presented are somewhat factual but misconstrued or misunderstood. Seems to me like the devices this rumor is speaking about are the MacBook Pros. It would make sense that they would be re-designed next year and become thinner just like the Macbook.
One of them is going. It makes no sense to have three laptop lines that are confusing because they're similar in specs and/or price. I picked the Air because it didn't get the force touch trackpad this year.
So Apple gives the Air nothing more than a spec bump, releases a brand-new retina laptop but then comes back a year later with a retina Air? Talk about super confusing.
Because SO MANY people have complained that the MacBook Airs are too thick...
C'mon Apple, that's the only thing you have going nowadays is how thin your devices are?? So much for innovation.
Sadly, thats been pretty much the only innovation Apple has come up with for a while now. I thought it was hilariously stupid when they thinned down the iMac (yea cause I always look at my desktop computer from the side rather than sit in front of it and actually use it).
But every round of new Apple hardware keeps sacrificing power, upgradeability, battery life, etc - all in the pursuit of thiness. I guess that many people are more concerned about how their Mac looks, rather than what it can actually do.
I actually think that is the case, and the proof is the 5K iMac with a 5400rpm drive. Most people aren't Macrumors forum members. Most people walk into an Apple Store and go "OMG this is so purdy". They don't ask "what is the read and write speed on this drive". They ask "I really can put my holiday photos on this screen? Really? There's a program for that? Look Mabel there's a free program for our photos!". They don't ask "how much SSD does the 1 TB drive have and why so little" or "can I upgrade RAM in this myself". They say "wow it's so thin, look Mabel it's so thin and it's so quiet and that PC of ours is a big noisy box, let's buy this one!".
only having the pro and no air precludes them from pricing it both below and above the macbook, though.
so that means either a price drop for the macbook, or even more confusion (price wise).
Or, which is my take, Apple just doesn't care about "poor" people anymore and sees no problem about pricing their cheapest laptop at $1299.
exactly. June announcement for a fall release?? wayyyy too late. These need to come out in March.
Yes, Apple DOES PLACE FORM OVER FUNCTION. Thinner phones then the iPhone, what like 2 models that are thinner? And cost less I bet. I am not talking about 'other' manufacturers, I am talking about Apple. Please don't make excuses and apologies for them by claiming so and so does it so why can't they, that's what a child says.
We are discussing Apple here, not Dell! Unless you also want to discuss how the specs of the Dell XPS utterly embarrasses the MacBook Pro too? But the majority would still choose a Mac like me.
Well that's why I think the Air, at least the 11" model sticks around for another 6 months/year. But no way do I think it will be redesigned. It will maybe get another spec bump and that's it.
Wait, so the XPS, which is thinner and lighter than the MBP, has specs that "utterly embarrasses" the MBP, yet if Apple updates the MBP to be thinner and lighter that's some how a major fail on Apple's part?
I agree, it makes no sense for the new MacBook and the MacBook Air to co-exist, together with a MacBook Pro.
However, we have to remember this is Tim's Apple we're dealing with. I'll give you some examples:
- The iPod Classic, survived an awful lot of years, until Apple could no longer even source the HDDs.
- The cMBP 13" still exists in the lineup, not having been updated since 2012.
- The iPad Mini lineup featured THREE generations of devices not very long ago, Mini, Mini 2, Mini 3.
- The iPad Air now coexists with the Air 2
Having said that, I don't think the Air will be leaving anytime soon. It will remain, in current or a revised form.
_______________
Another important aspect. The MacBook sure may be the spiritual successor to the MacBook Air. However, the MacBook Air is Apple's best selling laptop of all time if I'm not mistaken, and may be the best legacy of Steve's old Apple, together with the iPhone, iPod and iPads. Had Apple wanted to, they could have released the 12" MB as a MacBook Air and discontinued previous models, but I don't think they were willing to take that risk.
The Air line-up of computers is such an established moniker. Although there much are better options by now, the average joe still prefers the MBA over the rMBP. My father got a new 13" rMBP from work. He still prefers his old MBA. My girlfriend wouldn't even consider a 13" rMBP. She loves her Air. What I am trying to say is that the MBA model has made a great number of followers during the last years. I even miss mine, even though I have a 13" rMBP I have considered selling it and going back to the Air.
As Apple say, the MacBook Air is simply "The notebook people love".
If Apple would have released the 12" MB as an Air, many of the traditional Air-buyers would probably have gotten rather disappointed with their new MacBook Air, once they found out they could no longer connect their USB-drives, or hold powerpoint presentations at work connected to large displays (they don't all know!). Apple would have risked the value of their entire "Sub-brand" of notebooks. Instead, they chose to release the 12" laptop as simply a MacBook.
In some ways, I think the 12" MB is a bit of an experiment. Apple needed to see how the market would react to a fanless laptop without ports (well...). I think the answer is that some people love it, some people hate it. Consequently, I don't think the 12" MB is selling as well as Apple had hoped (I say hoped, not expected). It's possible that the MBA still outsells it by a large margin. If that is indeed the case, it wouldn't be strange at all to see Apple release an updated MacBook Air.
________________
To be frank however, I think the rumored 13"/15" laptops are NOT MacBook Airs, but rather new, thinner MacBook Pro's.
I have been here long enough to realize that many rumors are true, but often pan out differently to how we interpret them. Here are once again a few examples:
- In 2012, rumors were spreading of a 15" MacBook Air. This turned out to be the 15" rMBP.
- In 2014, rumors were spreading of a 12" Retina MacBook Air. This is the new MacBook.
- In 2014, rumors suggested that the iPhone 6 would have a curved display. Only the edges of the phone were curved, not the display.
- In 2015, rumors suggested that the iPhone 6S would have a 3D display. This turned out to mean 3D Touch, which has nothing to do with 3D.
TL;DR: We don't know **** until Apple release their laptops!
However, we have to remember this is Tim's Apple we're dealing with. I'll give you some examples:
- The iPod Classic, survived an awful lot of years, until Apple could no longer even source the HDDs.
- The cMBP 13" still exists in the lineup, not having been updated since 2012.
- The iPad Mini lineup featured THREE generations of devices not very long ago, Mini, Mini 2, Mini 3.
- The iPad Air now coexists with the Air 2
Having said that, I don't think the Air will be leaving anytime soon. It will remain, in current or a revised form.
_______________
Another important aspect. The MacBook sure may be the spiritual successor to the MacBook Air. However, the MacBook Air is Apple's best selling laptop of all time if I'm not mistaken, and may be the best legacy of Steve's old Apple, together with the iPhone, iPod and iPads. Had Apple wanted to, they could have released the 12" MB as a MacBook Air and discontinued previous models, but I don't think they were willing to take that risk.
The Air line-up of computers is such an established moniker. Although there much are better options by now, the average joe still prefers the MBA over the rMBP. My father got a new 13" rMBP from work. He still prefers his old MBA. My girlfriend wouldn't even consider a 13" rMBP. She loves her Air. What I am trying to say is that the MBA model has made a great number of followers during the last years. I even miss mine, even though I have a 13" rMBP I have considered selling it and going back to the Air.
As Apple say, the MacBook Air is simply "The notebook people love".
If Apple would have released the 12" MB as an Air, many of the traditional Air-buyers would probably have gotten rather disappointed with their new MacBook Air, once they found out they could no longer connect their USB-drives, or hold powerpoint presentations at work connected to large displays (they don't all know!). Apple would have risked the value of their entire "Sub-brand" of notebooks. Instead, they chose to release the 12" laptop as simply a MacBook.
In some ways, I think the 12" MB is a bit of an experiment. Apple needed to see how the market would react to a fanless laptop without ports (well...). I think the answer is that some people love it, some people hate it. Consequently, I don't think the 12" MB is selling as well as Apple had hoped (I say hoped, not expected). It's possible that the MBA still outsells it by a large margin. If that is indeed the case, it wouldn't be strange at all to see Apple release an updated MacBook Air.
________________
To be frank however, I think the rumored 13"/15" laptops are NOT MacBook Airs, but rather new, thinner MacBook Pro's.
I have been here long enough to realize that many rumors are true, but often pan out differently to how we interpret them. Here are once again a few examples:
- In 2012, rumors were spreading of a 15" MacBook Air. This turned out to be the 15" rMBP.
- In 2014, rumors were spreading of a 12" Retina MacBook Air. This is the new MacBook.
- In 2014, rumors suggested that the iPhone 6 would have a curved display. Only the edges of the phone were curved, not the display.
- In 2015, rumors suggested that the iPhone 6S would have a 3D display. This turned out to mean 3D Touch, which has nothing to do with 3D.
TL;DR: We don't know **** until Apple release their laptops!
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