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Two new MBA's for Sept, this rumor seems more credible? What's your guess?

entatlrg

entatlrg

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Mar 2, 2009
3,376
3
Waterloo & Georgian Bay, Canada
As noted on the front page if we're lucky enough to see two new MBA's next month what's your guess on the spec's, changes, improvements?

I'm going to predict a total redesign. The new MBA(s) could take on a squared look similar to the new iPhone 4. They took the tapered look of the previous iPhone and changed it to make room, the Air needs the same - more room inside.

I believe 11.1 and 13.3" models will be introduced. The iPad is kicking the hell of of the netbook market, a cheaper, (11") MBA may as well finish them off :)

Also I think two USB ports, a black frame around the display and glossy screen to match the rest of the line, maybe no AG but possibly 'retina display' quality.

No C2D for sure, maybe even a merge of the MacBook Air and 13" MacBook together somehow? Then the 15 and 17" would follow along with a thinner/lighter redesign in 2011?

That's my hopes and guesses, it's going to be a looooooooooong wait until September.

If this happens then I'd like to have my set up change to a new 13" MBA and a 17" MBP, would be a perfect combo I think.
 
TheBritishBloke

TheBritishBloke

macrumors 68030
Jul 21, 2009
2,532
0
United Kingdom
Wow. Seems you're also a believer that you will win the lottery every week. Lol.

Square design? I agree, the Dell adamo takes advantage of this.

No glossy screen, they'd use glass which is much heavier than the films they use for antiglare.

No 11". Thats too close to the iPad. I think it will stay at 13". I think what they meant by two models is two stock configurations.

Retina display is 326ppi. This would be ridiculously expensive in a 13" screen, and I don even think it's possible. It'll have the same resolution as MBP 13".

They'll keep using C2D's. But they'll use the new 320M graphics as it offers superior battery life. They can't use the i3's due to power usage and the crappy graphics.

The MBP and MBA are completely different machines. They wouldn't merge them as not everyone wants a lightweight PC with low end specs.

I wouldn't have a 13" MBA and 17" MBP. Id have a MBA and 27" imac i7 lol

entatlrg said:
As noted on the front page if we're lucky enough to see two new MBA's next month what's your guess on the spec's, changes, improvements?

I'm going to predict a total redesign. The new MBA(s) could take on a squared look similar to the new iPhone 4. The took the tapered look of the previous iPhones and changed it to make room, the Air needs the same - more room inside.

I believe 11.1 and 13.3" models will be introduced. The iPad is kicking the hell of of the netbook market, a cheaper, (11") MBA may as well finish them off :)

Also I think two USB ports, a black frame around the display and glossy screen to match the rest of the line, maybe no AG but possibly 'retina display' quality.

No C2D for sure, maybe even a merge of the MacBook Air and 13" MacBook together somehow? Then the 15 and 17" would follow along with a thinner/lighter redesign in 2011?

That's my hopes and guesses, it's going to be a looooooooooong wait until September.

If this happens then I'd like to have my set up change to a new 13" MBA and a 17" MBP, would be a perfect combo I think.
Click to expand...
 
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ozreth

ozreth

macrumors 65816
Nov 5, 2009
1,313
63
I have a feeling we are going to need an "The unofficial waiting for new Macbook Air Thread" thread. Anyways...

While I really want a 13" air, if they release both a 13" and 11" I will be hard pressed to decide which one, and I hate computer decisions! So hopefully they only release one or the other, preferrably 13".

If they release next month then I will be selling my 15", building a powerful PC with a huge monitor for gaming and movie watching and purchasing an Air for school/itunes/word processing/browsing.
 
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S

stevemoore

macrumors newbie
Nov 3, 2008
25
0
changes to current spec

I believe (hope?) one of them will get:

- larger SSD
- microSIM
- headphone lead control of track/volume; mic. input like MacBook Pros
- more RAM as standard with no after-market upgrade
- faster processor with better integrated graphics
- better battery filling more 'space' - like the iPad

that'd do me

I hope they keep the anti-glare screen

They won't add more USB ports - Apple never U-Turns (*sighs, awaits examples to the contrary).

If they reduced the bezel area to reduce the footprint that'd be great, or if they have a 1280x720 or 1280x800 11" screen (my belief is all mac displays are moving to 16:9 and TV gamma settings ahead of their TV/movie streaming offering).

I sincerely hope they fix the blessed hinges. Mine (and the audio that passes that area) have been bust for 6 months - just like on my last MBA.


I tried a MacBook Pro today - nearly coughed up £ 2,500 for fancy 512Gb SSD one - but can't stand the glossy screen and unnecessary weight. If I could have BTO'd a 13" with anti-glare screen I would have bought it though.
 
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M

macbook123

macrumors 68000
Feb 11, 2006
1,864
85
Why Sept 21 as opposed to 7th or 14th?

As somebody else said, I'm also really hoping that the bezel will be narrower and please please no horrid mirror glass cover like they tried on the MBP's...

They could easily fit a 1440x900 or even 1920x1080 display in there, like the Sony Vaio Z...

The higher the resolution, the better legibility of fonts, crispness of pictures, etc. Please think before commenting about too small fonts, this is a software issue that can be controlled by setting a minimal font size in most relevant applications. Just look at the new iPhone's screen and you'll never even think back.
 
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S

Snowcake

macrumors regular
May 18, 2010
187
0
macbook123 said:
Why Sept 21 as opposed to 7th or 14th?

As somebody else said, I'm also really hoping that the bezel will be narrower and please please no horrid mirror glass cover like they tried on the MBP's...

They could easily fit a 1440x900 or even 1920x1080 display in there, like the Sony Vaio Z...

The higher the resolution, the better legibility of fonts, crispness of pictures, etc. Please think before commenting about too small fonts, this is a software issue that can be controlled by setting a minimal font size in most relevant applications. Just look at the new iPhone's screen and you'll never even think back.
Click to expand...


Because i know...
 
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T

tim100

macrumors 65816
May 25, 2009
1,368
0
how will a new mba impact the 13 mbp. when introduced the mba was more money than 13 mb. rumors seem to say the new mba will have a lower price point. if the mba is priced around the pro 13 why buy the pro unless its your only machine.
 
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ozreth

ozreth

macrumors 65816
Nov 5, 2009
1,313
63
tim100 said:
how will a new mba impact the 13 mbp. when introduced the mba was more money than 13 mb. rumors seem to say the new mba will have a lower price point. if the mba is priced around the pro 13 why buy the pro unless its your only machine.
Click to expand...

Because I think the majority of people only do have one machine. Especially college students, a lot of whom buy the 13" MBP (and presumably the new air) for its portability.

Many will need the assumed power that the MBP has over the air. This could change though.
 
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J

Joel Horn

macrumors newbie
May 23, 2010
15
1
my mba wish list

duh stuff: more ram speed, more ram, more battery life
xmas stuff: larger ssd, 3G capable
lottery: ios/osx combo
 
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T

tim100

macrumors 65816
May 25, 2009
1,368
0
ozreth said:
Because I think the majority of people only do have one machine. Especially college students, a lot of whom buy the 13" MBP (and presumably the new air) for its portability.

Many will need the assumed power that the MBP has over the air. This could change though.
Click to expand...

i wonder what will be different optical drive and weight?

will it have gloss over the screen?

cpu? how can it be any worse than c2d, it will be on par or maybe a new i ulv chip?
 
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Mr. Savage

Mr. Savage

macrumors regular
Jun 11, 2010
248
0
Toronto
Alas, if one really thinks about it, the only Air update that makes sense is the rumoured 11.6 MBA. Slots in perfectly between ipad and 13 MBP whereas the 13 MBA doesn't really fit in anywhere.

Also, an iPod event in August (rumoured) and then another event a month later for MBA (if true)? Wouldn't it be more likely to be all one event?
 
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T

tim100

macrumors 65816
May 25, 2009
1,368
0
how about battery, can they get a 10 hr battery inside the air? i hope they increase the ram and add the glass trackpad.
 
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gwsat

gwsat

macrumors 68000
Apr 12, 2008
1,920
0
Tulsa
Reading the first post about new MBAs on the Mac Rumors page led me to believe that the new MBAs may well be smaller and cheaper than the current versions. I hope not because, if so, the new versions are almost certain to have even fewer features and less power than the already underpowered MBA we have now. Regardless, I just hope that something happens soon. I am really, really tired of waiting for an MBA update.
 
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G

Gruber

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2009
105
3
macbook123 said:
As somebody else said, I'm also really hoping that the bezel will be narrower and please please no horrid mirror glass cover like they tried on the MBP's...

They could easily fit a 1440x900 or even 1920x1080 display in there, like the Sony Vaio Z...

The higher the resolution, the better legibility of fonts, crispness of pictures, etc. Please think before commenting about too small fonts, this is a software issue that can be controlled by setting a minimal font size in most relevant applications. Just look at the new iPhone's screen and you'll never even think back.
Click to expand...

Sadly, this won't happen. If they make the bezel substantially smaller, they won't fit a full-size keyboard.

Also, wrt the resolution, you would be right if you run Windows. MacOS can not scale the size of widgets and UI fonts. Repairing this will require to rewrite most of the applications, so it is not going to happen this year.
 
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