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It's strange that literally no one has mentioned the fragmentation that would occur if they updated the rMBo with OLED Touch Panel and kept the rMB and MBA as is.

Unthinkable. It would be a bit like having "force touch" on the iPhone, MacBook and MacBook Pro but not on the iPad, and a Pencil for the iPad Pro but not the iPad Air so that you couldn't have common UI standards across devices...
 
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But seriously, if you're a Pro, don't you usually already carry a lot of stuff with you?

A lot of stuff + more stuff = even more stuff.
Multiply that by the probability of forgetting one, or a colleague forgetting one, borrowing yours and not giving it back...

Also, the odd $25 here and $75 there for adapters starts to add up: for a USB-C only machine I'd need both the HDMI and VGA adapters because, strange as it might seem, lots of meeting rooms still have steam-driven VGA projectors. Then if I need adapters/docks on my desk I'd really need two sets so I didn't have to disconbobulate my desktop every time I packed... make that 3 sets if I want one for home, one for office, one on the road...

No, its not a deal-breaker - but it kinda defeats the purpose of a smaller laptop if you have to fill the extra space with dongles. The TB3-to-TB2 adapters released so far look like bricks, too, and I don't think they support DisplayPort legacy mode so all your MiniDP-to-Whatever cables need replacing...
 
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The MacBook Air will NEVER have a retina display. If it did, it would be a MacBook Pro. The reason it's cheaper is because it doesn't have a retina display. That's also the reason the battery life is better.

There is definitely a place for the MBA in the Mac lineup, and Apple would be foolish to get rid of it. They need an entry level laptop for the millions of ppl who just can't afford the MB/MBP.

As far as I'm concerned, the MBA is probably the best laptop ever made - by any manufacturer. It has everything a laptop should have and will certainly fill the gap left by  laptops that no longer have ports that people actually need, and MagSafe.
 
I think the 13" MB Air will be retained and will remain the cheap laptop in the range for another year or so. Like the way the older heavier 13"MBP hung around.

For it to remain cheap it will have to keep a non retina screen, and maintain its current form factor. No point spending R&D money redesigning it. 8gb/128gb base model with a 1.8ghz i5 in it. Then an 8/256 coming in slightly under the 12" MB. Add USB c ports.

I don't see it as a long term strategy though. Better to lower the MB price next revision once the R&D costs have been paid off and the cost of retina displays keep dropping. Then I'd see space for a larger screened rMB that still uses a CoreM chip.

Sitting above that will be the new 13"rMBP and 15"rMBP (unless they can reduce the bezel and get slightly larger screens).

Ideally the laptop range would be:-
12" rMB Core M Tapered unibody
14" rMB Core M Tapered unibody
13" rMBP i5/i7 Thinner but not tapered
15" rMBP i7 Thinner but not tapered.

That would be a sweet lineup.

What would be sweeter is a 12" and 14" MB, then 14" and 16" MBP that have the size of the current 13" and 15".
 
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Let's remember that this is Tim's  now. Based on what's been released during his rein, I don't expect much. This is the man that gave us watch - with lots of pretty bands, and an overpriced netbook with 1 port and a camera from 1980.

If there are new laptops there's a good chance that they will be under-powered, overpriced, and lack useful ports. But fear not..I'm sure they will come in several lovely colors!
 
Let's remember that this is Tim's  now. Based on what's been released during his rein, I don't expect much. This is the man that gave us watch - with lots of pretty bands, and an overpriced netbook with 1 port and a camera from 1980.

If there are new laptops there's a good chance that they will be under-powered, overpriced, and lack useful ports. But fear not..I'm sure they will come in several lovely colors!
Boohoo.
I love my "underpowered overpriced" MacBook without useful ports. It's powerful enough to run photoshop, Indesign, office suite. Email etc. basically everything I need for work.
I got it as a refurb when the rev2 came out, at $500 below the current price. Which is closer to what it will hopefully cost once it's R&D costs are paid off (MacBook Air was also expensive when it was realeased).
I connect my Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, hook up to my raid server by wifi and with a $1.99 adapter plug in a spudboy stick from time to time.
Oh yeah, the colour is nice. And it's so lighti often have to check my bag to make sure it's in there!!
 
Boohoo.
I love my "underpowered overpriced" MacBook without useful ports. It's powerful enough to run photoshop, Indesign, office suite. Email etc. basically everything I need for work.
I got it as a refurb when the rev2 came out, at $500 below the current price. Which is closer to what it will hopefully cost once it's R&D costs are paid off (MacBook Air was also expensive when it was realeased).
I connect my Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, hook up to my raid server by wifi and with a $1.99 adapter plug in a spudboy stick from time to time.
Oh yeah, the colour is nice. And it's so lighti often have to check my bag to make sure it's in there!!

Let me know how that adapter works out in the long-run. It is cheap for a reason. Hope you don't have the same experience as Benson Leung or your "boohoo" will be more heart-felt.
 
I still think there will be a good chance that we will see the new MBP MBA during WWDC, but most likely won't be any major part of the event.

Looks like Apple is pretty set on using the MacOS name now for their Mac operating system, they can do something like, "With the next big update, the OS X system will be renamed MacOS, it will be released in late June. And btw the new MBP 13s are the first ones to be loaded with MacOS from the factory"
 
Boohoo.
I love my "underpowered overpriced" MacBook without useful ports. It's powerful enough to run photoshop, Indesign, office suite. Email etc. basically everything I need for work.
I got it as a refurb when the rev2 came out, at $500 below the current price. Which is closer to what it will hopefully cost once it's R&D costs are paid off (MacBook Air was also expensive when it was realeased).
I connect my Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, hook up to my raid server by wifi and with a $1.99 adapter plug in a spudboy stick from time to time.
Oh yeah, the colour is nice. And it's so lighti often have to check my bag to make sure it's in there!!
If the rMB had a list price of $599 I'd say it's worth the trade offs. But it's still a netboook.
 
Unthinkable. It would be a bit like having "force touch" on the iPhone, MacBook and MacBook Pro but not on the iPad, and a Pencil for the iPad Pro but not the iPad Air so that you couldn't have common UI standards across devices...

Which is kind of the problem. The goal should be common UI standards. No matter what, the OLED panel will come to all of the Macbook devices. Hell, it will probably come to the Apple Keyboard as well so iMacs aren't left out.

This means, if the OLED Rumor is true, then by default, each current Macbook will go through a case redesign. So, back to my original point: the current MBA is EOL. At best, they'll redesign it like an iPhone SE and probably just name it MacBook SE to target the same price point. This makes sense: lower price point, less features, no OLED display. But, it would only be one model without it.
 
If the rMB had a list price of $599 I'd say it's worth the trade offs. But it's still a netboook.
Looking forward to seeing your list of netbooks with 12' retina display, 8GB of ram and 256GB SSD...
Zen book 3 is the closest thing to a rMB and its not Netbook either
 
I think the 13" MB Air will be retained and will remain the cheap laptop in the range for another year or so. Like the way the older heavier 13"MBP hung around.

For it to remain cheap it will have to keep a non retina screen, and maintain its current form factor. No point spending R&D money redesigning it. 8gb/128gb base model with a 1.8ghz i5 in it. Then an 8/256 coming in slightly under the 12" MB. Add USB c ports.

I don't see it as a long term strategy though. Better to lower the MB price next revision once the R&D costs have been paid off and the cost of retina displays keep dropping. Then I'd see space for a larger screened rMB that still uses a CoreM chip.

Sitting above that will be the new 13"rMBP and 15"rMBP (unless they can reduce the bezel and get slightly larger screens).

Ideally the laptop range would be:-
12" rMB Core M Tapered unibody
14" rMB Core M Tapered unibody
13" rMBP i5/i7 Thinner but not tapered
15" rMBP i7 Thinner but not tapered.

That would be a sweet lineup.

Yep, agreed.
 
I still see no reason to give up on MagSafe in favor to block one USB-C port for power.

This.
Magsafe for power and one USB-C port would be better.

Maybe magsafe was too thick for the Macbook, but I hope they'll continue to keep it on MBP and MBA.
We're not (yet) ready for a wireless only machine, not everyone of us
 
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This means, if the OLED Rumor is true, then by default, each current Macbook will go through a case redesign.

Or, it could just be a gimmick bolted on to the new MacBook Pros to distinguish them from Dell and Lenovo's offerings with no grand strategy in mind.

The root problem is that there isn't much innovation to be had in the traditional laptop/PC world at the moment - and even in the mythical golden age of Jobs, Apple's "innovation" typically consisted of refining existing ideas that were poorly implemented or poorly marketed, not wresting brand new ideas from raw firmament...

Really, why are we all so desperate for "innovation"? What is it about our current machines that we desperately need to change? The main weakness of Macs is low-end mobile GPUs - but that has been true for years and unlikely to change.
Are we just craving that "new computer smell" but holding back because we think something wonderful is just around the corner?

Perhaps Tim should stand up and say "Know what? The MacBook Pros still make the competition look like a bucket of spare parts, the CPUs were updated last year and there's nothing about this years chips that you'd notice without running a benchmark. USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 are a can of worms with no compelling products just yet. If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

...I think I'd prefer that to watch straps and no Mac news.
 
Perhaps Tim should stand up and say "Know what? The MacBook Pros still make the competition look like a bucket of spare parts, the CPUs were updated last year and there's nothing about this years chips that you'd notice without running a benchmark. USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 are a can of worms with no compelling products just yet. If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Oh my, that would start a revolt. Half of this forum would go visit him with Molotov's cocktails.
 
The main weakness of Macs is low-end mobile GPUs - but that has been true for years and unlikely to change.

It'd be great if it could change for a few of their products... Or, even just two..

Am I really the only one who's sick to death w/ the extreme tall tail-fins, I'm sorry, Thin at all costs computers, obsession? Can't Apple give us ONE laptop and ONE desktop that includes some current, top of the line CPUs and GPUs? Just ONE? I'm not saying stop making all the cheese slicer thin products, just give some of us ONE laptop and ONE desktop that isn't so heroin addict thin as to necessitate compromises in what many of us consider basic functionality....

Why only offer 3 cheese slicer thin laptops and two cheese slicer thin DESKTOPS and one desktop that hasn't been updated since 2013? Can't a few million of the billions in the bank go towards, something.. good?

sigh

I know.. I'm preaching, mostly, to the choir here..

apple.come/feedback
 
What would be sweeter is a 12" and 14" MB, then 14" and 16" MBP that have the size of the current 13" and 15".
Exactly. I've been saying this since the day the rMB was released in March 2015. It would perfectly update what they had when it was only MBA and MBPr. The 13" MBA sticks around to replace the legacy 13" MBPc.

Same naming scheme should be for the iPads and iPhones as well.
  • MacBook Air in 13"
  • MacBook retina in 12" and 14"
  • MacBook Pro retina in 14" and 16"
  • iPad in 7.9" and 9.7" (Mini and Air monikers dropped simply)
  • iPad Pro in 9.7" and 12.9"
  • iPhone in 4.0" and 4.7" (SE model just in two sizes with common form factor)
  • iPhone Pro in 4.7" and 5.5" (Flagship as currently)
It would be symmetrical, streamlined, focused, with more than enough diverse selection, and easy for the consumer to understand.
 
If Tim Cook so much as mentions watch straps at WWDC I'm going to buy a Skull Canyon NUC, stop worrying and learn to love Windows 10.

They mentioned bands, but does it still count if it's Kevin and not Tim?

Full disclosure: I'm watching the keynote on a shiny new Windows PC built last Friday.
 
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