Warming-up for the all-new redesigned retina 2014 (2015?) MacBook Air

[MrT-Man]

I don't know, I think lighter weight can be revolutionary. Or at least a very meaningful upgrade. Look at the iPad 4 to iPad Air transition.

Similarly I think IGZO will allow Apple to shave some thickness & weight from the MacBook Air while still preserving a great battery life. Since the current model is long in the tooth my guess is that they'll introduce the new one at WWDC rather than wait till Broadwell in the fall. But I guess we'll know soon enough.

 

[calvol]

Fanless = ARM

No way the heat profile of Turbo-Boosted Intel designs will support a fanless chassis. When Turbo kicks in, things get HOT!

 

[fedecape]

I don't know, I think lighter weight can be revolutionary. Or at least a very meaningful upgrade. Look at the iPad 4 to iPad Air transition.

Similarly I think IGZO will allow Apple to shave some thickness & weight from the MacBook Air while still preserving a great battery life. Since the current model is long in the tooth my guess is that they'll introduce the new one at WWDC rather than wait till Broadwell in the fall. But I guess we'll know soon enough.

thinner? I want my usb ports!

 

[iRun26.2]

Fanless = ARM

No way the heat profile of Turbo-Boosted Intel designs will support a fanless chassis. When Turbo kicks in, things get HOT!

No so. A 7W Broadwell will be fan-less and still powerful enough for an ultra-thin MBA.

(Oh, how I hope it happens!)

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thinner? I want my usb ports!

I think Apple will come up with some way to include USB ports.

USB ports are not yet optional (for a real computer) and Apple knows it.

(And if it doesn't have USB ports it might as well be ARM-based since then I would never buy it).

 

[animatedude]

I agree...for now. ;-) This remaining bit of this post is a repeat of a post I made from another Macbook Air thread.

3-4 Lightning connector ports? LOL

did you really think Apple will release any Macbook nowadays without any USB ports? don't be silly.

 

[Nee412]

thinner? I want my usb ports!

Why would thinner automatically mean no USB ports?

Here's an interesting fact. If the side of the iPad Air was completely flat it would be thick enough for a USB port.

Apple won't go that thin because of the other components, but there's a lot of weight to be lost from the current design.

 

[skaertus]

I don't know, I think lighter weight can be revolutionary. Or at least a very meaningful upgrade. Look at the iPad 4 to iPad Air transition.

Similarly I think IGZO will allow Apple to shave some thickness & weight from the MacBook Air while still preserving a great battery life. Since the current model is long in the tooth my guess is that they'll introduce the new one at WWDC rather than wait till Broadwell in the fall. But I guess we'll know soon enough.

Thinner and lighter can be revolutionary, but how much thinner and lighter can Apple make the Air?

The 11-inch Air is 2.38 lbs and the 13-inch is 2.96 lbs. We already have ultrabooks which are much lighter than that. Sony Vaio Pro 11 has 1.92 lbs and Sony Vaio Pro 13 has 2.34 lbs. The 13-inch NEC LaVie has 1.75 lbs. These ultrabooks use lighter materials: the Vaio Pro uses carbon fiber and the LaVie uses magnesium alloy. These materials certainly do not look as good as the aluminum which is used on the Air, but they are way lighter. Apple has a tough decision to make and it will like keep using aluminum. It will not use liquid metal nor anything half as revolutionary in the Air. So, the new laptop will be nothing revolutionary in terms of weight.

In addition, Apple needs Broadwell in this laptop. Broadwell is said to be 30% more energy efficient than Haswell. Even if it is not, Apple will need increased battery life for the new Air. The laptop will have a higher resolution display, which consumes more battery. Even if the display is IGZO, Apple will need as much help as it can from the processor to keep battery life high.

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No so. A 7W Broadwell will be fan-less and still powerful enough for an ultra-thin MBA.

(Oh, how I hope it happens!)

Will Apple do that? Isn't the 7W processor slower and less powerful than the 15W processor?

 

[Driz]

I was just thinking, if the MBA gets a fanless design, wouldn't calling it a Macbook Air be kind of ironic?

Really hope the rumours are true. My macbook pro is dying on me .

 

[iRun26.2]

I was just thinking, if the MBA gets a fanless design, wouldn't calling it a Macbook Air be kind of ironic?

Really hope the rumours are true. My macbook pro is dying on me .

Very good! I never thought of looking at it that way.

I could be the "MacBook Air-less"

 

[kristoffer4]

I hope we see the fanless 12" MBA at this year's WWDC.

 

[skaertus]

I was just thinking, if the MBA gets a fanless design, wouldn't calling it a Macbook Air be kind of ironic?

Really hope the rumours are true. My macbook pro is dying on me .

Well-thought.

Will a fanless design make all this difference? Won't it make the Air run hot?

 

[MyopicPaideia]

I am not so sure of that. In 2012, Apple released the retina MacBook Pro during WWDC, and it was something. I do not think Apple will hold a Mac-only event anytime soon. The last Mac-only event was in October 2010, when Apple released the redesigned MacBook Air, and it has been more than three years. I do not think this time Apple will do another Mac-only even, although I may be wrong.

I do not think the MacBook Air update will be only the introduction of a retina display and Broadwell. If the current Airs go retina, then the screens would be an 11-inch 2732x1536 and a 13-inch 2880x1800. That is not consistent with the current retina MacBook Pro line and also not consistent with the rumors that come from the supply chain (and which point to a 12-inch 2304x1440 display, with roughly the same pixel density of the 13-inch retina MacBook Pro).

So, it is very likely that the MacBook Air gets a redesign this time. This is not only consistent with the rumors of a 12-inch retina screen in the production line, but it is also time for an update. The MacBook Air was last redesigned in 2010, and Apple is being consistent in redesigning its lines of laptops once every 3-4 years. Apple will not lose this chance to redesign the Air.

I don't think it is a question of whether or not the MBA will receive a redesign and go retina - I think that is a given, so we agree there for sure. However, unlike the Mac Pro, whose sales numbers are measure in thousands of units, the MacBook Air is Apple's consumer product, selling in the millions. So it is more a "big deal" from a marketing perspective especially. It could very well warrant its own or shared event in which it headlines.

As the iPad is probably going to get an iterative update this year, I can easily imagine we could get an iPad/Apple TV/MacBook event as well as the obvious separate iPhone event. We may very well get a sneak peak at the new MBA at WWDC, but only that, much like the new Mac Pro sneak peak. The keynote itself will center around iOS 8 and OSX 10.10.

On a side note, Apple wouldn't need to quadruple the current resolutions of the displays in order to go retina for the 11" and 13". For the 11" they could quadruple 720p instead and go with 2560x1440. They could also use the 13" rMBP panel on the 13" rMBA. Absolutely no reason to do anything different. However, I don't think they will do that. I don't see retina coming to the current MBA form factor ever. I expect they have received their last hardware update from Apple. They are going to go the way of the non-retina 13" MBP.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

Fanless = ARM

No way the heat profile of Turbo-Boosted Intel designs will support a fanless chassis. When Turbo kicks in, things get HOT!

Not so fast, there are already laptops on the market with y-series fanless haswell processors.

Will Apple do that? Isn't the 7W processor slower and less powerful than the 15W processor?

I can easily imagine a world where the new Broadwell y-series (7W) matches the performance of the current Haswell 15W used in the MBA's.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

3-4 Lightning connector ports? LOL

did you really think Apple will release any Macbook nowadays without any USB ports? don't be silly.

No I don't actually, but I thought it would actually be very cool myself. I in no way think this is highly likely, but I mean I already run adapters out of two of the three ports my current MBA sports (USB to Lightning and Thunderbolt/mDP to Ethernet). It wouldn't change my usage at all, except for having to buy new adapters. Would just need to get a Lightning to USB and a Lightning to Ethernet.

In all honesty you are likely absolutely right, but I don't think it would be as big a deal as you suggest. In fact it is more likely nowadays than at any time previous.

 

[justinthesommer]

I hope we see the fanless 12" MBA at this year's WWDC.

I think we will! Get ready!

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Very good! I never thought of looking at it that way.

I could be the "MacBook Air-less"

I like the name lol

 

[filmbuff]

It's obvious to me that if Apple does introduce an Arm based notebook it will be running iOS and iOS apps. iOS apps combined with a keyboard are powerful enough for most people to do their everyday tasks, such as web browsing, facebook and editing documents. That would allow Apple to introduce a lower priced device and avoid all of the problems associated with porting OSX and all the software to a new architecture.

It would also allow Apple to start to blur the line between Macs and iPads, and eventually merge the two.

I think if we do see an Arm based notebook at WWDC they will still be producing intel notebooks for many years.

 

[iRun26.2]

I can easily imagine a world where the new Broadwell y-series (7W) matches the performance of the current Haswell 15W used in the MBA's.

Add in Micron's new DDR4 and that helps too.

Faster SSD too. The performance can improve in other areas to make up for the loss.

No fan noise would be an awesome improvement in my mind!



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It's obvious to me that if Apple does introduce an Arm based notebook it will be running iOS and iOS apps. iOS apps combined with a keyboard are powerful enough for most people to do their everyday tasks, such as web browsing, facebook and editing documents. That would allow Apple to introduce a lower priced device and avoid all of the problems associated with porting OSX and all the software to a new architecture.

It would also allow Apple to start to blur the line between Macs and iPads, and eventually merge the two.

I think if we do see an Arm based notebook at WWDC they will still be producing intel notebooks for many years.

I just hope they that still make Intel MBAs for many years.

There may be people who only use their MBA for iPad type tasks but my MBA is my one and computer. I need BootCamp and OSX in an ultra-small package.

 

[bwat47]

Fanless = ARM

No way the heat profile of Turbo-Boosted Intel designs will support a fanless chassis. When Turbo kicks in, things get HOT!

The turbo doesn't even kick in if temps are too high.

 

[Booji]

The turbo doesn't even kick in if temps are too high.

On my 2013 11" i5, the fan hardly ever turns on. Most of the time the chassis is so cool to the touch it is practically fanless.

With the next iteration of Broadwell, it's entirely conceivable that the MBA could go fanless.

 

[kwijbo]

On my 2013 11" i5, the fan hardly ever turns on. Most of the time the chassis is so cool to the touch it is practically fanless.

With the next iteration of Broadwell, it's entirely conceivable that the MBA could go fanless.

The fan is literally always on if the machine is on. It may not be audible but it is on and in fact providing cooling to the CPU.

Broadwell Y series SKUs will have the capability to be fanless but will come at roughly a 35% performace decrease (using current Haswell comparisions) to the U series counterpart:

4250U - 3479
4210Y - 2247

4650U - 4357
4610Y - 3514

Note that the Y series SKUs also use HD 4200 graphics, which are much worse than HD 5000. They are roughly equal to HD 4000 graphics from Ivy Bridge.

The Y series SKUs are also expected to see a roughly 30% power drop but at the same performance, there has not been any mention of Broadwell performance increases as of yet.

Also, Broadwell mobile so far does not have DDR4 support confirmed, only Broadwell desktop and Haswell E have been confirmed.

So if the machine does go Broadwell Y its looking like it will have better power consumption, much worse graphics, the power of the current i5 processor, the same RAM and undoubtedly worse performance when combined with a retina display...all for the same price!

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I've said this before, but when you look at the positioning of the MBA its too good right now. Performance wise its only about 8-10% away from the 13" rMBP and is cheaper with better battery life and portability.

Take into account the BOM cost of the MBA (estimated at $718 back in 2010 when a Core2 Duo was only $80 vs $300+ for a current i5) and the product line has reached an inflection point.

Personally I'm hoping Apple goes to a lower cost ARM route and, in effect, starts some profound changes in the mobile computing landscape.

 

[holydude]

Everybody would love that. However, Apple already offers a 13" and a 15" thin-and-light laptops. While they are not Airs, they are thin and light enough, so Apple is not going to release anything else to compete with them. As for the price, these laptops are already competitive for what they are. The cheapest 13" costs US$ 1,299, which is on par or cheaper than retina-level Windows laptops.

Yeah for AMERICANS. But in europe it is 1,299E because obviously 1$ is 1E. Too bad i have bought mine in US and saved 700E

 

[drsox]

Yeah for AMERICANS. But in europe it is 1,299E because obviously 1$ is 1E. Too bad i have bought mine in US and saved 700E

Not in my country. Cheapest 13in MBA is €1129.

 

[satchmo]

It will be interesting to see where they land with respect to pricing.

I would think they'd want to be pretty aggressive and essentially make this new 12" MBA the go-to laptop not just on OSX but also against PCs and Chromebooks.

Perhaps 128gb and 256gb models at $899 and $1099 respectively? (USD)

Sure it's no $400 PC laptop or $200 Chromebook but, these new MBA's would have decent CPU's and retina displays. While this would seriously undercut the current MBAs which I assume would be discountinued.

 

[notrack]

Yeah for AMERICANS. But in europe it is 1,299E because obviously 1$ is 1E. Too bad i have bought mine in US and saved 700E

Afaik the US pricing has no tax included because it varies on different states. In Europe - at least in Germany - prices include 19% tax.

Buying something in the US requires to pay the 19% tax when entering the EU again as a EU citizen. Otherwise it would be really cheap to order online at B&H in NYC.

holydude, I'm sure you didn't violate law and paid all taxes at the airport back home.

 

[skaertus]

Yeah for AMERICANS. But in europe it is 1,299E because obviously 1$ is 1E. Too bad i have bought mine in US and saved 700E

Well, it certainly depends on the point of view. I am not American, I am Brazilian. And prices here in Brazil are incredibly high. The 13-inch retina MacBook Pro sells for approximately US$ 3,000 (the cheapest model). The 13-inch Air sells for US$ about 2,300 (also the cheapest model), and that is a big difference.

Still, even being so expensive, these Apple laptops are competitive compared to similar products by other manufacturers. Apple is the only company to offer laptops with resolution higher than Full HD here in Brazil. The cheapest version of the Dell XPS 12 sells for about US$ 2,500. And the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga is no longer sold here. But the 13-inch original Yoga, when launched, was sold for over US$ 4,000 (the version with 4 GB RAM and 128 GB SSD).

No joke.