Take a look at this: http://ultrabooknews.com/2014/10/16...tests-reveal-throttling-fan-noise/#more-11816
Perhaps this is the reason why Apple has not yet released a Core M MacBook Air.
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Warming-up for the all-new redesigned retina 2014 (2015?) MacBook Air
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Take a look at this: http://ultrabooknews.com/2014/10/16...tests-reveal-throttling-fan-noise/#more-11816
Perhaps this is the reason why Apple has not yet released a Core M MacBook Air.
Thanks for the link.
Maybe Apple can use an A8X'X'?
I guess we will have to wait till WWDC next year to see this bad boy.
Thanks for the link.
Maybe Apple can use an A8X'X'?
I guess we will have to wait till WWDC next year to see this bad boy.
I don't think Apple will use an ARM processor on it. Not with Intel processors getting smaller and more energy-efficient.
So Lenovo decided to release an ultrabook with Core M and active cooling, and still managed to get that beast throttling? Why release this in the first place, then? Maybe they could think the design is flawed and some thickness, other materials or a better cooling system would be welcome. If the use cases imply higher performances and often rely on turbo boost, they simply didn't build the right device.
I don't see the relation with an hypothetical Apple product based on it. Or simply, it helps to say Core M at 14 nm aren't the chips that will allow fanless laptops with decent performances.
Perhaps Apple is having some serious issues with heating, and did not want to release the new MacBook Air before solving those issues. Just a guess.
Since the core M is released and appearing in devices right now, it seems obvious to me that Apple is not going to use it in a new mba. They would have announced it at the last event and released it before the holidays. I've heard that Apple doesn't commenly use the low end cpu so I think we'll just have to wait for the more powerfull Broadwell cpu's.
The fact that Lenovo came with a fan in their new device which is still very thin is good news. I don't get the point why the mba should be fanless. As long as the fan turns on only when it is needed (not often under 'normal' use) it is very handy. Rather a fan than a device that gets hot or slows down because of heat problems.
For battery life, weight, space/thinness it is better without the fan but not on the cost of performance, I hope.
The Lenovo has a very high resolution. It might just be too high for the core M.
The problem for Apple is to find the right balance in performance, screenresolution, heat and battery life. The solution might be just some time til the next higher end Broadwell cpu is ready.
The fact that Lenovo came with a fan in their new device which is still very thin is good news. I don't get the point why the mba should be fanless. As long as the fan turns on only when it is needed (not often under 'normal' use) it is very handy. Rather a fan than a device that gets hot or slows down because of heat problems.
For battery life, weight, space/thinness it is better without the fan but not on the cost of performance, I hope.
The Lenovo has a very high resolution. It might just be too high for the core M.
The problem for Apple is to find the right balance in performance, screenresolution, heat and battery life. The solution might be just some time til the next higher end Broadwell cpu is ready.
I'm waiting for a fanless MBA so that I can go back to playing Civ V. Civ V is so dumb that it has no option other than to run at full CPU speed - so my "new" MBA also sounds like a fanjet. My "old" MBA was even worse.
When I had a floor standing PC, then I could at least hide the noise (plus I had a very quiet unit, even at 100% CPU use).
And do you think a fanless MBA with Core M would be good at that?
Don't you think you may run into heating issues and possibly throttling if you push the weak Core M CPU too hard with such an intensive task?
Perhaps the answer to your needs would be a more powerful laptop such as a 15-inch MacBook Pro with a dedicated video card, don't you think?
1. I'm hoping that the fanless MBA will be at least better than my current MBA in speed, so more than good enough for CIV5.
2. ditto.
3. As the Pro has a fan it will exhibit the same noise problem, but CIV will run faster (unnecessary). Plus the Pro has some poor user interface issues - too heavy, sharp edge.
Well, then it seems like you really want/need a fanless laptop. What if the next MBA is not fanless?
LOL. Your problem is heat, not the fan. You make it sound like if Apple just removed the fan it would solve all your problems.
Then I'll carry on not playing CIV. Life goes on regardless !
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LOL no my problem is noise. The MBA's problem is heat.
Once again, for all of those who question what will be in the next iteration of MacBook Air, reliable sources indicate that a 12-inch retina screen, fanless design (leading to an even slimmer profile), and Intel microprocessor are givens. Of course we will not know for sure until the product is announced. But the quantity and quality of the sources seemingly make discussions absent assuming those three features sophistry. Those claiming inside information about the next MacBook Air are all saying the same thing: it will have a 12-inch retina screen and be super slim due to a fanless design and run on an Intel chip.
Jack G. March has been completely correct about recent Apple product releases based on his sources. And those sources indicate a 12-inch retina display and fanless design with an Intel microprocessor are coming (http://jackgmarch.com/2014/09/22/exclusive-12-macbook-air-design-details/) in the next MacBook Air. And multiple additional sources are supporting his report (http://9to5mac.com/2014/03/21/rumor...on-without-fan-or-mechanical-trackpad-button/).
How Apple will get all of this done together may be questionable given that no Intel microprocessor yet tested seems capable of it. But these key design features of a new MacBook Air are simply not in dispute among those who claim inside sources as to the device and have a track record of reliability in reporting on upcoming Apple product releases.
And let me guess, if you unwind all these sources they all ultimately end up pointing to some pimply-faced teenager who watched Intel's presentation about fanless tablets based on Broadwell and wrote some fan fiction.
This maybe heresy, but I hope Apple continues to make an entry level laptop for less than $1,000. The current Macbook Air is a wonderful machine for students, families, and professionals who want a light productive device when on the go.
As a dad that purchased 3 Macbook Airs for students and self, I love the MBA's light weight, long battery life, smooth track pad, OS X gestures, and PRICE! So, If Apple adds high resolution screens and touch interface, which will surely add cost, bulk and drain battery, then I hope they retain an optional simple entry level Macbook Air that meets most consumer's needs.
Don't get me wrong. The MBA can certainly be improved. But, personally, I am ok with evolutionary improvements (e.g. less bezel, somewhat better resolution, more standard storage, more standard RAM, faster energy efficient processors) that allow Apple to retain the MBA's position as a great entry level laptop.
As a dad that purchased 3 Macbook Airs for students and self, I love the MBA's light weight, long battery life, smooth track pad, OS X gestures, and PRICE! So, If Apple adds high resolution screens and touch interface, which will surely add cost, bulk and drain battery, then I hope they retain an optional simple entry level Macbook Air that meets most consumer's needs.
Don't get me wrong. The MBA can certainly be improved. But, personally, I am ok with evolutionary improvements (e.g. less bezel, somewhat better resolution, more standard storage, more standard RAM, faster energy efficient processors) that allow Apple to retain the MBA's position as a great entry level laptop.
It seems to me your take is not heretical at all. The MacBook Air line needs to be entry-level, with the MacBook Pro line being for those with heavyweight mobile computing needs; and keeping the price points below $1,000 for MBA would be a terrific threshold.
In one of the articles I have been referencing (http://9to5mac.com/2014/03/21/rumor...on-without-fan-or-mechanical-trackpad-button/), they posit that a new iteration of MacBook Air, even with technological advances, may be made cheaper.
We will have to wait and see.
I agree that the new MBA should have a 12-inch retina display and a very thin profile. As for it being fanless, I guess it would be the case as well, although I am not 100% convinced of that (not yet, at least, due to technology constrains).
I wonder whether a 13-inch screen would be better than a 12-inch one. The 13-inch retina MBP is small and if it were slimmer, it would be really nice. I wonder whether Apple would be able to keep the full-sized keybord and trackpad or if it would have to make them smaller to fit the 12-inch frame.
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I guess Apple will continue to make sub-US$ 1,000 laptops. Mac sales increased a lot this quarter and I guess that it's because of the cheaper Air. Apple is consistently dropping the prices, and I guess it is a strategy to win consumers. If Apple wants to remain competitive, it will have to make the Macs cheaper.
Look at the competiton. There are now full-blown PC laptops that are costing US$ 200. They are not premium and they should be very crappy, but they are complete computers that work and run Windows and Office and pretty much any other Windows software. And even premium ultrabooks are cracking the US$ 1,000 barrier.
So, I guess Apple will launch a 12-inch retina MacBook Air for less than US$ 1,000. And I guess it will be Apple's most popular laptop.
Seeing the trend, they are doing pretty good at both selling more units (or at least maintain sales) and increase market share, in a PC market that continues to tank or shrink. I don't see a pressure on Apple to make cheap loosy hardware. They won't run for volume against margins.
But surely the last $100 drop in price of their MBA line helped, and they won't increase it. They'll still sell at least the last non-retina at 11" i guess, to keep a low-cost entry to their MacBook line. New OS X notebook models to come won't be built around a lower target price, as long as intel chips with decent performances are expensives.
If Apple moves to Core M, then it can keep the same base price for the low-end model (US$ 899) or even decrease it. The Asus Zenbook UX305 will sell for US$ 799 (base price), for instance, and it should have a somewhat similar build quality.
Apple will, of course, keep its margins high, but it may decrease the margins a little, as it has done in the past with some products.
They won't use Core M because that's the low-end Broadwell for tablets and stuff. Never mind that Asus uses it in laptops.
Apple will almost certainly use Broadwell for at least a few products, because, well, why not?
But not Core M.
If Apple does not use Core M, then I don't see how it is going to make an Air thinner and lighter than Windows counterparts that use it, while keeping it fanless and with a big battery life.
You're falling into this same echo-chamber trap as everybody else. Everybody is repeating the same rumor at each other over and over that it will be fanless, thinner, blah blah blah.
That was kind of a stupid notion when Broadwell was introduced a year ago because it only uses 30% less power than Haswell... I mean, great, not a number to take lightly, but not something that will allow fanless laptops with the same performance as current MBAs.
And it's still a stupid notion now that the first Core M laptops are coming out and it turns out the DO have fans, and even despite fans they are experiencing thermal throttling and poor performance and they're noisy to boot.
So if you're talking about a MacBook that's going to be released 4 years from now, sure, maybe it will be fanless. But don't expect anything in the next 2-3 years.
It may be able to be accomplished using the Intel Broadwell U microprocessor, which will be touted at CES in January and available for mass distribution in February.
Or it may be able to be accomplished using the next generation Intel Skylake microprocessor, which will be available in the second quarter of 2015.
It should probably also be mentioned that if one of the aforementioned chips can lead to fanless design and is also powerful enough to drive a retina screen, which my research indicates are goals for the next iteration of the MacBook Air, then customers will be fortunate if processing power and battery life can be maintained at current MBA levels. As we saw with the new iPads, if anything is going to be sacrificed a bit it will probably be battery life.
I think Apple will jump on the first microprocessor that can accomplish fanless design and drive a retina screen at current MBA processing levels given how long this product has been delayed.
I don't know if reading Apple rumors qualifies as research. More like reading fiction for enjoyment.
I wouldn't say fiction. I would say he is compiling non-verified research made by other people. Or reading second-hand news published by non-reliable newspapers.