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

[pasadena]

They basically screwed over the whole world with pricing. Apple tax for anyone not living in the US.

I don't know about Poland but I know it's an urban legend in most of Europe.

Example in France, the rMB is 1,449 euros.

Take today's EUR/USD rate, and $1,299 gives you 1,196 euros. That's where everybody stops and cries wolf.

Except that the price in FR includes the VAT, whereas the price in the US is pre-tax. Add the VAT (20%) to the 1,196 euros and you get 1,436.

I suppose they didn't take today's exchange rate, so that makes up for the 13 euros difference.

Apple tax, yeah.

 

[qcmacmini]

I don't know about Poland but I know it's an urban legend in most of Europe.

Example in France, the rMB is 1,449 euros.

Take today's EUR/USD rate, and $1,299 gives you 1,196 euros. That's where everybody stops and cries wolf.

Except that the price in FR includes the VAT, whereas the price in the US is pre-tax. Add the VAT (20%) to the 1,196 euros and you get 1,436.

I suppose they didn't take today's exchange rate, so that makes up for the 13 euros difference.

Apple tax, yeah.

Lots of countries had price hikes. I'm looking at Australian prices because I go there regularly to see my family. All the MacBooks pretty much went up in price. Including CTO options such as RAM that are identical to 2014 models. Apple TV is still AUD$109, no price reduction like in the US.

 

[Keniutek]

I don't know about Poland but I know it's an urban legend in most of Europe.

Example in France, the rMB is 1,449 euros.

Take today's EUR/USD rate, and $1,299 gives you 1,196 euros. That's where everybody stops and cries wolf.

Except that the price in FR includes the VAT, whereas the price in the US is pre-tax. Add the VAT (20%) to the 1,196 euros and you get 1,436.

I suppose they didn't take today's exchange rate, so that makes up for the 13 euros difference.

Apple tax, yeah.

You know you can get Apple stuff without the sales tax in the US, right.
And im not talking about the price difference between Europe - USA but about a price difference today vs. yesterday
The iP5s costs more today than iP6 was selling for yesterday. That's what im whining about .

 

[WinterWolf90]

I guess Apple will not make any effort to advertise the Air since it wants to replace it with the new MacBook in the future. The winding down of the Air has just began. It will decease until it dies, just like the non-retina Pro.

If this is the case would it be safer to purchase the 13 pro then? I'm conflicted :/, I want at least 500gb of storage and 8 ram so it seems the pro would be better price wise, but it's been so long on computer specs I have no clue now.

 

[pasadena]

You know you can get Apple stuff without the sales tax in the US, right.

I know, and I was saying that the pre-tax price in the US roughly amounts to the post-tax price in France.

And im not talking about the price difference between Europe - USA but about a price difference today vs. yesterday
The iP5s costs more today than iP6 was selling for yesterday. That's what im whining about .

No but I was responding to the "Apple tax" comment more than yours.

I didn't do the math, but it seems that the USD/PLN exchange rate has risen a lot recently. Being exposed to exchange rates does suck a lot, sometimes.

 

[SmOgER]

If this is the case would it be safer to purchase the 13 pro then? I'm conflicted :/, I want at least 500gb of storage and 8 ram so it seems the pro would be better price wise, but it's been so long on computer specs I have no clue now.

It all comes down to the retina display versus portability and battery life..

 

[ygys]

I am really interested in if or when is apple actually going to ship new data cables for iphones, ipads and ipods with the new usb-c cable, or they should give a usb-c to regular usb adapter...

 

[WinterWolf90]

It all comes down to the retina display versus portability and battery life..

Portability is of no importance to me really. Maybe would take it back to school once I start grad school, but that's it. Is the screen really as bad as people make it out to be on the air or just outdated? My six year old laptop has 1366x768 and it's not bad.

 

[pasadena]

Portability is of no importance to me really. Maybe would take it back to school once I start grad school, but that's it. Is the screen really as bad as people make it out to be on the air or just outdated? My six year old laptop has 1366x768 and it's not bad.

No, it's not bad. It's a classic 1366x768 or 1440x900 IPS screen. Nothing to call home about one way or the other.

It's just not HD or Retina. It can seem "low-res" when you go from a retina device to this one, but it's not bad.

 

[motrek]

Portability is of no importance to me really. Maybe would take it back to school once I start grad school, but that's it. Is the screen really as bad as people make it out to be on the air or just outdated? My six year old laptop has 1366x768 and it's not bad.

No, the MBA screens are not bad at all. Check out the Anandtech reviews of them which compare them quantitatively to other screens. For their resolutions they are some of the best displays you can buy. I can almost guarantee than the 1366x768 panel in a MBA is better than the one you have in your laptop--in terms of things like contrast, brightness, color accuracy, backlight consistency, viewing angles, etc. etc.

People on these forums just like to complain.

 

[abta1]

No, it's not bad. It's a classic 1366x768 or 1440x900 IPS screen. Nothing to call home about one way or the other.

It's just not HD or Retina. It can seem "low-res" when you go from a retina device to this one, but it's not bad.

The Air has a TN panel, not IPS.

 

[SmOgER]

No, the MBA screens are not bad at all. Check out the Anandtech reviews of them which compare them quantitatively to other screens. For their resolutions they are some of the best displays you can buy. I can almost guarantee than the 1366x768 panel in a MBA is better than the one you have in your laptop--in terms of things like contrast, brightness, color accuracy, backlight consistency, viewing angles, etc. etc.

People on these forums just like to complain.

The 13" MBA is 1440x900.
But yeah, the screens are not bad by any means.

 

[chleuasme]

Hmmf, 1152x720 ...
Yuck!

Looking forward now the future rMBP line redesign, logically with Skylake; the new hybrid rMBP13 Broadwell is tempting.
I can see the value for a laptop like this retina Macbook (got the naming right, at least), with all its trade-offs and youth limitations (future even more efficient Core M chips and lower price are awaited to be worth it), but I'm not the target for this I think. As simple.

 

[SmOgER]

Hmmf, 1152x720 ...
Yuck!

Looking forward now the future rMBP line redesign, logically with Skylake; the new hybrid rMBP13 Broadwell is tempting.
I can see the value for a laptop like this retina Macbook (got the naming right, at least), with all its trade-offs and youth limitations (future even more efficient Core M chips and lower price are awaited to be worth it), but I'm not the target for this I think. As simple.

It's very similar to the first ever MBA in terms of it's targeted audience. And it's a Apple's playground for the next couple of years till they can make a solid new market out of it.

 

[WinterWolf90]

Is it worth it to upgrade the ssd or just do a wireless hard drive/ network drive? I feel like that's my biggest hang up. My current laptop. Has 300gb that's almost full, I have to move stuff out of it to an external drive to have space. Most of it is taken up but photos and movies and TV series from iTunes

 

[motrek]

The 13" MBA is 1440x900.
But yeah, the screens are not bad by any means.

And the 11" is 1366x768.

 

[mortenandersen]

A good upgrad would have been IPS screen for the MBAs

The Air has a TN panel, not IPS.

I and many many others want a better screen on the present MBA (11 and 13), and I had hoped that Apple now upgraded to IPS displays.

Do anybody think that this can be realistic later this year, this summer? Or will Apple not do this, because they will let these models just start the process of being discontinued?

In my experience with the difference between 11 inch screen TN and IPS, the difference is quite great. IPS has so much more contrast and is much crisper.

 

[skaertus]

I and many many others want a better screen on the present MBA (11 and 13), and I had hoped that Apple now upgraded to IPS displays.



Do anybody think that this can be realistic later this year, this summer? Or will Apple not do this, because they will let these models just start the process of being discontinued?



In my experience with the difference between 11 inch screen TN and IPS, the difference is quite great. IPS has so much more contrast and is much crisper.

Not happening, in my opinion. The MBA will remain exactly as it is, with a TN screen, until it fades away. Want it or not, the new MB will replace the Air.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Any idea if the new Macbook support h265 decoding in hardware?

 

[mutsaers-vr.nl]

Actually the footprint of the rMB is smaller, width as well as depth, than that of the MBA11", compare the specs at the Apple site

Well, this new rMB makes me curious. How will the one-port thing work in real life ? What's the performance going to be ? How about heat ? Basically, how did they do it and how much did they have to compromise to do it ?

Anyway, I'm curious, and I'll eargerly wait until I can put my hands on it and see how it feels, and how it behaves. The reopening of the Apple Store has almost alleviated my primary concerns and questions - there will be a BTO option to upgrade the processor without upgrading the disk space, so I'm hoping the 1.3 with 256Gb will be in the middle price range between the base and high end models. Probably a good middle option if the first reviews say the CPU sucks.

The dimensions are good, roughly the same footprint as the 11" - it's just a tad narrower and a tad deeper.

The keyboard and trackpad sound awesome, although it's anedoctical at his point, but I'm curious how they can make them better than they already are.

As for the rest, well I suppose I fall right inside their target - I don't need any port, I want an ultraportable, ultra light retina, OSX laptop, and I'm not going to do any heavy photoshop, video editing, gaming or hyperspace calculus on it, since it won't be my main computer.

It's funny to see all the speculations and dead-end opinions from everybody, when nobody has actually seen the machine, as always. Reminds me of the rMBP launch in 2012. It was going to be the end of Apple (again), there was no way this machine could have any kind of acceptable performances, ...

 

[Manix]

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

I just ordered the new MacBook Pro 13" swapping my mid 2011(!) 13" MBA

 

[Paulg2uk]

I just ordered the new MacBook Pro 13" swapping my mid 2011(!) MBA

I really wanted to sell my RMBP as I need something more portable for work and band rehearsal's and get and air with a retina display. The new 12" rmb just isn't gonna cut it for me. I think I might have to go for an air but sacrifice the retina display. I will wait for the new macbook to come out though and try before I buy something.

 

[Manix]

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

I also waited for a retina MBA but I definetely need more processing power than the Intel Core M processor... therefore happy that I now got the same power as my late2012 iMac in a portable rMBP!! Maybe in another 4 years I'll swap it for a rMB

 

[Paulg2uk]

I also waited for a retina MBA but I definetely need more processing power than the Intel Core M processor... therefore happy that I now got the same power as my iMac in a portable rMBP!! Maybe in another 4 years I'll swap it for a rMB

I'm really thinking I should of bought the 13" version of the rmbp my 15" is getting quite bulky to carry about nowadays hence why i was hoping for a retina version of the air. Oh well back to the drawing board I think.

 

[newellj]

I and many many others want a better screen on the present MBA (11 and 13), and I had hoped that Apple now upgraded to IPS displays.

Do anybody think that this can be realistic later this year, this summer? Or will Apple not do this, because they will let these models just start the process of being discontinued?

In my experience with the difference between 11 inch screen TN and IPS, the difference is quite great. IPS has so much more contrast and is much crisper.

I think you have the answer from Apple. They see the whole concept that the Air currently addresses going off in a new direction. I think the Air may get a couple of future generations of spec bumps in storage and CPU/IGPU and then fade away as the new rMB line matures and fills out.