What prevented a retina Air?

[newdeal]

I have been hoping they would release a macbook pro with the retina body but a normal screen so that the battery life would be killer but the new air is even better. I dont care about retina I want more freedom from a charger and now I have it

 

[james1758]

For the MBA line I would much rater have better battery life than a retina display.

 

[Sean76]

It didn't necessarily need a redesign, but ultra portables of its type are shipping with at least 1080p displays if not retina.... Even if slightly more expensive.

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I doubt battery life would of have been impacted much at all.

I have a 13in rMBP and the Battery life suxxx! I don't care how many chips they put inside these things, the power draw is going to crush battery life, especially if they applied the screen to an air!

 

[KPOM]

I have a 13in rMBP and the Battery life suxxx! I don't care how many chips they put inside these things, the power draw is going to crush battery life, especially if they applied the screen to an air!

I wouldn't call it that bad, but I agree that it probably wouldn't work well with the Air. I'd say my 13" rMBP has slightly better battery life than my 2012 11.6" MacBook Air had. Of course, that makes it worse than the 13.3" MacBook Air or non-Retina Pro.

I wouldn't mind seeing an 11.6" rMBP, though. They could probably get OK battery life with Haswell, albeit not 9 hours. I like the rMBP but it is a little heavy for my tastes.

 

[notjustjay]

I don't think retina is necessary, but a screen upgrade would be nice.

Say, bump to 1080p on the 13", and make it an IPS display like all the other ultrabook-class models coming out now.

Right now I'm torn, do I buy the new 13" MBA right away or wait to see what happens with the rMBP refresh? Of course that's exactly why Apple didn't refresh both at the same time...

 

[mayuka]

Say, bump to 1080p on the 13", and make it an IPS display like all the other ultrabook-class models coming out now.

That wouldn't make any sense because everything would look tiny and would be barely readable.

The current ppi is good as it is. Changing the panel from TN to IPS or even PVA would be a great improvement considering viewing angles. I guess Apple will just do that next year. In 2015 maybe it will be time for Apple to go all-retina. At the moment (and with the coming Macbook Pro generation) it will be the differentiator. The MBP will go all-retina this year.

 

[firewood]

the proof in the pudding will be the sales numbers of these units especially those persons who currently possess the 2011/2012 models; will they upgrade?

The majority of Macs are used for more than 2 years. So the question is more whether the 2013 MBAs are enough to encourage those highly mobile users with 2010 and earlier MacBooks to upgrade, as well as any interest shown by new customers who want a bit more capability than they get with their iPads or iPhones.

 

[majkom]

I dont understand this obsession for retina screen, what I would understand is demand for IPS air like resolution screen, with that, for me, 2013 air would be perfect flawless machine

 

[rovex]

I dont understand this obsession for retina screen, what I would understand is demand for IPS air like resolution screen, with that, for me, 2013 air would be perfect flawless machine

Well when you go from an ipad to macbook air, it's not as easy as you think.

 

[majkom]

Well when you go from an ipad to macbook air, it's not as easy as you think.

I constantly move between iphone and imac, no problem... Ips with current resolution >>> tn retina

 

[Mavericks]

I have a feeling that I will be regretting my 2013 MBA purchase, we will see a retina MBA next year imo

 

[lshirase]

I have a feeling that I will be regretting my 2013 MBA purchase, we will see a retina MBA next year imo

lol what? so it can cannibalize the rMBP line? it's not happening.

 

[rovex]

lol what? so it can cannibalize the rMBP line? it's not happening.

It depends on what the differences will be. If they make the 13 inch conserably more power by having a quad core cpu and move the 15 inch to 6 cores then it may not cannabalize sales.

 

[notjustjay]

I have a feeling that I will be regretting my 2013 MBA purchase, we will see a retina MBA next year imo

I wouldn't put off a computer purchase by a full year on a guess that something better will come later.

Even if it does, you could always sell your one-year-old MBA for nearly the full amount of what you paid, then upgrade to the latest and greatest.

Enjoy your MBA and the 12-to-15-hour battery life. Even if next year's MBAs do get retina, I bet their batteries won't last nearly as long.