Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
When will the MBA get an overall design refresh?
- Thread starter Congressmann
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- There are no rumors about a 2021 or 2022 MBA. So the answer is that we have no idea.
- There are hundreds of things it could get. Cellular, Face ID, 14” screen, 1080p camera, etc etc. But as I said, we have no idea if it will get even one of those items. It may just get a M2 chip.
If there was an all over design change, it would no longer be a Macbook Air. The platform of the laptop (not just the air) has matured to the point that little more can done. And if something is almost perfect, why change? And the Air is just an example. All airplanes look alike in form, so do smart phones, automobiles, microwaves, tv sets, etc. Not that the sales division of companies wouldn't love a new change, but engineers can't come up with something that is better without inventing a whole new industry-changing product, and those can't just be ordered at will by upper management.
Again, if the laptop changed dramatically, it would not be a laptop, but a fizzwiz, or a smartglibber (or something.)
New camera, touch screen, iris id laser, thin bezels, etc, probably yes - almost certainly yes - but massive change? Not until some new and young Steve Jobs equivalent clobbers the industry with his new ______. Fill in the blank. (But tell me beforehand so I can invest this time.)
Again, if the laptop changed dramatically, it would not be a laptop, but a fizzwiz, or a smartglibber (or something.)
New camera, touch screen, iris id laser, thin bezels, etc, probably yes - almost certainly yes - but massive change? Not until some new and young Steve Jobs equivalent clobbers the industry with his new ______. Fill in the blank. (But tell me beforehand so I can invest this time.)
I think a redesign will separate it more from the MacBook Pro. They have removed the fan, so there is already some space freed up, plus a SoC should be smaller, and they might sacrifice some of the extra battery life, allowing Apple to make something thinner and with smaller bezels.
1. Some Tuesday in 2021 or 2022.
2. I personally think the 13 Air and 13 MBP are too close already - now even more so with the same processor. So I think the Air will stick at 13" with maybe a 15" model, whereas the MBP will go to 14" and 16". So I don't expect a lot of changes to the Air other than better camera/bump with FaceID.
2. I personally think the 13 Air and 13 MBP are too close already - now even more so with the same processor. So I think the Air will stick at 13" with maybe a 15" model, whereas the MBP will go to 14" and 16". So I don't expect a lot of changes to the Air other than better camera/bump with FaceID.
Why would they invest in this when they have a perfectly fine Touch ID? Makes no sense. I think the laptops will have Touch ID for the foreseeable future.
I would expect them to update the MBP first, maybe a 14" display in the same physical size.
The MBA will probably stay this way for awhile... I could be wrong of course, nobody knows but Apple.
The MBA will probably stay this way for awhile... I could be wrong of course, nobody knows but Apple.
This I agree with - I like the even bezels on the iPad Air / Pro. I don't mind some bezel (in fact, I think I prefer it), but they should be even. I even preferred the bezels of iPads 2-4 over those of the iPad Air and later.
Because then you can just open the Macbook and you will be almost instantly authenticated and ready to work, instead of having to put your finger on TouchID first.
I'm not expecting a re-design until Apple can provide a better display technology for a cheap enough cost.
The way I anticipate it is that we'll get in a few months updated 14" and 16" MBPs (the former replacing the four ports TB 13"MBP, while the two ports 13" MBP would stay in the lineup for a while) with mini LED displays and possibly a more extensive redesign (I'd love to see a complete overall with Face ID, support for a pencil in hover mode with the trackpad, rounded screen corners, new design language, the lot basically, but we'll see).
The 13" two TB ports M1 MBP would be replaced a while after with a cheaper version of the 14" MBP with mini LED display once Apple is confident that they can keep their margins by doing so.
And then only after all that would the 13" MBA be replaced by another 13" model with mini LED. So certainly not before 2022 IMO. I wouldn't be surprised at this time to see Apple aim at a generational leap in thinness to further differentiate the Air from the MBP and provide it with a competitive advantage only traditional laptops can have over an iPad + magic keyboard (putting the logic and battery behind a tablet's display brings significant limitations to what you can do with a magnetically attached keyboard cover in terms of design and resulting overall thickness).
The way I anticipate it is that we'll get in a few months updated 14" and 16" MBPs (the former replacing the four ports TB 13"MBP, while the two ports 13" MBP would stay in the lineup for a while) with mini LED displays and possibly a more extensive redesign (I'd love to see a complete overall with Face ID, support for a pencil in hover mode with the trackpad, rounded screen corners, new design language, the lot basically, but we'll see).
The 13" two TB ports M1 MBP would be replaced a while after with a cheaper version of the 14" MBP with mini LED display once Apple is confident that they can keep their margins by doing so.
And then only after all that would the 13" MBA be replaced by another 13" model with mini LED. So certainly not before 2022 IMO. I wouldn't be surprised at this time to see Apple aim at a generational leap in thinness to further differentiate the Air from the MBP and provide it with a competitive advantage only traditional laptops can have over an iPad + magic keyboard (putting the logic and battery behind a tablet's display brings significant limitations to what you can do with a magnetically attached keyboard cover in terms of design and resulting overall thickness).
Well first of all, they can't even fit a 1080p webcam. I HIGHLY doubt they can fit a IR sensor that can take 30.000 points of your face.
There is indeed an inherent tension between wanting a thin, tapered display frame with thin bezels and the thickness required by Apple's current Face ID implementation.
There is added tension when you consider that on iPhones the main goal of reducing the Face ID's system size would be to reduce its lateral / vertical footprint (to reduce the size of the notch) while on a Mac's display it would be to reduce its thickness.
Because it's easier to open your lid and immediately login with Face ID than opening it and placing a finger at the top of the keyboard maybe?
But this is not even how it behaves on the phone. They force us to swipe to activate Face ID.
I am only guessing but since the MacBook Air form factor came out more recently than the MacBook Pro...I would assume the MacBook Air will keep its current design for at least another 2 years. The MacBook Pro will probably get some major design upgrades within a year including a better camera, an overhaul of the Touch Bar, and possibly replacing the 13" with a 14". Right now, the MBP is positioned for more changes to help set itself apart from the MacBook Air. Not enough separates the M1 Air from the M1 Pro right now, other than a fan and a touch bar.
If there are any design changes to the Air, I imagine it would be new color options before we see a new form factor.
If there are any design changes to the Air, I imagine it would be new color options before we see a new form factor.
But can you really call it an updated form factor? They updated the screen, but the body has essentially been unchanged for around 10 years now!
I am hoping to see a refresh of the body with mini LED and standard 512GB storage and 16GB RAM. That seems pretty realistic to me.
The current design dates back from October 2018. That’s still quite recent. For comparison, the MacBook Pro design dates back to 2016, the iMac design to 2012, and the Mac mini to 2010. Only the Mac Pro has a more recent design (2019).
If we’ll see a design change, the MacBook Pro will probably get it first. So we might see an all-new MacBook Pro in 2021 and a new MacBook Air in 2022. But that’s pure speculation.
If we’ll see a design change, the MacBook Pro will probably get it first. So we might see an all-new MacBook Pro in 2021 and a new MacBook Air in 2022. But that’s pure speculation.
If you do a google search it looks like 2022 is when the MBA re-design is coming. As in they refreshed the lineup with M1 chips in 2020. They’ll release an updated 14 in Macbook Pro in 2021 and then the MacBook Air in 2020.
Really all they need to do with the Macbook Air is slim down the bezels. It was released in 2018 but imho it should have been released a couple years before that since the previous MacBook Air design was like 7 years old. Also, it wasn’t exactly cutting edge design in 2018 when it was released. That being said, I’ve had the MBA almost 2 years now and it’s a good laptop.
Really all they need to do with the Macbook Air is slim down the bezels. It was released in 2018 but imho it should have been released a couple years before that since the previous MacBook Air design was like 7 years old. Also, it wasn’t exactly cutting edge design in 2018 when it was released. That being said, I’ve had the MBA almost 2 years now and it’s a good laptop.