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Why there's hope for a new Air

meh...Apple will probably be able to make a 4 pound 13" MBP by the time the hardware is available to make a faster and more affordable MBA. By next year the ipad will get faster with added features as well, making the MBA seem even more out of place.

i can see the air surviving if Apple can somehow manage to make one under 3lbs and perform nearly as well as a MBP 13". I have used an air before (loaned from a friend) and loved it, but I would never purchase one myself as the tradeoffs in performance and features don't justify the price. I would rather spend the money on the best 13" or 15" MBP and complement it with an ipad.

But then again if I had the money and no sense I would have an ipad, MBA, MBP 15"/17", an imac 27" and a MacPro so that I may have the right device for every single possible situation I may encounter. Sadly though the Air would probably be the easiest to drop from that lineup.
 
I still say the MBA is a very marketable machine.

Unfortunately, other than it's form factor and the SSD, there really isn't anything to sway a person to the MBA over the other machines.


There is not much needed to make ME rush out and buy a macbook air immediately.

More RAM
Glass trackpad

Those two things alone = instant sale for me.
 
I'm with you hoping...the Air is a very sexy device, and since the MBP 13'' doesn't have i3, the differences between the MBP and MBA are less then they could be, so I'll be watching in the coming months!
 
Scottsdale said:
I disagree. I believe Apple can effectively market a new MBA with the same SL9600 CPUs at a 30% improvement over the old ones. Apple uses the TDP saved from using the 320m to allow that de-throttling of the CPU. In addition, the 320m could give us an improvement while still greatly improving the GPU performance.

In addition, Apple puts 4 GB of RAM and a larger SSD in the high-end model, and it sells more MBAs than it ever has in the past. The RAM limitation and drive space are the two main factors would be MBA buyers are taking the pass and are buying an MB/MBP and iPad instead.
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After seeing what they did with the 13" Pro, I think this is the most likely course of action for Apple, assuming they refresh the Air soon. I'd be very happy with this upgrade.
 
gimmi80 said:
They don't need viral marketing for the MBA. Whatever machine they will present, given 4Gb of Ram and the new Nvidia, I'll (and most of us will) be in, no time.

iPhone is at the fourth generation, probably they expect some slow down in sale (as everybody as at least one in his pocket already) and they set up one of the best viral marketing campaign ever.
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I think that is true. As long as Apple upgrades to 4 GB of RAM and a larger SSD, people will upgrade and the MBA will sell better than ever before (even better and faster than the $999 original MBAs were sold/dumped after the debacle).

I really don't believe there is a better CPU than the SL9600 and Nvidia 320m right now that will fit in an MBA with a dedicated graphics along with a Core i7-640LM. And I don't want to go with sole use of the Arrandale's GMA IGP. That would be devastating.

Apple really has nowhere to go except the SL9600, unless it can get Intel to make one more bump to a 2.26 GHz SL9700. That would be even better, but would Apple be able to run it without throttling?

Think of how great the MBA could perform if the SL9600 ran without throttling and the 320m was only a 50% bump over the 9400m. That would surely fit within the constraints of the MBA's cooling system and energy limitations. Add with that 4 GB of RAM, a 256 GB SSD, and a glass trackpad... the MBA would sell better than ever before. No nonsense replies about the iPad here, because the iPad doesn't do work/creation, OS X, or Mac applications.
 
Intel made a "custom" CPU for the first Air, what's to stop them from making an i7-640LM (4M, 2.13-2.9GHz) without the IGP (which is not on-die, just in the CPU package, making it doable). 25W TDP? lower memory bus speeds, etc..

Perhaps this is why we are waiting for the new Air, still?

I will NOT buy a new Air if it does not have an i7 processor in it. The Air is Apple's technology flagship, to old tech in it is ... ridiculous. If it was designed to a price point, like the MBP13 is, then I could see it, but it's not.
 
Malice604 said:
Intel made a "custom" CPU for the first Air, what's to stop them from making an i7-640LM (4M, 2.13-2.9GHz) without the IGP (which is not on-die, just in the CPU package, making it doable). 25W TDP? lower memory bus speeds, etc..
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PCIe and memory I/O are on the IGP.

Also the "special" CPU for the first MacBook Air already existed but nobody wanted it except for Apple.
 
Malice604 said:
Intel made a "custom" CPU for the first Air, what's to stop them from making an i7-640LM
Click to expand...
The fact that they did not make custom CPUs for the bestselling line of Macbooks. I don't think Intel has any intention of making custom CPUs for apple and that is why apple is talking with AMD. I could see some great products come out of a collaboration between AMD and Apple(unique processors and unique GPUs seem very likely)
 
Raje said:
The fact that they did not make custom CPUs for the bestselling line of Macbooks. I don't think Intel has any intention of making custom CPUs for apple and that is why apple is talking with AMD. I could see some great products come out of a collaboration between AMD and Apple(unique processors and unique GPUs seem very likely)
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AMD, damn, who would of thunk it!
i always remember them to be as a cheaper solution in consumer pc's
 
Raje said:
The fact that they did not make custom CPUs for the bestselling line of Macbooks. I don't think Intel has any intention of making custom CPUs for apple and that is why apple is talking with AMD. I could see some great products come out of a collaboration between AMD and Apple(unique processors and unique GPUs seem very likely)
Click to expand...

Custom for high $ laptop = sense
Custom for best selling laptop = no sense. If the assembly line made that many, it would be a standard offering.

Apple needed the custom variant for their machine, as they appear to now. Precedent has been set.
 
iMacmatician said:
PCIe and memory I/O are on the IGP.

Also the "special" CPU for the first MacBook Air already existed but nobody wanted it except for Apple.
Click to expand...

Sigh on that, though we are saving on external memory controller power then, aren't we? No external south bridge would mean no power requirements for one.

As for no one wanting one, perhaps a more positive way to look at is that Apple wanted first dibs, so they took the early model.

How about ways that it WILL work instead of WON'T?
 
I think read some articles a few days back that apple was looking @ AMD and ATI graphics? How much of it do you think holds good in case of a MBA... I never heard anything about it from MBA users... would like to hear some opinions from MBA regulars... Any feedback from Scottsdale is what I most love reading...
 
Malice604 said:
Custom for high $ laptop = sense
Custom for best selling laptop = no sense. If the assembly line made that many, it would be a standard offering.

Apple needed the custom variant for their machine, as they appear to now. Precedent has been set.
Click to expand...

It makes sense if the standard offering isn't what they wanted as in the case with i3/i5/i7 where Apple wanted integrated Nvidia graphics and Intel only has offerings that allow for use of the Intel IGP
 
Raje said:
A 15" screen kinda defeats the purpose of an ultraportable:p
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No way man- fake the air, keep everything the same, but increase it's overall width and height to accomodate the larger screen, while maintaining the thinness of the current one.

I guess I just think my mbp could ditch the optical drive and shed some thickness and weight that way.
 
iansilv said:
I would really like to see a 15.4" display- same size as the MBP at 15".
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there was a rumor about this a year ago: https://www.macrumors.com/2009/01/16/15-macbook-air-under-development/

With optical drives being less and less necessary, a MBA even with a 15" or 17" screen would make sense. Just imagine a 17" MBP, strip it of the optical drive and the dedicated graphics, reduce the ports to 1xUSB 3.0, 1xFW800, Audio out (optical) and an SDHC card slot; then use a ULV CPU and throw in 3G - and you'll have a portable dream machine which could weigh as little as 4-6 pounds.

But yeah, back to more realistic talk:

The updated MBPs are only a small evolution and not a new machine so maybe Apple wants to introduce the next MBA at a special event???

As I wrote in a previous post, I still believe that a new MBA will for the forseeable future continue to use a C2D processor, albeit a custom one, most likely running at 2.26 or 2.4Ghz.

Also, since the MBP 13" has become a serious competitor for the MBA, I believe that Apple will make every effort to distinguish the next MBA from the 13" MBP. This could include:

- introducing a higher-res screen (1440x900) and/or a matte option
- a Micro-SIM slot and integrated 3G HSPA+
- abandoning the HDD version of the Air (then only having one base model; 2.26Ghz/128GB SSD at $1599)

But whatever the other specs will be, Apple needs increase RAM to 4GB and increase battery life to at least 7hrs. Otherwise the Air is dead.
 
My guess is that Apple will merge the 13" MBP and the MBA models towards the end of this year, basically getting rid of the DVD in the MBP chassis and using the large/long duration battery in a thinner enclosure.

All options are open as to CPU - Intel, AMD, Apple proprietary.

But they need to keep MBA ticking over till then.
 
houttbe said:
My guess is that Apple will merge the 13" MBP and the MBA models towards the end of this year, basically getting rid of the DVD in the MBP chassis and using the large/long duration battery in a thinner enclosure.
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I am a bit doubtful about that. The 13" MBP has replaced the MB as the main consumer laptop from Apple. There's many people who have a 13" MBP as their only machine and wouldn't wanna miss the integrated optical drive.

Building MBPs without an internal optical drive will IMHO therefore probably not happen in the next 2-3 years; and if then they'll start with the "real" professional laptops, like using the extra space to fit a quad-core i7 + GeForce GTS 360M or Quadro FX M with all the additional cooling etc. necessary into the 17" enclosure.

The MBA has its own niche and also from an economic standpoint it would make sense for apple to capitalise on it. If Apple merged the MBA into the MBP 13" then they would still have to sell it at MBP 13" price points (then apple forgoes profit becuase people who are willing to spend more on a portable machine don't need to) or they'd sell less and lose market share if they increased the price of the MBP/MBA merger compared to the current 13" MBP.

If Apple kept the MBA competitive specs-wise at a $1499+ price point, however, they could not only sell some to people who would otherwise consider the 13" MBP, but also appeal to more people in general by keeping two seperate models.
 
In the Athlon days, I was a big AMD supporter, but after so many CPU failures, I went back to the Intel camp and stuck with that.

To put it in an Air? If I'm paying for a premium product, I expect the premium brand inside (please no AMD flame war, you know what I am saying).

Moving more in the iPad direction, but with OSX and a keyboard, makes sense to me. Touch screen with hinges that allow the computer to fold flat either closed or with the keyboard behind the screen (which would disable it, so you don't mash random keys while trying to hold it).

I agree that it has to stay at the 13" size, though higher resolution on a matte display would be great.

How about an SD card slot? Those are nice and thin. I don't have any interest in 3G, since I am happy to tether to the iPhone when necessary.
 
new MBA design

Greetings -

As a long time lurker I understand that 'speculation' gets carried away here on occasion.... But after the iPhone 4g photos I think it's pretty obvious that a 'new' MBA design would clearly be an All Black 'ceramic' case. Throw in a separately controlled OLED 'Apple' on the cover and now you're talking Wow factor. I would even 'speculate' that the entire cover (at least the front and maybe even the back) would have a translucent ceramic coating over the black background and sandwiched in between would be an 'monocolor oled screen' similar to the walkmans of a couple years ago. This would cause to entire cover to act like a screen saver with waves, pulses, and the like. (You could even utililize it as a type of touch activated effect or rudimentary touchscreen tablet. With a choice of OLED colors - blue, red, or green.....

Who gives a rats behind what specific processor is in it. The MBA is about WOW and (should be) Apple's halo computer product. (No, I don't consider the iPad a computer.) So imo you're just wasting time 'discussing' power factor and wattage of this vs that or how many USB ports it has.

USB is, likewise, old think. I expect to see, in the not too distant future, a wireless, or more likely, a 'contact transmission' technology incorporated. Think 'fist bump' to transfer data from one device to the other. But that'll be a couple more years out.

D.
 
More RAM and a glass trackpad, I'd definitely consider switching.
CPU speed isn't really important, just that there are good fast aftermarket SSDs available.. The Intel x18 will work with the air right?
 
mrderik said:
Greetings -

As a long time lurker I understand that 'speculation' gets carried away here on occasion.... But after the iPhone 4g photos I think it's pretty obvious that a 'new' MBA design would clearly be an All Black 'ceramic' case. Throw in a separately controlled OLED 'Apple' on the cover and now you're talking Wow factor. I would even 'speculate' that the entire cover (at least the front and maybe even the back) would have a translucent ceramic coating over the black background and sandwiched in between would be an 'monocolor oled screen' similar to the walkmans of a couple years ago. This would cause to entire cover to act like a screen saver with waves, pulses, and the like. (You could even utililize it as a type of touch activated effect or rudimentary touchscreen tablet. With a choice of OLED colors - blue, red, or green.....

Who gives a rats behind what specific processor is in it. The MBA is about WOW and (should be) Apple's halo computer product. (No, I don't consider the iPad a computer.) So imo you're just wasting time 'discussing' power factor and wattage of this vs that or how many USB ports it has.


D.
Click to expand...

Given the new iPhone's design, you think it is obvious that the MBA will sport a ceramic case and an external OLED mini screen? Are you serious? In which way do you think it is obvious? What has any Apple product to do with superfluous, battery-draining flashy effects like the ones you describe? What's the point of a shell being also a rudimentary tablet?

I am sorry man, but I disagree with absolutely everything from the quoted post.
 
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