Will MacBook Air 13" be discontinued?

[mylifewasalie]

Hi,

As many of you may know, it has been rumored that Apple will make a new Macbook Air 12" with retina screen.

Do you think that MBA 13" would be discontinued when Apple release the 12" retina MBA?

It's a hypothetical question, though.

 

[joshlalonde]

I think they would discontinue the 11" before they discontinued the 13".
It depends on how much they left in stock, doesn't it? It'd be interesting to know which screen size sells best. I'd hazard to guess 13" but I can't be sure.

 

[ABC5S]

I personally would not purchase a 12 incher over a 13. Seen the 11 inch MacBook, and think its too small of a screen. So I believe Apple will keep the 13 model for a good while, and get rid of the 11 inch. Just a guess. I would hope that Apple would get rid of the wide bezel on the 13 inch that would give us about a 14 inch viewing area, but that is just dreaming.

 

[ColdShadow]

I think they will discontinue both 11 & 13 and make 12 only.
There is no point in having a 12 and 13, or a 11 and 12 inches.
I'd say they will probably also rename it back to just Macbook.
so they will have 12 Inch Macbook and 13-15 inches Macbook Pros.

 

[mylifewasalie]

I think they will discontinue both 11 & 13 and make 12 only.
There is no point in having a 12 and 13, or a 11 and 12 inches.
I'd say they will probably also rename it back to just Macbook.
so they will have 12 Inch Macbook and 13-15 inches Macbook Pros.

I think too, they may discontinue both models, but I hope they don't. 12 would be too small for most of the people.

 

[ColdShadow]

I think too, they may discontinue both models, but I hope they don't. 12 would be too small for most of the people.

I had the same opinion about a 12 inch model (and 11) but the more I compared the 11 vs 13 in store and the more I read about user experiences of both 11 and 13,I think a 12 inch will satisfy both groups.

I'm currently deciding on a MBA and really hope they announce the 12 Inch soon.mainly because of Retina screen.

 

[iphone1105]

I think they will discontinue both 11 & 13 and make 12 only.
There is no point in having a 12 and 13, or a 11 and 12 inches.
I'd say they will probably also rename it back to just Macbook.
so they will have 12 Inch Macbook and 13-15 inches Macbook Pros.

All of this, a 17" Pro too.

 

[alphaod]

I don't think they'll discontinue anything.

The 11" and 13" MacBook Air is now their bread and butter. It does what most people need.

The MacBook Pro is a "plus" item. It's for people who need more power than the standard fare.

If they make a 12" computer it would muddle the product lines. Will they then only have a 12" MacBook Air and a 15" MacBook Pro?

 

[Traverse]

I think they will discontinue both 11 & 13 and make 12 only.
There is no point in having a 12 and 13, or a 11 and 12 inches.
I'd say they will probably also rename it back to just Macbook.
so they will have 12 Inch Macbook and 13-15 inches Macbook Pros.

That has been my expectation for about a year now, but I'm still unsure about the name change. I could see it changing or staying as is. I do think it's a waste not to have a simple "MacBook".

 

[hymas]

They will most likely, in my opinion, pump out a 13" retina MacBook Air as well. They have to! 12" is just too small.

 

[macwatch]

My two cents' worth: I think the 12" retina screen will be used on a touchscreen MacBook, selling alongside the 11" and 13" MBAs. This also means that I think that there will not be a 12" iPad. Just my thoughts.

 

[gpat]

They'll just launch the 12" and see how it fares against the rest of the line-up.
They only discontinued the white Macbook after years of the 13" Pro outselling it.

 

[Mrbobb]

For some reason, it has always bothers me the 13" Air has a bigger footprint than the 13" Mac Pro.

 

[mylifewasalie]

For some reason, it has always bothers me the 13" Air has a bigger footprint than the 13" Mac Pro.

But it is relatively cheaper than Macbook Pro and since I am a student, it's a perfect choice for me and many other people like me.

 

[ColdShadow]

But it is relatively cheaper than Macbook Pro and since I am a student, it's a perfect choice for me and many other people like me.

Not just cheaper,it's also much lighter and has significantly longer battery life.
The only bummer is the lack of retina screen.
For majority of users the extra horse power of Pro is not even necessary/noticeable.
I'll take an Air over Pro regardless of price difference any day.
It's just a much better design and form factor,so much lighter and easier to carry.

 

[ckeck]

I'd be fine with a single 12" model with a higher resolution display, but NOT if it's going to be a fan-less ultra low-power only machine.

I've transitioned over to an Air the past two years from always having a Pro machine because the performance difference wasn't significant for most use cases. But I just cannot see a fan-less super low voltage machine being able to keep up with some of the more demanding tasks without major throttling and performance impact.

 

[jojoba]

I hope not, because it's my favourite and my main work machine. But I upgraded my 13" last year just in case it disappears when the 12" is announced

 

[Saturn1217]

I'd be fine with a single 12" model with a higher resolution display, but NOT if it's going to be a fan-less ultra low-power only machine.

I've transitioned over to an Air the past two years from always having a Pro machine because the performance difference wasn't significant for most use cases. But I just cannot see a fan-less super low voltage machine being able to keep up with some of the more demanding tasks without major throttling and performance impact.

Agreed. I use my MBA to get real work done. It is perfectly capable of 90% of things the 13inch MBP can do. A 12inch MBA with a similar emphasis on balanced performance and great battery life is what I'd be interested in.

Also anyone else hoping that the 12" MBA is more like 12.5 inches. I don't know how I'd feel about using a significantly smaller screen.

 

[Beachguy]

I hope the 13 inch continues. For some of us, the extra size is good because of our vision. A 12 inch device MAY be okay, but at this point, not having seen one, I have to hope the 13.3 inch ones continue.

 

[ABC5S]

I hope the 13 inch continues. For some of us, the extra size is good because of our vision. A 12 inch device MAY be okay, but at this point, not having seen one, I have to hope the 13.3 inch ones continue.

If they do drop the 13, my next MacBook will probably be the 15 incher because of my eye site. 13 is as low as I want to....

 

[james1758]

If they reduced the bezel size and kept the 13" that would be great (also retina please apple )

 

[aaronvan]

I sure hope not. Retina or no Retina, 13" is as low as I go.

 

[JFreak]

I think they will discontinue both 11 & 13 and make 12 only.

True. No point in two sizes.

so they will have 12 Inch Macbook and 13-15 inches Macbook Pros.

False. They will only have 15" MBP's. Same reasoning.

----------

They will most likely, in my opinion, pump out a 13" retina MacBook Air as well. They have to! 12" is just too small.

You wouldn't even notice the difference if someone gave you a 12" MBA instead of currently sold 13" MBA, if the prototype was made look the same. It is a diagonal inch for god's sake...

 

[motrek]

...
You wouldn't even notice the difference if someone gave you a 12" MBA instead of currently sold 13" MBA, if the prototype was made look the same. It is a diagonal inch for god's sake...

It is diagonal, so you really have to compare the squares of the numbers. 13" would be almost 20% bigger than 12". I think that would probably be noticeable.

One thing people don't touch on is that the 11" MBA is almost a 12" MBA... remember that the screen size is really 11.6".

If you wanted something exactly between the two current sizes you'd end up with 12.5".

 

[yukyuklee]

if they make a 12" i hope they will redesign the bezel around the screen!