I'm glad they didn't update the air... that means I'm not in line at the Apple Store buying a new system again
I want a true reconfiguring of system, not a minor update before I go all in!
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A disappointing day for the MacBook Air. When will we see rev 3,1?
- Thread starter Scottsdale
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I want a true reconfiguring of system, not a minor update before I go all in!
It looks like you already have some options with more on the way. Vote with your dollars and buy the utraportable with the most options and you're all set. So long as you're voluntarily married to Apple they won't have much reason to worry about what additional options they put out.
4GB and I get one. That is the only thing holding me back. Not mad or annoyed, just want a smaller computer to lug around than a 15" classic MBP.
I have kept a "running" tally of sorts and about 80% of people who don't buy an MBA and choose a 13" MBP instead do so because of the lack of RAM or limited RAM to 2 GB in the MBA. If Apple wanted to be competitive it would offer the same BTO choices that people can get in other ultraportables.
That's not what anyone said. At the same time, Apple doesn't focus on what buyers want but rather what is "simple" and could please the "average" buyer. The MBA is already outside of the "average" range. Most people will not spend the money for less computing power. Then there is the average MBA buyer who will gladly spend a fortune to get all of the wants... that's me and a bunch of people on this forum.
The bottom line isn't just about the current numbers. In the long run Apple has to compete in the ultraportable market if it wants to sell MacBook Air. It could sell a heck of a lot more by just adding 4 GB RAM which is a simple request easily doable! The MBA is a niche market, so Apple should carve out a nice slice of Ultraportable sales and top off those sales figures in more classes of computers. Right now the MBA is quickly falling behind. In June, it was a very good buy, but now people are demanding more RAM and drive space and the other ultraportable computer manufacturers are all delivering where the MBA is NOT.
I agree with you on this thread, Sc.Dales.
Although I think it is perfectly understandable that Apple would concentrate more on the other Macs because they are not a non-profit organization. Satisfying customers is less desirable than satisfying more customers, hence other Macs get more attention.
The Macbook Air however is truly special, I did not like it at all. But the feeling of holding something so thin yet powerful is... indescribable. I also noticed that the Dell Adamo got an upgrade, especially with a 256Gb SSD and 4Gb of Ram, I seriously was considering it. (Windows 7 is really not bad, IMO).
But today's update and the recent update of the Dell gives me hope, however. The technology is ready, I believe the time has come for this niche market to get an upgrade, to be competitive again among other ultra portables, because, again, Apple is not a non-for profit organization.
Although I think it is perfectly understandable that Apple would concentrate more on the other Macs because they are not a non-profit organization. Satisfying customers is less desirable than satisfying more customers, hence other Macs get more attention.
The Macbook Air however is truly special, I did not like it at all. But the feeling of holding something so thin yet powerful is... indescribable. I also noticed that the Dell Adamo got an upgrade, especially with a 256Gb SSD and 4Gb of Ram, I seriously was considering it. (Windows 7 is really not bad, IMO).
But today's update and the recent update of the Dell gives me hope, however. The technology is ready, I believe the time has come for this niche market to get an upgrade, to be competitive again among other ultra portables, because, again, Apple is not a non-for profit organization.
For the third time, Apple tries to be independent of the market, as opposed to reactionary - oddly that's what allows them to be revolutionary.
Your logic assumes that everyone is like you and would suddenly ditch their MacBook Air's for the newest revision when it comes out. By that same logic as long as Apple makes a MacBook Air better then the Adamo, even those that have switched to Adamo, will switch back.
Apple studies sales numbers and responses very carefully and they update their products. They will update it when they figure out that it is cost-effective. Just because you would pay $5,000 for a MacBook Air doesn't mean very many others would. Apple's specs are never in line with the competition; but, a superior OS, great customer service, better quality control and the Apple "it" factor seem to allow to charge a premium and do it quite successfully.
I understand you are upset, you just have to be realistic. Everytime Apple updates something everyone of their products has been outdone by a competitor. Apple doesn't update the same product every three months, they have a cycle and it seems to have worked. If Apple were to attempt to stay at the top of their market constantly, the amount of updates would become ridiculous.
You are going to say there is a large gap now. This might be true, but it's been worse with other products before. If Apple does actually go a full 12 months without any updates, you can complain and I'll buy you the megaphone.
Also, and something that I don't believe has been brought up. The MacBook Air is one of the most difficult computer to sell in a recession. There is no specification, other then its size, that makes it better then a MacBook/MacBook Pro. People are paying a premium solely for a thinner computer. This might be considered a luxury upgrade or luxury purchase for a lot of buyers. I'm sure Apple understand that a lot of people in the market for a new Apple notebook see that they are paying a lot more money solely for a thin computer and therefore save money and go with the thicker one. I understand sales have dropped, but don't go parading Adamo I around as a huge success, because it wasn't. There are a lot of factors that have led to the drop in sales and the economy is probably the number one, not the lack of a 256GB SSD (that Apple will charge $650 for.) I understand that this logic could be applied to buying Apple products in general, but with the MacBook Air, the form factor is a real luxury and not a necessity.
unfortunately, i dont think it's MBA's time right now. its a high margin product and we're in a bit of a recession. i like to hope that we'll see a 15" MBA soon but that seems doubtful given the need to focus on apples 'bread and butter' products to carry it through the recession. and with the tablet coming out in january, we probably wont see another significant MBA update until summer or more likely a year from now. i hope im wrong, but at least it will probably be something nice, like carbon fiber frames. im planning on holding out for the 15", it'll be twice as fast as the 2006 MB that im using now, and so much cooler! woo hoo!
I totally agree with you on this one, Scottsdale. Apple should as soon as possible launch an updated MBA. For a November release i would wish for a BTO for 4GB Ram and 256GB SSD. If apple waits till 2010 i hope for something similar to what they did with the imac, a new high end with new CPU (Arrandale)and GPU (dedicated GPU option would be nice), 4GB RAM (BTO 8GB), glass trackpad, 6-h battery and all this paired with a 15" screen (OLED) with minimal/no bezel, size and weight (maybe carbonfiber?) should be almost the same as the actual MBA. For me the Air is a product that should show what apple is capable to deliver if costs don't matter. I would gladly pay 4000-5000$ for something like this!!!
Looks like your janitor at Apple whom you've claimed has been whispering in your ear didn't deliver. The MacBook is no thinner than previous models and there is no new Air. Here's a hint. Follow the two French rumor sites, they have a remarkable track record on predicting what Apple is going to introduce. Just pretend that's your janitor whispering to you and you'll do much better with your predictions.
Why do you guys need 256GB SSD?
Unless you torrent the crap out of your internet connection, there is no need for so much space (at the current price tag), in particular now that the SL "footprint" is so much smaller and after you have done a clean install by removing all the unneeded Mac OS X components (all the extra languages, Garage Band, etc.)
I just want 4GB. I used to come "short" with 2GB all the time on my Rev A MBA.
Yeah, I know perhaps I should close some of my 15 apps running at all times (I love that)....
And what's with all this crazy talk of spending $5,000 on a laptop??? At that price I'd expect it to be revolutionary and not merely list the specs mentioned so far on wish lists in this thread.
Unless you torrent the crap out of your internet connection, there is no need for so much space (at the current price tag), in particular now that the SL "footprint" is so much smaller and after you have done a clean install by removing all the unneeded Mac OS X components (all the extra languages, Garage Band, etc.)
I just want 4GB. I used to come "short" with 2GB all the time on my Rev A MBA.
Yeah, I know perhaps I should close some of my 15 apps running at all times (I love that)....
And what's with all this crazy talk of spending $5,000 on a laptop??? At that price I'd expect it to be revolutionary and not merely list the specs mentioned so far on wish lists in this thread.
Oh yeah, almost forgot about that.
And AppleInsider too they're pretty accurate.
I think it was kinda foolish to think that today we would see a true MBA Revision - yesterday was the day of consumer upgrades!
The Mac Pro the Macbook Pro and the Macbook Air (a more of a pro machine if you want to put a pro vs. consumer title on it)
I expect the next real rev will be in March of 2010.
The Mac Pro the Macbook Pro and the Macbook Air (a more of a pro machine if you want to put a pro vs. consumer title on it)
I expect the next real rev will be in March of 2010.
I have 8.9GB of Free Space on my OSX Partition and 13.4GB free on my Vista Partition. So... I think I might need a 256GB SSD, actually that's not enough, I need about 2TB SSD to satisfy my needs
Exactly my feelings. The MBA at 128GB SSD w. 4GB RAM would be great.
I would bet Apple is selling quite a few more since the price reductions so they are listening to buyers in a sense. And guess what, a whole lot of the people who loved the MBA and paid upwards of $2k for their machine will buy another when updated so keeping the product where it's at and milking every last sale out of previously spent R&D, tooling, FCC approval, existing stock, etc. is a smart business move. Apple is a business. It makes no sense for them to completely redo the MBA since it was just refreshed 4 months ago.
The thing was only released Feb. 2008 and already had two refreshes (one major) in 16 months. Meanwhile the MB has essentially remained the same w. processor only upgrades since introduced. The Mini was woefully lacking in updates and the iMac needed to stay competitive.
Updates are coming, just hold on to your horses (and dollars.)
I'm still think Jan. announce w. Feb. availability. Apple needs to keep things going w. their mobiles to take some thunder from CES announcements and keep interest in MW products. By then processors will be ready and existing stock will have depleted.
I hate to disagree with the almighty Scottsdale and I want more ram as much as the next guy, but just adding 4gb of ram is not as easy as it sounds in the MBA. First, the ram is soldered into the motherboard, meaning an entirely redesigned motherboard for 4gb. Second, the motherboard is TINY! it's just a little bigger than the dimensions of an iPhone. To be able to fit double the ram chips on such a small motherboard would prove to be quite a feat!... or they would have to cram more mb per chip... which is crazy expensive (look at the price difference between 2gb and 4gb ram sticks for a comparison).
We also have to keep in mind that the CPU and GPU in the original MBA were custom designed for the model. I wouldn't expect anything less from the next gen MBA. I would think that Apple would skip the current generation of ULV dual cores and commission a new dual, or even quad core based on the i5 and i7 architecture. These CPUs released in the new iMacs may point to such a thing as a viable option for a low power, cool running chip. Of course this is merely speculation, but that would be awesome!
They would use a single 4GB DDR3 chip (it's $190 retail at the moment). No need to redesign anything.
Since they are not as cheap (yet) as the 2GB ($39 retail at the moment), Apple just decided not to do it yet since they don't wanna be seen increasing the price of the MBA (passing on the cost to the consumer).
Anyone knows Apple's margin on the MBA? I know it's about 36% I think on average for all the products lines.
We're using 2x1GB sticks. They could use 2x2GB sticks without any major increase in price.
I am mistaken then, I thought the internals had only one 2GB chip soldered.
Then I take back what I said and you are right.
No, Apple is NOT using standard DDR3 RAM sticks. The RAM is soldered to the board in 256MB packages.
Hate to quote my own post but pictures are obvious:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/593227/
Hate to quote my own post but pictures are obvious:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/593227/
Thanks for this. I didn't know that.
Still the cost-to-Apple argument doesn't seem to hold too much water, does it?
So if not for the cost, then Apple decided it just wasn't time, having touched it up in June last.
Still the cost-to-Apple argument doesn't seem to hold too much water, does it?
So if not for the cost, then Apple decided it just wasn't time, having touched it up in June last.
Hey, if it comes with 256GB for the same price (storage: better > less), what not?
Not a reasonable expectation at this time though.