Apple Keynote Predictions for Macbook Air

[findingforever]

I ended up pulling the trigger on a Macbook Air yesterday for school and now am having buyers remorse. Although my needs are limited, 4gb of ram and some extra battery life would do wonders. Luckily, I haven't opened the box yet.

Having said that, from everything I have read, Macbook Pros seem more likely than Airs to be upgraded at the Keynote (haven't heard many rumors about the Air what so ever) and if so might return the Air and get an updated Pro if indeed they do get upgraded. What are the chances an Air might be upgraded at the Keynote? Surely nobody knows but Apple but an educated guess would be great! If you feel they won't get updated at the Keynote, an educated prediction would be helpful or if there are rumors that would suggest a later time, a link.

Thanks in Advance!

 

[miles01110]

Even if the MBA is updated and the MBP is not, the MBP will be a better machine in every area except weight. The Air hasn't been updated in a while, though, so it's due.

 

[findingforever]

True. But the extra portability, lack of a super drive and an array of ports which I would rarely use make the air more appealing. Do most people assume the Air and Pros will be updated at the same time like the last revision?

 

[halledise]

I ended up pulling the trigger on a Macbook Air yesterday for school and now am having buyers remorse. Although my needs are limited, 4gb of ram and some extra battery life would do wonders. Luckily, I haven't opened the box yet.

Having said that, from everything I have read, Macbook Pros seem more likely than Airs to be upgraded at the Keynote (haven't heard many rumors about the Air what so ever) and if so might return the Air and get an updated Pro if indeed they do get upgraded. What are the chances an Air might be upgraded at the Keynote? Surely nobody knows but Apple but an educated guess would be great! If you feel they won't get updated at the Keynote, an educated prediction would be helpful or if there are rumors that would suggest a later time, a link.

Thanks in Advance!

don't go there with 2nd guessing yourself.
you were happy to buy it then, be happy with it now.
the Air is the best notebook for your needs by the sounds of it.
having come off 3x MBPro's I know.

there will be no updates to the MB Pro or Air line next week else it'd distract from the iPad tablet

crack open your Air and enjoy it!

 

[coast1ja]

Take it out of the box and your buyer's remorse will fade away!

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Carnac the Magnificient predicts.....

To quote myself from another thread:

My guess: Air will get the Core i5 520UM, a 1.06 GHz (turbo to 1.86 GHz,) ultra-low-voltage part with onboard graphics. (The mobile integrated graphics parts have the interesting benefit that they will trade CPU speed for GPU speed, if the GPU needs more power and the CPU isn't at full load; to maintain power margin. So if you're playing a low-CPU-usage game, the CPU will stay at 1.06 GHz, but the GPU will turbo up. If you're compressing a video, the GPU will stay slow, but the CPU will crank up to 1.86 GHz.) MAYBE MAYBE MAYBE a CTO Core i7-640UM (1.2 GHz, turbo to 2.26 GHz, same Wattage envelope.)


That was my 'base guess' on CPU/GPU. I further guesstimate that it will have 4 GB RAM soldered, POSSIBLY (but doubtful) with one DIMM slot available for expansion. Updated hard drive choices. Full multi-touch buttonless glass trackpad like the rest of the line, and MAYBE the 'black border' glass like the Pros. (I can see them not doing it in the Air simply because of the slight extra weight and thickness required.)


What I would like to see in the Air: discrete graphics, even if only slightly-updated-9400M-equivalent. SMALLER! Make it an 11.5" screen (preferably OLED) with very small bezel (which, by my calculation, is exactly the size that would allow it to be exactly as wide as their current notebook keyboard; so it would look like a wide-screen 12" PowerBook G4, where the edge of the notebook is the edge of the keyboard.) Wireless USB would be nice, but it's foundering even on the Windows side; as would Wireless HDMI. (Both are official standards of their respective bodies, they're just not too popular.)

 

[glitch44]

I don't think there will be an Air update in January.

They're focused on the tablet.

 

[Thunder82]

I don't think there will be an Air update in January.

They're focused on the tablet.

I think we'll see an update this month, but it's not going to be major like everyone else is saying. (OLED? you've got to be kidding) I imagine we'll see 4GB memory and maybe a slightly quicker C2D chip.

 

[halledise]

I think we'll see an update this month, but it's not going to be major like everyone else is saying. (OLED? you've got to be kidding) I imagine we'll see 4GB memory and maybe a slightly quicker C2D chip.

ain't gonna happen - glitch44 is right; the iPad/Slate/Tab is the next big thing, why swamp it with anything else hardware

 

[peterho]

I don't understand why people keep comparing Air to Pro. Air has ultra portability and classy style. I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro, top of the line at the time, but now I'm using my Air 99.5% of time, both at work and at home. 4GB of RAM doesn't make my Pro more enjoyable to me. In a normal day of use I would open Mail, Calendar, The Hit List, Word, Powerpoint, Endnote, Papers, and Safari (couple of tabs) all together and not having problem with it (at least 500 MB of RAM left unused, inactive and free combined). And the Runcore SSD makes Air WAY FASTER than my Pro.

Determine needs and make up the mind!

 

[byke]

My money is there will be virtually no more updates, and the MBA will be slowly fazed out.

 

[Scottsdale]

DON'T OPEN THAT BOX! I have a feeling the updates a week away will be well worth the wait. You're buying 7+ month old technology, for 7+ month old pricing. It's absolutely a terrible value to buy any Mac 7+ months in. The MBA has been updated at 8 month averages over the past two years, and there's no reason to believe it will not be updated in less than a week on the 27th at the Apple media event.

The best value of any Mac is buying it right when it's released. You are probably six days away from a new MBA and getting the MBA at its best value.

I expect... 2.13 GHz Penryn Core 2 Duo, Nvidia GPU/Chipset (or if Arrandale CPU is included, an ATI dedicated graphics system will be included), 4 GB RAM, 192 GB SSD, and glass trackpad. I also expect think there could be some design changes, and a completely new feature not found on any other Mac - I expect it to be a different display technology - OLED/HD (higher resolution)/3D (doubtful but could happen).

Even if it's only a few minor updates, like to 4 GB RAM, better GPU, larger SSD, and glass trackpad, IT WILL BE WELL WORTH THE WAIT! Apple often disappoints us, but no matter what we will most likely get these updates. I say, wait six days and see what happens. Perhaps the new system will not offer any advantages or it will not change, in that case it could see another price drop. If that happens that will be yet another reason to wait.

Good luck.

 

[nj-mac-user]

My money is there will be virtually no more updates, and the MBA will be slowly fazed out.

I second that. Also, a Core i5 in a MBA?? Highly highly doubt it. Wouldn't that be a downgrade anyway graphics wise from the C2D and 9400M (which I don't think Apple would do).

 

[thejadedmonkey]

DON'T OPEN THAT BOX!

Seconded. Unless you NEED a Macbook Air right now, don't open it. Wait. You'll be happier, and without any buyer's remorse.

 

[Veinticinco]

DON'T OPEN THAT BOX! I have a feeling the updates a week away will be well worth the wait. You're buying 7+ month old technology, for 7+ month old pricing. It's absolutely a terrible value to buy any Mac 7+ months in. The MBA has been updated at 8 month averages over the past two years, and there's no reason to believe it will not be updated in less than a week on the 27th at the Apple media event.

The best value of any Mac is buying it right when it's released. You are probably six days away from a new MBA and getting the MBA at its best value.

I expect... 2.13 GHz Penryn Core 2 Duo, Nvidia GPU/Chipset (or if Arrandale CPU is included, an ATI dedicated graphics system will be included), 4 GB RAM, 192 GB SSD, and glass trackpad. I also expect think there could be some design changes, and a completely new feature not found on any other Mac - I expect it to be a different display technology - OLED/HD (higher resolution)/3D (doubtful but could happen).

Even if it's only a few minor updates, like to 4 GB RAM, better GPU, larger SSD, and glass trackpad, IT WILL BE WELL WORTH THE WAIT! Apple often disappoints us, but no matter what we will most likely get these updates. I say, wait six days and see what happens. Perhaps the new system will not offer any advantages or it will not change, in that case it could see another price drop. If that happens that will be yet another reason to wait.

Good luck.

Hello there old-timer, seems we're back at that time again.

To be honest, after waiting the best part of a year for a decent update, and having been continually disappointed, I must admit I'm scaling down my expectations and enthusiasm this time round.

I just hope they do something to tart up what has become the Monica Bellucci of portable Macs. Elegant and beautiful but getting on a bit and still inexplicably lacking recognition and (star) power.

Will I bite at the merely inevitable 4GB RAM and CPU speed bump? Begrudgingly but very possibly.
Glass trackpad? Meh.
Connectivity? Pfff. Yawn.
Increased size SSD? Now we're talking.
Greatly improved battery tech? Where's my VISA card?
New display size/design? Well, the good lord gave us TWO kidneys didn't he?

Gimmicky tablet, sorry "iPad" or not, the MBA has wormed its way a little into my soul and despite my best efforts to 'move on' following abortive purchases of Rev.A and 3 Rev.Bs, I still feel the urge. And I suspect there's many out there who feel the same.

Six days and counting...

 

[glitch44]

If there were major changes coming, we would've heard about leaks from the manufacturer by now-- OLED screen part numbers, rumors of chip purchases, camera phone photos of mockups. Nothing's been leaking except tablet rumors.

 

[Thunder82]

ain't gonna happen - glitch44 is right; the iPad/Slate/Tab is the next big thing, why swamp it with anything else hardware

Basically all of Apples product lines are past typical product update cycles (except iMac) We have to see something soon...

 

[Anonymous Freak]

I second that. Also, a Core i5 in a MBA?? Highly highly doubt it. Wouldn't that be a downgrade anyway graphics wise from the C2D and 9400M (which I don't think Apple would do).

I don't know why the MBA wouldn't have a Core i5, or even Core i7. Intel now makes "Ultra Low Voltage" versions of both that draw as little as 18W. The Core 2 Duo in the current MacBook Air are the SL9400 or SL9600, both of which draw 17W. Apple could either use the 1 Watt higher power draw processor (for Intel processors, 'max power draw' is really a theoretical thing; they just about never hit that, so the 1W difference may not really matter,) or Apple could slightly underclock the chip.

The big benefit is that for this new Core i5/i7, 18W is for the CPU+Northbridge/GPU. Before, 17W was just for the CPU, the Northbridge/GPU draws more power. (Although both the Core 2 Duo+GeForce 9400M and the Core i5/i7+HM55 or HM57 chipset are two-chip solutions, it's just a matter of which CPU+chipset combination draws less. I'm betting that the new Core i5/7+HM5x will draw less.)

 

[nj-mac-user]

I know this might be a crazy way of looking at it because it'd be so disappointing if it were true... but if history were to repeat itself with MBA updates, we'd be looking at:

Rev. A - 1.6 80GB HDD, 1.86 64GB SSD
Rev. B - 1.6 120GB HDD, 1.86 128GB SSD
Rev. C - 1.86 120GB, 2.13 128SSD
Rev. D - 1.86 Larger HDD, 2.13 Larger SSD

Small incremental updates (with the exception of 9400M). Basically, it'd be time for the hard drive space to be upgraded again and processor remain the same. A larger hard drive would be a very welcome change, but hopefully I'm way off. Who knows.

 

[Scottsdale]

Hello there old-timer, seems we're back at that time again.

To be honest, after waiting the best part of a year for a decent update, and having been continually disappointed, I must admit I'm scaling down my expectations and enthusiasm this time round.

I just hope they do something to tart up what has become the Monica Bellucci of portable Macs. Elegant and beautiful but getting on a bit and still inexplicably lacking recognition and (star) power.

Will I bite at the merely inevitable 4GB RAM and CPU speed bump? Begrudgingly but very possibly.
Glass trackpad? Meh.
Connectivity? Pfff. Yawn.
Increased size SSD? Now we're talking.
Greatly improved battery tech? Where's my VISA card?
New display size/design? Well, the good lord gave us TWO kidneys didn't he?

Gimmicky tablet, sorry "iPad" or not, the MBA has wormed its way a little into my soul and despite my best efforts to 'move on' following abortive purchases of Rev.A and 3 Rev.Bs, I still feel the urge. And I suspect there's many out there who feel the same.

Six days and counting...

Howdy. Nice to see you here. It has been a while. Seven plus months since we had this discussion, I suspect.

The thing people have to remember about the last update is that it wasn't a spectacular update in terms of specs, just a CPU bump, but it did offer a full $700 price cut on the high-end model. That was a gigantic cut, that made the high end the same price as the low end was just a day prior to the announcement. I have tried to tell everyone since, that the MBA with 2.13 GHz and SSD was a great value already and that they shouldn't try to save $300 and go low end. They were already getting the low end price for the high end model.

I agree the MBA update could be rather boring again, but if that's the case I believe Apple will again cut the price. We could see the exact same CPU series and even the same Nvidia 9400m. Apple could really be frustrated with the Intel's forced IGP scam. In addition, we all know that Mac's OS X isn't nearly as efficient at Flash, Quicktime or any intensive graphics playback. I keep seeing a few stating that the Intel IGP 4500HD would still allow HD playback, but I wonder if that's even true on OS X? I don't personally know, and it's not that I am stating that it wouldn't, but maybe it wouldn't? I could see 100% CPU load playing a video... and the Intel IGP makes OpenCL almost pointless. What is the reason for even moving to Snow Leopard then?

So, if we see the same SL9x00 LV CPUs, and Nvidia 9400m or 105m graphics, we could see a 4 GB RAM bump and an SSD bump or not and MAYBE NOTHING ELSE??? What would happen to the price? I think it could go all the way down to $1299 base... and barrier to entry is lessened again. High end might be $1499 with same 128 GB SSD or more money if there's a larger SSD option.

Would it be so bad if the MBA saw another bump like I am suggesting could happen? Yes, it would to those of us who are looking for a high-end ultraportable, but it would be the perfect solution for all of the people that would otherwise be "stuck" with a MacBook. I am sure people would be willing to put that extra $300 on their credit card or save up for an extra month before buying to go the extra bit for the system that's more fun. As a whole, it would potentially be better for Apple to go this route... so let's not rule it out. We all agree that the MBA is fun. We mostly all agree that the MBA's form factor is where the Mac notebook line is going over the next five years or so.

In my perfect world, it's time for a real MBA update. We get a new form factor that removes the dead space around the keyboard and display and the form factor loses an inch in width and length. The thickness stays fairly similar in this "perfect" MBA... it cannot go much thinner to get our LV CPU and necessary components in there. Apple decides not to need to introduce the thinnest ultraportable. Apple finally gives us an incredible display worthy of the MacBook "Air" brand and price point. Maybe it's OLED or maybe it's just a higher resolution HD display (either way it's correction for the past mistakes). The Arrandale CPU is used and we get a dedicated ATI graphics solution (or maybe we just get the same SL9600 and Nvidia 105m) - not so bad either way. We get 4 GB of RAM - THIS IS WHAT MANY ARE HOLDING OUT FOR! We get a larger SSD maybe 192 GB maybe more. We get a glass trackpad and the "black" aluminum that sets the MBA apart from the MBPs "plain" aluminum. Would we want more, sure... we all would find some reason to complain. But this is as good as it could get in one update.

Will my dream MBA come true? I doubt it, but there's no reason to give up hope just yet. With five days and twelve hours to go, let's not discount Apple just yet. Either way is going to be an improvement over what we have now. Sure it might be a "small" bump, but it's still going to have 4 GB of RAM. Sure it might be "stuck" at 2.13 GHz, but it might cost $300 less?

I am excited. I will upgrade no matter what the update includes or doesn't. That's just the truth, because I am an addict! It's not a drug, it doesn't cost my family our home, it doesn't put me in jail, it isn't going to get me killed... but I may just go through withdrawal, if I don't get any update. So whatever update I get, I will buy it because it's new, and I am addicted to the MacBook Air!

 

[nj-mac-user]

@ehurtley

Based on the latest rumors you appear to be dead right!

 

[glitch44]

In case others missed the front page post:

Potential MacBook Air Update Delayed Due to Chip Shortage?
Friday January 22, 2010 10:42 AM EST
Written by Eric Slivka
Hardmac reports that new ultra-low voltage Intel chips, introduced earlier this month as part of a major roll-out in conjunction with CES and presumably destined for the next revision to Apple's MacBook Air, are not yet being produced in mass quantities. The delay in chip availability may result in Apple having to push back the introduction of updated MacBook Air models by several weeks or else offer Intel a premium price to snap up limited quantities of the chips currently available and in production.
According to the last rumors, the MacBook Air might not be updated in a very near future with either Core i3/i5 has it uses Low Voltage version of the Intel mobile CPUs. Such processors are not fully ready/available and Apple will have to delay the update of the MacBook Air by couple of weeks. It is still possible that Intel ships first samples to Apple, in small quantities, at a premium price.

According to our buyer's guide, Apple's MacBook Air is nearing the end of its usual product cycle, and when combined with the new chips from Intel, many have thought that a product update might be in store in the near future. The company's MacBook Pro and Mac Pro models are also reaching the end of their usual update cycles, leaving several opportunities for imminent Mac hardware updates.

Apple has scheduled a media event for next Wednesday, where the company is widely rumored to be introducing its tablet device, as well as possible details on iPhone OS 4.0. There have been no reports of refreshed Mac hardware being announced at the event, as Apple may prefer to spend its limited time in front of the media focused on its handheld products.

 

[coast1ja]

Yes, using logic... if they are delaying the update for "a few weeks" due to a chip shortage... there must be an update penned for the near future. It wouldn't surprise me to see them announce it at the meeting in less than a week!

 

[halledise]

DON'T OPEN THAT BOX! I have a feeling the updates a week away will be well worth the wait. You're buying 7+ month old technology, for 7+ month old pricing. It's absolutely a terrible value to buy any Mac 7+ months in. The MBA has been updated at 8 month averages over the past two years, and there's no reason to believe it will not be updated in less than a week on the 27th at the Apple media event.

The best value of any Mac is buying it right when it's released. You are probably six days away from a new MBA and getting the MBA at its best value.

I expect... 2.13 GHz Penryn Core 2 Duo, Nvidia GPU/Chipset (or if Arrandale CPU is included, an ATI dedicated graphics system will be included), 4 GB RAM, 192 GB SSD, and glass trackpad. I also expect think there could be some design changes, and a completely new feature not found on any other Mac - I expect it to be a different display technology - OLED/HD (higher resolution)/3D (doubtful but could happen).

Even if it's only a few minor updates, like to 4 GB RAM, better GPU, larger SSD, and glass trackpad, IT WILL BE WELL WORTH THE WAIT! Apple often disappoints us, but no matter what we will most likely get these updates. I say, wait six days and see what happens. Perhaps the new system will not offer any advantages or it will not change, in that case it could see another price drop. If that happens that will be yet another reason to wait.

Good luck.

with all due respect Scottsdale - it ain't gonna happen (the MBA etc updates)
later maybe. why would Apple swamp a brand new product line with other updated portables?
it doesn't make sense, commercially or otherwise.

my advice to 'findingforever' would be to have a chat with a Genius at the Store where he purchased the Air and find out what the options are for exchanging the Air and more importantly what time frame is there for doing so.
If memory serves correctly, it's around 10 days

 

[Anonymous Freak]

with all due respect scottsdale - it ain't gonna happen (the MBA etc updates)
later maybe. why would Apple swamp a brand new product line with other updated portables it doesn't make sense, commercially or otherwise.

Why later? The keynote is on Wednesday. Apple often does 'spec bump' updates (sometimes even architecture bumps,) on Tuesdays. Why not have the MBP/MBA update as a quiet update on Tuesday?