Personally-speaking, Cnet's news of a possibly "significantly lower"-priced MBA is a little disappointing.
The reason is I want the MBA to be something exceptional in terms of design and power/size ratio, just as the current one was at its introduction. I want it to stand out, technologically and aesthetically. I am still almost certainly going to buy the MBA, regardless of specs.
But if they released the Rev D MBA, exclusively or an option, at $3000, what feasible specs would it have to have before you bought it, or would you not even buy it at all at that price?
I thought it'd be interesting getting MR's collective opinion on this as, if the rumors are true, it seems Jobs is moving further away from the super premium Next Computer days and into mass market affordability and penetrance.
I would personally certainly buy a $3000 MBA if it had, for example:
Top of the range LV/ULV Core i7 or Sandy Bridge (if available)
ATI graphics (i'd possibly even get it without discrete graphics)
Better cooling than Rev C MBA (this is important, however I'd probably settle for similar temps to current model)
256GB SSD or more
4-8GB RAM
IPS Screen
Better battery life (to whatever degree)
Glass trackpad
Integrated 3g or LTE
USB 3.0
No heavier than current model
Stunning design (I'd consider the current MBA to be stunning. This feature is a must, otherwise I'd definitely not buy)
Those would probably be the minimum specs, not exclusively, for me to fork out $3000 on an MBA. Of course I wouldn't say no to more/better specs
The reason is I want the MBA to be something exceptional in terms of design and power/size ratio, just as the current one was at its introduction. I want it to stand out, technologically and aesthetically. I am still almost certainly going to buy the MBA, regardless of specs.
But if they released the Rev D MBA, exclusively or an option, at $3000, what feasible specs would it have to have before you bought it, or would you not even buy it at all at that price?
I thought it'd be interesting getting MR's collective opinion on this as, if the rumors are true, it seems Jobs is moving further away from the super premium Next Computer days and into mass market affordability and penetrance.
I would personally certainly buy a $3000 MBA if it had, for example:
Top of the range LV/ULV Core i7 or Sandy Bridge (if available)
ATI graphics (i'd possibly even get it without discrete graphics)
Better cooling than Rev C MBA (this is important, however I'd probably settle for similar temps to current model)
256GB SSD or more
4-8GB RAM
IPS Screen
Better battery life (to whatever degree)
Glass trackpad
Integrated 3g or LTE
USB 3.0
No heavier than current model
Stunning design (I'd consider the current MBA to be stunning. This feature is a must, otherwise I'd definitely not buy)
Those would probably be the minimum specs, not exclusively, for me to fork out $3000 on an MBA. Of course I wouldn't say no to more/better specs