Hey Scottsdale! Well, all we can do is hope that your friends' contact is, in this instance, mistaken.
Lot's to think about and ponder upon here to be honest.
On the one hand, one has to think(at least hereabouts, in the Air forum)that Apple would be making a mistake if they decided to end-of-life the Air. No need to recap all the reasons here as to why we love the Air so much, except to say that although I thought it beautiful when looking at it in-store, it wasn't until I actually owned one and used it, that I really appreciated just how fabulous a machine it is, and, more importantly(as my girlfriend has a MacBook Pro and that is a fabulous machine), just what an experience it is to have and use one. Some might say I'm being a little pretentious in saying that, but really, as most of us know here, even amongst Macs the Air is a breed apart, and transcends 'normal' computer ownership even more than other Macs(which is what Macs do anyway!).
On the other hand, the one thing I keep coming back to, and not being able to understand, is how badly(if at all)the Air is treated in Apple's retail stores. This, for me, is the one and only factor that makes me begin to doubt whether the Air, as it is, has any future. The fact is that in my experience, based on seeing the Air in three separate Apple stores(two Manchester, one Liverpool), and seeing it very much shunted into the corner near the entrance, just one unit, often in a poor state(which leads me to think that it doesn't get checked etc as other store Macs do), basically being the bastard child that is to be hidden away & not acknowledged, leads me to conclude that the situation is this:
The Air is currently available therefore has to be represented as an available mac in the Apple store. However the directive is, that this machine is not to be focused on from a customer perspective(won't sell - MacBook will), is not to use up valuable store space from units that will sell, in short - put one out there(in least attractive 'spot')in the store but unless specifically asked about, forget it and move on to products we actively have a reason to support.
To cut a long story short, this product is currently 'available' but not for much longer, so it must have a 'prescence' in-store'. Do the minimum, from every angle.
Also, why haven't Apple simply taken whatever step is necessary to stop Airs with lines being sent out and sold? Well, why bother, it'll be gone soon.
I don't mean to be pessimistic here, it's just that the above is the only way I can understand it's profile in their stores.
The frustrating thing is that I, we, feel that the Air could become, with a little 'adjusting', a nigh-on irresistible proposition for many more folks. A stumbling block, when the MacBook is out there(forget about the 'Books crap screen as apparently most people who go for it actually like the screen!)is always gonna be it's cost(unless that came down a bit)but that has to be even more obviously a price worth paying than it is at the moment.
Right now, to a lot of prospective purchaser's the only thing they are seeing for so much more money is the thinner profile and the weight. It's simply not enough.
The black Air, as well as being something I suggested because I personally just think it would look the dogs bollocks, also seems to be a sure-fire way to instantly give it a huge infusion of added allure, based on what happened with the black MacBook.
I firmly believe that the reason Apple went with white as the continuing colour for the plastic MacBook when the aluminium models were introduced is that the black models would still have been attracting attention in-store, and Apple positively wanted the uni's to be getting all the attention, understandably. They wanted to keep the low-end option, but only in a way that left an open field for the new kids on the block.
Introduce a black Air with a bump in specs that will cement it's ability to be a primary Mac for a lot of people and I am certain it will move units big-time.
This is my big question though: Do Apple want it to? I'm not sure they do. Would they want, for example, a black metal Air pulling attention away from their unibody-babies? I don't think so.
Why not just carry on selling tons of MacBooks & MBPro's, as well as developing(if they are)the netbook or tablet concept or whatever.
Is the Airs future simply the MacBook, gradually getting thinner & thinner and always keeping the crappy screen.
Maybe all of this is unneccesary waffle. Maybe they're about do something notable with the Air.
Maybe they'll introduce it in two sizes, two colours, two wildly different specs and send out even more of an indicator(as if it was needed, seeing as it's latest challenger, the woeful Adamo)that with the Air, Apple is demonstrating just what it can do.
Imagine, a year from now, a jet-black, OLED screen-equipped, high-spec Air that could out-perform MBPro's from 2008/9, in two separate sizes.
Perhaps the MacBook is an Air with lower spec, cheaper screen, cheaper graphics, one colour, etc ...
Anyway, if this contact is correct, and the Air is not updated with the other notebooks sometime soon I think we will have the answer. I couldn't see them keeping it around much longer as is; why bother? It would be even less attractive than it currently is to people going to buy an Apple notebook.
Not that it matters anyway; it's virtually a forgotten product in their stores now.
MacRumors? We need an Air rumour(a positive one!), and we need it soon.
