MacBook Air rev C, "Everything we know, and everything we want." (orig. desperate)

[HLdan]

Skipped the last page or two to avoid the bitching about 'affluence' so glad to see the thread back on topic.

Nothing much to add, except this is now beginning to resemble the fifth terrace of Dante's purgatorio

I was in my local Apple outlet yesterday (returning a broken power charger) and again casually asked the guy I know well about the MBA and a refresh. No idea he said, but pointed out they had none in stock, and that Apple weren't exactly rushing to fulfill orders they'd placed. Same with other AARs in the region.

Delivery was 'TBA'. His raised eyebrow matched mine. We concurred that to mean either a refresh or a mothballing was imminent.

Still desperately hoping it is the former, but either way I'm getting so very very tired of this limbo, and just want to be put out of my misery one way or another.

You're reading way too much in the Apple employee's body language and responses. He knows nothing about upcoming product updates no more than you do outside of new inventory arriving that they are not allowed to open. My brother works for the Apple retail store and they are never informed of anything. It's to reduce leaks on the internet.

 

[qubex]

Out of idle curiosity, why the demand for a faster CPU? From my limited experience with the refurbished Rev. B Air I used for all of a couple of hours, it's plenty responsive. Excluding heavy multimedia work or the kind of hefty background numbercrunching I find myself doing, would it make all that much difference? Wouldn't the overall concept be better served by cooler-running, ultra-low-power CPU with performance equal to the current generation but offering longer battery life? Especially since, as I noted earlier, Snow Leopard will allow applications to offload brutal calculation to the GPU through the Grand Central architecture.

(I'm just curious about other people's experiences.)

Likewise, a 128GB SSD has a decent amount of storage for carrying around one's digital life.

It's not really the stasis of the specs that worry me. It's the whole package.

 

[qubex]

You're reading way too much in the Apple employee's body language and responses. He knows nothing about upcoming product updates no more than you do outside of new inventory arriving that they are not allowed to open. My brother works for the Apple retail store and they are never informed of anything. It's to reduce leaks on the internet.

There's plenty of the damned Rev. B machines available here in Italy, particularly the higher-end model with the SSD. An impending stock-out would be really good news, since Apple does not, as a habit, allow EOLed machines to disappear in such relatively short order. The last stock-outs I remember being reported were those ahead of the iMac G5 and latest Mac Mini refreshes.

 

[iMacmatician]

Wouldn't the overall concept be better served by cooler-running, ultra-low-power CPU with performance equal to the current generation but offering longer battery life? Especially since, as I noted earlier, Snow Leopard will allow applications to offload brutal calculation to the GPU through the Grand Central architecture.

ULV CPUs are behind in performance compared to LV CPUs. But you do have a good point and I wouldn't mind if a ULV CPU was given as an option. Especially with Snow Leopard's GPU offloading and an upcoming 9400M successor.

 

[qubex]

I'm fairly sure the forthcoming release of GridMathematica will provide support for General GPU computing and it will probably do so through the Grand Central architecture (at least on Macs). I assume Adobe is hard at work porting their filters and whatnot so that they can run on the GPUs, and it goes without saying that Apple's own Pro applications will be brought into compliance with the new technology in a matter of a few months.

That being said, I don't have a clue how much power a mobile GPU such as the 9400M consumes hen under full load for an appreciable stretch of time.

 

[Veinticinco]

You're reading way too much in the Apple employee's body language and responses. He knows nothing about upcoming product updates no more than you do outside of new inventory arriving that they are not allowed to open. My brother works for the Apple retail store and they are never informed of anything. It's to reduce leaks on the internet.

'Course he knows nothing. They don't even know the night before a delivery. He freely admits this, even if he knows I know it too.

My point was he's like us all - speculating albeit he's had 10+ years experience selling Apple hardware so is familiar with certain patterns. But the back-order status and no date for new delivery does suggest one of three things - EITHER it's just a meaningless regional or even country-specific artefact, OR it suggest an imminent or at least forthcoming update OR the MBA is being downgraded in terms of priority, ignored slowly until it's quietly EOL'd not long after the launch of the tablet thingie in 2010.

 

[qubex]

I suspect something else is in play:

Stores are out of units and Apple isn't in a hurry to restock because they've run down their inventory of Rev. B units. Constrained by restricted supply, stores worldwide respond by shifting their display units to marginal locations to avoid generating interest in a product that is not available in stock, or available only in small quantities. Ballparking it, I recall these stock-outs last at most two or three weeks. Which, incidentally, coincides rather nicely with our "around about WWDC09"

If this is actually what is going on in the US, an update might be near.

 

[HLdan]

Just a note, IF Apple discontinues the Air (and I don't at all believe that's in the cards as this machine is like no other) the ones who currently have Rev B/SSD including myself should consider themselves lucky. If the Air gets shelved I will be selling mine for a very HIGH price. Demand seems to go crazy when something very cool gets discontinued. The Cube and the 12" Powerbook suddenly became the popular item of a lot of people when Apple got rid of them.

 

[Capt Crunch]

Guys, today I came home and my wife was making me some homemade clam chowder. Funny thing is, when I was walking home I was really in the mood for some clam chowder. This kind of luck happens rarely and must be because of my horoscope predicting it. However as we all know, horoscopes predict good luck when Jupiter approaches the zenith of its orbit, is diametrically opposed to Mars, and when the red spot is pointing towards Mimas, the 9th moon of Saturn.

However, if my calculations are correct, this occurrence should have happened tomorrow, not today. As a result there must have been a gravitational shift that altered the orbit slightly. Such a gravitational shift could only be caused by a large shipment of Macbook Airs from China to the US! My friends, it's confirmed!

 

[iMacmatician]

I suspect something else is in play:

Stores are out of units and Apple isn't in a hurry to restock because they've run down their inventory of Rev. B units. Constrained by restricted supply, stores worldwide respond by shifting their display units to marginal locations to avoid generating interest in a product that is not available in stock, or available only in small quantities. Ballparking it, I recall these stock-outs last at most two or three weeks. Which, incidentally, coincides rather nicely with our "around about WWDC09"

That's another way of looking at it. Does anyone know when the display unit shifting started? Has this happened multiple times before or is this a rare case?

Guys, today I came home and my wife was making me some homemade clam chowder. Funny thing is, when I was walking home I was really in the mood for some clam chowder. This kind of luck happens rarely and must be because of my horoscope predicting it. However as we all know, horoscopes predict good luck when Jupiter approaches the zenith of its orbit, is diametrically opposed to Mars, and when the red spot is pointing towards Mimas, the 9th moon of Saturn.

However, if my calculations are correct, this occurrence should have happened tomorrow, not today. As a result there must have been a gravitational shift that altered the orbit slightly. Such a gravitational shift could only be caused by a large shipment of Macbook Airs from China to the US! My friends, it's confirmed!

No, it's not confirmed. Not until you walk inside an elevator.

 

[Dr_Maybe]

What does the imaginary tablet have to do with the Air? If it doesn't have a keyboard it won't work for most of the people who have bought an Air. I don't know anyone who has a tablet computer. Haven't they been a flop? Unless you count the iPhone/iPod touch. But an iPhone does not replace a laptop for most people. Text processing with a tablet? I don't think so.

Personally I don't want a tablet. I want an Air.

 

[glitch44]

I suspect something else is in play:

Stores are out of units and Apple isn't in a hurry to restock because they've run down their inventory of Rev. B units. Constrained by restricted supply, stores worldwide respond by shifting their display units to marginal locations to avoid generating interest in a product that is not available in stock, or available only in small quantities. Ballparking it, I recall these stock-outs last at most two or three weeks. Which, incidentally, coincides rather nicely with our "around about WWDC09"

If this is actually what is going on in the US, an update might be near.

Or the factories are just concentrating on making updated unibody macbooks, which probably sell 10x as much as Airs, so the stock of Airs is temporarily lower. Honestly, you can spin any tidbit, guess, rumor, or observation in any direction you want.

 

[entatlrg]

True, I have to admit Stores are (oddly) low on stock, high end mba's and their stock of MBP's is barely keeping up with the demand in the Toronto Apple Stores, that's what I hear when I'm there....

Store employees are trained well to say nothing, no guessing, no anticipating.

The Apple Geek I know who's been following all these release dates for years much closer than I have is convinced we'll see a (minor) update to all the Notebooks with the biggest update coming to the Air and he's so sure we'll see it released 'before June 8' not on June 8 as their focus will be on the new iphone and the new Mac OS X ... they'll pre-release the notebook updates before the conference and comment on it briefly there ...

Personally, I'd doubt they'd quietly release a 'cool new MacBook Air' ... something like that isn't going to just appear on their website, lol, at the conference or in the fall makes sense to me ...

Now, that could be so far from the truth and is nothing but speculation I know ....

Regardless, I'm using and LOVING my MBA while we wait and speculate, LOL

 

[qubex]

The problem is, there's not long before June 8th anymore: 17 days, just over two weeks. This Tuesday (26th May) and the next (2nd June), and then we're out of launch windows.

 

[Scottsdale]

Honestly, I think before June 8th is doubtful based on the promotion deal someone noted the other day. I think that an update would probably come after WWDC.

Remember the iMac had short supply for at least two months leading up to the iMac update. I do agree that the news of short supply could be excellent for us.

My friend's family member works within Apple in Mac development. I cannot help but thinking what he said though about the MBA not seeing an update when the Mac notebooks are updated next. What the hell does that mean? Is he just dead wrong? Maybe he was working on something else and they keep other projects under wraps??? One would think though that the real problems of information leaks come from lower end personnel who actually see the equipment ahead of time. So is project by project work kept that secret to other teams working on other Macs? Seems a little over the top to me to believe that. We usually see pics from low level personnel who got two minutes alone with a product.

So, conflicting information means what??? I really don't know where we are. But, I think we see a Mac notebook update after WWDC. While I prefer we see the update before WWDC. What are the likely dates before WWDC... May 26th - Tuesday (most Mac updates come on Tuesdays), May 27th - Wednesday (Wednesdays are a distant second place to updates on Tuesdays), June 2nd - Tuesday(this has to be the most likely date before as the rumor goes), June 3rd - Wednesday (would probably be more likely than in May). OR after WWDC - June 16 - Tuesday (first day after MBP promotion ends - THIS IS MY GUESS)!, June 17th, June 23rd, or June 24th... All those dates make a lot of sense.

Remember the rumor is for a MB and MBP update in June BEFORE WWDC. The other rumors are an OLED display on MBP in Summer. The other update is a 15" MBA in Summer. Another rumor was for a carbon fiber case for the MBA which was at least six months ago. My friend (who has family member who works at Apple) told me no MBA update when the MB and MBP next see speed bump updates.

What other rumors do you all remember?

I hope someone else is really right. I think a MacBook Air update makes a lot of sense anytime soon. In Q1 2010, Arrandale CPUs will be available for the Mac notebooks. The SL9600 CPU 2.13 GHz is the same class CPU as the SL9400 at 1.86 clock speed used in high end MBA. That CPU has been available for nearly six weeks.

The only holdup for a component that I could imagine would be a 256 GB SSD in 1.8" form with a 5mm height.

Someone else reported that the follow up GPU to 9400m could be a holdup as a 40nm GPU (I haven't heard anything about this, and I doubt we would see a difference as the 9400m is a solid GPU).

As to someone's question about the iTablet, it will help the MacBook Air take the route of being same form factor and NOT MORE PORTABILITY, as the small netbook type device would be covered by the iTablet. That would definitely ensure the MBA stays a premium Primary Mac solution for non graphics pros, who are Business Pros, Tech Enthusiasts, Consultants (me), College Professors (I lecture too), graduate students, and etc. I Think the biggest target is NOT as a secondary Mac but rather as a primary Mac for the business pro for those who are fine with power that isn't graphics power, yet want a beautiful display, and who want ultra portability.

The MacBook Air is the best in its class, so surely that counts for something??? Also, it would seem the future of the MB would be the current form factor of the MBA. Both would seem like real reasons for the MBA to continue even if sales are weak.

If the MBA is EOL'd, I will be shocked. I cannot imagine that would happen the more I think about it. What could happen though is Apple just lets it hang around until it updates it into a lighter more portable device. That would only happen if there's no iTablet in my opinion.

Lots of great posts Today. I wish I had something to add.

I am still praying. But truthfully, I am skeptical right now.

 

[Scottsdale]

True, I have to admit Stores are (oddly) low on stock, high end mba's and their stock of MBP's is barely keeping up with the demand in the Toronto Apple Stores, that's what I hear when I'm there....

Store employees are trained well to say nothing, no guessing, no anticipating.

The Apple Geek I know who's been following all these release dates for years much closer than I have is convinced we'll see a (minor) update to all the Notebooks with the biggest update coming to the Air and he's so sure we'll see it released 'before June 8' not on June 8 as their focus will be on the new iphone and the new Mac OS X ... they'll pre-release the notebook updates before the conference and comment on it briefly there ...

Personally, I'd doubt they'd quietly release a 'cool new MacBook Air' ... something like that isn't going to just appear on their website, lol, at the conference or in the fall makes sense to me ...

Now, that could be so far from the truth and is nothing but speculation I know ....

Regardless, I'm using and LOVING my MBA while we wait and speculate, LOL

I would think that if the MBA is updated it will see more changes than either MB or MBP. Figure the MB and MBP already have glass trackpad and glass displays. The MBA could get either. Both the MB and MBP will probably get speed bump updated CPUs. The GPU in MB will not be touched.

The batteries could be updated, but I would guess would be updated in 15" MBP and MBA.

As far as the case, the MB and MBP will probably have unibody for several years. The MBA could see a thinner case, but that would be a tragedy in my opinion.

Someone mentioned the ULV CPU. The ULV would probably come in 1.4 GHz CPU and would perform far inferior to a 17W Penryn 45 NM SL9600 CPU. A thinner case MBA would probably have to go with ULV CPU, and that would mean the MBA cannot be my Primary Mac nor many others. It would setup the MBA to be a secondary Mac.

So, I hope this so called "geek" is right, but this is still speculation about standard evolution of the MBA and not any sort of inside knowledge or any awareness of actual work in progress.

Every bit of information like this is positive though. We cannot all be wrong about how many of us love the MBA. And the more of us there are, the more likely we get an update.

 

[iMacmatician]

The Apple Geek I know who's been following all these release dates for years much closer than I have is convinced we'll see a (minor) update to all the Notebooks with the biggest update coming to the Air and he's so sure we'll see it released 'before June 8' not on June 8 as their focus will be on the new iphone and the new Mac OS X ... they'll pre-release the notebook updates before the conference and comment on it briefly there ...

Interesting. One piece of info says the MacBook Air won't be updated, while another says the MacBook Air will get a relatively large update. An update shortly before WWDC is quite possible.

Personally, I'd doubt they'd quietly release a 'cool new MacBook Air' ... something like that isn't going to just appear on their website, lol, at the conference or in the fall makes sense to me ...

The original MacBook was released without an event, although that's the only one I can think of.

Someone else reported that the follow up GPU to 9400m could be a holdup as a 40nm GPU (I haven't heard anything about this, and I doubt we would see a difference as the 9400m is a solid GPU).

The 40 nm 9400M successor (and the other 40 nm GPUs) seems to be a Q3 2009 release. There's an update to the GPUs before then (65/55 nm) but I haven't seen a 9400M update in that mix. I thought the 9400M successor would come before the other 40 nm GPUs, but it doesn't look like that's the case.

EDIT: Maybe the 40 nm 9400M successor will be a bit earlier…

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/05/11/nvidia-has-three-40nm-chips-coming-this-yea/1

 

[qubex]

I know this is absolutely irrelevant, but a of today MacRumors.com's MacBookAir entry reads "Buy only if you need it - Approaching the end of a cycle". I'm wondering what kind of algorithm the site uses to change the recommendation.

Dynamic[N[DateDifference[DateString[], {2009, 06, 08}], 50], None]
17.4246
Dynamic[N[DateDifference[DateString[], DatePlus[{2008, 10, 14}, 273]]]]
53.4246

I would think that if the MBA is updated it will see more changes than either MB or MBP. Figure the MB and MBP already have glass trackpad and glass displays. The MBA could get either.

Hopefully both. But mainly, the key point is that the Air needs an update more badly than either the MacBook or the MacBookPro. Those are solid, tested designs. The current Air just isn't cutting it.

 

[Veinticinco]

I know this is absolutely irrelevant, but a of today MacRumors.com's MacBookAir entry reads "Buy only if you need it - Approaching the end of a cycle". I'm wondering what kind of algorithm the site uses to change the recommendation.

Hopefully both. But mainly, the key point is that the Air needs an update more badly than either the MacBook or the MacBookPro. Those are solid, tested designs. The current Air just isn't cutting it.

I agree it means absolutely nothing, it's probably updated manually based upon the level of neurotic demanding posting in this very thread.

However, must admit it is interesting given we're only about 80% through the average refresh cycle from rev.A to rev.B. Although that's hardly a reliable basis on which to presume anything, given the A's 'issues'.

 

[qubex]

It's probably only due to the fact that there's been a single refresh and therefore potentially huge, inestimable sample error. Most other products have seen multiple refreshes already (obvious exception being the iPhone that, like the MacBookAir, is merely on it's second release - but it's all but certain that a new iPhone will be showcased at WWDC09).

As I mentioned previously: the 273-day refresh cycle ends on 14th July or thereabouts. WWDC09 is only two weeks away. Sometime between those dates there must be an update if Apple wishes to maintain the Air's viability as a premium product.

For reasons unknown, I'm increasingly coming around to the resignation that the Rev. C will almost inevitably feature a buttonless glass trackpad but sadly not the black bezel. You all know I'm annoyed by the lack of aesthetic continuity in Apple's present portable line, and you also know that for personal idiosyncracy I find it very soothing; I know most of you despise the black bezel bitterly (in part, I suspect, because you associate it with the MacBook's atrocious panel). In any case we can agree that ideally the screen needs to be made wider by shrinking the bezel around it.

As for the specs, we've settled on what we expect, haven't we?

(And of course, still no news.)

 

[Scottsdale]

It's probably only due to the fact that there's been a single refresh and therefore potentially huge, inestimable sample error. Most other products have seen multiple refreshes already (obvious exception being the iPhone that, like the MacBookAir, is merely on it's second release - but it's all but certain that a new iPhone will be showcased at WWDC09).

As I mentioned previously: the 273-day refresh cycle ends on 14th July or thereabouts. WWDC09 is only two weeks away. Sometime between those dates there must be an update if Apple wishes to maintain the Air's viability as a premium product.

For reasons unknown, I'm increasingly coming around to the resignation that the Rev. C will almost inevitably feature a buttonless glass trackpad but sadly not the black bezel. You all know I'm annoyed by the lack of aesthetic continuity in Apple's present portable line, and you also know that for personal idiosyncracy I find it very soothing; I know most of you despise the black bezel bitterly (in part, I suspect, because you associate it with the MacBook's atrocious panel). In any case we can agree that ideally the screen needs to be made wider by shrinking the bezel around it.

As for the specs, we've settled on what we expect, haven't we?

(And of course, still no news.)

I think if Apple considers the MBA part of its Mac notebook lineup, the MBA will get updates every six months or so on average just like the MB and MBP. Also, we shouldn't use the rev A to rev B as an "average" as it's only one cycle and it takes multiple to get a true or realistic average.

Interesting news yesterday was the Daring Fireball guy stating that all the aluminum MBs would become MBPs... what does that mean for MBA?

Really, the only difference between MB and MBP is dedicated graphics and a few extra ports. Apple could easily make all of the Mac notebooks with dedicated graphics. Then use ports to convey less portability.

What does name of MBA become... MacBook Pro Air?

What does the new MBA lineup look like? Could the 15" MBA also be true? Seems like unifying the naming could signal true across display size power. Meaning right now, can only buy consumer MB in 13" can only buy Pro in 15 or 17" and only buy MBA in 13." Maybe this signal of naming changes is result of consumer 15" models and Pro 13" models and Air of both sizes?

That is really stretching it, as we haven't heard any more rumors about the 15" MBA. I would probably be on board for a 15" but what I would prefer is a 13" MBA that has the resolution of the 15" MBP at 1440x900. I like size of current MBA, but getting more on the 13" display would be nice.

No new information or rumors about MBA. Weird to name only the MBs MBPs and not mentioning MBA? Can only pull our own conclusions...

 

[glitch44]

As I mentioned previously: the 273-day refresh cycle ends on 14th July or thereabouts. WWDC09 is only two weeks away. Sometime between those dates there must be an update if Apple wishes to maintain the Air's viability as a premium product.

I think it's a little melodramatic to make sweeping statements like this. Day 13: premium, day 14: no longer viable? If they make a .27 mhz CPU bump suddenly it's back on top?

I think the reality is there probably won't be an update before WWDC. Perhaps a small CPU bump after the conference. Maybe a price drop. The Air will still sell to its niche, the world will keep spinning. Maybe they'll add a glass trackpad or more memory later this year.

 

[pesc]

I know most of you despise the black bezel bitterly (in part, I suspect, because you associate it with the MacBook's atrocious panel).

I despise it because I associate it with the ridiculously glossy mirror screens. I want a matte screen. (I also prefer not having too much contrast between the image on the screen and the bezel.)

Interesting news yesterday was the Daring Fireball guy stating that all the aluminum MBs would become MBPs... what does that mean for MBA?

Read the article again and find the footnote: "Except for Macbook Air".
http://daringfireball.net/2009/05/the_next_iphone

 

[t0mat0]

So is project by project work kept that secret to other teams working on other Macs? Seems a little over the top to me to believe that. We usually see pics from low level personnel who got two minutes alone with a product.

Was with the iPhone. Guess it depends.

http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/01/09/iphone.flips.cell.industry/

When work on the iPhone officially started, secrecy was Jobs’ top priority. He recruited engineers... and split them across the Apple’s Cupertino campus. Software and hardware development teams weren’t even able to interface with each other directly; hardware engineers designed the product around dummy software, while software developers designed the operating system to run on a circuit board housed by a wooden box...

Even when dealing with executives at Cingular (now owned by AT&T), the project was strictly on a need-to-know basis. When Apple’s engineers would visit Cingular, they would register as employees of Infineon, the company making the iPhone’s transmitter. When the iPhone was announced at Macworld Expo in January 2007, approximately 30 senior employees were the only ones who had seen the device, including Jobs.

 

[applecultvictim]

A very crucial component of any prediction is whether the 256 ssd is out! Is it out, or about to be?