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Nervous About Next MBA Release Timeframe

M

MBABuyer

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 4, 2011
153
0
VA
So, at first I was under the impression that it was almost certain that the MBA would be refreshed in June-July (after WWDC?), now I am not at sure.

Many people have been talking about the MBA not being refreshed till September. (their argument is: why would apple release it during the back to school sale, and they normally do it after the sale)


My issue with this statement is the MBA refurb prices have dropped by $145 and reports say that supplies are constrained. Doesn't that usually signal an imminent update?


For me, I need the MBA by August 20th for school. I am hoping that it will be refreshed before then, or I will have to get the C2D model.
 
miles01110

miles01110

macrumors Core
Jul 24, 2006
19,260
37
The Ivory Tower (I'm not coming down)
As usual it comes down to needs vs. wants. If you "need" a Macbook Air for school, it should not matter if the update might come in September. The fact that you "need" an Air means that the C2D will in all likelihood be fine for you in terms of performance. Microsoft Word is not particularly intensive.
 
M

MBABuyer

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 4, 2011
153
0
VA
Microsoft might not be, but iMovie is! Making an iMovie project for school is going to happen. And iMovie is based off of CPU power.

I am not here to argue about what I need or want with others, just to discuss the time frame of the release.
 
P

palpatine

macrumors 68040
May 3, 2011
3,130
45
MBABuyer said:
I am not here to argue about what I need or want with others, just to discuss the time frame of the release.
Click to expand...

Nothing to discuss really. It will be released in a few minutes, a few hours, a few days, a few weeks, or maybe even a few months from now. No one here knows. I recommend you wait for a while longer, and enjoy the price drops on the MBA if it doesn't get refreshed in time for school.
 
nebulos

nebulos

macrumors 6502a
Aug 27, 2010
555
0
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8H7 Safari/6533.18.5)

The back to school argument is bogus.

The refurb Airs did NOT drop by that much.

If you need it in August, why are you nervous now?
 
K

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,311
8,326
MBABuyer said:
My issue with this statement is the MBA refurb prices have dropped by $145 and reports say that supplies are constrained. Doesn't that usually signal an imminent update?

For me, I need the MBA by August 20th for school. I am hoping that it will be refreshed before then, or I will have to get the C2D model.
Click to expand...

They only dropped the refurb prices by $20-30. For instance, I purchased my 11" Ultimate refurb for $1189 in March. It is now $1159. Anyway, if you are concerned about an upgrade in August or September, is there any way you can make do with an existing notebook until such time that Apple updates the Air? I agree it would likely make more sense to get the Sandy Bridge-equipped model, particularly if you want it to last 4 years and don't need advanced gaming (as the new model will only have Intel integrated graphics unless Apple does something unexpected and drastic).
 
T

trip1ex

macrumors 68040
Jan 10, 2008
3,233
1,901
Who cares? YOU can't control it. If it comes out then you buy the new one. If it doesn't you buy the old one or another Mac.

What is there to get nervous about?
 
MrXiro

MrXiro

macrumors 68040
Nov 2, 2007
3,850
599
Los Angeles
Nervous? I'd hate to see what would happen if you have an actual life important decision to make... like pulling the plug on your non-responsive grandma or putting her on a feeding tube. Something I had to do recently.

Just buy whatever MBA is available on Aug 1st.
 
m0nkeyb0y

m0nkeyb0y

macrumors regular
Jun 16, 2009
168
119
I need to buy a refresh 13 MBA before July 4, for travel all over a foreign country. Really REALLY don't want to do that and have a new one appear two weeks after that.
 
M

merkinmuffley

macrumors 6502a
Dec 3, 2010
615
582
August is a long ways off. You should continue taking your meds as instructed by your Doctor, and wait and see what happens between now and August.
 
P

palpatine

macrumors 68040
May 3, 2011
3,130
45
m0nkeyb0y said:
I need to buy a refresh 13 MBA before July 4, for travel all over a foreign country. Really REALLY don't want to do that and have a new one appear two weeks after that.
Click to expand...

need...
apple stores exist in foreign countries. if it is a short trip, just take your ipad and a usb keyboard.
 
S

shah1

macrumors regular
Oct 30, 2010
180
27
Has Apple ever released a macbook under a 1 year life cycle of a product? I mean how long as the current Macbook polycarb been running for on the current hardware? Also, how long did the Macbook Air run for before the 2010 update was released?

The current Macbook Air is still a very good machine. The flash storage is just awesome, don't think I could do without it now if I was to purchase a new machine. If you can get a bargain on the current gen Macbook Air then go for it.. I'm sure it will do for most of your day-to-day tasks and if you need something a little more powerful then opt for the new Pro's :)
 
K

karlth

macrumors regular
Apr 13, 2010
210
0
shah1 said:
Has Apple ever released a macbook under a 1 year life cycle of a product?
Click to expand...

Yes. The Macbook Pros usually refresh in less than a year. The last update for example came around 10 months after the one before.

shah1 said:
The current Macbook Air is still a very good machine.
Click to expand...

Certainly but it isn't competitive anymore - performance wise - against the newest PC Sandy Bridge ultrabooks.

Frankly I'd be amazed if Apple doesn't refresh the CPU on the Air this month.
 
G

Golmaal

macrumors newbie
Jun 7, 2011
2
0
shah1 said:
Has Apple ever released a macbook under a 1 year life cycle of a product? I mean how long as the current Macbook polycarb been running for on the current hardware? Also, how long did the Macbook Air run for before the 2010 update was released?

The current Macbook Air is still a very good machine. The flash storage is just awesome, don't think I could do without it now if I was to purchase a new machine. If you can get a bargain on the current gen Macbook Air then go for it.. I'm sure it will do for most of your day-to-day tasks and if you need something a little more powerful then opt for the new Pro's :)
Click to expand...

I know, It is so depressing when they upgrade when you have just bought a machine.

I hope they do upgrade it soon. I am waiting!!
 
K

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,311
8,326
shah1 said:
Has Apple ever released a macbook under a 1 year life cycle of a product? I mean how long as the current Macbook polycarb been running for on the current hardware? Also, how long did the Macbook Air run for before the 2010 update was released?
Click to expand...

The original MacBook Air was released in February 2008, and was significantly updated in November 2008 (Penryn CPU and NVIDIA 9400m IGP). Since the Core 2 Duo is very old, I would not be surprised at all if they switch to the Sandy Bridge Core i5/i7 this summer.
 
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