New MBA next month

[Sensamic]

Hey everyone. So today the macbook was updated, and last month the macbook pros were updated. I believe next month will be the turn of the macbook air, maybe at the WWDC. I say tuesday 15 or 22. Do you guys believe this to be possible?

One laptop update per month.

 

[cleric]

It's not coming at WWDC, iPhone will be the only hardware update at wwdc which means a couple weeks after it will release. So no MBA in June, so it would have to come in the next two weeks which seems unlikely, why not just release it today. Maybe later in the summer otherwise I think they will wait for a major revision in the winter. I think the macbook air is getting the AppleTV treatment.

 

[bowlerman625]

I really, really think an MBA update is possibly monthly until it happens!

 

[Scottsdale]

I believe it either comes at WWDC or Apple leaves it untouched until late 2010 or early 2011 when new Intel Sandy Bridge chips have double the GMA HD graphics capabilities. I don't know that Apple can live with a current Core series CPU with the lackluster GMA HD in the Arrandale CPUs. I don't know that Apple can fit a dedicated GPU in the MBA and cool it.

I think everyone should absolutely give up on it until October or January if it doesn't happen at WWDC. Realistically, it's most likely to get C2D and Nvidia GPU if comes now, and later it's most likely to come with Core i7 in January 2011.

I personally will be done giving it any thoughts if it isn't updated at WWDC. I will go ahead and buy the Vaio Z and probably migrate away from Macs if Apple doesn't want my business. I should be able to buy a current Mac notebook and there's no reason not to expect an MBA update. If Apple doesn't want my business then it can piss off.

As an AAPL shareholder, I am disgusted with how outdated all of Apple's products are. Imagine the value of AAPL stock if people could just buy a new Mac whenever they wanted instead of having to wait 19 months for an update... same thing with the iPhone OS products. Every other technology company has to keep their products current to keep sales up, and so does Apple. I see the backlash all over these forums... Apple has forgotten about its core customer base and has spent way too much time worrying about its ***** iPad.

 

[Shrek-Moscow]

I personally will be done giving it any thoughts if it isn't updated at WWDC. I will go ahead and buy the Vaio Z and probably migrate away from Macs if Apple doesn't want my business. I should be able to buy a current Mac notebook and there's no reason not to expect an MBA update. If Apple doesn't want my business then it can piss off.

Aren't you a writer? What do you need more than the actual MBA?

Write editors are not fast enough? Let's face reality: you don't need a new MBA, you just want it. And if on one side I fully understand you, on the other I think that waiting one year for an update or even a little more for a radical one.. it is nothing terrible and should not be enough to make you living Apple.

 

[Scylax]

Aren't you a writer? What do you need more than the actual MBA?

Write editors are not fast enough? Let's face reality: you don't need a new MBA, you just want it. And if on one side I fully understand you, on the other I think that waiting one year for an update or even a little more for a radical one.. it is nothing terrible and should not be enough to make you living Apple.

This is my opinion as well. There is nothing at all wrong with my MBA. It is certainly the best computer I have ever owned, and does everything I need. The SSD makes it feel so snappy that it feels much faster than my 3GHz iMac. But I badly want to see the MBA updated, just to prove that Apple still intends to develop it.

I keep seeing rumours that the MBA will be EOL'd for the iPad, and that horrifies me. I'm sure the iPad is great, and when it reaches the UK I will buy one, but it cannot replace my MBA. As someone disabled to whom weight is a big deal, I have lots of reasons to love and need my MBA, and I am scared by what will happen when it eventually does break.

If there is no more MBA, I would have to choose a much heavier and bulkier MBP, which would not be so good for me. Having tried Windows 7, returning to the Windows side is not an option. So I am hoping very much for a 'one more thing' minor refresh at WWDC, and then maybe a bigger update later in the year when the technology is available to give significant benefits rather than just looking better on paper. I love Apple products, and right now all I want is confirmation that the MBA will live on

 

[cleric]

I believe it either comes at WWDC or Apple leaves it untouched until late 2010 or early 2011

Yup thats pretty much it in my opinion.

 

[masterpace]

MBA in dire need of a RAM upgrade

I agree with Scottsdale that the MBA really needs a refresh! As a current MBA rev C owner, these two shortcomings need to be addressed by Apple ASAP:

-RAM should be bumped to 4 GB: 2 GB of RAM is simply not enough for anything more demanding than web browsing and iTunes. 4 GB is the bare minimum to run virtual machines like VMWare.

-Overheating and CPU throttling problem has somewhat improved over the revisions but it's still an issue. Again, last night, as I was watching HD content on my Air came the infamous throttling issue and the movie became a slideshow.

I believe the RAM thing needs a quick fix as the memory chips should be available and cheap. The overheating issue is another thing. In my opinion and based on my personal experience, Apple laptops tend to overheat, generally speaking.

Lastly, although that would be nice to get a 320m in the Air, I'm honestly not expecting that much in an ultraportable. But that would definitely be cool!

 

[Scottsdale]

I agree with Scottsdale that the MBA really needs a refresh! As a current MBA rev C owner, these two shortcomings need to be addressed by Apple ASAP:

-RAM should be bumped to 4 GB: 2 GB of RAM is simply not enough for anything more demanding than web browsing and iTunes. 4 GB is the bare minimum to run virtual machines like VMWare.

-Overheating and CPU throttling problem has somewhat improved over the revisions but it's still an issue. Again, last night, as I was watching HD content on my Air came the infamous throttling issue and the movie became a slideshow.

I believe the RAM thing needs a quick fix as the memory chips should be available and cheap. The overheating issue is another thing. In my opinion and based on my personal experience, Apple laptops tend to overheat, generally speaking.

Lastly, although that would be nice to get a 320m in the Air, I'm honestly not expecting that much in an ultraportable. But that would definitely be cool!

That's the thing with the others criticizing me for expecting more... I don't believe in 2010 it is too much to ask for 4 GB of RAM in a $1799 Mac??? WTF??? Does anyone disagree? I am not asking for a 3 GHz Core i7 that boosts to 4 GHz. I am not asking for a discrete ATI 5870 GPU with 1 GB of VRAM. I am not asking for a 512 GB SSD. Nor am I asking for Apple to lower the weight and make it 1/10" thick at its thickest point. I am not even asking for a 10-hour battery like the rest of them. I don't need an IPS display, and I don't even need my beloved aluminum capped keyboard keys... I JUST WANT A ***** $1800 MAC TO HAVE 4 GB OF RAM AND BE CURRENT!

As a writer do I need more? No. As a prosumer who wants to use his Mac and NEEDS to use some Windows apps, I really want 4 GB of RAM. A writer is not just a writer... if I only used my MBA to write Word or Pages documents, it would be fine. However, I am a human being who loves technology, and I NEED Windows for a few applications and having 4 GB of RAM would enable me to not leave OS X to get access to those few apps that need Windows. Currently, I get about 4X the entertainment experience in Windows on my MBA too. There are a ton of problems with OS X and Apple's business model, and I am willing to accept an MBA given all of those problems if it just has 4 GB of RAM! I would even pay an extra $1000 to get the OPTION to BTO an MBA with 4 GB of RAM. These are not overly-demanding expectations people.

 

[pharmx]

......
I would even pay an extra $1000 to get the OPTION to BTO an MBA with 4 GB of RAM. These are not overly-demanding expectations people.

Whoah...slow down there. I agree that we should have at least 4GB, but I want (and even expect) it to be standard in the next update. A BTO option should be for expandability to 8 GB, especially at a $1000 price tag. We already have to make compromises (and pay a premium) to get the feature set that balances portability, and enough power for Mac OSX.

 

[AAPLaday]

It is a bit of a disgrace that it still hasn't been updated. It doesn't even need a major overhaul. The larger SSD/more ram combo would suffice until Apple decide to use a newer chip than the C2D in it. When it first came out the Air was miles ahead of the competition. Now it is lagging behind badly.

 

[BadgerMac]

That's the thing with the others criticizing me for expecting more... I don't believe in 2010 it is too much to ask for 4 GB of RAM in a $1799 Mac??? WTF??? Does anyone disagree? I am not asking for a 3 GHz Core i7 that boosts to 4 GHz. I am not asking for a discrete ATI 5870 GPU with 1 GB of VRAM. I am not asking for a 512 GB SSD. Nor am I asking for Apple to lower the weight and make it 1/10" thick at its thickest point. I am not even asking for a 10-hour battery like the rest of them. I don't need an IPS display, and I don't even need my beloved aluminum capped keyboard keys... I JUST WANT A ***** $1800 MAC TO HAVE 4 GB OF RAM AND BE CURRENT!

As a writer do I need more? No. As a prosumer who wants to use his Mac and NEEDS to use some Windows apps, I really want 4 GB of RAM. A writer is not just a writer... if I only used my MBA to write Word or Pages documents, it would be fine. However, I am a human being who loves technology, and I NEED Windows for a few applications and having 4 GB of RAM would enable me to not leave OS X to get access to those few apps that need Windows. Currently, I get about 4X the entertainment experience in Windows on my MBA too. There are a ton of problems with OS X and Apple's business model, and I am willing to accept an MBA given all of those problems if it just has 4 GB of RAM! I would even pay an extra $1000 to get the OPTION to BTO an MBA with 4 GB of RAM. These are not overly-demanding expectations people.

You make the extraordinary false assumption that Apple is competing with PC Prices. That hasn't been the case since goodness knows when. Business is obviously not your forte or it would be plainly obvious.

Apple has no need to update sooner. Faster updates = increased R&D Dollars, increased dollars since they can't bulk-buy components like CPUs, etc. Apple's market share would not go up exponentially if they dropped an i-chips in all their machines right now. Their consumer base isn't educated in that area and isn't looking for that.

This doesn't mean I dont' want a newer machine, but right now Apple is about profit and they're pretty close to profit maximization. It may be hard to not think selfishly but sometimes it's also about money, especially these days.

 

[Hands Sandon]

Does anyone here know if it's just a simple matter for Apple to solder in 4GB's RAM instead of 2 GB's, or is it more complicated than that to update the Air?

 

[Huubster]

Apple has no need to update sooner. Faster updates = increased R&D Dollars, increased dollars since they can't bulk-buy components like CPUs, etc. Apple's market share would not go up exponentially if they dropped an i-chips in all their machines right now. Their consumer base isn't educated in that area and isn't looking for that.

I strongly agree. People buy Apple because Apple is cool. Not because Apple is a technology leader. Apple makes up cool things people want to possess and show off with. But do they really break ground technologically? Not anymore. The outdated hardware they sell for premium prices is a very good example of that. (bracing for impact).

Will they update the portable which they sell least of all of them? Perhaps Apple doesn't care about the the MBA anymore. The recent impressive MB sales figures may make the MBA even less important to Apples revenue/R&D ratio.

However. One comment to your post. Apple is pushing the boundaries more and more in the computing market. If they push the boundaries too far it may have the effect of "flipping a button". At some point the negative comments will trickle through to the Apple buying masses and suddenly Apple may not be a cool brand anymore...
It has happened to other big brands as well that they've lots their coolness with the masses you know...

Crossing my fingers. I hope a new MBA will be released soon...

 

[Mhkobe]

asking for a 3 GHz Core i7 that boosts to 4 GHz. I am not asking for a discrete ATI 5870 GPU with 1 GB of VRAM. I am not asking for a 512 GB SSD. Nor am I asking for Apple to lower the weight and make it 1/10" thick at its thickest point. I am not even asking for a 10-hour battery like the rest of them.

Haha, greatest computer ever.

 

[Scottsdale]

I strongly agree. People buy Apple because Apple is cool. Not because Apple is a technology leader. Apple makes up cool things people want to possess and show off with. But do they really break ground technologically? Not anymore. The outdated hardware they sell for premium prices is a very good example of that. (bracing for impact).

Will they update the portable which they sell least of all of them? Perhaps Apple doesn't care about the the MBA anymore. The recent impressive MB sales figures may make the MBA even less important to Apples revenue/R&D ratio.

However. One comment to your post. Apple is pushing the boundaries more and more in the computing market. If they push the boundaries too far it may have the effect of "flipping a button". At some point the negative comments will trickle through to the Apple buying masses and suddenly Apple may not be a cool brand anymore...
It has happened to other big brands as well that they've lots their coolness with the masses you know...

Crossing my fingers. I hope a new MBA will be released soon...

Um, I buy Apple products because I like COOL TECHNOLOGY. See there are two factors here... one yes it's cool, but two for that cool it's also technology that is supposed to be really good. And really good technology at these prices, at least has a minimum standard that it should adhere to. I don't believe that 2 GB of RAM in 2010 meets a minimum standard for any computer that costs over $1000. In a PC, a $400 PC can get you 3 GB RAM or sometimes 4. Most $600 PCs have 4 GB RAM and there are $650 PCs that have 4 GB RAM and BluRay.

You make the extraordinary false assumption that Apple is competing with PC Prices. That hasn't been the case since goodness knows when. Business is obviously not your forte or it would be plainly obvious.

Apple has no need to update sooner. Faster updates = increased R&D Dollars, increased dollars since they can't bulk-buy components like CPUs, etc. Apple's market share would not go up exponentially if they dropped an i-chips in all their machines right now. Their consumer base isn't educated in that area and isn't looking for that.

This doesn't mean I dont' want a newer machine, but right now Apple is about profit and they're pretty close to profit maximization. It may be hard to not think selfishly but sometimes it's also about money, especially these days.

What a &*%$. Time and time again people take my criticisms for Apple and call me names or stupid or that I don't know this "forte." I am quite sick of the personal attacks from people that cannot handle their precious Sir Stevie's company being attacked. You make me SICK! Every one of you that has to go and call someone stupid makes me sick. There is enough room in this world for debates without people getting butt hurt about their Sir Stevie's Apple not being consider "PERFECT." Really, it makes the forums no fun when people cannot debate without calling people names or making an attack on a personal scale.

BTW, Apple does COMPETE in business with every product it sells, including the one product it dominates the market of, the MP3 playing iPod. I know Apple's business very well, and don't mistake a cult like following and a company with a tremendous fan base and $40b in the bank as a company that doesn't have to compete.

Apple is in the fight of its life to dominate the smartphone market and gain share now so it doesn't have to struggle against Android later. It's more difficult to take share from your competition in an established market than gain a new customer that had never owned a product in a market that's growing. This is why Apple has smaller than 8% share of the PC/computer sales. Would Apple like MORE market share of PCs/computers, absolutely. As much as Apple has been growing, it grows from a small percentage because Windows dominated the market to begin with.

Bill Gates made all of the right moves while Apple's founders weren't so smart at competition. It is not as easy to gain a Mac customer as it means taking one from a Windows user, so it's a long-running battle to slowly grow by taking from the competition as there isn't the growth available as in the smartphone market. So, Apple needs to focus on capitalizing on the smartphone market now while it's rapidly growing. That is why Apple is intentionally putting the innovation of the Mac on hold. And MBP sales obviously were suffering for Apple to make that joke of an update.

Apple doesn't compete, LMAO!! LMAO LMAO LMAO!!! Still LMAO! Send your Sir Stevie a love letter...

LOVE LETTER TO SIR STEVIE FROM FAN
Oh, Sir Stevie, oh your iPad is so nice it doesn't have to compete with netbooks and it surely won't compete with the MacBook or cannibalize MB sales as is reported... and it won't compete with the Kindle, Sony eReader, Nook or any Android or Windows tablet, never Sir Stevie... Oh Sir Stevie, your MBA is so nice, it doesn't have to compete with PC ultraportables... oh yeah 2 GB of RAM is plenty and people shouldn't expect anything but a pretty 3 lb paperweight for the $1800 MBA... and it doesn't even have to run OS X anymore because as long as it's pretty and cool it won't have to compete with a Lenovo x300, Dell Adamo, or any of the other thinner lightweight ultraportables. I think you introduced the MBA as revolutionary just because you wanted to make a new product for yourself, not because you wanted it to compete on any level. Oh and the sales numbers on the MBA are just incredible. It has been amazing because it doesn't have to compete at all!

Oh Sir Stevie, wouldn't you please give me some more iPhone dirty talk... because it doesn't even have to compete with Android OS, or WebOS... or that terrible Droid or HTC Incredible... nor the Palm (HP) Pre or Pixi. None of them look as cool as your iPhone, Sir Stevie... we don't care if it is upgraded or not as long as it looks sexy it will win without competing. Your MacBook Pro 13" doesn't need a relevant CPU or GPU as long as it looks sexy it doesn't have to do much of anything for $1500. Oh the iPod Touch is amazing too... and what is incredible is Apple has ZERO COMPETITION in business. It is amazing, so that's why the stock price has gone up so much. Oh thanks Sir Stevie for being my Knight in Shining Armor and bringing us a world of Apple where nothing has to compete. In fact, I think we should all just plan on giving you all of our money and expect you will give us exactly what we want since your products don't have any competitors anyways.

Please take my money and for the love of God, don't compete... that game is dirty.

STILL LMAO! Apple doesn't compete.

I can see a letter like this being written by someone like you... Apple doesn't compete, STILL LMAO! But I refuse to be so low as to say "business is obviously not your forte."

Seriously, go read a book, on your iPad! Still cannot believe the low blows people are willing to make like "business is obviously not your forte." All because I wasn't kind with a few words about Sir Stevie.

 

[sushi]

All because I wasn't kind with a few words about Sir Stevie.

Who knows, it might be your delivery. Just saying.

 

[hohohong]

-Overheating and CPU throttling problem has somewhat improved over the revisions but it's still an issue. Again, last night, as I was watching HD content on my Air came the infamous throttling issue and the movie became a slideshow.

That is the sole reason I’m considering selling my Rev B SSD and get MBP. It simply doesn’t play HD content!

 

[masterpace]

That is the sole reason I’m considering selling my Rev B SSD and get MBP. It simply doesn’t play HD content!

True, although I've noticed Windows Vista in Bootcamp fairs better than Mac OS X for video playback. But that thing gets darn hot!

 

[SPNarwhal]

i think the biggest downer about the MBA is that it still has a button trackpad.
specs are nice too, i guess. but the trackpad (if i was considering a MBA) would be the deal breaker for me.

 

[ihaveNFC]

Who knows, it might be your delivery. Just saying.

haha

 

[jimboutilier]

As an AAPL shareholder, I am disgusted with how outdated all of Apple's products are. Imagine the value of AAPL stock if people could just buy a new Mac whenever they wanted instead of having to wait 19 months for an update... same thing with the iPhone OS products. Every other technology company has to keep their products current to keep sales up, and so does Apple. I see the backlash all over these forums... Apple has forgotten about its core customer base and has spent way too much time worrying about its ***** iPad.

Apple's sales numbers show you are just plain wrong here (Market share and sales are still increasing). Also Apple's "core customers" are folks that want elegant, long lived, reliable systems, that "just work" and there is no way to produce products like that on "PC" style fast release cycles.

You want leading edge hardware and leading edge reliability, go for it. PLEASE get yourself a PC. I wish you the very best.

 

[masterpace]

i think the biggest downer about the MBA is that it still has a button trackpad.
specs are nice too, i guess. but the trackpad (if i was considering a MBA) would be the deal breaker for me.

As far as I'm concerned, I don't mind the current trackpad. Actually, it's more the other way around: I like it. None of the laptop PC's I currently own come even close to the "multitouch" trackpad on the Air. So, the lack of "glass" in the Air trackpad is the least of my concern.

 

[Scottsdale]

Apple's sales numbers show you are just plain wrong here (Market share and sales are still increasing). Also Apple's "core customers" are folks that want elegant, long lived, reliable systems, that "just work" and there is no way to produce products like that on "PC" style fast release cycles.

You want leading edge hardware and leading edge reliability, go for it. PLEASE get yourself a PC. I wish you the very best.

So everyone that says they're "waiting" for an update is too small of a percentage to measure the would be buying customers??? We see it all over these forums. I hear it time after time from my friends and colleagues who buy Apple products. We can tell it's true by the massive sales booms when a product is updated. Apple is like every other company, EXCEPT Apple does a hell of a lot better with its outdated products. Sure the average MacBook buyer might not wait a day, but it doesn't mean there still aren't a lot of potential buyers out there. The greater the technology performance, the greater the need for a new update to reinvigorate sales.

Look at the Mac Pro for example, it is completely capable right now at low-end pricing, but the sales aren't anywhere near what they could be with an update. This product is less of a concern for Apple though. What Apple would be concerned with is the MBP lineup. When it has been over six months since the latest update, the average MBP buyer probably isn't buying. They are waiting for an update. The higher the price tag and the greater the tech, the more likely the "average" buyer will be concerned and wait for an update.

Sure Mac sales are always doing well, but that is as a whole. Individual products are important, especially when it's a MBP which is Apple's best seller. In addition, we can look at a single product line and see differences in demand even though these were updated at the same exact time. Let's look at the MBP. When someone is buying a MBP, they do look at what their money is getting, how much money they're spending, and the relevance of the technology at getting everything they need and want accomplished. The 13" MBP is less likely to experience large sales fluctuations between updates than the 15" and 17" MBPs. The "average" 17" MBP buyer is absolutely looking at how old the update is, and determining if waiting will provide a larger amount of utility for their dollars.

Look at the Q2 Fiscal Year 2010 for Apple. Sales were greater than ever... but Apple doesn't report what those sales numbers are for each product. However, logic tells us that the 21.5" and 27" iMacs are still in great demand because they were more than just updated with the last update their designs were changed. In addition, MacBook sales were probably similar to every other quarter except the back-to-school boom. The 13" MBP definitely suffered some because a large percentage of buyers were waiting for Core i-series CPUs. A much larger percentage of 15" MBP buyers were waiting for the update, and 17" MBP buyers were even more likely to wait for the update. SOME Apple buyers realize this happens in cycles. Other Apple buyers don't care. The average Apple buyer may or may not wait for an update, but it definitely differs greatly depending on the product line.

Apple definitely suffers in its sales in product lines when the buying market is waiting for a specific new technology or even just a general product update. It may not be all buyers and it may not even be the average buyer, but sales definitely suffer when a product hasn't been updated. The total Mac sales numbers are growing and are able to overcome the elasticity of any one Mac's sales. Apple knows this, and in the past it has updated one Mac or Apple product line every quarter on average. We would see a Mac notebook or desktop update in Q1, one Mac notebook or desktop in Q2, iPhone in Q3, and iPods in Q4 along with another Mac update... this would cycle through and now we can add iPad to it. When there's a product change and not just a spec boost to an Apple update, it drives demand further. We can see this with the iMac update to 21.5" and 27" iMacs which are still in high demand as we see buyers truly loving these Macs. So a spec boost is different than a complete redesign of a Mac line. Also we see sales boosts from new technology changes, and we see sales declines for a product when people expect a new technology in the next update... this is all common knowledge and we can see it all over these forums and in Apple's sales. The point is the average buyer is different, and the average MB buyer is unlikely to care about a new CPU brand nor wait for a modest spec bump change at all... the average 17" MBP buyer is different, and he or she is more likely to wait for an update of technology he or she expects to see and can benefit from by waiting for the next update. This is all very clear and Apple knows its business line very well. We can learn by how Apple has updated its product lines in the past. We can see the sales boosts once products are updated depending on the level or change in the updates themselves.

 

[thinkdesign]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11) Sprint PPC6850SP)

Scottsdale: Any chance you could go to the next Shareholder's Meeting? Even if you don't get to ask a question, you could still hand out paper copies of your question (and a little background explaining, filling out the lower half of the page) to any reporters you meet... maybe snag an interview in front of the building...