Think Rev C MBA might have a slightly larger screen? Like 14"?

[spaceballl]

I know there has been speculation about Apple releasing multiple size of MBAs. I don't think they'll do that.

But the other day, I was using my coworker's MBA to give a presentation and I noticed that the bezel is much wider than that of my MBP. I wonder if they could increase the screen size slightly without making the external casing any bigger, and just decreasing the metal area between the edge of the computer and the edge of the screen...

Just a thought... If they went with a size like 14" it would help it distinguish itself in between the MB and MBP and further add value to the high sticker price. I'm thinking that with the explosion of netbooks and the poor economy, Apple needs to either slightly lower the price of this machine or add some interesting new differentiators.

I'm planning on buying either a Rev C or Rev D Macbook Air regardless.... but i'd be a happier camper if it had a larger screen squeezed in

 

[d94]

its possible
and it'd deff be badassss

 

[darngooddesign]

I wouldn't care about a larger screen if they stuck a 1440 x 900 res screen in the current size.

 

[wetrix]

Highly unlikely.

A bigger screen might give the impression that the Air was getting bigger.

Also, Apple buys a quadrillion 13" displays per year. Surely it's cheaper to just keep that size.

But things to change. Bigger screens are very nice.

 

[Scottsdale]

I wouldn't care about a larger screen if they stuck a 1440 x 900 res screen in the current size.

I completely agree. There is NO REASON possible that Apple should NOT at least give the option to change resolution to 1440x900 even if it wanted to ship the MBA in lower resolution configuration. I love the small size of my MBA, but I feel it's missing the opportunity for a much larger viewing area in the same size of 13.3" display. Imagine the 15.4" MBP display icons and appearance shrunk to fit in the 13.3" display.

Other manufacturers have much higher resolution than 1440x900 even on a 12" or 13.3" display. I used a friend's Thinkpad, and while it was missing the OS X, the amazing exterior design, it was absolutely a performer and the display was stunning while the resolution was far superior to the MBAs.

I don't get Apple's ideas of why a lower resolution, other than to provide lower costs components and sell at a premium. But, the Nvidia graphics GPU is capable of showing a 2560 x 1600 resolution on a 30" ultra amazing Apple Cinema Display. I guess maybe that is the answer too, Apple wants to sell us the ACD to use while at a desktop?

Overall, the revised MBA really hits the mark. I think Apple could come up with a 15" MBA with a smaller bezel that wouldn't add much at all to the overall size nor the weight.

I read about some rumors and thought about a 15" MBA a great deal. Apple could definitely make more money by selling lower grade components in a lightweight package MBA, even if a 15" MBA took away some of the 15" MBP sales. What is better to sell a 15" MBP for $2499 that has very expensive components compared to those in a 15" MBA at $2499 or higher. A lot of MBP buyers simply want a 15" display or higher resolution display, and the extra power and capabilities are meaningless to many, so it could happen.

I would think that a 15" MBA is possible, so I wouldn't write that off just yet. Let's wait until September, and see what Apple has to offer us.

 

[Mr. Giver '94]

A lot of MBP buyers simply want a 15" display or higher resolution display, and the extra power and capabilities are meaningless to many, so it could happen.

Agreed. Plus the SSD supposedly makes up for the smaller processor by 10 fold. I'd love a 15" MBA. Maybe they'd be able to include a bit more with the added space. (additional processors, more memory, etc)

 

[mhnajjar]

Larger screen or even higher resolution means more battery usage which is already not that good in the MBA, so I highly doubt anything larger than the current models.

All I want them to do is to fix the lines and the light bleeding and it would be the best screen ever of its category.

 

[Scottsdale]

Larger screen or even higher resolution means more battery usage which is already not that good in the MBA, so I highly doubt anything larger than the current models.

All I want them to do is to fix the lines and the light bleeding and it would be the best screen ever of its category.

My rev B MBA is line free and flawless. It is the nicest notebook display I have ever owned. So, there are a lot of perfect MBAs out there... but that doesn't mean slightly nicer resolution isn't needed. I doubt very much that a slightly higher resolution will do much to battery life on that display. But I have no figures on that either way. I really believe this is Apple determining that we shouldn't have to squint or wanting to save money on components versus Apple stating that it may take a few minutes off the battery time.

Also to the other poster, agreed about the SSD. My rev B MBA is the fastest computer I have ever owned. While the 1.86 GHz CPU is nice it isn't the reason my MBA is so fast, it's the SSD that makes it my fastest Mac ever. I definitely think the SSD is a nice upgrade... and the 1.86 GHz CPU is by no means slow. It has a 45 NM process Penryn CPU that has 6 MB L2 cache which makes up the difference between the MBA CPU and the MB CPU with only 3 MB L2 cache and faster CPU. Apple is really using a nice chip in the new MBAs.

Actually the new MBA is one SOLID machine worthy of the high praise I give it, but that doesn't mean that slightly higher display resolution couldn't improve it substantially. I really would like to see more on my display and really don't want a bigger MBA the more I think about it, so resolution improvements would yield more viewable size and yet not take any more space, size or weight of the current display.

I love my rev B MBA... I would actually upgrade if Apple could go with just a better resolution display. Of course, I would prefer all of the items on my wish list, but a better resolution display has to be one of the easiest solutions to improve the MBA. The Nvidia graphics can support a 30" ACD with 2560 x 1600 resolution which is super high resolution... so the problem is Apple wanting a "cheapie" display to save money on costs... that is my opinion.

At the end of the day, the rev B MBA is one really nice computer, but that doesn't mean a few tweaks couldn't improve it substantially and easily.

 

[eXan]

Not likely. Getting 14" LED screens would no doubt be more expensive, drain more energy and wouldn't fit in the line up well.

Not to mention that you almost certainly wouldn't notice the 0.7" increase in screen size if the resolution stays at the current 1280x800 so its not worth all the trouble at all.

 

[NC MacGuy]

Personally, I hope they'd go smaller. 10-12" would be nice.

 

[Scottsdale]

Personally, I hope they'd go smaller. 10-12" would be nice.

Sure, 12" would be ok if it had much better resolution, but at this point we would lose even more working space at the low resolution.

Surely you don't want an Apple netbook. Heck it was you who inspired me to give the rev B MBA a try after my original was a terrible experience. I gave the MBA a second chance because of your famous thread of showing how everything had changed for the better.

I think there are a lot of MBP buyers who want a high resolution 12" display. I think Apple is missing the mark with its current Pro model of larger displays and consumer model of smaller displays. Lots of Pros want smaller and lots of consumers want bigger.

I think a 15" MBA could feel extremely thin and lightweight.

 

[jkimbro0316]

Personally, I'd like it if they just made the screen closer to the edge of the lid and make it a smaller footprint. It'd give it a smaller footprint overall and make it more like a sub-notebook which is what Apple advertises it as.

 

[spaceballl]

Personally, I'd like it if they just made the screen closer to the edge of the lid and make it a smaller footprint. It'd give it a smaller footprint overall and make it more like a sub-notebook which is what Apple advertises it as.

As long as they didn't have to shrink down the keyboard, I wouldn't mind that either. Good point you make. Either way they should use the space better. Either expand the screen to use all the available real estate or shrink it around the edges

Of course, I'm sure this is much more technologically difficult than it seems, but meh - who cares

 

[jkimbro0316]

As long as they didn't have to shrink down the keyboard, I wouldn't mind that either. Good point you make. Either way they should use the space better. Either expand the screen to use all the available real estate or shrink it around the edges

Of course, I'm sure this is much more technologically difficult than it seems, but meh - who cares

Yeah I was just thinking of that, there's probably a little bit of room around the keyboard that they could shrink around. Of course I'm pretty sure that overall making the smaller footprint would probably cause the notebook to be a little thicker and would defeat the purpose of making the Air an extremely thin notebook.

 

[iMacmatician]

There was some rumor some time ago about a 15" MacBook Air coming late this year or something.

 

[kinkster]

A 15" would be sort of weird..it might be light compared to a 15" MBP but not compared to the normal Macbook. Not the sort of thing apple would do IMO. Would be an awesome machine though, just picturing it in your head..especially if the bezel would be smaller then the 13" Air.

I hope apple starts making the bezels on all it's laptops smaller. It doesn't seem like they have any major cosmetic changes to make at this aluminum+glass stage, so it would be a nice upgrade without having to depart from their current aesthetic design to quickly.

 

[hayduke]

I agree that they should just shrink the footprint. Same size screen, maybe bump up the resolution and keep the keyboard the same size. And don't forget to allow a CTO for 4GB!!!! Sheesh.

 

[tubbymac]

I don't think they'd go to a 14 inch screen for one simple reason - right now pretty much all the 14 inch LED panels you can get are garbage. Even the best ones you can buy look as bad as the 13 inch Macbook panels.

The MBA is known for it's high quality screen. Right now you can only get that quality in pretty much every size except for 14 for some strange reason.

 

[Scottsdale]

I don't think they'd go to a 14 inch screen for one simple reason - right now pretty much all the 14 inch LED panels you can get are garbage. Even the best ones you can buy look as bad as the 13 inch Macbook panels.

The MBA is known for it's high quality screen. Right now you can only get that quality in pretty much every size except for 14 for some strange reason.

Why doesn't Apple give us better resolution though? The Nvidia GPU is obviously capable of driving super high resolution for a 30" ACD, yet it cannot display native 1440x900... that would drastically help the MBA.

 

[tubbymac]

I think it has to do with viewing comfort. If you've ever seen a 14 inch with 1440x900 resolution you'll see the fonts look pretty small. People rarely complain about 1400x900 on a 15 inch screen since the fonts are adequately sized, but on a 14 inch at that resolution you start to hear complaints - not from everybody but by a noticeable amount of people. If they stuck that resolution on a 13 inch you'd start seeing a lot more complaints.

 

[spaceballl]

And don't forget to allow a CTO for 4GB!!!! Sheesh.

Yeah I hear ya on that one! I have a feeling there won't be CTO options for the MBA since it's all soldered onto the motherboard... Unless they just printed two different boards and slapped whichever you configured in there. I'm guessing that the next MBA will have 4 gigs standard w/ no CTO.... just a guess...

 

[MattZani]

With the active font sizing in 10.6 (Where it knows how small a size 14 font would be on a 14" 1440x900, so increases it) it could be possible.

But, if a 14" Model came along, i think a 12" Would aswell, something thats just that little bit smaller again.

 

[NewGenAdam]

Interesting question

They've got the choice of keeping the form, and extending the components into it, or keeping the components and shrinking the product around them.
By components, I mean equivalent components, not the actual same ones.

My guess is that they'll keep the definition of products as their basic components (screen, processor, drive type) shrink them together as they get smaller and engineering more efficient. Mainly because Apple like to keep their products well defined - like how they almost always retain the price points, and shift up the specs incrementally every now and then.

What I'd like is something between iPhod and the Air. Netbook? Small tablet?
Please.

 

[iMacmatician]

I think it has to do with viewing comfort. If you've ever seen a 14 inch with 1440x900 resolution you'll see the fonts look pretty small. People rarely complain about 1400x900 on a 15 inch screen since the fonts are adequately sized, but on a 14 inch at that resolution you start to hear complaints - not from everybody but by a noticeable amount of people. If they stuck that resolution on a 13 inch you'd start seeing a lot more complaints.

BTO would solve that.

 

[dmmcintyre3]

Where is the 15" 1920*1200 option? I don't care if it is optional I still want this resolution on 15". If they make a 15" it better have this option. And they need a 1680*1050 option on 13" too.