What does ARM mean for the macbook air?

[Mohamed Kamal]

This thread is just thinking out loud- but, recently, the MBA always performed decently for light/moderate tasks only, but was never truly a powerhouse. Now in WWDC we saw macos running on A12Z bionic, the same chip from the ipad, and running spectacularly, even on apps like photoshop and final cut pro. Craig Federighi said that the A12Z bionic isn’t a chip that is going to be put in consumer laptops, it’s just for developers, and bragged about what the apple silicone team delivered without even trying. That means that the newer chips are -generally- Going to perform better than the A12Z. This puts the MBA in a weird spot:
- will apple come up with chips for the Macbook pro’s that are so amazing that the MBPs will still be way better than the MBA, to incentivize people to buy them?
- Where does this put the MBA in comparison with the iPad? Apple is clearly pushing for the iPad to be used as a main computing/productivity device, specially for students etc. and currently the reason I think people buy iPads is for the touch/generally superior screen or because of the performance/silence/no heat or because of the apps. A MBA with a new chip will probably be superior to the iPad in many areas:
1. Lower price (than an iPad with a keyboard case).
2. More storage.
3. Better ergonomics than using an iPad with a keyboard case for productivity.
4. Superior operating system.
5. No heat/fan noise because it can probably be passively cooled just due to the superior thermal envelope.
6. better performance.
7. Macos apps only run on MBA, iPad apps run on both.
8. Edit: the new MBA will also have crazy battery life, given the larger battery compared to iPad, and it may get even larger if they remove the fan, along with the power efficiency of the new chip.
Now if apple updates the screen or even adds touch support (which I don’t think they will do) this will completely blow the iPad out of the water. So what will apple do with this? Will they cap the MBA like they did with the 2020 MBA heatsink?
just my thoughts on this!

 

[bluecoast]

I suspect that the MBA will stick around for 18 more months in its current incarnation for those that want/need Intel (but aren’t a dev) or business productivity.

I think that the new consumer laptop will be the ‘MacBook’. Fanless like the 2015 MacBook.

Apple talked about their iOS / iPad technologies being able to be bought to the Mac. For end users, I think that this likely means Face ID - if only for the improved front facing camera. And yes, this might mean we wave good bye to thin laptop lis (are we entering the era of ‘the camera bulge for the Mac?).

As to its use cases - I think that there will be some deliberate blurring with the iPad and over the next 3-4 years, most consumers will prefer the iPad (though I’d still expect to see the MacBook being bought by businesses).

For me it’s telling, that when Apple talk about the Mac, that call it their platform that they create all of their other platforms on.

That’s a big clue as to how they expect the Mac and iPad to pan out.

So a few years down the line:

Most people will buy an iPad.

Devs, content creators and (some) businesses will buy the flexible platform of the Mac.

 

[superiska123]

I think a new MBA will probably make more use of the power efficency aspect of Apple Silicon. I expect crazy battery life with slightly better performance in a redesigned chassis, possibly fanless. Perhaps if they release the MBP first, the new MBA will be released once a second-gen Apple Silicon MBP is out and use the first-gen MBP processor.
Of course, this is just rambling and guessing on my part!

 

[Falhófnir]

Think the MBA brand will stick around as the consumer notebook, rather than being replaced by 'iBook', 'MacBook' or anything else; it's a sizeable brand in its own right and seems to have quite a lot of goodwill attached.

If it shares the vanilla iPad A14X I could maybe see a modest price decrease, with stronger performance, but if it has its own special chip made, probably the same price but even better performance (sure Apple would love to show their MBA beating out an Intel MBP on stage!).

Maybe we will see the 12" revived, it would make sense if it was also folded into the Air brand, and hopefully the screen would be increased to between 12.5" and 13.0" (the 2015-17 model has quite chunky bezels to expand onto!) Then the 13" model could be increased to a 14-15" alongside it. Pricing probably either starting at $899 and $999 for each size (like the 11" and 13" Airs) or $999 and $1,099.

It will probably be fanless, this seems to be what Apple were going for in the 12" MacBook and latest Air, but can't quite get it to work with Intel's chips. It will continue to omit P3, ProMotion, mini LED (HDR)? while these will be retained or added as differentiators to the MacBook Pro. If Apple are serious about keeping the Touch Bar it should be added to all their computers (incl. iMac magic keyboard) so software developers have an incentive to support it and make it useful.

 

[bluecoast]

Think the MBA brand will stick around as the consumer notebook, rather than being replaced by 'iBook', 'MacBook' or anything else; it's a sizeable brand in its own right and seems to have quite a lot of goodwill attached.

If it shares the vanilla iPad A14X I could maybe see a modest price decrease, with stronger performance, but if it has its own special chip made, probably the same price but even better performance (sure Apple would love to show their MBA beating out an Intel MBP on stage!).

Maybe we will see the 12" revived, it would make sense if it was also folded into the Air brand, and hopefully the screen would be increased to between 12.5" and 13.0" (the 2015-17 model has quite chunky bezels to expand onto!) Then the 13" model could be increased to a 14-15" alongside it. Pricing probably either starting at $899 and $999 for each size (like the 11" and 13" Airs) or $999 and $1,099.

It will probably be fanless, this seems to be what Apple were going for in the 12" MacBook and latest Air, but can't quite get it to work with Intel's chips. It will continue to omit P3, ProMotion, mini LED (HDR)? while these will be retained or added as differentiators to the MacBook Pro. If Apple are serious about keeping the Touch Bar it should be added to all their computers (incl. iMac magic keyboard) so software developers have an incentive to support it and make it useful.

Agree with you that the ‘Air’ brand is much loved & recognised. It doesn’t make much sense now that most machines are thin, however.


I think that we saw Apple retain it in 2018 as the Mac was in such a dire state (and the MBA is apparently its most popular Mac model) so a new MBA needed that name recognition.


Also, if you’re going to kill off a name (or reintroduce a new one) then a major technology transition is the time to do it - along with a significant redesign.

Look at the Mac product line-up too. Once slightly confusing, it is now (nearly) again the 4 quadrant product matrix that Jobs introduced in the late 90s (with the MM being the outlier).

So I wouldn’t be surprised if the Apple silicon era sees the return of the ‘MacBook’ as the consumer notebook name, with ‘MBA’ meaning ‘Intel Mac notebooks’.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the ARM iMac is simple called the ‘Mac’, also (for much the same reasons).

I think we could see the phasing out of the iPad Air as a name at some point too. You’d have to hope that as the A series processors become more powerful that the low end entry level iPad will be power enough for all but pro users.

 

[nothingtoseehere]

Look at the Mac product line-up too. Once slightly confusing, it is now (nearly) again the 4 quadrant product matrix that Jobs introduced in the late 90s (with the MM being the outlier).

Yes. It would be more logical to call the MBA simply MB, but the brand is to precious, I agree.

Concerning MM: One could imagine to differentiate between MM and MMP. MM as a basic, „low“-cost (well „low“ within the Apple universe ;-), entry-level model, MMP with higher specs?

 

[thunng8]

I think a new MBA will probably make more use of the power efficency aspect of Apple Silicon. I expect crazy battery life with slightly better performance in a redesigned chassis, possibly fanless. Perhaps if they release the MBP first, the new MBA will be released once a second-gen Apple Silicon MBP is out and use the first-gen MBP processor.
Of course, this is just rambling and guessing on my part!

Even the A12x which is fanless is already has better performance than the 2020 MacBook Air and the a14x will widen that gap even further.