What will make you want to buy the mid-2011 MBA?

[ihonda]

backlit keyboard + thinner bezel on screen maybe little longer battery life.. and i5 and im sold.

 

[michaelz]

2010 MBA is already good enough for me. So, what ever upgrade in 2011 version is already a bonus!

 

[m3digi]

I'm considering this with my 2009 MBP 17" in mind:

1. 8GB RAM
2. Benchmarks that demonstrate that the transition to SB is a significant improvement over the MBA C2D.
3. Same 1440x900 screen resolution that's currently available.

Otherwise, I'll just purchase a Refurb 13" MBA C2D. I really don't see why it would be necessary for me to own an MBA and MBP. I use Photoshop and Lightroom, so an 8GB memory option would definitely prompt me to part ways with my MBP, and get a large desktop monitor for photo editing.

 

[roseanne]

I hate to burst people's bubbles, but I fear that an 8GB upgrade may not make it in due to space. If there's no space for a discrete GPU, and they add a thunderbolt chip - there may not be space for an 8GB Ram Upgrade- unless it's exorbitantly expensive - using less chips due to space.

The current air already uses 16 chips to achieve 2GB of RAM. And the thunderbolt chip is already kind big (especially on the Air's tiny Motherboard).

I don't consider the MBP 8GB BTO option exorbitantly expensive and that's 8GB in 16 chips isn't it?

 

[roseanne]

You can forget about them offering 8GB of RAM, especially on the 11" for the upcoming offering in late June or early July. I'd honestly bet my house on that, and I'm completely serious. Won't happen.

I'm not saying they will (although I hope they do) but what makes you so sure?

 

[Bonsai1214]

i don't get the allure of a backlit keyboard. do you guys not type in home row? can you not see the keys with the light from the screen?

 

[fyrefly]

I don't consider the MBP 8GB BTO option exorbitantly expensive and that's 8GB in 16 chips isn't it?

I guess that's true, but with Apple currently charging $100 to go 2GB-->4GB, I could easily see them charging more than the MBP (which already comes with 4GB). I sincerely hope you're right - but I'm skeptical.

 

[swingerofbirch]

I wonder if they could manage to add the black bezel and glass of the MBP. I know people hate it, but I love it for the ability to easily clean the glass and not having to worry about the display's delicacy.

So I'd like to see that plus a backlit keyboard and a 256 GB option on the 11 inch model.

 

[leftywamumonkey]

1. Sandy Bridge i5/i7 (Given)
2. 4GB Ram Standard (Very possible)
3. Backlit keyboard. (Unlikely)
4. Better battery life 7 hours of so on the 11"
5. Edge-to-edge glass like the MBP (Won't happen, but I worry about the display)

Other things that are a given:
Thunderbolt port
Facetime HD

 

[peskaa]

I would have gotten a 2010 model, so the 2011 update is just a bonus. I'd like to see 4GB of RAM as standard, but beyond that I'm not fussed.

I doubt we'll see a backlit keyboard, or even smaller bezels. Thunderbolt and Facetime HD are a given though.

 

[netdog]

2010 MBA is already good enough for me. So, what ever upgrade in 2011 version is already a bonus!

2010 is good enough for me too, which is why I won't be buying a 2011.

 

[Acronyc]

I'm so happy with my 2010 11" that I can't really imagine upgrading. I really think I can get at least another 2 years of good use out of it. The only thing that would make me remotely consider upgrading is a better GPU than what we have now.

 

[Wellsn]

SSD! in my MBA

For me it's (in order of importance):

#1. a 320GB-512GB SSD! & yes all these below in that order.

1. Sandy Bridge i5/i7
2. Support 8GB RAM
3. Backlit Keyboard
4. Thunderbolt
5. Improved quality LCD Panel

The first two are 'must have' and the rest are 'want' items.

#1. a 320GB-512GB SSD! & yes all these below in that order.

did i say that already... ok. yes. more speed. more drive.

 

[Oldandintheway]

I'd love to see an SD slot on the 11.6".!!

Me too and 256gb hard drive. Otherwise I'll wait.

 

[gdeputy]

Current MBA is plenty powerful for my needs so I will likely wait a gen or two before I grab another model.

Still excited to see what changes come about .

 

[cleric]

Well heres what your going to get, I'll wait for something tangible not a spec bump

1. Sandy Bridge
2. Thunderbolt

and maybe...

3. Backlight Keyboard.

 

[fyrefly]

Surprise, surprise. All the people that are gonna wait for a 2012 MBA or beyond are owners of the 2010 MBA. Of course they are. And if your machine does everything you need it to, you're apt for waiting.

The update to the MBA will not be to entice 2010 MBA owners to upgrade. That # will just be icing. The cake will be made of other MacBook owners, or new mac owners getting into a shiny new MBA - and loving the speedy Mac experience because of it.

Apple's also bumping the specs of the 2011 MBA to Sandy Bridge for a number of reasons, a primary one being financial: They no longer have to pay $40/machine to Nvidia for the 320m + new machines experience a bump in sales.

It's also got to do with the fact that Core2Duos are now being discontinued by Intel, and Ivy Bridge (the next possible chip to go into the MBA) won't be available till this time next year. Hard for Apple to leave the MBA stagnant for 18+ months after a big splashy redesign in late 2010.

 

[Roman2K~]

Discrete GPU.

Trust me, you don't want it... At least not with graphics switching in its current state.

With my MBP, it's a pain to deal with: the discrete GPU runs hot as heck and destroys battery life (drained twice as fast).

That would be mitigated by the graphics switching if it worked as I expected: namely only when the HD 3000 is not enough, but in reality, the dGPU takes over too often. Even Chrome and MPlayerX trigger it for no apparent reason (the HD 3000 would be plenty for them).

Thankfully, a band-aid exists and works well: gfxCardStatus. However, it introduces another problem: with one of the GPUs active, apps begin to use that one, but then when gfxCardStatus switches to the other one (for example, when unplugging the power adapter), those apps are confused and try to use the GPU that just got disabled, leading to missing Flash videos on Chrome, or a black screen on MPlayerX (audio plays fine). One has to restart them for them to pick up the newly active GPU. It's a right PITA. The only one though (on the 2011 15" MBP).

Dealing with this sort of shortcomings doesn't sit right with me on the Air. To me, this MacBook lineup is all about slickness and simplicity. It should keep things simple: only one GPU until graphics switching gets polished.

 

[sjrogers]

This is going to replace my first generation black macbook from 5 years ago, so I'm not too picky because I know it's going to blow what I'm used to out of the water. Also don't care about the backlit keyboard because I've never had one. That being said:

13-inch MBA
1. Option to upgrade to 320GB+ SDD
2. Sandy Bridge
3. Thunderbolt
4. Enough memory to mix in Ableton Live while I have other applications open (which I can't do right now)

 

[Apple Expert]

1. Sandy Bridge similar to the base MBP.
2. 4gb RAM Standard. Upgrade to 8gb for a reasonable price (150'ish).
3. 256gb SSD Standard on 13".
4. Backlight Keyboard.

If all of these are not there, I will just get a MBP and install a SSD. Hopefully Apple can make it happen.

 

[LAS.mac]

1) Battery life. True 7-8 hours. And I mean true, a la iPad
2) i5 processor or better
3) support for 8 Gb RAM (I don't think so but it would be nice)
4) 256 Gb SSD standard for 100 buck less thank now.
5) A price of 1500 USD with 256 Gb SSD and 4 Gb ram, and upgrade to 8 Gb for 200 USD more.


Backlit kb won't come back. Thunderbolt will be standard.

 

[tennis11]

How much does everybody think these will cost? Say for a base 13 inch.

Never live in the past but always learn from it.

 

[pjfla]

1. 3g
2. 3g
3. 3g

Ok, seriously, I would like to add 3g. But Im with most on this thread.. thinner bezel and SD slot would be nice.

 

[Young Spade]

Well the "ONLY" think I'm wanting is an iCore processor, right now that's the only reason why i haven't sold my blackbook (hint hint lol) and walked over to the Apple Store today.

I've seen a lot of tests and they look really, really fast; I've taken mine into an Apple store to compare with the newest computers and it's actually just as fast as those (of course, it isn't anything really taxing on the CPU) but I'd love longer battery life and the multitouch trackpad.

The slim design is something I really want as well; as a college student the backpack can get very heavy as the day progresses.

 

[Young Spade]

1. 3g
2. 3g
3. 3g

Ok, seriously, I would like to add 3g. But Im with most on this thread.. thinner bezel and SD slot would be nice.

Do you have a smartphone by any chance? If you get practically any high end one right now (mainly Android) you can root it and tether to any device. I constantly use mine to tether to my MB or netbook when I'm out.