What would you like to see most in a new MBA

[queshy]

None on the poll.

What I'd like to see is:
- More RAM (4GB)
- More SSD/HDD options (give them ALL to us)
- NO retracting port hatch!
- An external Super Drive that works will all USB ports
- Much longer battery life.
- Same price tags, just a few more refined features.

Yeah, those are all good. I'd be happy if they left 2 GB standard and had a port on the back to add more.
SSD/HDD options - the more the better.
Retracting port hatch doesn't really bother me.
+1 on the Super drive.
+10000 on longer battery life.

It's totally all possible, too.
At the same time I don't think those features you listed above would be enough to entice current mBA owners to upgrade, but we'll see what Apple does with it.

 

[Digital Skunk]

yeah for me its all about portability and ease of use while on tbe move. i want a machine that can actually make it the end of the day with a lot of use doing simple thing.

and is able to do them easily.

 

[mill2000]

nothing from above.

Perhaps Wireless USB (UWB)
WiMax (this includes 3G broadband of course)
longer battery life! (at least 8 hours)

 

[queshy]

yeah for me its all about portability and ease of use while on tbe move. i want a machine that can actually make it the end of the day with a lot of use doing simple thing.

and is able to do them easily.

So, are you planning on buying the next MBP AND a MacBook Air possibly? Get your wallet out...haha.

The MacBook Air upgrade would have to be extremely compelling for me to warrant selling my current model. I have no complaints about my current MacBook Air so I doubt that will happen. What I'm really waiting for is a crazy iMac upgrade + Snow Leopard

 

[yorkshire]

To be honest all I want to see is the MBs specs in the MBA. And maybe a 12 inch screen instead of a 13 inch one.

 

[FightTheFuture]

a lower price point & an express card slot.

i think that that's it. there is speculation that the next iteration of the MacBook & MacBook Pro may be a little slimmer and the MacBook would get a lower price point. i'm hoping the air drops to around 1100-1300 so that it would no longer be perceived as over priced.

 

[Techguy172]

a lower price point & an express card slot.

i think that that's it. there is speculation that the next iteration of the MacBook & MacBook Pro may be a little slimmer and the MacBook would get a lower price point. i'm hoping the air drops to around 1100-1300 so that it would no longer be perceived as over priced.

It's unlikely for apple to lower it by that much, that's a lot. It may go down a 100 or 200 but no that much.

 

[kabunaru]

To be honest all I want to see is the MBs specs in the MBA. And maybe a 12 inch screen instead of a 13 inch one.

An MacBook Air that looks like a very slim 12" PowerBook G4 would be very nice.

 

[Digital Skunk]

So, are you planning on buying the next MBP AND a MacBook Air possibly? Get your wallet out...haha.

The MacBook Air upgrade would have to be extremely compelling for me to warrant selling my current model. I have no complaints about my current MacBook Air so I doubt that will happen. What I'm really waiting for is a crazy iMac upgrade + Snow Leopard

I don't have any complaints about the current model either, maybe just the BTO options for the CPU and HDD.

But give me a dual 2.0GHz Atom based Air with a slightly cheaper 64GB SSD and I'd be happy. I would really love built in EVDO and a smaller chassis but that's pushing it.

 

[queshy]

I don't have any complaints about the current model either, maybe just the BTO options for the CPU and HDD.

But give me a dual 2.0GHz Atom based Air with a slightly cheaper 64GB SSD and I'd be happy. I would really love built in EVDO and a smaller chassis but that's pushing it.

Would the benefits of the Atom processor only be battery life? Sorry, don't know much about these things except that they've been popping up like crazy in netbooks...I don't know if Apple wants to refer to the MBA as a "netbook". It's awfully more expensive than the average NB, too.

Apple probably held off on EVDO because it wasn't in the MBP (their top of the line model) to begin with. Maybe we will see it in a future generation.

 

[AC Rempt]

My biggest problem is the heat/performance issue where it stutters playing video. I have mine in for repair right now, and hopefully, they'll resolve the issue with a new motherboard and some decent thermal paste.

I voted for an additionally USB port, too, because it's a pain to try and use the SuperDrive and another device at the same time.

 

[riz78612]

13" widescreen LCD display,
Intel® Centrino® 2 processor technology
4GB RAM,
512GB SSD (250GBx2) with Raid technology,
NVIDIA® graphics,
Blu-ray Disc™ optical drive, HD
DMI output,
Bluetooth®,
TV Tuner


CPU Section
Microprocessor Full Name Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T9600 with Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology
Microprocessor Manufacturer Intel®
Microprocessor Speed (GHz) 2.8
L2 Cache (KB) 6144 Advanced Smart Cache
Frontside Bus (MHz) 1066
Number of Cores 2

Memory
Memory Speed (MHz) 800
Memory Type DDR2 SDRAM (2x2048MB)
Max. Memory (MB) 4096
Max Memory Comment In the case of 4GB, a portion of the system memory over 3GB might not be available to the operating system
Memory Size (MB) 4096


Drives
Hard Drive Type Serial ATA / SSD Flash drive Ultra ATA/66
Hard Drive Capacity (GB) 628 (500GB HDD + 2x64GB SSD Raid 0 support)
Hard Drive Speed (rpm) 4200
Optical Drive Type Blu-ray Disc™ Drive: BD-R/-RE/-ROM/ DVD+-RW/+-R DL/RAM Drive (reader/writer)
Optical Drive Fitting Built-in

Multimedia
TV Tuner Board YES
Intel® High Definition Audio compatible YES
3D Surround Dolby Home Theatre®
Built-in Stereo Speakers YES
Built-in Subwoofer YES
Windows® Sound System Compatible YES
Sound Reality YES
DVB-T YES


Battery life- 24 hours

 

[Fonzijr1964]

13" widescreen LCD display,
Intel® Centrino® 2 processor technology
4GB RAM,
512GB SSD (250GBx2) with Raid technology,
NVIDIA® graphics,
Blu-ray Disc™ optical drive, HD
DMI output,
Bluetooth®,
TV Tuner


CPU Section
Microprocessor Full Name Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T9600 with Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology
Microprocessor Manufacturer Intel®
Microprocessor Speed (GHz) 2.8
L2 Cache (KB) 6144 Advanced Smart Cache
Frontside Bus (MHz) 1066
Number of Cores 2

Memory
Memory Speed (MHz) 800
Memory Type DDR2 SDRAM (2x2048MB)
Max. Memory (MB) 4096
Max Memory Comment In the case of 4GB, a portion of the system memory over 3GB might not be available to the operating system
Memory Size (MB) 4096


Drives
Hard Drive Type Serial ATA / SSD Flash drive Ultra ATA/66
Hard Drive Capacity (GB) 628 (500GB HDD + 2x64GB SSD Raid 0 support)
Hard Drive Speed (rpm) 4200
Optical Drive Type Blu-ray Disc™ Drive: BD-R/-RE/-ROM/ DVD+-RW/+-R DL/RAM Drive (reader/writer)
Optical Drive Fitting Built-in

Multimedia
TV Tuner Board YES
Intel® High Definition Audio compatible YES
3D Surround Dolby Home Theatre®
Built-in Stereo Speakers YES
Built-in Subwoofer YES
Windows® Sound System Compatible YES
Sound Reality YES
DVB-T YES


Battery life- 24 hours

this reminds me of a song "In the year 2525"

 

[AppliedMicro]

- lower TDP / less heat dissipation / no core shutdowns / longer battery life
- Lower price point
- 4 GB RAM
- 2nd USB
- wireless connectivity (WiMax, UMTS, EVDO... whatever it's called)

In that order... at least the top two of these (price, better CPU). I think it's pretty silly to assume Apple would change the MacBook's form factor to incorporate optical drives, FW ports, smaller displays, etc. Really... the MBA is going to stay pretty much the way it is now. We shouldn't expect more than a little speedbump / price dump...

 

[Dmac77]

...no pipe dreams - would love to see an Air that actually runs smoothly and without emitting toxic vapors at high temperatures. A higher-resolution screen (without the "grid effect") would also be a big plus.

If they would round the edges a bit too, you could then put your hands on the edges of the machine while working, without discomfort. I have used a sandpaper block on a couple of them, but this is obviously not the ideal solution.

One they do not emit toxic vapors (it's been claimed that the MP does so, but their toxicity is questionable). Two WTF do you mean by "grid affect"? and finally three, you have issues if your rubbing sand paper on a $1700-$3000 laptop.

It would be nice if Apple made the Air capable of something besides BASIC web browsing, eMail, and word processing.

Don

 

[Mammoth]

I'd like a Lenovo X300 with OS X. Done.

 

[cyberwolf777]

While many demands in these thread are a bit unrealistic I believe that Apple is under considerable pressure to update the MBA!

Since its release, the competition has come up with various offerings that clearly are better than the MBA from a specs point of view (lenovo X300, vaio Z)

For the MBA to stay competitive, the following things must be included in the next update:

- better processor to combat heat issues! penryn 1.83ghz LV is a suitable option i think

- more harddisk space! 128GB SSDs are now affordable and the MBA could use the 120GB HDD of the ipod classic

to stay competitive, the MBA should over the next year also have the following:

- better display! the sony TZ is offering a 1600x900 display on a 13.1" screen. the MBA, being a professional offering, shouldn't have the same low-res display as the regular macbook that will likely sell for half the price of the current MBA soon. apple should at least make this an option like on the 17" MBP!

- more RAM! memory prices are rather low, 4GB are affordable!

- if apple introduces blu-ray: a blu-ray external superdrive that is powered through the USB port alone!

- a FW800/3200 port (unfortunately very unlikely)

 

[AppliedMicro]

While many demands in these thread are a bit unrealistic
- a FW800/3200 port (unfortunately very unlikely)

Well... I'd guess your FireWire port is a bit unrealistic too, isn't it?
And I can hardly see why they'd one to stay competitive.
It's not like Lenovo or Sony had one on their models, right?

Also, there are 2 or even 3 problems with Blu-ray

• - Processing power. The Air is really going to have a hard time coping with Blu-ray. In fact, just from reading reports about core shutdowns / underclocks I think it might not be possible at all.
• - Blu-ray drives consume more power. Can that be provided via USB?
• - Blu-ray drives are much more expensive. Apple would really ave a niche product there. And I don't think they would be making a 2nd drive option for just a few users. Providing an inexpensive drive is much for important for the Air than providing a state of the art optical.

With regard to the display, Apple's notebook have never been about maximum resolution. Even the MacBook Pro has a pretty low resolution (for good reasons), so it seems out of the question for the MBA, unless the MBP gets higher resolutions. Yet I think Apple is playing safe on resolutions and wants default resolution to be easily readable by as many as possible. 1600 x somewhat on a 13" poses problems for quite some people. Personally, I'd appreciate a higher resolution, though.

I do think we are going to see the CPU speed bump and bigger hard drive/SSD.

 

[Scottsdale]

new MBA

I love the MBA when I am using it away from the desk. It could be a little faster. It could have one more USB. It SHOULD have 4GB RAM.

That is it. They really have it right with that one. Used one rarely for six months. LOVED it. I just continued to use my Pro all of the time. Even when I went on vacation and all I took the Pro instead of the Air like I thought I would.

But the Air is really a great mobile NON-INTENSIVE computer. Cannot run CS3 on it, which is probably why I took my Pro with me on vacation. But I really love every minute I am on the Air. Great for surfing MacRumors.com. Great for email. AND EXCELLENT for writing.

Just a few speed tune-ups would be great.

Oh, and I sold mine last week. I will be buying a new Air or MB tomorrow. It all depends on the specs.