We're in the market for these, would like to buy some for my employees. When are the new MB Airs going to be released, it's been a while now.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
When Will MBA Be Updated
- Thread starter Velin
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Next tuesday. I made my prediction yesterday.
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=10541558#post10541558
And I immediately thought of you when I read the new rumor. LOL, that would have been a great call had you also tipped us off to the 11.6" display.
The real problem is how long will we actually have to wait for this new MBA? Will there be multiple sizes, that's my guess. I suspect two or three sizes of MBAs, including a 13.3" MBA. What does Apple do about the GPU/CPU problem? C2D/Nvidia or Core/Discrete or AMD/ATI?
Call the rest of it correctly, and I will truly be impressed.
I won't presume to predict anything more. But the GPU question looms large. If it's the discrete ati, like the 330, then that puppy will stomp out all discussion of the Air being underpowered, or all of the comparisions to the iPad.
It would then have a video card superior to any 13" MBP.
Talk about bragging rights!
A 256 Gb SSD could make a tradeoff or 2 OK...
My timing may be accidentally working out. 3 Tuesdays after WWDC I was finished waiting... but too preoccupied with other stuff to buy. I had pencilled in, to pick a model and buy at 9 AM today. Which luckily got put on 'hold' until Tuesday, by last night's posting on how one Mac-5 product seems to get updated in the middle of each month, lately. Phew! What a close call.
I need a monitor for sure at home... so maybe 11.6" I can live with, when I'm in libraries, etc? I can't afford to keep buying each upgrade, so a bigger SSD would make this something that can last the long time I want to use it for.
As long as they don't pinch something else, too much.
I hope we find out the "when", soon. "Second half of 2010" is anywhere from now to Dec. 31. That's the vaguest rumor I've ever heard.
Will this be a "Tortise (sp?) and the Hare" type story.... in which the netbooks are the rabbit, and the Air is the turtle... and the turtle ultimately wins?
My timing may be accidentally working out. 3 Tuesdays after WWDC I was finished waiting... but too preoccupied with other stuff to buy. I had pencilled in, to pick a model and buy at 9 AM today. Which luckily got put on 'hold' until Tuesday, by last night's posting on how one Mac-5 product seems to get updated in the middle of each month, lately. Phew! What a close call.
I need a monitor for sure at home... so maybe 11.6" I can live with, when I'm in libraries, etc? I can't afford to keep buying each upgrade, so a bigger SSD would make this something that can last the long time I want to use it for.
As long as they don't pinch something else, too much.
I hope we find out the "when", soon. "Second half of 2010" is anywhere from now to Dec. 31. That's the vaguest rumor I've ever heard.
Will this be a "Tortise (sp?) and the Hare" type story.... in which the netbooks are the rabbit, and the Air is the turtle... and the turtle ultimately wins?
Tortoise. And yeah, that would be cool 
.
Discrete GPU would make it the second coming of the 12" PB and that would rock. I would like to see one without backlit keyboard and those keys available for other uses. Then it would be nicer for boot camping as well.
.Discrete GPU would make it the second coming of the 12" PB and that would rock. I would like to see one without backlit keyboard and those keys available for other uses. Then it would be nicer for boot camping as well.
Hooray, just got a new grant funded today with a laptop budgeted-- c'mon Apple, I'm ready to retire my Rev A MBA.
JT
JT
Jct:
Perhaps I'll see you at the 5th Ave. store, the first day the new Air is on sale. I imagine there will be a very short indoor line, to see the 4 sample units.... easy to find each other.
I wonder, how many on these Air discussion threads, are from planet NYC or its orbital areas?
Perhaps I'll see you at the 5th Ave. store, the first day the new Air is on sale. I imagine there will be a very short indoor line, to see the 4 sample units.... easy to find each other.
I wonder, how many on these Air discussion threads, are from planet NYC or its orbital areas?
Hah, thinkdesign, I went to the opening of the 5th Ave Store, even brought my usually blasé teenager- have a great pic of Steve Jobs standing at the doorway to welcome us in.
Tons of New Yorkers here.
JT
Reading the DigiTimes wording, closely....
The word "design" which many articles don't use... ("design and concept" in this article) leads me to suspect that the big leap forward may not be (or may not only be) a touch screen... with an iOS skin over the Mac O/S to control it. Or with just iOS.
After reading every word-choice in that article carefully... and thinking about context and history... my guess is (drum roll...) there's a carbon fiber case coming. Saves an ounce or three... and gives the marketing machine something new to talk about.
Apple's had plastic, titanium and aluminum cases so far... so case material selection is an area where they're historically open to considering innovation... and not into the foot-dragging they do in some other areas..
Of course even if they stick with aluminum, the screen size change alone means they have to redesign the case, which presumably solves the hinge area durability problem. Yay!
How can they screw it up? Easy. The simple-minded negative thinking of Jobs's documented statement "Design is about saying no." Applied to the Air, that could mean irrationally subtracting yet another jack (instead of intelligently adding jacks and/or jack types) .... or continuing what one guy on this blog a few months back called "the Air's idiotic connectivity".
Timing.... 2nd half of the year could mean as late as -- almost six months from now. Or in time for holiday shopping. Sigh. Looks like I may be buying those big spiral notebooks from the dollar store, for a few more months
The word "design" which many articles don't use... ("design and concept" in this article) leads me to suspect that the big leap forward may not be (or may not only be) a touch screen... with an iOS skin over the Mac O/S to control it. Or with just iOS.
After reading every word-choice in that article carefully... and thinking about context and history... my guess is (drum roll...) there's a carbon fiber case coming. Saves an ounce or three... and gives the marketing machine something new to talk about.
Apple's had plastic, titanium and aluminum cases so far... so case material selection is an area where they're historically open to considering innovation... and not into the foot-dragging they do in some other areas..
Of course even if they stick with aluminum, the screen size change alone means they have to redesign the case, which presumably solves the hinge area durability problem. Yay!
How can they screw it up? Easy. The simple-minded negative thinking of Jobs's documented statement "Design is about saying no." Applied to the Air, that could mean irrationally subtracting yet another jack (instead of intelligently adding jacks and/or jack types) .... or continuing what one guy on this blog a few months back called "the Air's idiotic connectivity".
Timing.... 2nd half of the year could mean as late as -- almost six months from now. Or in time for holiday shopping. Sigh. Looks like I may be buying those big spiral notebooks from the dollar store, for a few more months
The word "design" which many articles don't use... ("design and concept" in this article) leads me to suspect that the big leap forward may not be (or may not only be) a touch screen... with an iOS skin over the Mac O/S to control it. Or with just iOS.
After reading every word-choice in that article carefully... and thinking about context and history... my guess is (drum roll...) there's a carbon fiber case coming. Saves an ounce or three... and gives the marketing machine something new to talk about.
Apple's had plastic, titanium and aluminum cases so far... so case material selection is an area where they're historically open to considering innovation... and not into the foot-dragging they do in some other areas..
Of course even if they stick with aluminum, the screen size change alone means they have to redesign the case, which presumably solves the hinge area durability problem. Yay!
How can they screw it up? Easy. The simple-minded negative thinking of Jobs's documented statement "Design is about saying no." Applied to the Air, that could mean irrationally subtracting yet another jack (instead of intelligently adding jacks and/or jack types) .... or continuing what one guy on this blog a few months back called "the Air's idiotic connectivity".
Timing.... 2nd half of the year could mean as late as -- almost six months from now. Or in time for holiday shopping. Sigh. Looks like I may be buying those big spiral notebooks from the dollar store, for a few more months
I might be disappointed if Apple switches to carbon fiber. I don't think it's likely though. I don't think we're going to get 11.6" MBAs either. If we do, I think it's very likely Apple is just expanding its offerings to two or three different MBA offerings.
However, when we think of the iPad's purpose, Apple would prefer to sell more of those as they can sell a lot more content for the iPads. Therefore, an 11.6" MBA almost makes zero sense right now. There is the growing Mac market though, and people do want ultraportables. Not everyone is like the MBP buyers that think we're all stupid for getting "inferior" components at a higher price just to save 1.5 lb.
The 13.3" MBA is definitely here to stay. Look at how Apple markets the MBA as a full-sized keyboard and display. That is the whole competitive advantage of the MBA. They could save a few ounces to add a slightly more powerful battery in there, but the MBA cannot gain weight in my opinion. In addition, I don't want Apple to add battery performance, as I know it means they're adding unnecessary weight to our MBA. If they could save by using carbon fiber, I would rather use the same size/weight battery and drop the overall weight.
I know some have HATED me for being so wrong in thinking only my way is correct about the battery... however, I think a lot of people need to just buy an MBP/MB if they want a 10-hour Mac notebook battery. With the MBA, a 10-hour battery means adding nearly a pound to the MBA's weight... not good!
Scottsdale: So you think that rumor's fictitious?
Could be. I wasn't trying to evaluate it's veracity, but rather to assume for the moment that it's true and then peer through the foggy wording, to figure out what it means by "and the technologies used for the design and concept are expected to be broadly used in the company's other product lines to boost their competitiveness."
To continue as a thought exercise... we also know Apple's said 2 utterly vague things this year, about very new things coming this year. The "taking it to the next level" remark, and another that I forget, but I recall it as suggesting more than one big new product (post-iPad that is).
If we assume for the moment that the DigiTimes passage I quoted is true... then what might the next Air's contribution be to the big post-June magical revolution or revolutionary magic, whatever it is... hinted at by Jobs? Before the DigiTimes report, one could theorize it's just the server farm with whatever they link it to. But if they have no deal with movie companies... then it's just an enlargement of iTunes and MobileMe, right?
(Re: the DigiTimes quote) Apple already has a few touch screen products, so even if they eventually spread those throughout the notebook product line, that's no reason to call a 2010 touch-Air the beginning innovator of that. But NO Apple has a carbon fiber case, so an Air could be the progenitor of that. And the case's material is not constrained by Intel or any other licensor of chips, software etc.
I sure hope they keep the keyboard size, just trimming on left & right. Of course to talk about what Apple would do if they were 100% logical, is a very different conversation. So unless one is defining a personal wish list or minimum requirement list... it's all about trying to forecast the strange brew of designers' effort, CEO whims, chip wars & sourcing, innovation, preconceptions, logic, illogic, stubbornness, and brilliance that may produce the next Apple ultraportable.
Could be. I wasn't trying to evaluate it's veracity, but rather to assume for the moment that it's true and then peer through the foggy wording, to figure out what it means by "and the technologies used for the design and concept are expected to be broadly used in the company's other product lines to boost their competitiveness."
To continue as a thought exercise... we also know Apple's said 2 utterly vague things this year, about very new things coming this year. The "taking it to the next level" remark, and another that I forget, but I recall it as suggesting more than one big new product (post-iPad that is).
If we assume for the moment that the DigiTimes passage I quoted is true... then what might the next Air's contribution be to the big post-June magical revolution or revolutionary magic, whatever it is... hinted at by Jobs? Before the DigiTimes report, one could theorize it's just the server farm with whatever they link it to. But if they have no deal with movie companies... then it's just an enlargement of iTunes and MobileMe, right?
(Re: the DigiTimes quote) Apple already has a few touch screen products, so even if they eventually spread those throughout the notebook product line, that's no reason to call a 2010 touch-Air the beginning innovator of that. But NO Apple has a carbon fiber case, so an Air could be the progenitor of that. And the case's material is not constrained by Intel or any other licensor of chips, software etc.
I sure hope they keep the keyboard size, just trimming on left & right. Of course to talk about what Apple would do if they were 100% logical, is a very different conversation. So unless one is defining a personal wish list or minimum requirement list... it's all about trying to forecast the strange brew of designers' effort, CEO whims, chip wars & sourcing, innovation, preconceptions, logic, illogic, stubbornness, and brilliance that may produce the next Apple ultraportable.
I'm with Scottsdale here-- I think they will keep the 13" form factor for at least one of the MBAs.
I, for one, would be less interested in a smaller one-- I do serious work on mine, a smaller screen would make it harder, I'm not interested in the trade-off.
Digitimes doesn't have the best track record, but I really do hope something is coming.
Soon, I hope!
JT
I, for one, would be less interested in a smaller one-- I do serious work on mine, a smaller screen would make it harder, I'm not interested in the trade-off.
Digitimes doesn't have the best track record, but I really do hope something is coming.
Soon, I hope!
JT
I've been waiting for a MBA update too for a while. Here is how to know when Apple will update the Air.
Take a dart board and pin a bunch of random dates up to it. If you keep throwing eventually you will find it.
When I hit the right date my credit card is in hand.
Take a dart board and pin a bunch of random dates up to it. If you keep throwing eventually you will find it.
When I hit the right date my credit card is in hand.
If indeed the article is accurate and this will be a new MBA, I think it is likely we will see a full line of MBA's (11", 13", & 15") released this year. However, given the consensus that 13" is the minimum for a productivity machine, I think it is more likely that an 11" netbook would be more like an iPad Pro as some have suggested. It would run iOS but have an integrated keyboard. In either case, I think it is likely they would EOL the $999 Macbook. I would expect this new device to hit that price point and fill that market segment. The report indicates the new device will be a new MBA, and if we assume the reporter's sources are good, then there is optimism for an MBA update before the holidays this year (around October).
Scottsdale, with respect to battery life, have you, or anyone for that matter, weighed the batteries for both the air and 13" MBP and come up with a crude hr/oz for both? Wikipedia lists the Air at a 40 W-hr battery and the current 13" Pro as a 63.5 W-hr. What is the weight of each?
Another thing is that the Mid-2009 13" Pro had a 58 w-hr battery while maintaining the 4.5 lb weight. So Apple crammed in an ~8.5% larger battery without an apparent weight gain. That MBP had a 7-hr battery life. Without additional power savings (through changing chips), the larger battery would have given an additional 1/2 hour of power (7*60*1.085 = 455.7 min = 7.59 hrs). Quick and dirty calculations show that the other 2.5 hour gain (to get to a 10 hr battery life) would have come from power savings from new chips
With a new design that consumes less power (whether its the CPU, GPU or CPU/GPU), we might see an increase in the Air like we did with the 13" Pro, in that even without a larger battery, we could see a 20-25% jump in battery life, or a 6.5-7hr battery in the air. And that's without a weight gain.
Of course, I'm not saying it will happen, just that it may be possible.
Another thing is that the Mid-2009 13" Pro had a 58 w-hr battery while maintaining the 4.5 lb weight. So Apple crammed in an ~8.5% larger battery without an apparent weight gain. That MBP had a 7-hr battery life. Without additional power savings (through changing chips), the larger battery would have given an additional 1/2 hour of power (7*60*1.085 = 455.7 min = 7.59 hrs). Quick and dirty calculations show that the other 2.5 hour gain (to get to a 10 hr battery life) would have come from power savings from new chips
With a new design that consumes less power (whether its the CPU, GPU or CPU/GPU), we might see an increase in the Air like we did with the 13" Pro, in that even without a larger battery, we could see a 20-25% jump in battery life, or a 6.5-7hr battery in the air. And that's without a weight gain.
Of course, I'm not saying it will happen, just that it may be possible.
If it's got an 11.6" screen, an SSD, and 4GB of RAM I'm in! I highly doubt it will be released this summer though. I can see it coming in October along with an iMac refresh.
I hope you are right. Even if the rumor about the 11.6 MBA turns out to be true, I can't imagine that an 11.6 inch MBA will have any more RAM and processing power than does the current MBA, if as much. Another problem would be an undersized keyboard. Consequently, I suspect I will have no interest in buying an 11.6 inch MBA.
Keyboard size
Why not? Have a look at Sony's TT and TZ notebooks, for instance.
If the display has a 16:9 ration, then it will be 257mm wide. Apple's current notebooks add bezels of 17mm, so a small Air might be 291mm wide. The standard MBA/MBP keyboard is 274mm wide. Thus, you can expect a full-size keyboard.
Why not? Have a look at Sony's TT and TZ notebooks, for instance.
If the display has a 16:9 ration, then it will be 257mm wide. Apple's current notebooks add bezels of 17mm, so a small Air might be 291mm wide. The standard MBA/MBP keyboard is 274mm wide. Thus, you can expect a full-size keyboard.
me too! I really hope they move to using 2.5" SSDs though and it make user replaceable.
That would kill the thinness of the machine. Instead, I might expect them to move away from the 1.8" SSD and use soldered down NAND to make it even thinner.
/Jim