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Would you pay $3000+ for a "Premium Range" MacBook Air with the following specs?
- Thread starter Jobsian
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The top-end one right now is $1700. That's for a 1.8 GHz Core i7 (on either screen size,) 4 GB RAM, and 256 GB SSD. Figure add $600 to make the SSD 512 GB (the same incremental cost as on the MacBook Pro.) You're up to $2300, using Apple's own pricing. Another $200 to move to 8 GB RAM, and you're up to $2500.
The only Apple product right now that is configurable with either Intel graphics or discrete graphics in the same basic model is the Mac Mini. You pay $200 to get a better CPU, more RAM, and the discrete graphics. (In this case, a rather low-end Radeon 6630M, though.) Apple is not using nVidia right now on any product, for reasons unknown, so figure you're not going to get that, period. But you might get the low-end/low-power Radeon 6630M. Call it $100, since there are other things in the Mini upgrade to drive up the cost. We're at $2600, using Apple's own established pricing plus a guess.
USB 3.0 won't happen until Intel supports it. Once Intel supports it, it will be standard. So it's useless to talk about it at all right now.
The screens are already higher-res than any of the other Mac displays Apple makes, but for the sake of argument, let's toss in a "one step higher" screen, higher quality. For the 15" MacBook Pro, you pay $100 more for just higher resolution, or $150 more for higher-res plus anti-glare. Let's assume that the cost add of anti-glare equals the cost of being higher-quality 24-bit IPS, so add $150. We're now up to $2750.
The battery is already at the max technology can provide in the form factor. Adding a discrete GPU will decrease it somewhat, so asking for more battery life will involve a form factor re-do. Let's assume they do away with the tapered edges and give it squared-off edges like the Pro series. That will add a little bit more usable space inside without having to increase thickness. I'll go on a limb and declare that would be enough to slip in slightly more battery to hit your numbers. Let's also tack on $50 for the extra battery capacity. $2800.
Expensive cooling tech? Whatever, if they redesign it, they're going to have to redesign it and the cooling. Calling this a wash.
3G/LTE? Not likely, although it is clamored for. If we use the iPad pricing, we could expect to see 3G add $130. Now we're up to $2930. When we add in the fact that it would require quite a bit of re-jiggering and possibly extremely expensive increased tech for the higher-density RAM and SSD chips needed to support 8 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD in the existing rough form factor, it would probably add more than $70.
So $3000 is *NOT* an unreasonable price to ask of Apple for what you ask, or at least the parts that have any hope at all of happening.
Would *I* pay it? No. I've paid $3000 for a laptop before (first-generation MacBook Pro.) I won't again. It has served me well for over 5 years now, and my wife will continue to use it until it dies; but even now, there are very few things it cannot do, with five year old hardware. I also have an original MacBook, which cost $1000 new a few months after the MacBook Pro. There is almost nothing the Pro can do now that the MacBook can't. Yes, when they were new, then-new games made a big difference; but for the use-case of them now, they are basically identical. And at this point, I have abandoned both as my primary portable, using a $500 iPad.
My next portable, if I decide that an iPad won't suffice, will be a minimum-spec Air. *MAYBE* I'll increase the RAM to 4 GB, if Apple doesn't default to that whenever I get around to upgrading.
(Now, my desktop on the other hand......)
Whoa, great write-up and actually detailed analysis, unlike my stab in the dark. RE the discrete GPU and battery decrease, are you also factoring in a (hypothetical) disabled Intel GPU?
And I can see what you mean about your desktop...screamer!
And I can see what you mean about your desktop...screamer!
My Air is already close to or within my definition of "Premium Range", and I'm no hipster, so I don't care if it's mainstream or not. However, the price was nearly $2700 where I live, so yes - I would certainly get those extra specs if I only had to shell out $300 extra.
Yes. Disabling the Intel GPU won't SAVE any battery life. The discrete GPU will absolutely use more power than the integrated, no matter what. Someone did a comparison of the MacBook Pro, which has BOTH Intel and discrete graphics, comparing the battery life when you force Intel graphics only vs. when you force discrete graphics only. (Which forces Intel graphics off.) There was a more than 15% battery life cut. (From about 7 hours to a little less than 6.)
Although rather than completely disabling the Intel graphics, it would just make more sense to use switching graphics like the MacBook Pro. The CPU has graphics on it, might as well use them when you can to save power.
Finally, the processor allocates power dynamically between the CPU and GPU as needed. If you disable the graphics completely, it will just allow all of the power to be used by the CPU, allowing maximum Turbo Boost as often as possible, with this being especially true on the low-power CPUs in the Air. So you may not see *ANY* improvement in battery life, it may be *ONLY* the decrease, since your CPU/GPU will use the same amount of power - just dedicated solely to the CPU instead of split - while the discrete GPU uses extra power.
I would agree with the smaller bezel(is very possible in the 13in Air as LG has a thin bezel IPS screen in their P330 laptop), but not at 3k. Better yet, Apple should move to the 13in model down to 13.1in and use the 1600x900 and 1080p 8bit TN displays the Vaio Z offer, and make the bezel and whole device smaller. I'd pay 2.1k for Air like that with a 256gb ssd and USB 3.0(we have a couple usb 3.0 externals at work that I would see a nice speed boost with a 3.0 capable notebook).