Sources: Apple to unveil revamped 11.6-inch MacBook Air next week
Apple next Wednesday will unveil its latest bid to cater to consumers in the market for a true sub-notebook with the introduction of a smaller, 11.6-inch MacBook Air redesigned from the ground up, AppleInsider has been able to confirm from several independent sources.
The first models, which are certain to take the form of an 11.6-inch notebook, have been rolling off Apple's Taiwanese manufacturing lines for at least a week now, placing their availability on or shortly after their introduction next Wednesday at the company's "Back to the Mac" special event, according to a person with a proven track record of pinpoint accuracy.
Though further details from that source were not reported, a second person believed to be familiar with the product says the most significant change outside of the smaller form factor -- the current MacBook Air is based around a 13.3-inch display -- will come in the form of enhanced disk storage components.
According to this person, the new models will do away with existing options for a*conventional hard-disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD) in favor something described as an "SSD Card" that lacks a traditional drive enclosure and more closely resembles a stick of RAM, yet is not easily user-replaceable.
If accurate, AppleInsider believes the component may be a proprietary SSD drive alternative designed by Apple to be integrated in Macs in a similar manner to the way flash memory is embedded in iPods, iPhones and iPads. This approach would be less expensive than a standard package intended to fit the shape of conventional HD devices, allowing the company to drive down costs and pass the savings on to the consumer.
Standardizing the new Air around flash storage could also see the notebook sport incredibly fast boot times and "instant-on" capabilities when waking up from sleep, similar to iPhones and iPads. Although the existing Air is offered with a SSD drive, the base model includes a HDD, impeding Apple's ability to offer such technology across its inaugural design of the notebook.
Externally, all indications point to the new Air sporting an enclosure that largely resembles that of the existing 13.3-inch model, but scaled down to fit the new 11.6-inch screen. However, a third person who claims to have caught a glimpse of one of the prototypes says the edges appear more defined than curved and that the side profile of the unit is slightly more wedge-shaped.
Introduced as the "world's thinnest notebook" back in January of 2008 -- a project AppleInsider was first to report on a full year in advance (1, 2, 3) -- the 13.3-inch MacBook Air drew "Oohs and Ahhs" out of the gate. Almost immediately, however, it struggled to gain traction in the market and sell in high volumes to its target audience of business travelers and students, who found its 13.3-inch footprint and $1800 price point somewhat prohibitive.
With the advent of an 11.6-inch MacBook Air, it would appear that Apple plans to address both those concerns while blurring the lines between its Mac and iOS devices -- essentially delivering its most responsive notebook ever in a form factor similar to the brisk selling iPad, yet with a full keyboard and more attractive entry-level price point.
Earlier this month, AppleInsider reported that supplies of the two existing 13.3-inch MacBook Airs had dried up throughout the company's indirect sales channels, suggesting that a complete overhaul to the line was imminent.
It was the first time that AppleInsider has witnessed this abnormal trend in regards to the Air since it began tracking availability of Apple's Mac line on a daily basis over two years ago.
The first models, which are certain to take the form of an 11.6-inch notebook, have been rolling off Apple's Taiwanese manufacturing lines for at least a week now, placing their availability on or shortly after their introduction next Wednesday at the company's "Back to the Mac" special event, according to a person with a proven track record of pinpoint accuracy.
Though further details from that source were not reported, a second person believed to be familiar with the product says the most significant change outside of the smaller form factor -- the current MacBook Air is based around a 13.3-inch display -- will come in the form of enhanced disk storage components.
According to this person, the new models will do away with existing options for a*conventional hard-disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD) in favor something described as an "SSD Card" that lacks a traditional drive enclosure and more closely resembles a stick of RAM, yet is not easily user-replaceable.
If accurate, AppleInsider believes the component may be a proprietary SSD drive alternative designed by Apple to be integrated in Macs in a similar manner to the way flash memory is embedded in iPods, iPhones and iPads. This approach would be less expensive than a standard package intended to fit the shape of conventional HD devices, allowing the company to drive down costs and pass the savings on to the consumer.
Standardizing the new Air around flash storage could also see the notebook sport incredibly fast boot times and "instant-on" capabilities when waking up from sleep, similar to iPhones and iPads. Although the existing Air is offered with a SSD drive, the base model includes a HDD, impeding Apple's ability to offer such technology across its inaugural design of the notebook.
Externally, all indications point to the new Air sporting an enclosure that largely resembles that of the existing 13.3-inch model, but scaled down to fit the new 11.6-inch screen. However, a third person who claims to have caught a glimpse of one of the prototypes says the edges appear more defined than curved and that the side profile of the unit is slightly more wedge-shaped.
Introduced as the "world's thinnest notebook" back in January of 2008 -- a project AppleInsider was first to report on a full year in advance (1, 2, 3) -- the 13.3-inch MacBook Air drew "Oohs and Ahhs" out of the gate. Almost immediately, however, it struggled to gain traction in the market and sell in high volumes to its target audience of business travelers and students, who found its 13.3-inch footprint and $1800 price point somewhat prohibitive.
With the advent of an 11.6-inch MacBook Air, it would appear that Apple plans to address both those concerns while blurring the lines between its Mac and iOS devices -- essentially delivering its most responsive notebook ever in a form factor similar to the brisk selling iPad, yet with a full keyboard and more attractive entry-level price point.
Earlier this month, AppleInsider reported that supplies of the two existing 13.3-inch MacBook Airs had dried up throughout the company's indirect sales channels, suggesting that a complete overhaul to the line was imminent.
It was the first time that AppleInsider has witnessed this abnormal trend in regards to the Air since it began tracking availability of Apple's Mac line on a daily basis over two years ago.
Comments
according to person with a proven track record of pinpoint accuracy.
a second person believed to be familiar with the product says the most significant change outside of the smaller form factor --
Wow with sources like this ... it must be a done deal!
I hope they offer the MBA in a higher screen size. 11" is just too small for me.
Will be interesting to see the new one in person though. I'd like to see how the integrated storage solution works out in real-world usage.
I thought Apple said they weren't going to do netbooks.
How does Apple do it? They continually bring out new products with the minimum amount of overlap so that I am compelled to buy all of them.
11.6 Form Factor?
I thought Apple said they weren't going to do netbooks.
NOT a netbook - rather a full-blown notebook with a small form factor.
11.6 Form Factor?
I thought Apple said they weren't going to do netbooks.
Actually... what Steve Jobs said was:
"We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk; our DNA will not let us do that"
Actually... what Steve Jobs said was:
"We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk; our DNA will not let us do that"
Either Jobs was wrong or the iPad is not a computer. Or the iPad is a piece of junk.
0. Steve will start with the usual what has happened over the past bunch of months.. He'll mention the iPad coming to AT&T and Verizon Stores.
1. Steve will announce OSX 10.7 (or 11) which will support multi-touch on screen.
2. Hello iMac touch
3. MacOSX (or ichat) to support FaceTime
4. The "one more thing" will be the new mac book air 11.6" it'll cost $999 (or maybe $1299) he'll probably say, "The world's thinnest laptop just got thinner"
http://macbookair10.net
Either Jobs was wrong or the iPad is not a computer. Or the iPad is a piece of junk.
The iPad is not a computer. Even though many other devices do computing functions they are not exactly considered computers in the general sense. Take a calculator for example, it can compute, but it is not considered a computer, same goes for my iPhone. Technically these devices are computers but in the general sense they are not.
SSD card? Could it be like the SDXC reader on the iMac, but used at the main drive?
No, there are pci-e SSD drives available on the pc side of things (don't know if they have mac support) and some people have been using them for awhile. Allowed higher storage than early SSDs. As the article said, it wouldn't be very replaceable, but Apple would be able to make more space in the case for battery and such.
There comes a point when something just is too small to be really functional. At 11.6" that's cutting it close. If this is a real product, then I'll have to pay a visit to the Apple store to find out.
Actually... what Steve Jobs said was:
"We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk; our DNA will not let us do that"
Exactly. This'll be MUCH more than $500.
11.6 Form Factor?
I thought Apple said they weren't going to do netbooks.
Are netbooks defined by the size of the display? I would have thought they were defined by the type of CPU because they came into being because of Intel?s creation of the Atom processor, which this new MBA surely won?t have.
Either Jobs was wrong or the iPad is not a computer. Or the iPad is a piece of junk.
Since when did words only have one pedantic definition? I think you know exactly what he was referring to by the use of the word ?computer?.