I hope if Apple keeps around the 13" non-retina Air they're aggressive on the pricing. But my guess is they won't be because Schiller will want to upsell people to this new device or a 13" rMBP.
The most aggressive I see Apple going is a a $200 discount. So where I live, that becomes;
$899 (128GB)
$1,099 (256GB)
The more likely scenario, based on past history, is $100 discount.
I doubt it would be that cheap. On John Gruber's latest podcast he says he thinks it could be around $1400. This is Apple we're talking about. If Apple sold it for $999 I would be shocked.
Before the iPad was first introduced, every so called tech blogger / journalist was going on and on about how expensive it was going to be; around $800 to $900. And when Apple introduced the starting price of $499 every one shocked.
Before the Retina iMac was introduced, it was the same scenario. The same group of people were going on and on about how the pricing would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $3000 to $4000 based on the fact that Dell's 5K monitor alone was going for $2,499. Lo and behold, the Retina iMac came in at starting price of $2,499 (Where I live it has a starting price of $2,749 but that's due to exchange rate) for a powerful computer with a killer screen.
So Apple has been relatively aggressive on their pricing. That's why I don't think the price of the 12" rMBA will be what Gruber or Marco say it will be. So based on that, I stand by this pricing (or very close to it), until Apple proves me wrong;
That's nice. All those things are extremely niche uses. I've been using a Mac for 10 years, almost every day of my life, for both personal and business use, and have NEVER used "target disk mode troubleshooting". Nor have I ever needed to use one of those abominations. Almost everything can be wirelessly controlled with a companion app these days. Also, haven't you heard of a USB hub?
Seriously, it doesn't NEED any of this to be successful. Reminds me of all the "OMG iPhone/iPad doesn't have X/Y/Z so it is doomed" trash. MOST people don't actively use more than one USB port.
That's nice. All those things are extremely niche uses. I've been using a Mac for 10 years, almost every day of my life, for both personal and business use, and have NEVER used "target disk mode troubleshooting". Nor have I ever needed to use one of those abominations. Almost everything can be wirelessly controlled with a companion app these days. Also, haven't you heard of a USB hub?
Seriously, it doesn't NEED any of this to be successful. Reminds me of all the "OMG iPhone/iPad doesn't have X/Y/Z so it is doomed" trash. MOST people don't actively use more than one USB port.
"Seriously, it doesn't NEED any of this to be successful."
And I think that's the reason for being for this 12" MBA. Ben Thompson put up a great post about he feels that this device is targeted for a "Mobile First" world.
And so, the story of the (rumored) MacBook Air starts not with the Mac, but rather with the iPhone. By virtue of its omnipresence it is the most important device in most consumers’ lives. It is the first choice for getting information, for communicating, for taking pictures. It is a device that a huge majority of people could live on exclusively, and it very much stands alone: all of its essential functions have cloud counterparts, but none assume a PC.
True, it would be nice to have a keyboard to type longer emails, reports or papers, or a larger screen to watch movies, but those capabilities – again, for most people, not all – are nice to have, not essential. Moreover, all of those capabilities depend on the same cloud services as the phone: email, social networking, photos, all of it comes over the (wireless) network, not a cable.
In this world, a Mobile First world, what exactly is the point of a port? "
In a nutshell, this device is aimed at the user that was strongly looking at an iPad but felt that needed the flexibility of a desktop OS and a keyboard to be more productive.
I see the folks over at MacRumors are already freaking out over this rumored product. You know it would be refreshing if people waited until something was announced before freaking out and pissing all over it. We don't know if the prototype leaked to wonder boy Mark Gurman is the final product and if it is we don't know how Apple is going to position this product in their lineup. And we also don't know what changes (if any) they're making to the MBP line up. Too much incomplete information to be pissing all over this product already.
That's why they call it MacRumors and not MacCertainties
Thanks Apple! If the rumors be true, you've saved me $1000. Mated with a Bluetooth keyboard and with Scrivener for iOS (out soon), my iPad 3 will do everything I need in a portable device. I can take a pass on this new model. Your loss is my gain.
Why? Strip too many features from a laptop and it becomes, for all practical purposes, a tablet. The differing OSs matter not. iOS has every app I need for on the go and others beside. And mine already has a Retina screen and a battery life equal to that of a MBA or better.
It's the ability to add capacity and attach devices that makes a laptop more useful. Strip away the ability to add RAM, which you've already done, make adding more storage difficult, also done, and all that's left are the paltry few ports to attach external devices that the existing MBAs had. Take those away, as these rumors claim, and the only differences favor a far-less-expensive iPad.
And doing all this to make a MBA thinner really takes the cake. Only fools trot about with a MBA that's not well protected from falls. Placed inside a case that is two or three inches thick, that fraction of an inch difference in a MBA's thickness matters not at all.
An even thinner rMBA, i.e. including retina, would be and absolutely awesome beauty! I don't mind if the number of ports decrease. The MBA is all about portability, not connectivity – but because of that, MagSafe is imperative!
The only way I see Apple shipping this without MagSafe is if the battery life is truly incredible; like 18 hours or something.
I see the folks over at MacRumors are already freaking out over this rumored product.
To be fair 9to5's track record lately is pretty good, so my guess would be by March we'll see this product ship fairly closely to what Gurman described. What's more, I wouldn't put it past Apple to have no hub solution at all for this. Perhaps what we'll end up seeing is a 14" version of the same thing (one port; exceedingly light and thin; branded as MacBook Air) replacing the 13" Air later in the year and Apple pushing the weight and price of the rMBP down as they kill the non-Retina model.
It's safe to say, timing aside, something similar to this turn of events is a pretty safe prediction.
My wish would be though that all of this would happen soon and these 12 and 14" rMBA's would replace the existing models at their existing prices or cheaper frankly. Personally I think 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM is a perfect starting point for a notebook computer so you're already talking about $1299. It might be a great device but that's a lot of money. So no dearer than that for those specs please Apple.
I think you're half right. The 11" MBA goes away and the current 13" MBA sticks around but with a reduced price. The 13" & 15" MBP disappear. As far as pricing goes for the 12" MBA, assuming it has a Retina Display, I say it starts at $999 for 128GB and $1,199 for $256GB.
Yeah, makes no sense. The only point of focusing so much on portability with the new Airs is to allow the rMBP to exist in its own space with great differentiators for it to be.
I think the 11" and 13" would go away completely. My minor and major reasoning, respectively, is the 11" — especially at a 16:9 aspect ratio — is too small for prolonged periods of use and the 13" is far to close to the 13" MBP since it's design change. I think a 12" MBA would fill that spot beautifully, and I even suggested such an option when the HDD- and ODD-less 13" MBPs arrived on the scene, which was long before these rumours started up.
Honestly, I hope it's ARM, but I expect it to be Intel-based.
I think you're half right. The 11" MBA goes away and the current 13" MBA sticks around but with a reduced price. The 13" & 15" MBP disappear. As far as pricing goes for the 12" MBA, assuming it has a Retina Display, I say it starts at $999 for 128GB and $1,199 for $256GB.
I find it hard to believe that an older Air would have a larger screen than a better-specced equivalent.
I think Apple should have:
Mac Pro
34" iMac
21" iMac
17" MaBook Pro
15" MacBook Pro
13" MacBook Air
Mac Mini
A4-sized iPad
10" iPad
8" iPad
4.7" iPhone
4" iPhone
Focused.
Edit: for Solip, who prefers things sideways because they're easier to read for him-
Mac Pro 34" iMac 21" iMac 17" MaBook Pro 15" MacBook Pro 13" MacBook Air Mac Mini A4-sized iPad 10" iPad 8" iPad 4.7" iPhone 4" iPhone ????
I find it hard to believe that an older Air would have a larger screen than a better-specced equivalent.
I think Apple should have:
Mac Pro
30" iMac
21" iMac
17" MaBook Pro
15" MacBook Pro
13" MacBook Air
Mac Mini
A4-sized iPad
10" iPad
8" iPad
4.7" iPhone
4" iPhone
Focused.
Edit: for Solip, who prefers things sideways because they're easier to read for him-
Mac Pro 30" iMac 21" iMac 17" MaBook Pro 15" MacBook Pro 13" MacBook Air Mac Mini A4-sized iPad 10" iPad 8" iPad 4.7" iPhone 4" iPhone ????
Bigger screen does not mean better screen. Besides, who's to say that a year or so from now, the 13" MBA won't be replaced with a 13" (or 14") rMBA.
I would say it does in a laptop, because of the ergonomics. The bigger the screen, the less you're peering down at it, and the more upright you'll be sitting, not to mention the extra screen estate you'll have. The only disadvantage is weight and bulk, but as Apple already make a 13" MacBook Air, I think many would see it as a step backwards to lose an inch of screen, regardless of how much better quality it is.
I should've been more specific. I was referring to the non-retina 13" & 15" MBP that Apple still keeps around.
Oh, I didn't even know they were still available, but thought it odd they kept them around at all. I at least understand why the MBAs weren't able to be move to Retina at this point.
I highly doubt the base model would be above $1000
On John Gruber's latest podcast he says he thinks it could be around $1400.
I don't think even Apple could pull that off. No matter how you look at it the platform will be seen as a stripped down MBA. As such they will need to beat the base model 11" machines price. As for Gruber he is often full of it.
Here is the thing, the machine will not have a lot of expensive electrinics in it. The processors most likely one that Intel is targeting the tablet market with. As such the processor itself can't be that expensive. Beyond that many of the Broadwell chips are highly integrated. So you have a cheap chip set (for Intel) plus a reduced need for external hardware. This will result in a low cost motherboard, probably less than $150, hardware costs will be manageable. Throw in a display, an SSD and the case and you are good to go, the final assembled cost will likely be under $400 for a base model.
This is Apple we're talking about. If Apple sold it for $999 I would be shocked.
Maybe but Apple has been more aggressive with pricing than in the past.
Obviously the actual price will depend upon how much technology Apple spins into the mix. A LPDDR 4 memory subsystem would be very nice even if it is expensive.
Thanks Apple! If the rumors be true, you've saved me $1000. Mated with a Bluetooth keyboard and with Scrivener for iOS (out soon), my iPad 3 will do everything I need in a portable device. I can take a pass on this new model. Your loss is my gain.
Why? Strip too many features from a laptop and it becomes, for all practical purposes, a tablet. The differing OSs matter not. iOS has every app I need for on the go and others beside. And mine already has a Retina screen and a battery life equal to that of a MBA or better.
It's the ability to add capacity and attach devices that makes a laptop more useful. Strip away the ability to add RAM, which you've already done, make adding more storage difficult, also done, and all that's left are the paltry few ports to attach external devices that the existing MBAs had. Take those away, as these rumors claim, and the only differences favor a far-less-expensive iPad.
And doing all this to make a MBA thinner really takes the cake. Only fools trot about with a MBA that's not well protected from falls. Placed inside a case that is two or three inches thick, that fraction of an inch difference in a MBA's thickness matters not at all.
Don't you think you are over-reacting a little bit by getting pissed off at Apple based on a rumour?
So the current MBA's stick around as just another option for a few years? Or go away entirely?
I think the current MacBook Air models will get a "Broadwell" processor refresh since it is a die shrink of the current "Haswell" processors they are using. This will give consumers another year, at least, to get a MacBook Air with the ports currently available. It will also give 3rd-party OEMs time to get their products to support the new USB connection.
Comments
I hope if Apple keeps around the 13" non-retina Air they're aggressive on the pricing. But my guess is they won't be because Schiller will want to upsell people to this new device or a 13" rMBP.
The most aggressive I see Apple going is a a $200 discount. So where I live, that becomes;
$899 (128GB)
$1,099 (256GB)
The more likely scenario, based on past history, is $100 discount.
I doubt it would be that cheap. On John Gruber's latest podcast he says he thinks it could be around $1400. This is Apple we're talking about. If Apple sold it for $999 I would be shocked.
Before the iPad was first introduced, every so called tech blogger / journalist was going on and on about how expensive it was going to be; around $800 to $900. And when Apple introduced the starting price of $499 every one shocked.
Before the Retina iMac was introduced, it was the same scenario. The same group of people were going on and on about how the pricing would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $3000 to $4000 based on the fact that Dell's 5K monitor alone was going for $2,499. Lo and behold, the Retina iMac came in at starting price of $2,499 (Where I live it has a starting price of $2,749 but that's due to exchange rate) for a powerful computer with a killer screen.
So Apple has been relatively aggressive on their pricing. That's why I don't think the price of the 12" rMBA will be what Gruber or Marco say it will be. So based on that, I stand by this pricing (or very close to it), until Apple proves me wrong;
$999 (128GB)
$1,199 (256GB)
No thunderbolt (great for target disk mode troubleshooting), no purchase.
Only one USB port, a deal breaker. At least two required for pendrive sharing and wireless presentations with devices like this:
Keyspan Wireless Presentation Remote for Conferences, Boardrooms and Classrooms
Model Number: PR-US2
http://www.tripplite.com/wireless-presentation-remote-control-laser-pointer-2-button-mouse~PRUS2
That's nice. All those things are extremely niche uses. I've been using a Mac for 10 years, almost every day of my life, for both personal and business use, and have NEVER used "target disk mode troubleshooting". Nor have I ever needed to use one of those abominations. Almost everything can be wirelessly controlled with a companion app these days. Also, haven't you heard of a USB hub?
Seriously, it doesn't NEED any of this to be successful. Reminds me of all the "OMG iPhone/iPad doesn't have X/Y/Z so it is doomed" trash. MOST people don't actively use more than one USB port.
That's nice. All those things are extremely niche uses. I've been using a Mac for 10 years, almost every day of my life, for both personal and business use, and have NEVER used "target disk mode troubleshooting". Nor have I ever needed to use one of those abominations. Almost everything can be wirelessly controlled with a companion app these days. Also, haven't you heard of a USB hub?
Seriously, it doesn't NEED any of this to be successful. Reminds me of all the "OMG iPhone/iPad doesn't have X/Y/Z so it is doomed" trash. MOST people don't actively use more than one USB port.
"Seriously, it doesn't NEED any of this to be successful."
And I think that's the reason for being for this 12" MBA. Ben Thompson put up a great post about he feels that this device is targeted for a "Mobile First" world.
http://stratechery.com/2015/mobile-first/
The main gist of the article is at the end;
" WHY THE RUMORED MACBOOK AIR IS MOBILE FIRST
And so, the story of the (rumored) MacBook Air starts not with the Mac, but rather with the iPhone. By virtue of its omnipresence it is the most important device in most consumers’ lives. It is the first choice for getting information, for communicating, for taking pictures. It is a device that a huge majority of people could live on exclusively, and it very much stands alone: all of its essential functions have cloud counterparts, but none assume a PC.
True, it would be nice to have a keyboard to type longer emails, reports or papers, or a larger screen to watch movies, but those capabilities – again, for most people, not all – are nice to have, not essential. Moreover, all of those capabilities depend on the same cloud services as the phone: email, social networking, photos, all of it comes over the (wireless) network, not a cable.
In this world, a Mobile First world, what exactly is the point of a port? "
In a nutshell, this device is aimed at the user that was strongly looking at an iPad but felt that needed the flexibility of a desktop OS and a keyboard to be more productive.
I see the folks over at MacRumors are already freaking out over this rumored product. You know it would be refreshing if people waited until something was announced before freaking out and pissing all over it. We don't know if the prototype leaked to wonder boy Mark Gurman is the final product and if it is we don't know how Apple is going to position this product in their lineup. And we also don't know what changes (if any) they're making to the MBP line up. Too much incomplete information to be pissing all over this product already.
That's why they call it MacRumors and not MacCertainties
Why? Strip too many features from a laptop and it becomes, for all practical purposes, a tablet. The differing OSs matter not. iOS has every app I need for on the go and others beside. And mine already has a Retina screen and a battery life equal to that of a MBA or better.
It's the ability to add capacity and attach devices that makes a laptop more useful. Strip away the ability to add RAM, which you've already done, make adding more storage difficult, also done, and all that's left are the paltry few ports to attach external devices that the existing MBAs had. Take those away, as these rumors claim, and the only differences favor a far-less-expensive iPad.
And doing all this to make a MBA thinner really takes the cake. Only fools trot about with a MBA that's not well protected from falls. Placed inside a case that is two or three inches thick, that fraction of an inch difference in a MBA's thickness matters not at all.
An even thinner rMBA, i.e. including retina, would be and absolutely awesome beauty! I don't mind if the number of ports decrease. The MBA is all about portability, not connectivity – but because of that, MagSafe is imperative!
The only way I see Apple shipping this without MagSafe is if the battery life is truly incredible; like 18 hours or something.
I see the folks over at MacRumors are already freaking out over this rumored product.
To be fair 9to5's track record lately is pretty good, so my guess would be by March we'll see this product ship fairly closely to what Gurman described. What's more, I wouldn't put it past Apple to have no hub solution at all for this. Perhaps what we'll end up seeing is a 14" version of the same thing (one port; exceedingly light and thin; branded as MacBook Air) replacing the 13" Air later in the year and Apple pushing the weight and price of the rMBP down as they kill the non-Retina model.
It's safe to say, timing aside, something similar to this turn of events is a pretty safe prediction.
My wish would be though that all of this would happen soon and these 12 and 14" rMBA's would replace the existing models at their existing prices or cheaper frankly. Personally I think 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM is a perfect starting point for a notebook computer so you're already talking about $1299. It might be a great device but that's a lot of money. So no dearer than that for those specs please Apple.
I don't see any scenario where the MBPs go away.
I don't see any scenario where the MBPs go away.
Yeah, makes no sense. The only point of focusing so much on portability with the new Airs is to allow the rMBP to exist in its own space with great differentiators for it to be.
I don't see any scenario where the MBPs go away.
I should've been more specific. I was referring to the non-retina 13" & 15" MBP that Apple still keeps around.
I think the 11" and 13" would go away completely. My minor and major reasoning, respectively, is the 11" — especially at a 16:9 aspect ratio — is too small for prolonged periods of use and the 13" is far to close to the 13" MBP since it's design change. I think a 12" MBA would fill that spot beautifully, and I even suggested such an option when the HDD- and ODD-less 13" MBPs arrived on the scene, which was long before these rumours started up.
Honestly, I hope it's ARM, but I expect it to be Intel-based.
I think you're half right. The 11" MBA goes away and the current 13" MBA sticks around but with a reduced price. The 13" & 15" MBP disappear. As far as pricing goes for the 12" MBA, assuming it has a Retina Display, I say it starts at $999 for 128GB and $1,199 for $256GB.
I find it hard to believe that an older Air would have a larger screen than a better-specced equivalent.
I think Apple should have:
Mac Pro
34" iMac
21" iMac
17" MaBook Pro
15" MacBook Pro
13" MacBook Air
Mac Mini
A4-sized iPad
10" iPad
8" iPad
4.7" iPhone
4" iPhone
Focused.
Edit: for Solip, who prefers things sideways because they're easier to read for him-
Mac Pro 34" iMac 21" iMac 17" MaBook Pro 15" MacBook Pro 13" MacBook Air Mac Mini A4-sized iPad 10" iPad 8" iPad 4.7" iPhone 4" iPhone ????
I find it hard to believe that an older Air would have a larger screen than a better-specced equivalent.
I think Apple should have:
Mac Pro
30" iMac
21" iMac
17" MaBook Pro
15" MacBook Pro
13" MacBook Air
Mac Mini
A4-sized iPad
10" iPad
8" iPad
4.7" iPhone
4" iPhone
Focused.
Edit: for Solip, who prefers things sideways because they're easier to read for him-
Mac Pro 30" iMac 21" iMac 17" MaBook Pro 15" MacBook Pro 13" MacBook Air Mac Mini A4-sized iPad 10" iPad 8" iPad 4.7" iPhone 4" iPhone ????
Bigger screen does not mean better screen. Besides, who's to say that a year or so from now, the 13" MBA won't be replaced with a 13" (or 14") rMBA.
I find it hard to believe that an older Air would have a larger screen than a better-specced equivalent.
I think Apple should have:
Mac Pro
30" iMac
21" iMac
17" MaBook Pro
15" MacBook Pro
13" MacBook Air
Mac Mini
A4-sized iPad
10" iPad
8" iPad
4.7" iPhone
4" iPhone
Focused.
Edit: for Solip, who prefers things sideways because they're easier to read for him-
Mac Pro 30" iMac 21" iMac 17" MaBook Pro 15" MacBook Pro 13" MacBook Air Mac Mini A4-sized iPad 10" iPad 8" iPad 4.7" iPhone 4" iPhone ????
Bigger screen does not mean better screen. Besides, who's to say that a year or so from now, the 13" MBA won't be replaced with a 13" (or 14") rMBA.
I would say it does in a laptop, because of the ergonomics. The bigger the screen, the less you're peering down at it, and the more upright you'll be sitting, not to mention the extra screen estate you'll have. The only disadvantage is weight and bulk, but as Apple already make a 13" MacBook Air, I think many would see it as a step backwards to lose an inch of screen, regardless of how much better quality it is.
Oh, I didn't even know they were still available, but thought it odd they kept them around at all. I at least understand why the MBAs weren't able to be move to Retina at this point.
Here is the thing, the machine will not have a lot of expensive electrinics in it. The processors most likely one that Intel is targeting the tablet market with. As such the processor itself can't be that expensive. Beyond that many of the Broadwell chips are highly integrated. So you have a cheap chip set (for Intel) plus a reduced need for external hardware. This will result in a low cost motherboard, probably less than $150, hardware costs will be manageable. Throw in a display, an SSD and the case and you are good to go, the final assembled cost will likely be under $400 for a base model.
Maybe but Apple has been more aggressive with pricing than in the past.
Obviously the actual price will depend upon how much technology Apple spins into the mix. A LPDDR 4 memory subsystem would be very nice even if it is expensive.
Thanks Apple! If the rumors be true, you've saved me $1000. Mated with a Bluetooth keyboard and with Scrivener for iOS (out soon), my iPad 3 will do everything I need in a portable device. I can take a pass on this new model. Your loss is my gain.
Why? Strip too many features from a laptop and it becomes, for all practical purposes, a tablet. The differing OSs matter not. iOS has every app I need for on the go and others beside. And mine already has a Retina screen and a battery life equal to that of a MBA or better.
It's the ability to add capacity and attach devices that makes a laptop more useful. Strip away the ability to add RAM, which you've already done, make adding more storage difficult, also done, and all that's left are the paltry few ports to attach external devices that the existing MBAs had. Take those away, as these rumors claim, and the only differences favor a far-less-expensive iPad.
And doing all this to make a MBA thinner really takes the cake. Only fools trot about with a MBA that's not well protected from falls. Placed inside a case that is two or three inches thick, that fraction of an inch difference in a MBA's thickness matters not at all.
Don't you think you are over-reacting a little bit by getting pissed off at Apple based on a rumour?