I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what a future revision of the macbook air might improve on- The major thing holding me back is the lack o f 15.4" screen like on the mbp.
It's hard to figure out what Apple's marketing strategy would be with a 15.4" MacBook Air in the mix. And then after that, then what? A 17" MacBook Air?
I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what a future revision of the macbook air might improve on- The major thing holding me back is the lack of 15.4" screen like on the mbp.
I'm not so certain that there is a future in the AIR product line. I expect an off spring that combines the best genetics of AIR with a MBP. That device will have a few more ports and maybe be slightly thicker to afford a bigger battery and better cooling.
Don't get me wrong I like some of the concepts embodied in Mac Book Air but think overall execution was pathetic. The issue that cries out the most is the pathetic lack of I/O ports. At the very least you need two USB ports and an Ethernet port. The other problem was the focus on thinnest at the expense of actually dealing with proper cooling of the CPU/GPU.
As to the cooling issue it appears that Apple has screwed up the latest revision of Air even more as the "faster" CPU actually is performing slower in many bench marks. This attributed to cooling issues.
So I could see Apple morphing the MBP into a more AIR like device but at the same time retaining its better features. That would include dropping the CD/optical drive and repositioning a large batter in such a way that the mother board is on one side of the laptop and the I/O is on the other. This would allow some thinning of the device but at the same time allow for a large battery. The biggest problem today is dealing with the legacy Ethernet port and its thickness. There are other arraignments obviously but the point is the MBP & Air mating could produce a very viable offspring by retaining the best features of each. Maybe it would replace Air entirely.
As for the 15 inch screen don't count on it. I see Air actually having a family member with a smaller screen before the 15". I don't think the product was ever intended to compete against fuller featured machines. So no matter what I've described above I don't see a strong push form Apple in this direction, nor do I see a strong public demand. Air pretty much shot its wad with early adopters and now is on life support.
The current MacBook Air has quite a huge bezel around the screen.
Apple could almost (if not fully) fit a 15" screen into it when reducing that bezel.
It is likely that Apple could have a custom made screen done to fit the Air form factor. Expensive to some extent but this should be highly doable with a refined OLED plant.
Quote:
OLEDs can be made with almost no bezel and so thin that a 15" OLED might fit into the current MacBook Air case.
What if Apple were to use the rumored 15" OLED display to such an extent?
the first thing here is what 15" OLED screen. There are all sorts of OLED rumors floating about but I've not seen specific 15" ones. However considering this is a common screen size would anybody be surprised?
Quote:
Or in other words, using a 15" OLED would:
a) not require any MacBook Air case redesign (except for the screen bezel).
b) fit right in with the 'upmarket' MacBook Air niche.
c) nicely work as new, prestigious high-end MacBook Air model with limited quantities.
Economic conditions are not rip for that type of marketing any more. Apple needs OLED screens to put them into a position to market better products and more innovative products.
Quote:
In that respect, a 15" MacBook Air would be doable if it manages to use the current case design.
And as a result a 17" MBA would never happen, as this would definitely require a case redesign, which IMHO is unlikely.
A couple of months ago I would have argued that you are right about the case but now we all know better than that. The recent MBP revamp clearly shows that Apple is willing and able to quickly phase out what would be a current design for something better. In the case of products that use the Unibody architecture in many cases all we are talking about is reprogramming CNC and automated machinery.
Quote:
If it happens, it would be a rather expensive high-end model.
But I can see the Air benefiting greatly from the reduced power consumption of an OLED.
Every portable device Apple makes could benefit.
Quote:
And being the first OLED laptop from Apple, this new MacBook Air would nicely set itself apart again from other MacBooks.
Honestly it is not enough to spur sales of the current model. If Apple goes OLED they need to do so across the board as fast as they can. Simply put there is more to a computer than its screen and there is too little in Air to appeal to a large number of users.
However if that new OLED screen comes on an AIR platform that takes into account some of Airs short comings, then Apple might have something salable on its hands.
I fully agree that Apple needs to get OLEDs into all its laptops since all can benefit from the lower power consumption, perfect contrast and viewing angles.
However OLED yields are still very low, and there isn't even any single 15" panel in production (only demo units), let alone 17".
The largest production sizes are 7.6" as used by the Kodak OLED Photoframe. (Sony uses an 11" panel in its XEL-1, but that panel is not available to other companies.)
So moving to OLED across the board is not possible yet.
Some rumors suggested the new Apple tablet could use that rumored 15" OLED, but I do not see this as the tablet would have to have a price too low for any OLED display to be included.
A revamped MacBook Air design is the only one I can think of, really.
The 15" MacBook Pro is Apple's bread and butter laptop and they are usually last to get new technology to be 100% sure they're not mass-producing a dud. (E.g. the unibody design or the new battery design both the 15" MBP got last).
So I do not see the 15" getting an OLED display first. No way.
Perhaps as a built-to-order special edition, but this would make the 15" MBP more special than the 17" and I cannot see that either.
A revamped MacBook Air is really the only product line at Apple I can see using an OLED at the moment.
Comments
Apple could almost (if not fully) fit a 15" screen into it when reducing that bezel.
OLEDs can be made with almost no bezel and so thin that a 15" OLED might fit into the current MacBook Air case.
What if Apple were to use the rumored 15" OLED display to such an extent?
Or in other words, using a 15" OLED would:
a) not require any MacBook Air case redesign (except for the screen bezel).
b) fit right in with the 'upmarket' MacBook Air niche.
c) nicely work as new, prestigious high-end MacBook Air model with limited quantities.
In that respect, a 15" MacBook Air would be doable if it manages to use the current case design.
And as a result a 17" MBA would never happen, as this would definitely require a case redesign, which IMHO is unlikely.
If it happens, it would be a rather expensive high-end model.
But I can see the Air benefiting greatly from the reduced power consumption of an OLED.
And being the first OLED laptop from Apple, this new MacBook Air would nicely set itself apart again from other MacBooks.
I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what a future revision of the macbook air might improve on- The major thing holding me back is the lack of 15.4" screen like on the mbp.
I'm not so certain that there is a future in the AIR product line. I expect an off spring that combines the best genetics of AIR with a MBP. That device will have a few more ports and maybe be slightly thicker to afford a bigger battery and better cooling.
Don't get me wrong I like some of the concepts embodied in Mac Book Air but think overall execution was pathetic. The issue that cries out the most is the pathetic lack of I/O ports. At the very least you need two USB ports and an Ethernet port. The other problem was the focus on thinnest at the expense of actually dealing with proper cooling of the CPU/GPU.
As to the cooling issue it appears that Apple has screwed up the latest revision of Air even more as the "faster" CPU actually is performing slower in many bench marks. This attributed to cooling issues.
So I could see Apple morphing the MBP into a more AIR like device but at the same time retaining its better features. That would include dropping the CD/optical drive and repositioning a large batter in such a way that the mother board is on one side of the laptop and the I/O is on the other. This would allow some thinning of the device but at the same time allow for a large battery. The biggest problem today is dealing with the legacy Ethernet port and its thickness. There are other arraignments obviously but the point is the MBP & Air mating could produce a very viable offspring by retaining the best features of each. Maybe it would replace Air entirely.
As for the 15 inch screen don't count on it. I see Air actually having a family member with a smaller screen before the 15". I don't think the product was ever intended to compete against fuller featured machines. So no matter what I've described above I don't see a strong push form Apple in this direction, nor do I see a strong public demand. Air pretty much shot its wad with early adopters and now is on life support.
Dave
The current MacBook Air has quite a huge bezel around the screen.
Apple could almost (if not fully) fit a 15" screen into it when reducing that bezel.
It is likely that Apple could have a custom made screen done to fit the Air form factor. Expensive to some extent but this should be highly doable with a refined OLED plant.
OLEDs can be made with almost no bezel and so thin that a 15" OLED might fit into the current MacBook Air case.
What if Apple were to use the rumored 15" OLED display to such an extent?
the first thing here is what 15" OLED screen. There are all sorts of OLED rumors floating about but I've not seen specific 15" ones. However considering this is a common screen size would anybody be surprised?
Or in other words, using a 15" OLED would:
a) not require any MacBook Air case redesign (except for the screen bezel).
b) fit right in with the 'upmarket' MacBook Air niche.
c) nicely work as new, prestigious high-end MacBook Air model with limited quantities.
Economic conditions are not rip for that type of marketing any more. Apple needs OLED screens to put them into a position to market better products and more innovative products.
In that respect, a 15" MacBook Air would be doable if it manages to use the current case design.
And as a result a 17" MBA would never happen, as this would definitely require a case redesign, which IMHO is unlikely.
A couple of months ago I would have argued that you are right about the case but now we all know better than that. The recent MBP revamp clearly shows that Apple is willing and able to quickly phase out what would be a current design for something better. In the case of products that use the Unibody architecture in many cases all we are talking about is reprogramming CNC and automated machinery.
If it happens, it would be a rather expensive high-end model.
But I can see the Air benefiting greatly from the reduced power consumption of an OLED.
Every portable device Apple makes could benefit.
And being the first OLED laptop from Apple, this new MacBook Air would nicely set itself apart again from other MacBooks.
Honestly it is not enough to spur sales of the current model. If Apple goes OLED they need to do so across the board as fast as they can. Simply put there is more to a computer than its screen and there is too little in Air to appeal to a large number of users.
However if that new OLED screen comes on an AIR platform that takes into account some of Airs short comings, then Apple might have something salable on its hands.
Dave
The first thing here is what 15" OLED screen. There are all sorts of OLED rumors floating about but I've not seen specific 15" ones.
There haven't really been specific, exact rumors. This was one of the first one, from April.
I fully agree that Apple needs to get OLEDs into all its laptops since all can benefit from the lower power consumption, perfect contrast and viewing angles.
However OLED yields are still very low, and there isn't even any single 15" panel in production (only demo units), let alone 17".
The largest production sizes are 7.6" as used by the Kodak OLED Photoframe. (Sony uses an 11" panel in its XEL-1, but that panel is not available to other companies.)
So moving to OLED across the board is not possible yet.
Some rumors suggested the new Apple tablet could use that rumored 15" OLED, but I do not see this as the tablet would have to have a price too low for any OLED display to be included.
A revamped MacBook Air design is the only one I can think of, really.
The 15" MacBook Pro is Apple's bread and butter laptop and they are usually last to get new technology to be 100% sure they're not mass-producing a dud. (E.g. the unibody design or the new battery design both the 15" MBP got last).
So I do not see the 15" getting an OLED display first. No way.
Perhaps as a built-to-order special edition, but this would make the 15" MBP more special than the 17" and I cannot see that either.
A revamped MacBook Air is really the only product line at Apple I can see using an OLED at the moment.
Any other ideas?