Apple rumored to revamp MacBook Air lineup with 15-in. model in early 2012
Apple is said to be preparing an update to its MacBook Air series in the first quarter of 2012 with the addition of a new 15-inch thin-and-light model.
The new 15-inch MacBook Air would join the existing 11.6- and 13.3-inch ultraportable notebooks offered by Apple, according to DigiTimes. Citing industry sources in the upstream supply chain, the publication reported on Monday that pilot production of the new MacBook Air models has already begun.
"Commenting on Apple's move, sources from retail channels pointed out that Apple will start dropping the price of its existing MacBook Airs before launching its series and the promotion could further boost Apple's share in the global notebook market," the report said.
The move is said to be a strategy to counter the growing lineup of Windows-based PCs built on the Ultrabook specification from Intel. Though Ultrabooks have gotten off to a slow start, PC makers hope they will be able to capitalize on the popularity of Apple's MacBook Air lineup with their own thin-and-light unibody notebooks.
Rumors of a new 15-inch notebook from Apple are not new, with one report from earlier this month claiming that such a device could appear as early as the second quarter of 2012. That report, however, did not make a distinction as to whether the notebook would be an extension of the MacBook Air lineup or a redesigned MacBook Pro.
Monday's report, however, claims that new product will in fact be a MacBook Air, and provides a sooner release date of the first quarter of 2012.
In February, AppleInsider first reported that Apple is poised to revamp its MacBook Pro lineup with a design closer to that of the MacBook Air next year. The company is believed to be interested in bringing features including instant-on, standard SSD drives, slimmer enclosures and the omission of optical drives to the MacBook Pro in future designs.
The MacBook Air has become an important part of Apple's lineup, with one report from earlier this month revealing that the product lineup now represents 28 percent of Apple's notebook shipments. That's well up from just 8 percent in the first half of 2011.
Apple last updated its 11- and 13-inch MacBook Airs in July with backlit keyboards, its new high-speed Thunderbolt port, and the latest Sandy Bridge processors from Intel.
The new 15-inch MacBook Air would join the existing 11.6- and 13.3-inch ultraportable notebooks offered by Apple, according to DigiTimes. Citing industry sources in the upstream supply chain, the publication reported on Monday that pilot production of the new MacBook Air models has already begun.
"Commenting on Apple's move, sources from retail channels pointed out that Apple will start dropping the price of its existing MacBook Airs before launching its series and the promotion could further boost Apple's share in the global notebook market," the report said.
The move is said to be a strategy to counter the growing lineup of Windows-based PCs built on the Ultrabook specification from Intel. Though Ultrabooks have gotten off to a slow start, PC makers hope they will be able to capitalize on the popularity of Apple's MacBook Air lineup with their own thin-and-light unibody notebooks.
Rumors of a new 15-inch notebook from Apple are not new, with one report from earlier this month claiming that such a device could appear as early as the second quarter of 2012. That report, however, did not make a distinction as to whether the notebook would be an extension of the MacBook Air lineup or a redesigned MacBook Pro.
Monday's report, however, claims that new product will in fact be a MacBook Air, and provides a sooner release date of the first quarter of 2012.
In February, AppleInsider first reported that Apple is poised to revamp its MacBook Pro lineup with a design closer to that of the MacBook Air next year. The company is believed to be interested in bringing features including instant-on, standard SSD drives, slimmer enclosures and the omission of optical drives to the MacBook Pro in future designs.
The MacBook Air has become an important part of Apple's lineup, with one report from earlier this month revealing that the product lineup now represents 28 percent of Apple's notebook shipments. That's well up from just 8 percent in the first half of 2011.
Apple last updated its 11- and 13-inch MacBook Airs in July with backlit keyboards, its new high-speed Thunderbolt port, and the latest Sandy Bridge processors from Intel.
Comments
I would love a 15" air to replace my 13" MacBook pro......
A quad core would be sweet too.....!
When is Ivy Bridge out?
I keep seeing articles like this one: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/ivy...tor,13753.html that have them releasing to customers in late 2011, but then see others that say they won't be selling them until March or April. Best guess honestly is that we may well see these in the hands of OEM systems by January or February, but not available at retail until March or April. Otherwise, March or April all around.
It seems totally logical to me. I wouldn't be shocked if a larger one followed.
U may right Digi, but carrying around the 17" MBP feels like ur carrying around ur own tombstone!
Best!
P.S. here's a link to the Macworld pundit showdown Podcast. It's really quite funny listening to editors talk about all things Mac. I listen to it when I go for a run or walk. Enjoy
http://www.macworld.com/article/1638...ld_pundit.html
Probably not. So pro's who can't cope with glossy will have to stick with the old MBP line still.
Fixed that for you
U may right Digi, but carrying around the 17" MBP feels like ur carrying around ur own tombstone!
Best!
P.S. here's a link to the Macworld pundit showdown Podcast. It's really quite funny listening to editors talk about all things Mac. I listen to it when I go for a run or walk. Enjoy
http://www.macworld.com/article/1638...ld_pundit.html
That would surely be why a MBA 17" could be possible, unlike a MBP it could be carried by an average human being for more than a hundred yards
Unless Ivy Bridge is early and this means a revamp of the entire notebook line (Airs and Pro's), I could see this just being the addition of a 15"Air model to the line-up.
.tsooJ
That would surely be why a MBA 17" could be possible, unlike a MBP it could be carried by an average human being for more than a hundred yards
Seriously, what kinda bullshit is this? I see this comment all the time. The 17" MBP weighs 6.6 pounds. That is not heavy. My loaded backpack when when I was in high school weighed well over that. Heck, taking a stack of D&D books to game w/friends weighs more than that. I'm 35 and have no problem w/weights like this. What is wrong w/this picture?
Pleas let it support at least 8gb of ram for Virtual machine use.......
I would love a 15" air to replace my 13" MacBook pro......
A quad core would be sweet too.....!
I hate to tell you this but it's not really possible for next year. The macbook pro doesn't actually weigh that much. If you need power what is stopping you from using one of those? The point being even next year it won't take a 35W processor unless they throttle the hell out of it, in which case the type they're using now would be a better choice.
Seriously, what kinda bullshit is this? I see this comment all the time. The 17" MBP weighs 6.6 pounds. That is not heavy. My loaded backpack when when I was in high school weighed well over that. Heck, taking a stack of D&D books to game w/friends weighs more than that. I'm 35 and have no problem w/weights like this. What is wrong w/this picture?
The difficulty of carrying an object is not just a function of its weight, it's more like the weight of an object times the distance you have to carry it. I once issued a six-pound laptop to an employee who had no problem carrying it from his car into the building and back at the end of the day. He said it wasn't too heavy at all. Then his workplace moved to the client's site downtown. He had to carry the laptop to the subway station, on the subway during the ride, then two blocks from the station to the building, then while in the elevator, then from the elevator to his desk, at which point he was almost too worn out to work. He came back for a lighter laptop. It was too heavy.
A six-pound object weighs more than a 40-pound object if you have to carry the six-pound object across town but you only have to carry the 40-pound object across the room. Whether a six-pound laptop is heavy or light depends on how far you normally have to carry it.
I hate to tell you this but it's not really possible for next year. The macbook pro doesn't actually weigh that much. If you need power what is stopping you from using one of those?
Actually Ivy Bridge will have a 4 core minimum, so yes, the MBA will be a quad core when it upgrades to Ivy Bridge.
A six-pound object weighs more than a 40-pound object if you have to carry the six-pound object across town but you only have to carry the 40-pound object across the room. Whether a six-pound laptop is heavy or light depends on how far you normally have to carry it.
Yes I'm aware of that. I've worn my backpack all over and I have 2 daughters, 3 1/2 and a 6. They both get shoulders rides for long periods. I fail to see the problem. I'm not even in especially good shape
The difficulty of carrying an object is not just a function of its weight,
......A six-pound object weighs more than a 40-pound object if you have to carry the six-pound object across town but you only have to carry the 40-pound object across the room. Whether a six-pound laptop is heavy or light depends on how far you normally have to carry it.
The amount of energy expended to move the 6 pound laptop across town is greater. (and thus more objectionable to the employee. However the two objects still weigh 6 and 40 pounds respectively. It's the end user experience that varies.
Unless of course it's a Windows machine, which automatically gains weight from all crap loaded by apps and viruses. /s
I have never understood why Apple even has the MBA brand. The Macbook should simply be what the MacBook Air is today: a lightweight consumer grade laptop. And leave the MacBook Pro at the top end: a prosumer laptop with heavier built-in features like an optical drive. The regular MacBook just seems useless to me in the mix.
Well Apple just removed the Macbook in July, altho it is still available for educational sales. It's possible we could see a rebranding of the lineup by dropping the Air, but they have built a pretty positive brandname, so I don't know how likely that would be. The optical drives might last one more round in the MBP, but if they are doing a full revamp of the appearance of the laptop line, I don't expect it to make the cut.
Actually Ivy Bridge will have a 4 core minimum, so yes, the MBA will be a quad core when it upgrades to Ivy Bridge.
Where are you getting your info? Everything I've read pegged two tiers (dual and quad) with the quads losing about 10W and the non ULV dual core cpus still running too hot for the air. Intel won't leave out something suitable for the macbook air due to their desire to push that and ultrabooks. If they did, Apple would be forced to stay with the current architecture (as they did for a while with core2 duo) which would be bad.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/dis...on_to_77W.html
That one referenced dual core recently, but they just talk about desktop chips there. I know I saw articles that mentioned the mobile chips, but I can't find them now