15 inch MacBook Air?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited March 2014
Is this in the pipeline? Is there a suspected release date?
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 37
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    I sure hope not and I think it would be a terrible idea. 15" should be reserved for pro notebooks only even if you don't consider the 15" rMBP a true notebook for professionals.
  • Reply 2 of 37
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    No rumor nor expectation.


     


    And really, what's the point? The retina MacBook Pro is thin enough, and they should be focusing on power and battery life in the future. 


     


    Laptops won't be around much longer, you know.

  • Reply 3 of 37
    dhagan4755dhagan4755 Posts: 2,152member


    I think a 15-inch MacBook Air is overdue.  I don't think laptops are going anywhere in the near term.

  • Reply 4 of 37
    dhagan4755dhagan4755 Posts: 2,152member


    Actually, I take that back.  I think it would be better if Apple increased the screen size in the 13-inch form factor to a 14-inch screen.  That would probably work better and reduce the bezel size, something Apple seems to be doing with the iPad too.

  • Reply 5 of 37
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    winter wrote: »
    I sure hope not and I think it would be a terrible idea. 15" should be reserved for pro notebooks only even if you don't consider the 15" rMBP a true notebook for professionals.

    Not all professional work requires high performance. A professional accountant, writer, photographer, lawyer, doctor etc. would value portability over performance. The 15" form factor is the most popular notebook form factor by a long way and Apple's entry point is $1800. A 15" Air would give people a more affordable entry point. They should have a 13" and 15" Air and a 13" and 15" Pro.

    They should have a 15" laptop near $1299 but it could go something like:

    13" 128GB Air $999
    13" 256GB Air $1199
    15" 128GB Air $1299
    15" 256GB Air $1499
    13" 128GB Retina $1499
    13" 256GB Retina $1699
    15" 128GB IGP Retina $1799
    15" 256GB 750M Retina $2199
    15" 512GB 750M Retina $2499
    17" 512GB 750M 4K Retina $2799
  • Reply 6 of 37
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    Laptops won't be around much longer, you know.

    And what will be in their place?
    Marvin wrote: »
    A 15" Air would give people a more affordable entry point. They should have a 13" and 15" Air and a 13" and 15" Pro.

    And kill the 11" MacBook Air? All right then, game on.
  • Reply 7 of 37
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by Winter View Post

    And what will be in their place?


     


    Tablets, of course.

  • Reply 8 of 37
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    Tablets, of course.

    That have the same power? So basically, I am going to be playing say Diablo III on a tablet?
  • Reply 9 of 37
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by Winter View Post

    That have the same power? So basically, I am going to be playing say Diablo III on a tablet?


     


    Of course. And they won't be doing any replacement until such time.

  • Reply 10 of 37
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Even I don't believe this one.

    Keyboards are a nessecity for some apps. Further voice input, the holy grail in my view only works in a limited number of environments. That and voice input needs to be integrated into the OS proper to really advance computer technology. Data entry, be it writing a novel, coding an app or something else is the one thing I see saving laptops. To a lesser extent the need to reach into the OS to leverage a computer for advance users is a big deal.

    To that end I do see iOS evolving to allow more sophisticated use of the hardware. It might not be done in the manner we are accustomed to on traditional UNIX based systems though. It will be most. Interesting to see where Apple takes iOS to minimize the need for traditional systems. I just don't see the need for a laptop being completely destroyed anytime soon. Why? Well look at how far behind iOS apps are right now, even things like Notes are more usable on Mac OS.

    One final thing, the transition to tablets depends upon the continual evolution of the silicon in the units. Here we have a problem in that getting below 14 nm looks like a problem. The usefulness of tablets will be moderated by the ability of the industry to introduce more powerful low power technology.

    Tablets, of course.
  • Reply 11 of 37
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    winter wrote: »
    And what will be in their place?
    I really don't think we need to worry to much about laptops near term. The need for a broad selection of laptops may moderate a bit but the technology in tablets will have to advance much faster than it is apparently capable of.

    It is interesting to note that Apples Mac sales really didn't do to bad even with all of the tablets they sold. Much of the post PC era is really a post Microsoft Windows era.
    And kill the 11" MacBook Air? All right then, game on.

    Why? The only reason to kill the 11" inch AIR should be because it doesn't sell well. I don't think that is a problem, however it would be most interesting to see a sales split of the entire Mac line up. That is what percentage of sales are taken by the 11" AIR. I suspect you might be surprised.

    This highlights another point, a 15" AIR should be all about the potential for sales. If they can sell enough at the right price then they should make such a machine. Given that the 15" MBP retina is sort of a 15" AIR as it is. Delete the GPU and plug in a much lower power processor and you have an AIR. At least it looks that way up against the traditional 15 MBP.

    Interestingly I think Apples laptops are ready for a shake up. That is the whole lineup could be refactored either this year or next. Haswell and the follow on chips offer a lot of potential to allow for new concepts in the AIRs,and the MBPs. A SoC Haswell for example could shrink the PC board in the AIR leading to more room for a battery for example. This also will help Apple address the cost pressure that laptops are under. For the MBPs we could see new battery technology that wold give us faster recharges and greater durability. Everything from new lithium technologies to refined zinc technologies are in the developmental stages right now.
  • Reply 12 of 37
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    Tablets, of course.





    The form factor isn't appropriate for everything. I wouldn't look for that unless their functionality can be extended by peripheral devices or embedded functionality in other electronics. There are some things that still work best on keyboards, and the screen area of an iPad can be limiting. Overall I don't mind the idea of working directly on a screen. It definitely feels more connected. Tim Cook's doppelganger in this video seems to agree with me. It's not just the size. It has a heavy stand. You can angle it comfortably and set the height in a way that doesn't force your shoulders too high if you have to sit that way for some length of time. I don't think you'll see notebooks go away anytime soon. It's more likely that they'll drop a few players. Even the PC decline is really focused on the sub $300 stuff. Much of that was displaced by phones, not tablets.

  • Reply 13 of 37
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    If they launch a 15" retina MacBook Pro with just integrated graphics at $1,499 that would count as an "Air" model in my view.
  • Reply 14 of 37
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    winter wrote: »
    If they launch a 15" retina MacBook Pro with just integrated graphics at $1,499 that would count as an "Air" model in my view.

    With a quad-core i7 non-ULV processor? Worst case it's like a 13" Macbook Pro but they don't have quad-i7s either. You have to get over the idea of integrated vs dedicated. It's about performance, not labels. If Haswell IGP performs like a 640M, it's a decent enough substitute for the previous 650M in a Retina model at a vastly lower price point ($400). Obviously the 750M will be as much as double the performance of Haswell so it would be better if they could get a 750M in at $1799 but if they can't, it's better getting rid of the old model in favour of the Retina display because that will help get the prices down and they can add the dedicated back in later on at the lower price.

    They've done it before with the 9400M and they had a 6490M, which was lower than the previous model.
  • Reply 15 of 37
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    No definitely not a ULV processor, it has to be a normal quad core processor.
  • Reply 16 of 37
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    winter wrote: »
    No definitely not a ULV processor, it has to be a normal quad core processor.

    What I mean is, how does it count as an "Air" model when it has a quad-core i7 non-ULV processor? The only thing that would distinguish it from the next model up is the 750M or equivalent dedicated GPU and that shouldn't have any feature differences with Haswell, it's just faster.
  • Reply 17 of 37
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    The rMBP is quite thin in its own right, so I view it as an Air-like model because it doesn't have a discrete GPU. Pro to me means you have a little bit more horsepower in it. You would also have a slower quad-core processor in it, maybe a 35W. I don't actually view it as an Air. Hopefully that makes sense.
  • Reply 18 of 37
    dhagan4755dhagan4755 Posts: 2,152member


    This is what really bugs me about Apple.  There are a lot of people that don't necessarily need a quad-core screamer in their computer but want a larger screen.  If Apple included a dual-core low-voltage i5 (upgradeable to i7) in a 15-inch MacBook Air it would sell like hot cakes. HOT CAKES.  It could even have an IPS screen & still be reasonably priced. Most people I know that buy the 13-inch MacBook Air/Pro are buying purely on the reliability of the Mac but have lamented to me their wishes that they made it with a bigger screen but don't want to spend a ton of dough for the 15-inch Pro model.

  • Reply 19 of 37
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    It is a serious problem, there isn't a significant differential in performance between Apples base models and the upgrades. You pay a lot of extra ????????????????for very modest differences in performance.
    dhagan4755 wrote: »
    This is what really bugs me about Apple.  There are a lot of people that don't necessarily need a quad-core screamer in their computer but want a larger screen.  If Apple included a dual-core low-voltage i5 (upgradeable to i7) in a 15-inch MacBook Air it would sell like hot cakes. HOT CAKES.  It could even have an IPS screen & still be reasonably priced. Most people I know that buy the 13-inch MacBook Air/Pro are buying purely on the reliability of the Mac but have lamented to me their wishes that they made it with a bigger screen but don't want to spend a ton of dough for the 15-inch Pro model.
  • Reply 20 of 37
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    Low voltage is not acceptable beyond the 13" MacBook Air. Once you get into the 13" MacBook Pro we need standard processors and hopefully soon we'll have quad cores to use.
Sign In or Register to comment.