Rumor: Apple to unveil redesigned MacBook Airs, new 15" model at WWDC 2016

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  • Reply 81 of 111
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    spheric wrote: »

    They have, but they've called it the "MacBook" and had to price it to accomodate the display. 

    It will replace the MacBook Air series once it can come down in price. 

    I keep hearing this refrain from the Apple geeks, but long term I see the opposite happening. I see the Air replacing the Pro. Apple wants the mainstream market, they want thin and light and MBAs get more powerful every year. Eventually the lines between MBP and MBA blur so Apple kills the less sexy machine, thins the sexier one and gives it all the mod trimmings such as new keyboard, new trackpad, new display and eventually—yes, eventually, an Apple chip.
  • Reply 82 of 111
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    ireland wrote: »
    You make it lighter by making it thinner and reducing bezels. You make it thinner with keyboard tech. Not as thin as MacBook but perhaps new Magic keyboard thin.

    Existing MBA didn't get force touch because they want the new models to stand out on their own. They'll call the new Machines probably the MBA with Retina display.

    Then why didn't they do that this year, and/or why did they create the MacBook? Right now the MacBook is more expensive than the MacBook Air. Are these unicorn MacBook Air models going to be more expensive than the current MacBook Air or MacBook? If not then who in their right mind would buy a MacBook? If yes then how is this phantom MacBook Air going to be much different than the MacBook Pro? It sounds like a complete mess of a lineup to me.
  • Reply 83 of 111
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    ireland wrote: »
    I keep hearing this refrain from the Apple geeks, but long term I see the opposite happening. I see the Air replacing the Pro. Apple wants the mainstream market, they want thin and light and MBAs get more powerful every year. Eventually the lines between MBP and MBA blur so Apple kills the less sexy machine, thins the sexier one and gives it all the mod trimmings such as new keyboard, new trackpad, new display and eventually—yes, eventually, an Apple chip.

    I agree with you that the two will merge but I think they're going to keep the Pro moniker. One reason I think that is because they just released a brand-new product called iPad Pro. Why would they get rid of the Pro moniker for laptops when they just added it to their iPad line. If anything I see them getting rid of the iPad Air/mini moniker and just having iPad and iPad Pro. And then MacBook and MacBook Pro.
    canukstorm
  • Reply 84 of 111
    frank777frank777 Posts: 5,839member

    The biggest problem with this leak is the timing.

     

    If Apple keeps the Air/Pro laptop lineup* as is for the next six months, they will be openly mocked by their own customers. And they will thoroughly deserve it.

     

    You can't announce a transition to Thunderbolt 3 and then take years to implement it on your Pro machines. Not to mention that Dell now has a compelling 15" laptop with most of the stuff that is supposed to be coming on the MacBook Pro.

     

    I am surprised that we're into the Christmas shopping season with the current lineup. But we can blame that on Intel. If we're waiting till WWDC '16, that belongs to Apple.

     

     

    *I'm referencing the Air and Pro together because I think it's unlikely that Apple will keep the Air as a separate product line next year. These are new 13" and 15" MacBook Pros in development.

  • Reply 85 of 111
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,544member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post





    I keep hearing this refrain from the Apple geeks, but long term I see the opposite happening. I see the Air replacing the Pro. Apple wants the mainstream market, they want thin and light and MBAs get more powerful every year. Eventually the lines between MBP and MBA blur so Apple kills the less sexy machine, thins the sexier one and gives it all the mod trimmings such as new keyboard, new trackpad, new display and eventually—yes, eventually, an Apple chip.



    As it is, the MacBook and MB Pro series are being kept up-to-date, with retina displays and Force Touch/taptic engine. The MacBook Air is being kept as "cheap" entry-level series. 

     

    It doesn't look like the Air is being honed and advanced to supplant the Pro; it's merely being kept around until the newer MacBook can be sold at the entry-level price point.

  • Reply 86 of 111
    canukstorm wrote: »
    I guess if Apple if uses one their custom-designed A-series SoC's.  I'm not so sure about Intel Core M processors

    I think that idea needs to be considered as a possibility for their lower-end machines in the near-ish future.
  • Reply 87 of 111

    Quite surprised at the variety of opinions on this board, but that's a good thing to stimulate discussion.  Even more surprising though is the number of posters saying they'd like a "Retina MacBook Air".  I assume what they'd like is an Air with the same overall size/weight/power of today's model, just with a higher resolution screen.  There is one glaring problem with this design: battery life.  Put a retina screen on today's Air and leave everything else the same, and you get significantly less battery life out of it.  I don't think Apple will let that happen since battery life has only increased over the past decade.  That said, to get a laptop with a Retina screen and similar performance characteristics as the Air, you'd pretty much have something the size of a Pro.  I think the writing is on the wall: the Air is on its way out.  Maybe it gets a Skylake upgrade in the next few months, at most.  The future lineup as I see it: 12" MB, 14" MB and MBP (that use the same screen), and 16" MBP.

  • Reply 88 of 111
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    frank777 wrote: »
    The biggest problem with this leak is the timing.

    If Apple keeps the Air/Pro laptop lineup* as is for the next six months, they will be openly mocked by their own customers. And they will thoroughly deserve it.

    You can't announce a transition to Thunderbolt 3 and then take years to implement it on your Pro machines. Not to mention that Dell now has a compelling 15" laptop with most of the stuff that is supposed to be coming on the MacBook Pro.

    I am surprised that we're into the Christmas shopping season with the current lineup. But we can blame that on Intel. If we're waiting till WWDC '16, that belongs to Apple.


    [SIZE=11px]*I'm referencing the Air and Pro together because I think it's unlikely that Apple will keep the Air as a separate product line next year. These are new 13" and 15" MacBook Pros in development.[/SIZE]

    All the more reason I think a redesign of the MacBook Pro is coming. If Apple was going to just spec bump them with Skylake they probably could've done that already, at least on the 13" model.
  • Reply 89 of 111
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    entropys wrote: »
    Seriously? Another eight months before we get skylake?
    This is the first thing I thought of. I still believe Apple will release something early in 2016 as soon as Intel has the proper chips for sale.
    Just whack a retina display and 8GB ram in the current MBA form factor and I will buy three. Immediately.
    I wouldn't myself. You really want to see a processor or in actuality a GPU upgrade.
    Problem is I need to purchase them for Christmas. Otherwise, at the moment I am seriously looking at dell XPS or HP spectre x360. Both with Skylake, decent amount of RAM and retina like displays. Same price range.

    Nice machines if you want to run Linux or are even depart enough to run Windows.
  • Reply 90 of 111
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    rogifan wrote: »
    The Air will hang around until the rMB comes down In price and the rMBP gets a weight reduction. Though I could see Apple getting rid of the 13" and keeping the 11" around as an entry level laptop. No way Apple waits until WWDC to update their laptop line.

    The Air will hang around for a long time as a mid range machine. It will be several years before fanless tech can catch up to the point that Mac Books can reasonably replace Airs for the average user. Right now Air provides a nice performance point between the fanless "netbook" and the MBP's.
  • Reply 91 of 111
    wizard69 wrote: »
    I still believe Apple will release something early in 2016 as soon as Intel has the proper chips for sale.

    We need to consider it's not when Intel has the proper Skylake chips for sale, it's when they have enough of the proper Skylake chips for sale. We all know how people wait and buy new Macs right out of the gate. Do any other PC OEMs have multiple buyer guides online detailing various product release dates, averages, and whether you should, buy or wait? Not to my knowledge.

    Also, as I recall (I don't have hard data) when Apple does a Mac casing change they tend to let the old model linger longer than useful.
  • Reply 92 of 111
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    macapfel wrote: »
    The distinction between MB and MBA is just confusing. To the non-Apple fan, but simply Apple user, the MB seems to be the MBA. All people I know don't get the difference. And I don't get it either.

    This is the most asinine statement I've seen yet in this thread. The MB is fan free technology that suffers performance wise because of it. The Airs on the other hand are effectively midrange performance machines.
  • Reply 93 of 111
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    jawadde wrote: »

    even reading this is confusing, let alone explaining to a non-experienced buyer what their best choice is. I've bene using macs professionally for 20 years and still find it hard at the moment to choose a new laptop for my teenage kids ! 

    Why are you making the choice in the first place. If you can't understand the difference between the machines, if is pretty damn obvious, you have no business making choices for somebody else.
  • Reply 94 of 111
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    rogifan wrote: »
    You said ARM based, hence why I asked.
    Why do people even ask. The processor architecture doesn't imply operating system. Just look a the number of processor architectures Linux runs on.
    I know in people's fantasy land they have Apple making ARM based Macs but I'm still skeptical.
    Long term it would be a good idea to leave Intel behind for main stream users. Fantasy? Maybe but long term SoC technology will demand that Apple have access to the silicon. It is very possible that Apple may team up with either Intel or AMD to deliver such tech. That is custom i86 chips with Apple tech on the SoC, this is the only alternative Apple has to going ARM in the Macs.
    If that was in the cards wouldn't the 12" MacBook have been the perfect candidate?

    You would think but you also need to look at this long term. Plus Apples ARM tech is just getting there and MB was designed a couple of years ago.
  • Reply 95 of 111
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    wizard69 wrote: »
    The Air will hang around for a long time as a mid range machine. It will be several years before fanless tech can catch up to the point that Mac Books can reasonably replace Airs for the average user. Right now Air provides a nice performance point between the fanless "netbook" and the MBP's.

    Maybe but I don't see it being redesigned and certainly not getting a Retina display. If it did it would most likely be more expensive with worse battery life and would kill rMB and 13" rMBP sales.
  • Reply 96 of 111
    I really don't care. They've made the MacBooks unreliably thin. I care about the Mac Pro. No talk about that.
  • Reply 97 of 111
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    rogifan wrote: »
    ireland wrote: »
    I keep hearing this refrain from the Apple geeks, but long term I see the opposite happening. I see the Air replacing the Pro. Apple wants the mainstream market, they want thin and light and MBAs get more powerful every year. Eventually the lines between MBP and MBA blur so Apple kills the less sexy machine, thins the sexier one and gives it all the mod trimmings such as new keyboard, new trackpad, new display and eventually—yes, eventually, an Apple chip.

    I agree that the two will merge but I think they're going to keep the Pro moniker. One reason I think that is because they just released a brand-new product called iPad Pro. Why would they get rid of the Pro moniker for laptops when they just added it to their iPad line. If anything I see them getting rid of the iPad Air/mini moniker and just having iPad and iPad Pro. And then MacBook and MacBook Pro.

    The spec of the 13" Macbook Pro and 13" Air are:

    13" Air: 1.6GHz i5, 4GB, 128GB, 1.08kg, non-Retina = $999
    13" MBP: 2.7GHz i5, 8GB, 128GB, 1.58kg, Retina = $1299

    To make the 13" Air redundant, they just need to drop the pro weight by around 1/3 and bring the price down a little. If they had added a Retina display to the Air, it would be more expensive anyway. SSD prices have dropped so they can probably start the 13" Pro at $1199 and taper it a bit and drop the old $1099 13" cMBP model. The 12" Macbook would be priced the same at $1199 and buyers choose between portability and performance.

    They can make a 14"/15" Macbook, priced lower then the 15" Pro, say $1499 and the 15" Pro brought down to $1899. The Core M GPU might have struggled to drive a larger 15" display but Skylake's GPU should handle this ok so a fanless 15" with Skylake Core M should work.

    To hit the entry price of the $899 Air, they'd just leave the old 11" Air as an option and that covers the range $899-1199. So you get:

    $899 11" Air, 4GB, 128GB
    $1099 11" Air, 4GB, 256GB
    $1199 12" MB, 8GB, 256GB (maybe 128GB)
    $1499 15" MB, 8GB, 256GB
    $1199 13" rMBP (updated design), 8GB, 128GB
    $1899 15" rMBP (updated design), 8GB 256GB

    Hopefully they'll add another USB port to the MB on the other side. If they implement wireless charging eventually then that will help sell the higher models over the entry Air as well as the Retina displays. Anyone previously in the market for a powerful Retina Air would get the 13" rMBP with the updated design.
  • Reply 98 of 111
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Marvin wrote: »
    The spec of the 13" Macbook Pro and 13" Air are:

    13" Air: 1.6GHz i5, 4GB, 128GB, 1.08kg, non-Retina = $999
    13" MBP: 2.7GHz i5, 8GB, 128GB, 1.58kg, Retina = $1299

    To make the 13" Air redundant, they just need to drop the pro weight by around 1/3 and bring the price down a little. If they had added a Retina display to the Air, it would be more expensive anyway. SSD prices have dropped so they can probably start the 13" Pro at $1199 and taper it a bit and drop the old $1099 13" cMBP model. The 12" Macbook would be priced the same at $1199 and buyers choose between portability and performance.

    They can make a 14"/15" Macbook, priced lower then the 15" Pro, say $1499 and the 15" Pro brought down to $1899. The Core M GPU might have struggled to drive a larger 15" display but Skylake's GPU should handle this ok so a fanless 15" with Skylake Core M should work.

    To hit the entry price of the $899 Air, they'd just leave the old 11" Air as an option and that covers the range $899-1199. So you get:

    $899 11" Air, 4GB, 128GB
    $1099 11" Air, 4GB, 256GB
    $1199 12" MB, 8GB, 256GB (maybe 128GB)
    $1499 15" MB, 8GB, 256GB
    $1199 13" rMBP (updated design), 8GB, 128GB
    $1899 15" rMBP (updated design), 8GB 256GB

    Hopefully they'll add another USB port to the MB on the other side. If they implement wireless charging eventually then that will help sell the higher models over the entry Air as well as the Retina displays. Anyone previously in the market for a powerful Retina Air would get the 13" rMBP with the updated design.

    Or what if Apple decides to discount the previous years MacBook for the entry level Mac so all Macs would be Retina like iOS devices? i can't see Apple remodeling the Air yet the screen and bezel are so outdated. I guess the question becomes, is Apple locked into the $899 price point where they have to offer a laptop at that price now? One thing that makes Apple's product lines messy is when things exist solely to hit a specific price point. That's why we got devices like the iPad 2 and 1st gen mini hanging around longer than they should have.
  • Reply 99 of 111
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,015member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post





    I guess because some people think something needs to look different in order to be different. Look at iPhones. Just the other day on CNBC that clown Gene Munster was fretting about the March quarter and kept saying iPhone 7 will change things. Translation: people will buy the iPhone 7 because it will look different than the iPhone 6.

     

    True, but that's the case for almost everyone.  Every product changes it's look.  People want a fresh appearance.  In selling cars, they say "appearance is #1."   I doubt it's different for most tech consumers.  

  • Reply 100 of 111
    entropys wrote: »
    Seriously? Another eight months before we get skylake?

    Just whack a retina display and 8GB ram in the current MBA form factor and I will buy three. Immediately.

    Problem is I need to purchase them for Christmas. Otherwise, at the moment I am seriously looking at dell XPS or HP spectre x360. Both with Skylake, decent amount of RAM and retina like displays. Same price range.

    You'd rather give crap HP or Dell computers running Windows than wait? Gee, thanks and a very Merry Christmas to you too...now where's that return receipt?
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