A disgraceful set of updates. Rose Gold and the same 480p camera for the MacBook, and only 8GB of RAM standard for the AIR. Let's say Apple is saving the best for last, reserving a new set of all-new MacBook Pro designs for June. In that case, anyone foolish enough to buy the MacBook or AIR right now would be reliving the Mac IIvx fiasco of days gone by, regretting their purchase BIG TIME when the new MBP's debut only months later. But if there is no big update in June, then such further drives home the point that Apple is waning when it comes to innovation. In either case, it does not look pretty at all. I just sent my feedback to Apple. Perhaps you should too:
I need to see benches on this, but this is looking like a very underwhelming “upgrade” indeed. I was considering going with a Space Grey this year, but now it’s wait and see what happens in June or hold off.
I know the 6th Gen Core M (Skylake) is a better performing part than the Broadwell Core M on last year’s model. But using Intel’s comparison feature, the only notable improvement seems to be to the memory and GPU. I was surprised to see the chips Apple chose this time around are on the lower-end. Unlike the previous models where the Core M choice was in the upper-middle to near top range. They essentially went from the third, second and best “5” series Core M to the base m3 and base m5. Had they done, what I expected they’d do (save for a prayer they’d go with the Skylake “U” 7.5W parts) gone with the best or even 2nd best m5 and the option for the m7 as an upgrade, maybe these would be a bit more attractive. I saw on Ars a bench of the m3 found in the MacBook now compared to the mid range option in last year’s, and aside from memory throughput and GPU, these processors are slower in computations (less Turbo available for long haul tasks). Whilst graphics are better than the previous model, they still pale to the MBA despite the latter being a previous gen part.
I was excited at the prospect of Apple refining their new design this year and possibly making use of the newer lower power Skylake U processors vs Core M as the former can run fanless too; however, they not only did they stick with tablet processors, they went with lower end parts than last year. Nor did they, and I did not except them to despite others hopes to add ports, but at least I expected USB 3.1 Gen2 (10Gbps). Finally I somewhat expected, as they’re now pimping out the iPad front facing camera, to at least manage the same 720p found in the MBA. They did not, thus nevermind on this Mac. Here’s looking to June or next year.
The saddest thing is that the 13" Air is probably the direction Apple SHOULD be going, instead of leaving it behind in favor of the overpriced, overhyped Macbook. The Air is priced right, has the ideal # and configuration of ports, and doesn't sacrifice functionality in favor of a fancy form and a high-priced screen that's overpriced and overkill for most users.
I disagree that it's overkill. Hi-DPi screens are the norm these days. They are a prerequisite to me. All Apple's displays, bar none, should be Retina and Retina shouldn't be in the name of any of the products and saved for tech spec lists. MB, MBA, MBP; all Retina.
If I was in the market for one right now Magsafe is on my must-have list.
Eh, that's a bit old in the thinking. Magsafe has a lot more utility when the laptops are heavy enough to withstand a cord yank. Super light MacBooks simply don't.
Magsafe has its place for very light and very heavy laptops. It's saved my MBP and MBA too many times to count.
Imagine that your laptop is a ridiculously heavy 100 lbs: there's no way that a trip or pull on the cord will budge that heavy weight but that power cord or connector will break free. Either the power cord will pull out, break, or even worse the power connector on the laptop bends/breaks.
Imagine that the laptop is a super lightweight 1 lb: a pull on the cord and the laptop either goes flying or the power cord simply pulls out or the power cord/connector breaks or the power connector on the laptop bends/breaks.
I have had several situations on my old Powerbook G4 where it was either pulled off the table, the power adapter got bent, or the power connector on the PB was bent. Most of the time it was the power adapter and I either had to bend it back into shape if possible or replace it with a 3rd party replaceable tip adapter (I went through a lot of those). The connector on the laptop was barely serviceable when it was retired.
Definitely awkward at the moment. And confusing for the average customer (i.e. not AI reader). I just hope they come up with a more considerate line up. MacBook is fantastic, and so is the MacBook Pro. But the MBA? I would like to have a new Mac, but am currently unsure which one to buy. The MBA seems not to be a sensible option any more. And I bought two of them since it came out, incl. gen 1.
For portability the iPad is the first thing to consider, because a Retina Macbook will prevent you from buying an iPad for at least 2 years. So resolve first the question whether you can do mobile computing with an iPad/Pro or you will need always a full featured OS X computer. If you absolutely reject the iPad then you have to choose between Retina Macbook and Retina Macbook Pro. If you play hardcore games you need a rMBP 15 inch with discrete GPU, otherwise you don't need discrete GPU at all.
If you have an iPad or if you plan to buy an iPad you may consider Retina Macbook Pro or do nothing and go with your MBA for a while. In any case the Macbook Air appears to be discontinued, sooner or later, because it is not Retina. It cannot be Retina because it then becomes a Macbook Pro. The future of Macbook Air are Retina Macbooks, Pro or non Pro.
Definitely awkward at the moment. And confusing for the average customer (i.e. not AI reader). I just hope they come up with a more considerate line up. MacBook is fantastic, and so is the MacBook Pro. But the MBA? I would like to have a new Mac, but am currently unsure which one to buy. The MBA seems not to be a sensible option any more. And I bought two of them since it came out, incl. gen 1.
If you play hardcore games you need a rMBP 15 inch with discrete GPU, otherwise you don't need discrete GPU at all.
Thats not true at all - cad/cam virtual machines- vm's running cad/cam lots of stuff needs decent discreet gpu
discrete GPUs inside laptops will be making a huge come back later Fall. The power consumption and temp drops with perf/watt massive increases will allow Apple to keep fanless laptops with the new AMD models arriving. When you have discrete GPUs going from 150W -> < 50 W power consumption you have a lot of improvements, much of which comes from 28nm to 14nm FinFET.
Instead of selling it as is, Apple double the RAM for you and you still fucking whine? People need to stop.
No kidding. The list of childish remarks just keeps growing. I doubt the people complaining about the MBA have never owned one. I've owned three of them and the only reason I upgraded to a Macbook Pro in late 2014 was to get the 16GB RAM. I was running VM's alongside OS X on my MBA's with zero problems except when I started hitting a performance-limits, mainly due to the RAM requirements.
The MBA's are fantastic machines and to this day, I miss the weight savings in comparison to my rMBP. If an MBA came out with 16GB RAM, I'd trade in my rMBP with zero hesitation. The newest models with the i7 chips are more than fast enough for what I use it for. I'm not a gamer (on laptops) so that reduces my needs substantially. I love the new Macbook, but the performance is subpar for me and I accept that.
I think the Thunderbolt3 holdup is due to Intel not having the chips ready right? People here (like Ireland) need to take an anti-whining chill pill.
Definitely awkward at the moment. And confusing for the average customer (i.e. not AI reader). I just hope they come up with a more considerate line up. MacBook is fantastic, and so is the MacBook Pro. But the MBA? I would like to have a new Mac, but am currently unsure which one to buy. The MBA seems not to be a sensible option any more. And I bought two of them since it came out, incl. gen 1.
The MacBook Air:
- is cheaper - has a real processor instead of Core M - lets you plug in a USB flash drive without a bulky adapter (yes, I know USB-C is the future, but for now, most people's devices are still old school) - Is still ridiculously thin.
I think the MBA will continue to sell just fine. I wish it had the Retina display, but really, that's the only problem with it now that they've finally fixed the RAM floor (4 GB is pretty painful to use on modern versions of OS X).
Personally, I wouldn't be replacing my 2013 Macbook Air until these filter down into the Macbook Air price range.
The one thing Apple are missing in their line-up is a cheap mac with a bleeding edge graphics card. Personally I'd rather not have to deal with Windows but it seems like that, or a hackintosh, continues to be the only option.
Does anyone know when integrated graphics processors are set to outpace discrete graphics?
Personally, I wouldn't be replacing my 2013 Macbook Air until these filter down into the Macbook Air price range.
The one thing Apple are missing in their line-up is a cheap mac with a bleeding edge graphics card. Personally I'd rather not have to deal with Windows but it seems like that, or a hackintosh, continues to be the only option.
Does anyone know when integrated graphics processors are set to outpace discrete graphics?
Not until discreet GPU development ceases. GPUs are very parallel devices so it really is a case of bigger is better.
MacBook Air actually has USB and Lightning ... so you can actually plug it into an ethernet network AND charge it at the same time. i.e. it's a serious computer. The 12 inch thingie is more of a toy.
Comments
I know the 6th Gen Core M (Skylake) is a better performing part than the Broadwell Core M on last year’s model. But using Intel’s comparison feature, the only notable improvement seems to be to the memory and GPU. I was surprised to see the chips Apple chose this time around are on the lower-end. Unlike the previous models where the Core M choice was in the upper-middle to near top range. They essentially went from the third, second and best “5” series Core M to the base m3 and base m5. Had they done, what I expected they’d do (save for a prayer they’d go with the Skylake “U” 7.5W parts) gone with the best or even 2nd best m5 and the option for the m7 as an upgrade, maybe these would be a bit more attractive. I saw on Ars a bench of the m3 found in the MacBook now compared to the mid range option in last year’s, and aside from memory throughput and GPU, these processors are slower in computations (less Turbo available for long haul tasks). Whilst graphics are better than the previous model, they still pale to the MBA despite the latter being a previous gen part.
I was excited at the prospect of Apple refining their new design this year and possibly making use of the newer lower power Skylake U processors vs Core M as the former can run fanless too; however, they not only did they stick with tablet processors, they went with lower end parts than last year. Nor did they, and I did not except them to despite others hopes to add ports, but at least I expected USB 3.1 Gen2 (10Gbps). Finally I somewhat expected, as they’re now pimping out the iPad front facing camera, to at least manage the same 720p found in the MBA. They did not, thus nevermind on this Mac. Here’s looking to June or next year.
Imagine that your laptop is a ridiculously heavy 100 lbs: there's no way that a trip or pull on the cord will budge that heavy weight but that power cord or connector will break free. Either the power cord will pull out, break, or even worse the power connector on the laptop bends/breaks.
Imagine that the laptop is a super lightweight 1 lb: a pull on the cord and the laptop either goes flying or the power cord simply pulls out or the power cord/connector breaks or the power connector on the laptop bends/breaks.
I have had several situations on my old Powerbook G4 where it was either pulled off the table, the power adapter got bent, or the power connector on the PB was bent. Most of the time it was the power adapter and I either had to bend it back into shape if possible or replace it with a 3rd party replaceable tip adapter (I went through a lot of those). The connector on the laptop was barely serviceable when it was retired.
If you have an iPad or if you plan to buy an iPad you may consider Retina Macbook Pro or do nothing and go with your MBA for a while. In any case the Macbook Air appears to be discontinued, sooner or later, because it is not Retina. It cannot be Retina because it then becomes a Macbook Pro. The future of Macbook Air are Retina Macbooks, Pro or non Pro.
The MBA's are fantastic machines and to this day, I miss the weight savings in comparison to my rMBP. If an MBA came out with 16GB RAM, I'd trade in my rMBP with zero hesitation. The newest models with the i7 chips are more than fast enough for what I use it for. I'm not a gamer (on laptops) so that reduces my needs substantially. I love the new Macbook, but the performance is subpar for me and I accept that.
- is cheaper
- has a real processor instead of Core M
- lets you plug in a USB flash drive without a bulky adapter (yes, I know USB-C is the future, but for now, most people's devices are still old school)
- Is still ridiculously thin.
I think the MBA will continue to sell just fine. I wish it had the Retina display, but really, that's the only problem with it now that they've finally fixed the RAM floor (4 GB is pretty painful to use on modern versions of OS X).
The one thing Apple are missing in their line-up is a cheap mac with a bleeding edge graphics card. Personally I'd rather not have to deal with Windows but it seems like that, or a hackintosh, continues to be the only option.
Does anyone know when integrated graphics processors are set to outpace discrete graphics?