Get me MagSafe and proper USB compatible with old standards with no need of funky dongles and cabbles and I will switch For now I need MacBook Air. It is the right format for me when I go "fishing" and still need to do some more serious job than iPad would allow me.
Would be interesting if this purported 13" laptop came with an A-series chip running a non-touch version of iOS, and the OLED "touchbar" strip we heard about in the MBP really is meant for this device, as a way of adding some sort of "touch interface with visual feedback" while reducing the space required for (function row) keys, potentially making this 13" (non-touch) iOS laptop no bigger than the existing 12" rMB (in weight certainly and even some dimensions) - what a selling point to have: faster than the rMB in a similar-sized package for cheaper, only "downside" is it only runs iOS apps (and actually not a downside to most likely 10s of millions of people who have need of nothing more regarding computing needs related to their use cases).
The non-touch version of of iOS is called "OS X". It wouldn't make sense to port it to AX chips until said chips are fast enough to emulate x86 code wihout seeming dog-slow.
Would be interesting if this purported 13" laptop came with an A-series chip running a non-touch version of iOS, and the OLED "touchbar" strip we heard about in the MBP really is meant for this device, as a way of adding some sort of "touch interface with visual feedback" while reducing the space required for (function row) keys, potentially making this 13" (non-touch) iOS laptop no bigger than the existing 12" rMB (in weight certainly and even some dimensions) - what a selling point to have: faster than the rMB in a similar-sized package for cheaper, only "downside" is it only runs iOS apps (and actually not a downside to most likely 10s of millions of people who have need of nothing more regarding computing needs related to their use cases).
The non-touch version of of iOS is called "OS X". It wouldn't make sense to port it to AX chips until said chips are fast enough to emulate x86 code wihout seeming dog-slow.
The non-touch version of iOS that is in market, shipping today in devices sporting A-series chips is called tvOS. Put an A-series chip in a laptop and it (iOS) will run with only slight (perhaps very slight) modifications to how one inputs and interacts with the OS, thanks to all the work already done with tvOS. It is this which will not surprise me to see one day from Apple (extending the paradigm so that it will work more widely). This talk about OS X and A-series chips is a non-starter, makes no sense from too many angles, not the least of which is UI and user experience, I could go on and on but you have already listed at least one reason yourself why this makes no sense, and in that regard we're of one mind.
MBA- kept as budget entry level device...or phased out.
rMB 12" (current model) new 13" MBP
new rMB 14"
new 15" MBP
It has a nice Apple elogance about it.
I agree. This would make sense. I'm still hoping they make an entry-level device with an A10X processor just to get rid of the Intel tax and show the power and efficiency of those processors. Maybe in a visited Air concept? The current processor in my iPad Pro is actually faster than my Late 2013 rMBP so it could be done especially since Apple is known for their agility in porting their OS to different platforms.
I always thought that 12" rMB should be new Air, replacing both 11" and 13" models. "Air" emphasizes something really light and immaterial. Currently MacBook is thinner and lighter than MacBook Air... kind of strange.
13" MBA should receive retina display, maybe shed some estate around screen.... and become new MB (non-pro).
How about Macbook moves from intel to Apple A11 processor in 2017 ? Performance of A11 could be same or better than intel will offer. Overtime, rest of Apple devices move to it's own multi-core processors.
MBA- kept as budget entry level device...or phased out.
rMB 12" (current model) new 13" MBP
new rMB 14"
new 15" MBP
It has a nice Apple eloquence about it.
14" Macbook is worth an experiment with USB Type-C version 2 and Thunderbolt. This could turn out to be killer Macbook with larger screen, lower weight and thickness to carry around.
As Microsoft found out with Windows RT, porting code from Intel to ARM is pretty darned complex (even if you have the same OS). They got Windows running on ARM fairly well, but the third-party application makers said "no thanks". A quad-core version of the A9X (not to mention whatever A10's going to be) is absolutely powerful enough for a laptop. It's also more efficient per watt than anything from Intel, is improving more rapidly than Intel's stagnating line, and scales pretty well to more cores (an 8-core is good for even a 15" MBP or a midrange iMac, and a 16-core (or a pair of 8-cores) makes a VERY quick Mac Pro). The problem is that Adobe and friends have already refused to deal with it when Microsoft tried. Microsoft tried to put the "it's just a recompile" line out there, and, for little single-purpose apps, it pretty much is. For something big like the Creative Cloud apps, it would be a huge development effort.
We're into Q3 now, so i wonder when Apple will finally get around to relating its much anticipated line-up of new laptops? It seems as if they're going to synchronise the launch of new hardware with that of new software. If that is the case, should we expect new macBooks when macOS and iOS 10 launch in September? So all existing hardware will be massively discounted to capture the student market during back-to-college sales and will neatly deplete existing stocks. This will clear the way for new stuff. Can't help thinking that by delaying the launch of new laptops, Apple has reduced potential revenues for 2016. New laptops should have arrived in May.
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You didn't mention a really nice feature: MagSafe.
13" MBA should receive retina display, maybe shed some estate around screen.... and become new MB (non-pro).
MBP should do 14 and 16 (or 17") sizes.
That would make most sense to me.