File this rumor under the "sure, that makes sense" category. Granted,
PhoneNews may not be the go-to source for Apple rumors, still, the site's reputable enough to at least give this one a listen. It claims that national retailers have been alerted to an imminent announcement of a new revision to the MacBook Air. More specifically,
PhoneNews claims that the MBA will move away from the
stop-gap, 65-nm Intel processor dusted-off special for Apple (and now
Voodoo's Envy 133) in favor of Intel's latest "standard" 45-nm Penryn processor. If true, then we're talking about possible clocks ranging from 2.26GHz to 3.06GHz (up from 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz), a 1,066MHz FSB (up from 800MHz), and appreciable increase in CPU power draw to 29W (up from 20W). We can also expect better GMA X4500 integrated graphics assuming Apple adopts the Centrino 2 chipset. To offset the potential degradation in mobility,
PhoneNews asserts that Apple will beef-up the battery and replace the 45W MagSafe adapter with a 60W version like those found with existing MacBooks. With this rumor and
all the others related to Apple's
lineup of MacBooks, we wouldn't be surprised to see Apple announce some kind of special media event sometime soon.
Update: It's worth noting that Intel also plans to release a few
low and ultra-low voltage Penryns in a 22-mm package (same as now) around the September timeframe. Though these would
decrease, not increase, the power draw as described by
PhoneNews.
posted August 14th 2008 4:34AM
The air is a joke.
Luxury computing, status symbol, purchase of excess...
Complete waste of time.
Desired Mac-Book Air:
I'm willing to spend the money if they change a few things.
First, I agree with others and doubt that the CPU power will increase much, if any. The 45nm die is more efficient so for the same power draw we'll see more performance.
However, CPU performance is fine and there are other things I would change. Namely:
1) Hard Drive (a faster 2.5" SATA, not a 1.8" PATA)
2) HDMI or Displayport output (capable of playing a BluRay movie via USB)
3) eSATA
4) SDHC input (camera card or storage for video, music etc.)
5) Video hardware decoding/transcoding such as UVD (specs like an NVidia 8600M GS)
6) Stereo speakers
7) 2x USB connections
8) Ethernet connection
9) Digital audio output
10) removable, upgradeable RAM
11) removable battery (easy spare swapping)
Other:
1) HDMI audio is NOT just for movies, but covers ALL sound
2) internal SDHC for backups (SDHC cards are very small and dropping in price)
Is this asking too much? No, I don't think so. Most of these issues could easily be solved with minimal cost and space impact. Many people could get by with the MacAir the way it is but this is what I'd pay that much money for.
Oh please, for the love of God, don't use Michael Jordan's likeness to depict an Apple product.
That only serves to diminish the greatness that is MJ, when associating him with such a lackluster product.
Now perhaps if you depicted Air Jordan dunking the Macbook Air into a 10ft high trash can, then you got something.
Am I right in thinking that if they upgrade the battery in an upgrade without changing the chassis, then I should be able to swap a new higher capacity battery into my current MBA ?