Apple working on a 15-inch MacBook Air?
By Nilay Patel 
posted January 18th 2009 5:11PM
posted January 18th 2009 5:11PM
[Via AppleInsider]
posted January 18th 2009 5:11PM
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Finally! Everyone was so depressed when my old Air couldn't reach all the way across our huge wedding cake.
This is exactly what Apple needs to release in a cruddy economy, another high end, expensive laptop. I say I doubt it will happen but Apple likes the expensive laptops.
Not high end, just expensive.
Like people pointed out, a 15 incher lacking an optical drive would not be worth all that money. Moreover, no one in their right mind would want a half-featured over-priced computer, when they can buy something with tons of more features than this (Ironically in Apple's MB and MBP line). If people want an ultra portable, they have already ruled out a giant 15 inch screen, what is the point then in making an Air with such dimensions ?
I'd want it. I have no use for the optical drive in my MBP. I can live without firewire and everything else except USB. I'd like a lighter MBP particularly given that SSDs will make this blazingly fast. It would need to have much better battery life than the current MBA but then I'd be sold.
I don't see a mass market for this though... I hope I am wrong ;)
Apple has jumped the shark. Windows 7 and netbooks are kicking it!
Dammit... just make a 12 inch Macbook Pro already!
I'd buy one!
Where do I sign up?
Right there on your chequebook.
Just to the right of the blank space, and directly below the word 'Cash'
it seems that some people on here don't really get the point of the MacBook Air:
It's a niche market NOW, but in future, all computers will look like this. Apple's just ahead of the trend (eliminating the CD drive, the way they eliminated the floppy drive about 12 years ago, while Dell held on for many years).
Because of Bandwidth increases and Online Access to content and things like the App Store and iTunes Store, the CD drive is not as necessary. In time, Apple will just, phase out the whole notebook line as people (think 10 years out) no longer see the need for a CD/DVD drive.
To say that Apple is working on a 15inch, is pretty obvious, they've probably already got a 13 inch Air too, but of course, you have to figure out how to price it properly, knowing that in 2009, only the super high end business users will buy this thing (cost/utility).
Ummm yeah, keep telling yourself that.
Apple is banking on the idea that people will pay more for less so long as they are fed enough propaganda via their marketing department. It's a way of cutting manufacturing expenses.
Take your pick:
"A fool and his money are soon parted"
or
"A sucker is born every minute"
Yes, in the future, all laptops will have only one usb port.
With a starting price of only $4999.
BOOM!
I can maybe see a team internally at Apple taking a look at a 15" Air, but I really don't see the point. I see people willing to pay a premium for a smaller, lighter computer and I see people wanting a more capable computer with more screen real estate, but is there really much overlap? Seems more beneficial to put energy into making the 13" Air a more capable machine with fewer compromises...or making it even thinner and lighter.
I think a macbook air style netbook would be interesting, *if*:
-they threw in at least 2 functional usb ports
-they made it less than 700. I think some people would be willing to pay the brand premium, and let's face it, Apple simply isn't capable of manufacturing a truly inexpensive computer. They can't sell as cheap as other companies either, I think their overhead costs related to developing relatively everything going into their computers is too high.
-included 3G would be nice
-removable batteries, or at least 4+ hour battery life
-they made it sub 11"
-included a decent screen
-not atom
-decent keyboard, although Apple does ok with that.
That's all I can think of right now. What would it take for Apple to convince you to buy their netbook (beyond free unicorns and and it giving you rose-flavoured farts)?
And I make some concessions (removable batteries, which should be a given) based on where Apple seems to be moving. Wishful thinking can only go so far.
"Apple simply isn't capable of manufacturing a truly inexpensive computer. They can't sell as cheap as other companies either, I think their overhead costs related to developing relatively everything going into their computers is too high."
Ummmm,
Have you actually seen the insides of an Apple computer.
Pray do tell, just what do you think Apple "develops"/ (i presume you mean manufactures or even designs)?
I can guarantee you that it is little more than the look of the computers themselves.
The rest of the components inside Apple computers are mostly from the usual suspects that make PC parts for all of the other manufacturers, it just so happens that Apple gets their parts a little later than many of the others. i.e. Quad cores came to apple later,
NV and ATI cards are always a generation behind when it comes to Apple computers, even their RAM is usually a quarter late to the game.
There is nothing intrinsically Apple about the parts inside of their computers that would justify any overhead.
Do a little more research next time before you try to sell that spiel.
I am referring to Apple developing their own operating system. I am just making a general assumption when I compare them to almost every other computer manufacturer who *doesn't* develop their own system. I am equally assuming that Apple will simply never release a cheap computer. I'm just asking a rhetorical question in my comment as well, not looking for confrontation. I'd love to hear what it would take to appease you.
So you presume wrong.
And just so it's out there, I am not an Apple person. I am stating what it would take to convince me to buy Apple, and I'm curious about what it would take for everyone else. That's all I'm asking.
Could it possibly be that the larger one is the old 13 inch and the small one is an 11 inch?
i think that its a fantastic idea!!!!
come on apple, stop begin overly "conservative" with your hardware
I agree to many unbelievably marked-up laptops coming out... a $1500 Acer anyone?
Stop. Think. Buy stuff you actually need...
Perfect laptop with current tech:
15" MacBook Pro
matte screen
non-removable battery
external optical drive
colemak keyboard
4 USB 2.0 ports
I don't think it would be possible to be any more perfect than that, except maybe hybrid HDD/SSD file system that automatically uses the HDD for files over, say, 50MB in size.
non-removeable battery is fail, but applefanboys will never understand it...
non-removeable battery is fail, but applefanboys will never understand it...
Oh boy, you know me and my rabid Apple-fanboyism...
Non-removable battery is not fail. Apple just understands that most people don't care, and non-removable lithium poly batteries tend to have more capacity than their removable counterparts.
I'm on my 7th laptop since 1995, and with the exception of taking the battery out of a Dell now and a gain to kill windows 95 and 98 I've never removed a battery or wanted a spare. ditto with all my cell phones.
I know a crapload of people with laptops and not a single one of them has a spare battery for their laptop. I asked a guy in desktop support the other day about this, and in out company (about 2000 people) only a handful of people put of the approximately 700 that have laptops have spare batteries, and almost no batteries get replaces since the battery generally lasts longest than the upgrade cycle on the machines, and they are on AC almost 100% of the time anyway.
This is one of those features that everyone asks for but in reality almost no one except Engadget readers uses
how much do you think? $2000
more....because we all have LOADS of cash to spend.
I would totally buy a 15" Air if it had a 1650 res screen. Space to work, and less to lug around than my current laptop. The only thing I'd miss is the Ethernet.
Of course Apple are not known for high-res screens, and it'll probably be polished to a high shine.
Pointless. Super thin, light, and massive footprint. Does portability equate thinness with no consideration for surface area?
MacBook Air 13.3" w/ 2.0GHz C2D, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 256GB SSD, 9400M would be a very nice machine. I bought the Aluminum MacBook this Xmas but I'd def consider an Air when the specs get to that point.
A small netbook is the best for carrying around. Wish I had the spare money for a VAIO P!!
the air is too much of a niche product. to this day, i have dozens of friends with macs, and not one of them has a macbook air.
if apple went through with this, it would be a build-to-order option, and would not be mass produced. which they do for internals, not entirely new sizes and shapes. so i call shenanigans.
They should actually make this MacAir SMALLER not BIGGER. The thin format is great but there are a lot of people using this machine for simple tasks like text editing, email, video phone and some spreadsheet - none of these requires the current size. So what we really need is a downsize to MacBook dimensions whilst retaining MacAir thinness.
Keep the Macbook Air body, but increase the screen size to 14", and get rid of that bezel! I have a Fujitsu S6510 that is as small as (or smaller than) most 13" notebooks, but it has a 14" screen. Huge bezels are ugly.
Damn, When can we start hearing details about the Macbook Wheel. That's what I'm waiting for.
s
So where's the 9" Macbook Air(net)?
Or should that be the Apple HairNet?
Seems like right now if you need the power, you go for the Macbook Pro. If you need portability, you go for the Macbook Air or Macbook. I am on my second Macbook Pro and the other day I was looking at the Air. I thought how amazing its going to be when the power of the Pro is in something as light and portable as the Air.
I can't see why Apple would make a lighter, underpowered version of the current Macbook Pro but I really do hope that we eventually see something like this with the power of the current Macbook Pro.
Personally, I'm not exactly sure if I want apple releasing a netbook right now. If they did, most people would think they invented it, due to their marketing prowess, and I really don't want that (there are more people around my campus with MacBook Airs than Netbooks, it isn't a particularly tech-savvy area of the US, so they go with the one they hear about more on the TV. I want to see this turn into a mature market segment that's well known among the populace before apple gets its grimy fingers into it and does the same thing to netbooks that they did to MP3 players (everywhere you go, its always referred to as "iPods and MP3 players, as if they invented it and the iPod is its own device). Admittedly, iPods were worlds ahead of other MP3 players at the time, but the current netbook hardware isn't bad at all, and Apple now has the influence to release a pile of crap and still sell a ton, something that they didn't have the luxury of doing back in 2001.
Smaller, lighter... Equally OVERPRICED.
Introducing the Apple Macbook air pro......., what is that to many words for you to take in?
But c'mon if anyone else released a line like this then the fan base would call it the phat.
Apple is totally clueless about what computer buyers want. A 15 inch Air is totally pointless for many reasons. It would be like taking an ipod shuffle and blowing it up to the size of an ipod touch. I I wanted something the size of an ipod touch, I'd get an ipod touch. Samething applies here. If I wanted something the size of a Macbook Pro, I'd get a Macbook Pro.
I'd be happy if Apple was to make a new MacBook without the legacy optical drive.