Ondrej Holzman The biggest consumer electronics trade show has started in Las Vegas, where hundreds of new products are presented, from the smallest smart gadgets to futuristic scooters, but last night there was still talk about someone who is not at CES at all - Apple. Information has leaked about the upcoming twelve-inch MacBook Air, which could cause a revolution among Apple laptops.
A 12-inch MacBook Air is by no means a new speculation. The fact that Apple plans to radically change the appearance of its thinnest laptop in years has been continuously talked about all last year, and we are the closest they should be new iron at the October keynote.
However, now Mark Gurman z 9to5Mac he came up with completely exclusive material in which, with reference to his sources inside Apple reveals, what the brand new 12-inch MacBook Air could look like. Gurman, who has a very successful track record of leaks from Cupertino, spoke to several people who used an internal prototype of the new computer and based on their information he had renders created (the attached images are therefore not the actual products).
[do action=”citation”]It could be quite a different device than most expect – the most affordable MacBook Air to date.[/do]
If Gurman's sources turn out to be true in a few months, we can look forward to some really big changes. By the way, the latest leaked information confirmed také TechCrunch, according to which this is really the current form of the machine that they are testing in Cupertino.
Smaller, thinner, no ports
The new 12-inch MacBook Air is supposed to be much smaller than the current 11-inch variant and at the same time about three-quarters of an inch narrower than the current "eleven". On the other hand, it will be three-quarters of an inch taller to accommodate a larger display. Since the XNUMX-inch display is supposed to fit in roughly the same dimensions as the XNUMX-inch MacBook Air now has, the edges around the display will be significantly thinner.
After four years, we will see a significant transformation of the entire aluminum unibody, keyboard, touchpad and speakers. Anyone who remembers the 4-inch PowerBook GXNUMX will not be surprised that Apple should use a so-called edge-to-edge keyboard in the new Air, meaning that the buttons will be spread out from one side to the other. In order to fit all the buttons on the reduced surface, they should be spaced with much smaller distances.
A more fundamental change from the user's point of view, however, could be the glass trackpad. It should perhaps be just a bit wider than on the 11-inch Air, but taller so that it closely touches the bottom edge of the notebook and the bottom keys of the keyboard. The new touchpad is said to no longer have the ability to click on it, as is the case with all other MacBooks.
The impossibility of clicking is due to a single reason - the maximum thinning of the entire body of the machine. The 12-inch Air should be significantly thinner than the current 11-inch variant. This year's version is also supposed to come with a "teardrop" shape, where the body gets thinner from top to bottom. Above the keyboard are four speakers that also serve as ventilation.
However, it would not be possible to achieve significant thinning only thanks to the non-clicking touchpad, but most of the ports are to be sacrificed. Gurman even claims that there are only two left on the 12-inch MacBook Air – the headphone jack on the left and the new USB Type-C on the right. Apple will reportedly do away with standard USB, the SD card slot, and even its own data transfer (Thunderbolt) and charging (MagSafe) solutions.
Gurman points out that these are the forms of current prototypes, and in the final versions, Apple may ultimately bet on a different solution, but removing most of the ports is not unrealistic from a technical point of view. The new USB Type-C, which Apple quietly supports very strongly with its development resources, is not only smaller (in addition, double-sided like Lightning) and faster for data transfer, but it can also drive displays and charge devices. Therefore, both Thunderbolt and MagSafe could replace Apple with a single technology, even if, for example, it would lose its magnetic cable connection in the case of charging.
The 12-inch Air as Apple's most affordable computer
However, what Mark Gurman's entire report doesn't mention at all is the display resolution. The new 12-inch MacBook Air has always been talked about as the first Air to bring a Retina display to the line. But if the model sketched by Gurman were to be fulfilled, without Retina it could be a very different device than most expect - the most affordable MacBook Air to date, capable of competing with Chromebooks, for example.
Just as the 12-inch Air was tipped with a Retina display, Apple was expected to equip it with the latest Haswell processors from Intel, which are now starting to appear in the first computers. But these chips continue to heat up so much that they will probably need to be cooled with a fan, that is, something that practically cannot fit into the speculated, significantly reduced innards of the new Air.
Apple could therefore bet on Intel Core M processors for its new notebook, which would ensure sufficient durability, maximum slimness and minimal space requirements. Hand in hand with this, however, performance would be sacrificed, which would not be dizzying with this processor. A possible Retina display would be able to drive it, but otherwise it would be more of a laptop for surfing the Internet, watching videos or office work.
The presence of a single USB Type-C port could indicate that this would be primarily a computer for the least demanding users. Many users who use the MacBook Air mainly for the aforementioned light office work and surfing the Internet, practically do not need additional ports such as Thunderbolt or an SD card slot.
Although it is not yet clear whether Apple would be willing to get rid of its refined MagSafe connector or Thunderbolt in favor of the new standard, which it promoted so much, it would certainly not be unprecedented in terms of history.
The idea of a "low-end" MacBook Air, which would, of course, earn its designation only in comparison with other Apple computers, is still quite distant, but it can be a very tempting idea for Apple to dominate another part of the market. Already, the MacBook Air is highly popular, but it's still too expensive for many. With an even more affordable model, the Californian company could attack the increasingly popular Chromebooks as well as Windows laptops.
Power button instead of esc is great! Tvl, what are they doing in Apple?!
See, I would put it to sleep about 100 times a day :-D
When you press it, nothing happens. You have to hold it for a while. Hello
dude, when I press it, nothing happens, but gossip happens..it's okay
I'd be tickled by it too :-D
I don't know how the power button works on the pro, yes on the air, they only have female ones in our house, I'm the only guy who has it :-D
the power button on macs only works after holding down and even then you have to choose whether you want to restart/turn off to sleep... ;) You don't have to worry about that..
If it's not because it's just a render (and not even from Apple yet) and not the final form.
This photo of what MBA 12 could look like is just some dream fantasized in the head of a sensationalist journalist. Take, for example, the vents for the speaker or whatever is above the keyboard. Something so terrible and spoiling the appearance has not been here for a long time. The new MBA 12 will be great and I also believe it will replace MBA 11 in some way.
that's what I was hoping for when the iPhone 6 leaks arrived, and we all know how that turned out
they are already so out of it that they put esc on the second button completely with a clear conscience, even if they could be the other way around. I'm not surprised at anything at Apple
Except that they are really beautiful and I have 6+ at home ;)
I've probably never used ESC... Have you?
The fact that you didn't use it logically means that no one else did, right? :-)
I don't count it, but for me personally it's definitely in the dozens, maybe hundreds of hits per day. How else do you want to close the dialog (only when working in the IDE: search for text, search for type, search for file, view outline, ...), menu, etc. without using the mouse cursor?
I'm a little afraid that the removal of ports would affect other Macbooks in the not-too-distant future. Trying to redirect everything to the cloud is nice, but I don't really like it.
so it will bring more profits to Apple, right... and what's up with Apple? For profits, not to download HD to USB for a liter. Alternatively, an Apple external drive for $300 :D
Intel's latest CPU is Broadwell, not Haswell.
It's like when it only has USB, so without the Hub it won't be possible to use peripherals and charge at the same time?
when does the iphone charge? At night…when does the iPad charge? At night...why can't the macbook charge at night? This will be more of a coffee shop, an iPad for those who don't want a tablet and want a keyboard
I like. But unfortunately it doesn't apply to me.. (MBP late 2013). Hello
be glad it doesn't concern you. You have a great laptop that won't be outdone. I have it myself and I love it :D
Yeap, agreed. Size, weight, performance, durability. I don't need anything else. Don't have too much time for that :-(.
Every OS X is incomplete - anyone who previously worked on Windows or Ubuntu will definitely not be satisfied with how some things "do not work".. (I don't mind using CMD instead of CTRL - it's just an inscription on the button :D) but "finish" the system with utilities such as Windows Magnet, XtraFinder, or MagicPrefs and then it's a fine system :)
This pursuit of thinner and thinner products at the expense of usability seems useless to me:-( But I have an idea - in the next version we will remove the screen, because it is basically unnecessary and takes up too much space. This way we will get an even thinner product. In the next version, I would remove the flashlight (this one is for fallers) and the keyboard (because tablets have shown that the keyboard is outdated.) Maybe I would also remove the hard drive to save space and make the product thinner, since everything is still on the cloud.
you are a showman, you would entertain maybe a five-year-old child, or a moron.
I'm surprised that you're also in the cloud, that's why you probably don't understand the irony.
I think the contribution is correct and I agree with it.
Today, everything is becoming thinner, lighter. Sometimes it's a waste of time. In my opinion, today's MacBook Air 13" is almost ideal.
Yes, they could reduce the edges of the display, but then they have to solve the rigidity of the chassis, cables to isight/isight, keyboard, touchpad. They may have already done that for the 12" model, but it's not quite effective for me.
In any case, if he succeeds, he will find all the customers. And I'm looking forward to being able to control PCs/tablets with my voice and keyboards/fingers won't be needed, except for scratching behind the ear :-)
Well, you see. And I, on the other hand, know the thinning of ultraportable devices, which Air is without a doubt, because it is completely logical. Voice control, which you are looking forward to, on the other hand, is a big spring for me. As an aid for the blind in advice, for an otherwise healthy person, and if you share the household with someone else, it is in practice a nightmare.
… Very apt, but APPLE must start spreading these delusions - only then will it become accepted dogma - completely regardless of the consequences. :-)
It could get an ARM processor instead of those expensive Intel processors and the price could immediately drop by $300.
Even now, the iPad Air 2 has about 80% of the performance of the current basic MBA. Just add one core, double the graphics performance and compile OS X with programs for the ARM processor and it will easily handle everything that people do today on a basic MBA even in retina resolution and with another monitor connected.
And the base price could be 700 USD.
computational performance is not the same as what instructions can process. ARM would never be able to break the standard OS X
That's exactly the problem and a shame at the same time, but maybe in time...
He would recover just fine. Just compile OS X sources for ARM and adjust the layer between the hardware and the operating system. iOS and OS X share a common core.
That the Apple product line would finally start to make sense? One size cafe Air 12″, for those who don't want an iPad and need a full OS, perfect for people who have an iMac at home.
Perfect line of Macbook for retina as it is now.
It's getting incredibly busy today…Air 11″,13″, MBPr 13″ and 15″, MBP 13″, wtf?
... The crazy thing is that now Steve can come and put things in order - he can't :-(. Apple doesn't score points for me like before. Right now, Apple would need similar harsh and radical decisions like a pig scratching! But expect similar actions from minority CEOs can't!
the price will certainly not drop, rather the opposite. a computer without ports is coming, wireless charging from a pad and absolutely everything in the cloud...
it's a shame that ipad air doesn't have a better sw than the current ios, with the same capacity of 128gb it's not about com.
I still don't see if it should replace 11″, 13″, both?
Hmm, I wonder who is still dictating at Apple that everything must always be thinner. Is that what people want so much? I don't see any extra plus in thin laptops or tablets.
Iphone 6 - seems too fragile to me due to how thin it is. The Macbook Air is fine, but if they make it even thinner, you'll have to be more careful so it doesn't break. I agree, I don't understand the procedures either. If Apple thinks that thinness is a trend, then they fell asleep. Notebooks today are thin and light enough.
Because of the design and the rudeness of not putting Thunderbolt there - but after design gems like iOS 7, 8 and Yosemite, nothing can surprise us anymore... Quo vadis Apple?
1. this is an estimate of the shape and number of ports
2. If this were true, Apple would have to release a new monitor at the same time. There is nothing better than going to the office with just a laptop without a charger and connecting it to a power supply and thuderbolt from the monitor.
What if the 12″ iPad and MacBook AIR are one device? Or at least with a mix of iOS and OS X?