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Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

arstechnica.com

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Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#201

Post by beat »

kbenson wrote: post #129
minhazm423 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Given that 15 minutes later, in the iPad part of the event, they claimed the new iPad is faster than 92% of all notebooks sold in the last year, the writing is on the wall. For me, the next Macbook to be excited about, would be one with an ARM processor. hey not a huge technocrat when it comes to pc parts, but could u explain that part to me? what is the writing on the wall? what is arm exactly? and what makes u thi…

ARM based processors which are used in most mobile devices and use a different instruction set, as opposed to x86 based processors, such as those available from Intel and AMD. Apple licensed the ARM technology and builds their own chips using it, and really good chips at that. So good, that some people are now calling for Apple to release an ARM based laptop (which has been done by others, but not to much popularity)…

Odds are they already have ARM-based Macs in house, with all the cross-compilation stuff worked out. The reason they haven't made the switch yet isn't because of work they haven't done.

Back when they switched from the PowerPC chips to x86, it was revealed that they had been building experimental x86 Macs in-house for years. That's just good planning.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#202

Post by djhworld »

briffle wrote: post #32

| It will start at $1,199, which is a slight jump from the $999 starting price of the older MacBook Air. apparently, a 20% increase is a 'slight jump'

In terms of "Apple units" it's a slight jump

They tend to price their stuff in units of $100.

So the jump is 2 'apple unit' uptick.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#203

Post by pentae »

YetAnotherNick wrote: post #169
IkmoIkmo wrote: post #150

Love the device but I can't get over how expensive it has gotten. A 20% price bump... Sure, there's still the old Macbook Air around, but it wasn't updated and is based on a decade old model with a CPU/GPU that's a 3 years old (5th gen i5 from 2015), and a 128 PPI screen, that's a bit ridiculous. If you want a modern machine you're looking at $1200 for the cheapest model. That isn't even too bad but when you go abroa…

I think the entry level macbook pro is better buy than this. For $100, the CPU is much better, and very likely the build quality too. And everything else including weight, keyboard, ports, battery life etc. mostly the same.

The thermals on the entry level Macbook pro (non touchbar) is atrocious. It has one less fan than the touchbar model and runs hotter and unless you're in an icy cold room it's guaranteed to make your palms sweaty like a teenager on prom night. I would imagine that the new power-sipping i5 they've put in the MBA will run much cooler.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#204

Post by starbugs »

izacus wrote: post #198
yodsanklai wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It just feels natural to look for an alternative at this point. I don't consider myself an Apple fanboy (I'd certainly not buy an iphone). But as far as laptops go, I don't see any viable alternative. I'd get a MBP for Mac OS alone, but the hardware is great too.

If anything, there's plenty of alternatives in laptop space. From Surfaces, Lenovos, Dells, Huaweis to bunch of other really good hardware that is only marginally different. Even the OSes have converged to the point where they differ in mostly in the keyboard shortcuts and types of annoyances you deal with.

I tend to disagree on this one. Even if PC hardware has caught up to a certain extent, software has not. Windows is a nightmare from my perspective (usability, privacy, developer tools, lack of good shell, package management, etc.) and Linux is not a viable alternative when you need certain commercial software.

A commercial Linux alternative focussed at desktops with appropriate support for commercial software and an easy transition path for users coming from the Mac would be great.

Speaking of hardware: I recently got a Lenovo for Linux testing. Multi-touch trackpad frequently stops working after standby. Boot time and wake-up time is a lot worse than on my MacBooks. Sometimes it doesn't wake up and needs a cold reboot when I open up the lid. I never experienced any of those issues on my Macs. Not even in 2006.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#205

Post by oliv__ »

hartator wrote: post #166

The current line is a bit weird. MacBook 12” vs MacBook Air 13” vs MacBook Pro 13” without Touch Bar. I just wish they release a 14” MacBook. That would have made more sense.

Exactly. The Macbook feels out of place now. It has one less USB-C port, less battery power, and is $100 more expensive with lesser specs.

And it has a different name. Before this new Air came out, I figured they were just going to kill the Air line and release a 13" Macbook at a cheaper price. (Which is essentially what this is)

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#206

Post by enraged_camel »

YetAnotherNick wrote: post #169
IkmoIkmo wrote: post #150

Love the device but I can't get over how expensive it has gotten. A 20% price bump... Sure, there's still the old Macbook Air around, but it wasn't updated and is based on a decade old model with a CPU/GPU that's a 3 years old (5th gen i5 from 2015), and a 128 PPI screen, that's a bit ridiculous. If you want a modern machine you're looking at $1200 for the cheapest model. That isn't even too bad but when you go abroa…

I think the entry level macbook pro is better buy than this. For $100, the CPU is much better, and very likely the build quality too. And everything else including weight, keyboard, ports, battery life etc. mostly the same.

The new MBA has touch ID though, whereas the entry level MBP doesn't. The convenience IS a lot of value for some people.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#207

Post by klodolph »

Xixi wrote: post #161
IkmoIkmo wrote: post #150

Love the device but I can't get over how expensive it has gotten. A 20% price bump... Sure, there's still the old Macbook Air around, but it wasn't updated and is based on a decade old model with a CPU/GPU that's a 3 years old (5th gen i5 from 2015), and a 128 PPI screen, that's a bit ridiculous. If you want a modern machine you're looking at $1200 for the cheapest model. That isn't even too bad but when you go abroa…

You are comparing prices without VAT to prices with VAT. In France VAT is 20%, quite typical in the EU, so the comparison is not fair at all. There's VAT in many states and cities in the United States, although typically at rates much lower than in the EU. Buying a MacBook Air in New York City for instance will be at least $1,300 (combined VAT rate of 8.875%). [EDIT] Granted, the exchange rate is not great, but it's…

There’s currently no VAT in the US, there used to be a VAT in Michigan but currently there are only sales and use taxes, which aren’t universal. Buying a MacBoox Air for $1,199 in Oregon will cost $1,199 out of pocket.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#208

Post by ajay-d »

outside1234 wrote: post #186
finchisko wrote: post #184

Am I the only one, who is excited and considering buying this thing? I'm still on 2012 Air. It's good device, but showing it's age (slow CPU and only 4GB of Ram, the screen resolution is joke). But new Air seems very compelling to me. I'll miss the magsafe though. Also I would like to know if the SSD can be upgraded later (unofficially of course). 2012 Air SSD can be replaced, using cheap reduction (from proprietary…

I thought I would miss the magsafe as well, but actually I like the USB-C charging better - you can charge from either side of the device, which is a lot more useful than I would have thought.

Both ports are on the same side though...

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#209

Post by pentae »

ksec wrote: post #152

I wonder if a lot of people are leaving the Mac ecosystem. Apple has been selling roughly ~19M Mac per year since 2012, and its new user to Mac has also been steady at ~50%. Apple has had 60M Mac user in 2012 announced in WWDC, and they has been nearing 100M since early 2017. I assume that actual number is larger than 90M at the time, so after nearly 20 Months, ~20M New Mac Users on board, it manage to add a total ~1…

Apple executives are probably telling themselves these people are just trading in their old laptops for iPads hence why they have been doubling down on iOS for the last 5 years. Milking the entire ecosystem for 30% compared to 0% on a laptop sure hasn't hurt, either.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#210

Post by aaaaaaaaaab »

rbanffy wrote: post #63
xutopia wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait... you can charge a MBP with another MBP?

Not only that. At some point I disconnected mine from the room charger and the second one almost drained my battery. My laptop charged my colleague's

Would they at one point reach equilibrium though?
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