Apple's 11.6in MacBook Air release imminent?
Manufacturer ramping up as skinny laptop shrinks
Apple's previously rumoured 11.6in MacBook Air may be nearing release.
Industry moles cited by DigiTimes say that Apple's contract manufacturing partner Quanta will ship up to half a million "11.6in MacBooks" out of its factories by the end of the year.
It seems unlikely that Apple would offer an 11.6in version of its plastic-clad 13.3in MacBook, but with the MacBook Pro range now also extending down to 13.3in screens, there's little room in between these two for the also 13.3in MacBook Air.
The Air was always aimed at buyers seeking a sub-notebook, laptops in which performance plays second fiddle to portability. The Air hasn't been updated for almost 18 months, so it's due a revamp, and to offer it in a reduced size would certainly allow it to slip out from between MacBook and MacBook Pro.
Speculation that the next Air will be an 11.6in machine was first whispered back in June, but the rumour mill has been quiet on the matter since.
If the shift to an 11.6in model seems unlikely, consider 2003's 12in PowerBook G4, which won over a lot of fans for its compact size. Chunky by today's standards, the G4 was ultra-compact back then - a time before tablets and netbooks. The Air came close as an alternative, thanks to its thin design, but it was still quite a wide machine. An 11.6in Air would prove the true successor to the 12in G4 - and as the next, keyboard equipped step up from the iPad. ®
COMMENTS
Wow..
1. Where exactly did you get it fixed? Which apple store?
2. Are all apple stores going to do this for all 5 year old hardware or was yours a special case?
3. If it was a special case, how did you swing it?
ie. why would ANY company out there choose to swap a mobo and LCD *FREE* for 5 year old second hand kit.
Not that I don't believe you but surely there must be a reason. An exception for the PR it may generate perhaps - which makes me wonder if they will do this again for everyone. Or maybe you're a mac shop and they have a lot of business with you anyways?
We want to know.
Atoms and NetBooks.
I'm a confessed netbook 10 inch form factor advocate.
1. Atoms and like are powerful enough to do a lot of 'every day' stuff. For the average joe I would say this is more often true than not, gaming excluded but who games on something this small?
2. Not having a GPU and a high power chip means you get more battery life.
3. Not having a GPU and a high power chip means you don't have a lot of heat... ouch
4. Or a noisy fan.
This means, you have something you can use untethered FOR HOURS anywhere.
Of course, no one would have a 10-12 inch machine as their SOLE machine, so for more demanding tasks you will have your other.
And honestly, even if you didn't ... what are you actually losing out on? Probably only video games and stuff that demands a lot of grunt like image/video manipulation/rendering.
Apple would do well to make a CHEAP, light 10-12 inch lappie with tons of battery life. Yes, I would trade raw CPU power for battery life and form factor. I will be in the market for another netbook soon, if they do it right, I may be interested.
But a cheap apple is an oxymoron is it not?
Confession time..
I swore I wouldn't do Apple - the ipad had promise, but was an anti-climax, so I was safe. Not so with this. It certainly tempting.
If it's done right.
But my rational side *knows* it'll be over-priced, and sporting some fatal weakness on the specification front (usually fixed in V2.0). Given the thermal problems with an air-style form factor in 11" will probably have, I'd say the weakness will be netbook style CPU and GPU, with resulting lack of power. That, and Apples traditional lack of ports or user upgradeability.
Will just have to wait and see, I guess.
Apple Switch?
I thought Jobs had declared the netbook form factor unfit? If he was describing the typical netbook performance (which is really more of an issue with the Atom processor than the form factor) then I can't say I really disagree.
I find this rumor to be a little unbelievable based on Apple's (Job's) previous position, but this could be another about-face... an issue of "unfit" until Jobs deems it fit and, to their credit, does it better as they did with the iPad vs. UMPCs and tablets.
Maybe they're finally reacting to the Hackintosh crowd, who have gone through hell to try and get OSX working on the more portable form factor.
