New Macbook Air Incoming!

StryderxX

StryderxX

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 22, 2006
Messages
1,797
So Apple introduced a new Macbook Air and it finally has a high resolution display. It also comes with Touch ID security, a force touch over sized track pad and Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports. Not to crazy about the dual core processor though. What do you guys think?
 
I’ve always thought the Air was a bit too much form over function. It was a neat bit of engineering when it first came out, but not my cup of tea.

Now when every laptop can detach a screen, rotate a screen, has a touchscreen, and whatever other gimmick you can throw at the screen, all while being the same crippling form factor as the Air, the Air just looks like a dinosaur.
 
meh, I preferred the non-Retina screen.

Realistically, Retina has always been "gimmicky" in my opinion, but I recognize I'm in the minority.

4x the resolution, system has to work that much harder, but the actual "work area" is no greater. It's a 'nicer looking' 1440x900 screen.
Gimme a 1080p screen, which is about the perfect performance/size ratio in a 13.3 screen, and I will be happy.


If you switch it to 1 to 1, the screen is small enough to be unusable.
If you use scaling to get close to 1080p, the system has to work even freaking harder due to interpolation.

Like I said, I get it, I'm one of the few who sees it this pragmatically, but Retina has always been "make it prettier, but slower", an I dont' really care about 'prettier'.
 
Brian_B said:
The new mini on the other hand - starting to get somewhere
Click to expand...
4x Thunderbolt 3, 10Gb Ethernet, quad core base model, and upgradable memory are great improvements. Hoping to see what a potential Mac Pro looks like next year.
 
It's about fucking time Apple remembered they are a computer company. And that means offering a large array of new products.

EDIT: $800 for an i3 Mini and entry-level SSD? Man, that's exactly what I expected from "Let's reintroduce the glory days of the Mac Tax" Tim Cook.
 
Last edited:
My 2013 Macbook Air still works fine and as most have said, it was a "groundbreaking" and interesting design way back when, but nowadays thin and light are a dime a dozen. While I still have my Mac (for dicking around with OSX apps) - I don't get the 256gb limit. My older Air (maxed out at the time) has 8gb/512gb for around the same price. And given that it's mostly a text / email machine - the retina / high res display isn't really necessary. The thin bezels and touch ID are cool though.
 
I will say - I find Retina to be the most useful on text/email/web browsing. For me at least, the PPI goes a long way for my crappy eyesight. Not necessary, certainly, and I'm not getting any more information on the screen than without it, but it's certainly a lot clearer.

I would liken it to people who enjoy high refresh rates: not required, but certainly makes it nicer.
 
Are you guys noticing the fact that the Macbook line up is super confusing now? You have the Macbook, Macbook Air and Macbook Pro 13" all at around the same price ($1200). Why would anyone buy a Macbook at this point? Apple needs to make some price adjustments ASAP to make some sense of this mess.
 
Yeah I was thinking about that too. Although I'm guessing the Air is the smallest - the dual core CPU is basically a WTF for the same price / close to the same price as the other models.
 
Zumino Zufeilon said:
Realistically, Retina has always been "gimmicky" in my opinion, but I recognize I'm in the minority.

4x the resolution, system has to work that much harder, but the actual "work area" is no greater. It's a 'nicer looking' 1440x900 screen.
Gimme a 1080p screen, which is about the perfect performance/size ratio in a 13.3 screen, and I will be happy.
Click to expand...
You're in the extreme minority, Super extreme.

The Retina resolutions on the laptops are not insane. The 13" MBP is only 2560x1600. It's not some fantasy land requirement to drive that. Heck, in *2007* Apple would pair the MacBook Pro and a 30" 2560x1600 Apple Cinema Display together. Asking a laptop to do 2560x1600 in 2018 is trivial. The 12" MacBook on a fanless design with a super-low-wattage processor can do 2304x1440. I have a 2016 model and I was really surprised how well it works.

The 5K iMac is the beast machine driving 5120x2880. I have the 2015 model and I can max out a Youtube 4K video on it and it runs very smooth.

I have a 17" MacBook Pro, 1920x1200. I love the thing, but it's so pixellated now I don't like using it so much. I've started ditching all my old pre-HiDPI PC laptops, cuz Windows 10 *surprise* looks way better in HiDPI.
 
I think part of the issue is that people here on [H] are gamers and have a gamer mentality. You don't NEED that much horsepower to run day to day apps at high res. Of course if you are doing certain things (like video editing), having alot of GPU horsepower can still benefit you anyway even outside of gaming.
 
Waiting to see if the hack to get them to work with Dell TB16 dock works (like newer MBPs), then a 16gb/512gb model will be on the way. Wife has suffered the 5 year old MBP long enough, hah. Will keep that old beast for kids hammering and youtube/netflix, though.
 
I loved the old Air...but this screen is a little dim, only 2 USB-C ports...

Ended up buying a 2017 Pro (non-Touchbar) for some light Mac stuff we have to do at work. Thought about the Air for a little bit though.
 
Machupo said:
Waiting to see if the hack to get them to work with Dell TB16 dock works (like newer MBPs), then a 16gb/512gb model will be on the way. Wife has suffered the 5 year old MBP long enough, hah. Will keep that old beast for kids hammering and youtube/netflix, though.
Click to expand...

Ended up getting a MBP 13 instead (16gb/1tb). Old MBP was actually 7.5 years old, so... building this thing to last a commensurate time :p
 
dvsman said:
Yeah I was thinking about that too. Although I'm guessing the Air is the smallest - the dual core CPU is basically a WTF for the same price / close to the same price as the other models.
Click to expand...
The dual core is the real turn off for me
 
ExplodingTaco said:
Im guessing that is a dig . . . But I don't get it.

For the non intensive stuff I do it beat the PCs I have tried recently, including the Surface, surface book, and surface laptop.
Click to expand...
Yeah fair call I'm not a surface fan and would rather have a 'real' laptop but it was more aimed at apple usually having few year old CPUs in their latest stuff.
 
N4CR said:
Yeah fair call I'm not a surface fan and would rather have a 'real' laptop but it was more aimed at apple usually having few year old CPUs in their latest stuff.
Click to expand...
The current MacBook Air and Pro both use 8th gen Intel processors. The 12" MacBook uses a 7th gen processor.
The 2017 iMacs and iMac Pros use late 2017 processors.
The 2013 Mac Pro is the lone product without an update since 2013.
 
I really miss the old magsafe power connectors, already had my MBAr pulled off the table and dented. Also, my Apple Watch band has put two divots the front edge of it. Other than that, it's been pretty solid for the 2 months I've been using it. Wish I would have went with 512GB instead of 256GB though. The 8th gen core in it is a huge step up than the M-5Y51 in my 2015 MBr. I really see no reason for the Macbook line now that they've updated the Air.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top