Apple Developing a Whole New Kind of MacBook Air (macrumors.com) 174
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, and leaker Jon Prosser say Apple is working on a completely new, high-end version of the MacBook Air. MacRumors reports: The high-end MacBook Air will feature two USB-C ports and a more powerful Apple silicon chip, according to Gurman. The chip will apparently be a direct successor to Apple's M1 chip, featuring the same number of computing cores, but it will run faster. It is also expected to see an increase in graphics cores from seven or eight to nine or 10. This high-end MacBook Air would sit above the current MacBook Air models with the M1 chip, but below the MacBook Pro. Prosser recently unveiled renders that purport to depict the next-generation MacBook Air based on leaked images.
Prosser says that the MacBook Air will be available in a range of color options, much like the 24-inch iMac, and will feature larger function keys, a smaller trackpad, and redesigned feet on the underside of the machine. The biggest change in terms of design from the current MacBook Air seems to be the loss of its iconic tapered design. Instead, the MacBook Air will become considerably thinner as a whole, Prosser explained. Other features rumored to be coming to next-generation MacBook Air models include a mini-LED display and a MagSafe charging port. Gurman believes that the high-end MacBook Air could launch in the second half of this year at the earliest or in 2022, a timeframe that has been echoed by Prosser.
Prosser says that the MacBook Air will be available in a range of color options, much like the 24-inch iMac, and will feature larger function keys, a smaller trackpad, and redesigned feet on the underside of the machine. The biggest change in terms of design from the current MacBook Air seems to be the loss of its iconic tapered design. Instead, the MacBook Air will become considerably thinner as a whole, Prosser explained. Other features rumored to be coming to next-generation MacBook Air models include a mini-LED display and a MagSafe charging port. Gurman believes that the high-end MacBook Air could launch in the second half of this year at the earliest or in 2022, a timeframe that has been echoed by Prosser.
Thinner isn't necessarily better (Score:4, Insightful)
Instead, the MacBook Air will become considerably thinner as a whole
And likely also feature reduced key travel.
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If the Air gets any thinner, there will be no room for ports of any kind: Qi charging and Bluetooth everything that's connected to it.But it will also be able to slice fish.
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Instead, the MacBook Air will become considerably thinner as a whole
And likely also feature reduced key travel.
That is objectively better for a device where thinner is the primary goal. Here's the real kicker, not all devices need to fit all use cases. If you want an SUV don't go buy a bicycle and complain about it's shit towing capacity.
If your goal is to buy a typing workhorse then the Air was *never* designed with you in mind. Your use case is a scrunched up post-it note in the dustbin of the Air's design team.
Re:Don't think they will alter the keyboard... (Score:4, Insightful)
As to why thinner... lighter is always nicer for transport
Lighter is good. Thinner, after a point that the Air reach on its first iteration, doesn't bring me much value. It's hard to imagine they can make the Air sufficiently thinner to materially affect the weight, particularly when stacked against the negatives of thinner beyond already thin.
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Their obsession with thinness has reached insane levels now. The new iMac is actually thinner than the Air. It's a desktop.
Being so thin really compromised the design too. It has a massive chin under the screen where most of the computer is, rather than being all screen with the motherboard behind the display panel. It's so think that it can't have an on-board ethernet jack, so they moved that to the power brick. Yeah, the network port is on the power brick... Which is a custom design, not USB C, and only e
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What's the wattage on the iMac's power brick?
The latest Power over Ethernet supports 71W, so you could theoretically power your iMac off the network?
Alternatively, Ethernet over Power, so don't need a network cable, you just plug the power cable into the wall.
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Seems to be about 140W, so either they would have to reduce it to 100W for USB-C or use the newest version of the standard that will push 250W.
PoE is an interesting idea.
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And what makes you think that, of all companies, Apple would be using a standard thing?
Of course their power+ethernet connector is proprietary.
Re: Don't think they will alter the keyboard... (Score:2)
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Design wise having the Ethernet cable as part of the power brick makes a lot of sense to me as I can keep one more cable tucked under my desk. This is similar to my desktop pc which doesnâ(TM)t have an Ethernet cable plugged into the monitor.
Yeah, that's a good point.
Why stop at ethernet though? They should put the USB ports there too, heck even the processor, RAM, etc, to get rid of the chin. You might really be onto something!
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You just (re)invented the Mac mini.
But then I guess you knew that already.
Re: Don't think they will alter the keyboard... (Score:2)
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particularly when stacked against the negatives of thinner beyond already thin.
If the negatives outweigh the positives for you then maybe consider not buying a device which has a primary design goal of being thin and light at the expense of all other design goals. If they wanted to build something heavy and thick they'd have called it the MacBook Tungsten-Hexafluoride.
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After the last round of issues with an alternate keyboard people had, I really doubt they would alter the keyboard...
Yeah, I certainly would hope not. I have the M1 Air (my work laptop), and a 2015 MacBook Pro (my personal laptop) - plus for comparison I've used the horrible 2016 and 2017 keyboards a fair bit as well. The current Air keyboard is at least useable, but I still notice the difference switching between my own laptop and my work laptop - I still much prefer typing on my 2015 machine.
Re:Don't think they will alter the keyboard... (Score:5, Funny)
After the last round of issues with an alternate keyboard people had, I really doubt they would alter the keyboard...
Yeah, I certainly would hope not.
Remember that Apple is a brave company, not afraid of user opinions.
The previous keyboard had plenty of internal testing and was found superior in all ways. The only problem was that the world wasn't ready for it yet.
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After the last round of issues with an alternate keyboard people had, I really doubt they would alter the keyboard...
Yeah, I certainly would hope not.
Remember that Apple is a brave company, not afraid of user opinions.
The previous keyboard had plenty of internal testing and was found superior in all ways. The only problem was that the world wasn't ready for it yet.
I've owned Apple laptops with all the variants of their keyboard since the 90s. I can't say I care much about how they 'feel'. I had two of the ultra thin ones replaced, Apple dutifully paid for it and the replacements worked just fine. Being tied to a tablet for a week while the laptop was in the shop was annoying, but shit happens. I just bought an M1 Macbook Air, the only comment on that keyboard I have is that it feels more ... squishy .... other than that I'm still not going to tie knots in my panties
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I've owned Apple laptops with all the variants of their keyboard since the 90s. I can't say I care much about how they 'feel'.
If you don't do much typing and/or don't type very fast then I'm sure it doesn't matter to you. Most laptops have shit keyboards today so the difference maybe isn't that huge, either. But if the keyboard is your primary interface and you use it a lot then the key feel matters very much. If it isn't and you don't, why pay for a keyboard at all?
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Undo bad moderation.
Re: Don't think they will alter the keyboard... (Score:5, Funny)
I have a 2016 keyboard. I gave my 2013 to my girlfriend. One the rare occasions I do some admin work, and I use that 2013 keyboard, I feel like I'm putting down a Budweiser and picking up a Warsteiner. As well as the massively superior tactile feel, it's nowhere near as noisy and not prone to keys sticking,
It's like their designers managed to somehow combine the sound of a mechanical keyboard with the tactile quality of a ZX Spectrum.
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As to why thinner... lighter is always nicer for transport
I'll tell you what's good for transport: Small overall size and plenty of screw holes around the outside to attach things like shoulder straps so you don't need a separate bag. Also: a battery that can be swapped out by opening an o-ring sealed door on the side.
eg. My Panasonic Toughbook CF-19.
I've taken that thing to far more places than I'd ever take a Macbook.
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There is a balancing act though. The thinner and lighter you make a laptop the less power you have. I guess that developers just don't want to give people laptops that can last for 12-24hrs on one charge and would rather make them as thin and light as they can. If we still had laptops as thick as they were in the late 1990s or early 2000s imagine how long they could last on a charge using current battery technology.
Hopefully... (Score:2)
I hope the next model of Mac mini has mini-LED too!
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What would have been really funny is a "+1 Insightful" mod.
New MacBook (Score:2)
Prosser says that the MacBook Air will be available in a range of color options, much like the 24-inch iMac, and will feature larger function keys, a smaller trackpad, and redesigned feet on the underside of the machine. The biggest change in terms of design from the current MacBook Air seems to be the loss of its iconic tapered design.
To me this sounds more like a new MacBook [wikipedia.org] (which was discontinued in 2019) than a high end MacBook Air
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But this will be MORE EXPENSIVE!!!
I'm getting seriously sick of Apple's thin fetish. It's gone beyond loss of functionality now, it's completely compromised the build quality. It is simply impossible to make a computer as thin as current Macs without compromising structural integrity to the point that the slightest tap in the wrong spot causes major hardware failure. I've seen so many broken displays in the last few years, it's absolutely disgusting what Apple is doing to their customers.
Re: New MacBook (Score:2)
Apple jumped the shark years ago, becoming a "fashionista" company designed to cater to rich snobby morons who go "fo-pah", and try to be as super 'cutting edge' as possible.
In all honesty, Apple is doing everything it can to shed it's pre 2000s past. It's deathly embarassed about it, like a supermodel frantically burning the photo albums of childhood pictures where she looked like Punky Brewster. And like the supermodel, their attitude stinks.
The Apple you knew and loved is not the Apple of
Oh. My. God. (Score:3, Funny)
Wow, TWO usb C ports, no one has ever done something so so so amazing on a laptop.
I mean, what's next, an HDMI port? An SD card slot? Time will only tell what other incredible breakthroughs the Apple team will unveil!
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Wow, TWO usb C ports, no one has ever done something so so so amazing on a laptop.
Can't innovate anymore, my ass.
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Perhaps sooner or later the MacBook Air is just thin air?
You order it and get an USB-C power cable and nothing else.
Then don't buy it. (Re:Oh. My. God.) (Score:3, Interesting)
You don't have to buy it. You do know that, right?
I remember having a discussion with some co-workers many years ago when Apple came out with a laptop that didn't have any optical drive. Everyone but me complained about the lack of an ability to use a CD or DVD to install software, or to play music or movies. I told them that they were not in the intended market. Then again, they complained. I pointed out to them that most people rarely use their optical drives, and for those cases Apple has an externa
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You want an HDMI slot? Apple and third parties sell docks and dongles for this. Same for the SD slot.
I understand the rationale, but for an "on the go" device like a laptop, having to carry around an octopus' worth of hubs and cables and dongles to get your work done is a drag. It increases the time it takes to set up and tear down your work area, it introduces a lot of free-floating parts that are likely to get bent/broken/stepped-on/lost, and it's really inelegant.
I'm not sure what the "proper solution" would be (short of allowing each customer to specify what ports he'd like built in, and then 3D-print
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I'd say I'm relatively mobile with my work laptop, but I'm still going to do the meat of my work at one of a few different desks that are all equipped with external monitors, mouse, keyboard, and a dock to connect it all to my laptop with a single cable. Conference rooms similarly come equipped with whatever cables you'd need.
Having to set up and tear down a full workspace with regularity seems like a bit of an edge case. Even if not, having to restrict yourself to a 13" laptop display (or, haul around e
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The proper solution (Score:2)
Is to buy a Windows or Linux laptop that does have all the various ports you want.
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The proper solution is the one Apple offered in the past, by offering 2 distinct product lines:
1. MacBook Air: tiny, light, no ports.
2. MacBook Pro: larger, high-performance, lots of ports.
The trouble started when Apple decided to build a slightly larger MB Air and named it "Macbook Pro", removing option 2 from the market.
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Maybe the proper solution is that it's just time for everyone to get fully on-board with USB-C. And that includes Apple, by the way. I absolute prefer Lightning over mini or micro USB and always thought the people who gave Apple grief over Lightning were utterly daft. But USB-C solved the problems that mini and micro USB had; it is nearly as svelte as Lightning; and I'm hard-pressed to come up with any port that *couldn't* be replaced with USB-C, if only everyone would just get with the times. So I woul
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Now so few laptops have optical drives that people would laugh at the idea of someone demanding an optical drive in their laptop.
And are your coworkers wandering around with 10 year old laptops? Who wants to buy a laptop today that will have the correct peripherals and ports for someone for five years from now, yet also be obsolete before five years from now gets here?
I like USB-C; its the future. And maybe in 5 years I won't need or want a laptop with USB-A ports. But a laptop I buy today should have a USB-A port.
Your coworkers wanted an optical drive, a decade ago when they were on their way out but still widely in use.
It's nice because I can leave my stuff plugged in the dock on my desk and have only one cord to plug everything in. I have another dock just like it that I can bring with me should I need to plug into something away from my desk.
So you paid
Re:Then don't buy it. (Re:Oh. My. God.) (Score:4, Insightful)
Like optical drives, serial ports, ethernet ports etc, USB-A is a relatively small niche. Many people never connect arbitrary peripherals to their laptops, and even for those who do there are almost always wireless and/or USB-C versions of them.
For an HDMI port you'll be needing a device to connect it to, which is usually a lot more bulky than a dongle will be. On the other hand, usb-c allows you to carry a portable screen which draws both power and video from the laptop which is very convenient.
There are also plenty of peripherals which come with 2 connectors (eg usb storage devices) for use during a transition phase to USB-C.
Having a standard interchangeable power supply is great. I can carry one charger, which can charge multiple devices. If i forgot my charger, the chance that someone will have a USB-C charger is much higher than the chance of them having a model specific laptop charger.
Dongles are a temporary thing during the transition phase, and will be needed less and less over time.
Docks serve a different purpose, they sit in a static location and let you connect various static peripherals easily.
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Like optical drives, serial ports, ethernet ports etc, USB-A is a relatively small niche. Many people never connect arbitrary peripherals to their laptops, and even for those who do there are almost always wireless and/or USB-C versions of them.
Keyboards, mice, presentation clickers, USB sticks aren't really niche items like serial ports. Sure I guess alternatives do exist, but that doesn't make them niche like a serial port is niche.
There are also plenty of peripherals which come with 2 connectors (eg usb
Re: Then don't buy it. (Re:Oh. My. God.) (Score:2)
I had a small stack of dongles for the entire life of my previous macbook pro.
With the huge variety of available USB-C and Thunderbolt docks, some with up to Thirteen simultaneously-accessible Ports (more than any laptop could fit), and all that hooked up with one little cable (that can also supply power), if you were carrying "a stack of dongles", you were obviously either a liar or a complete an utter idiot.
Oh, and unlike with built-in ports, USB-C and Thunderbolt docks give the User huge flexibility as to exactly what compliment of Ports fits your particular needs. Without that, y
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With the huge variety of available USB-C and Thunderbolt docks, some with up to Thirteen simultaneously-accessible Ports (more than any laptop could fit), and all that hooked up with one little cable (that can also supply power), if you were carrying "a stack of dongles", you were obviously either a liar or a complete an utter idiot.
Stacking dongles? Wtf are you a complete moron?
I have a stack OF dongles. One USB-C to ethernet. One USB-C to USB-A. One USB-C to hdmi+usb-A+usb-c.
Sorry not sorry that reality t
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Stacking dongles? Wtf are you a complete moron?
Since the person you quoted wrote "stack of dongles", which is exactly what you say you have, it's quite clear who is the moron.
You have a stack of "dongles" because you were too stupid to buy one decent hub. If you claim that "Apple fanbois are insane" you should first give some evidence that you are on the sane side. Moron.
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You have a stack of "dongles" because you were too stupid to buy one decent hub.
Right because a fuckoff big hub is great for portability, moron.
Remind me why macs are meant to be good again?
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When the only "dongle" you need is an adapter to simply plug USB-A into USB-C, it's no big deal. They are cheap and light and small, and you can leave them plugged into the end of the cable so it's not arduous to keep track of them.
It's much more irritating when you need proprietary bullshit or expensive active adapters.
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When the only "dongle" you need is an adapter to simply plug USB-A into USB-C, it's no big deal. They are cheap and light and small, and you can leave them plugged into the end of the cable so it's not arduous to keep track of them.
And for HDMI, too.
But the point is you're buying an expensive laptop designed to be small and light. And you need to carry extra crap because it's missing a few holes in the side. A nice Carbon X1 manages USB C, USB A, HDMI, micro SD, SIM and proper thermals, while being lighter
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USB A is only niche if you are already deep into Apple's revenue stream. Otherwise most peripherals like USB flash drives, external HDDs, keyboards, mice, printers, scanners, card readers, headsets, USB hubs etc. are USB A at the moment.
Don't get me wrong, I want everything to be USB C and Bluetooth as well, but I also don't want to throw away perfectly good hardware.
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Many people never connect arbitrary peripherals to their laptops
Many people do. And its actually worse if you only do it occasionally because then you are that much less likely to be carrying the right adapter dongle nearby.
and even for those who do there are almost always wireless and/or USB-C versions of them.
=facepalm=
What matters is what is on my desk, at the hotel business centre, at my parents and friends home, and on my peers and coworkers desks. And right now they're still predominantly USB-A.
It doesn't fucking matter that there are wireless usb-c versions of these available to purchase, those aren't the ones I'm using.
For an HDMI port you'll be needing a device to connect it to, which is usually a lot more bulky than a dongle will be.
Precisely. So when I go somewh
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There are docks that have many ports like USB-A, memory cards, VGA, network, HDMI, etc. from AUKEY (got this one for a client) and others.
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It's nothing to do with target markets. It's all about how Apple shafts its customers and they get so used to the abuse that they actually think two USB ports is a generous upgrade.
The new iMac base model has 2 USB C ports. On a desktop. Not for lack of space, the more expensive models have 4. It was a conscious choice to screw their customers.
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It wasn't a conscious move to screw the customers, it was a conscious move to have a base model that is $200 or 200 pound cheaper.
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Do you really think that removing two USB ports saved any actual money? If anything it probably increased the cost, since how they have to make two sets of cases, one with 2 ports and one with 4. Two sets of motherboards, one with extra ports fitted and one without. Reducing the number of different parts is one of the easiest ways to reduce costs over a product line.
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That's my point. They did it purely to upsell, not for any technical reason or to reduce the cost of the hardware so they could charge a lower price.
Re: Then don't buy it. (Re:Oh. My. God.) (Score:2)
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The "base model" has the Apple M1 chip. The higher priced model has the Intel chip. This wasn't a scheme to up sell people to the more expensive model, it was Apple putting a chip built for a tablet computer into a desktop case. In a tablet there will not be much for a PCI bus so there isn't going to be much gain in putting more USB-C/USB4/Thunderbolt ports on the thing. The market for this will be grandmothers and high school students. These are the kind of people that will plug in a keyboard, mouse,
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No these are all M1 iMacs. The base model as 2 USB C ports and no ethernet. The higher end models have 4 USB C ports (two Thunderbolt) and ethernet on the power brick. You also get more (non-upgradable) RAM and SSD.
Other than that you get a headphone jack and that's it. No other I/O.
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I don't know why I read that as Mac mini before when it was clearly an iMac you were referring to. Regardless my argument doesn't change, the chips are different, so the boards are different. The model with 2 ports has the 7-core GPU and the model with 4 ports has the 8 core GPU.
Knowing what I do about how chips like these are made it is possible that the 8 core chips with 1 bad GPU in manufacture has it disabled and sold as a 7 core chip. It's possible that there is a high probability of a failure in so
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The GPU thing is weird. Performance wise it makes barely any difference in benchmarking, and in fact the 7 core mostly makes up the difference with higher clocks which suggests that it is thermally limited.
I would guess that it's binning too, but based on how other manufacturers bin it seems that disabling defective PCIe lanes is not a very common practice. The number of PCIe lanes is usually fixed for each family of chips, e.g. all Ryzen parts of a given generation have the same number from the cheapest to
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You don't have to buy it. You do know that, right?
Even if I don't buy it, the marketing around this stuff being innovative or new will become a part of the current zeitgeist, lowering the bar for 'innovation" and setting real innovation back for years to come.
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That made me laugh. Especially the use of "zeitgeist", that was a nice touch.
Plenty of manufacturers in plenty of industries claim to "innovate" when it is clearly bullshit. Apple is no different.
Thanks for the chuckle.
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"You don't have to buy it. You do know that, right?"
First off, no one can buy it because it doesn't exist.
Second, it is a criticism of Apple's hubris as well as the press who does Apple's bidding, it is not a criticism of the machine. "If you can't comprehend that" you shouldn't be participating on the discussion.
Also, these minor changes to not constitute "a whole new kind". See what the problem is, fanboy?
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Re: Oh. My. God. (Score:2)
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The jokes people still use here are antiques now. The jokes have college aged children now.
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Wow, TWO usb C ports, no one has ever done something so so so amazing on a laptop.
I mean, what's next, an HDMI port? An SD card slot? Time will only tell what other incredible breakthroughs the Apple team will unveil!
Turns out someone [apple.com] has accomplished this amazing feat before. The current MacBook Air [apple.com], to give one example.
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p>I mean, what's next, an HDMI port?
A touch-screen would be good. But it all sounds like much the same.
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A few years ago, I made peace with the fact that Apple is just transitioning to a dongle company.
Also, I just 'upgraded' from 2015 MBP to a 2017 MPB - that USB C connector Suuucks... Are new laptops sold with a little roll of gaff tape to carry around (in your pouch full of dongles) so you can tape the connectors in place?
Rounded bezel (Score:2)
The rounded bezel will work for MacOS due to the top menu bar. But most other windowing systems are going to have problems due to the corners of the screen being removed.
If you are running Linux on such a box, and it probably will work at some point, one might have to trim the edges of the screen so that a rectangular area is presented. I suppose this could be done in the driver. Previous versions of MacOS hardware had a small rounded bezel implemented in software. But the bezel on this computer is s
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Re:Rounded bezel (Score:5, Informative)
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LOL, X used floating point for all 2D rendering in 1989. Stop pretending X was sophisticated for its day.
Don't break something that works (Score:2)
A smaller trackpad sounds like a bad idea. One of the best things about Apple laptops is that the trackpad is so much better than the competition, and the size is one part of that. (*looking at my HP Elitebook in disgust*)
What I want in the next MacBook Air - of which I am a very likely buyer - is "more screen, less frame", an M2 chip and a better camera. I didn't care much about the latter before the last year, but video conferencing became a lot more important the last year.
A Micro-LED screen would be
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A smaller trackpad sounds like a bad idea. One of the best things about Apple laptops is that the trackpad is so much better than the competition, and the size is one part of that. (*looking at my HP Elitebook in disgust*)
True, I have a Leno work laptop which regularly refuses to acknowledge the existence of the trackpad. Thankfully it has that silly miniature joystick in the middle of the keyboard.
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Trackpad size is a totally subjective thing. I personally like one that's kind of mid-sized. If they are too large I accidentally thumb tap them all the time. If they're too small, they're... too small :)
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Smaller frame would be nice, but the current model isn't too bad. On my 2014 Air it's huge, don't know what they were thinking.
A stunning and brave prediction (Score:2)
company working on next product - better than the current one !
Thinner! (Score:2)
I am waiting for my laptop to be able to cut cheese. Until then it is not thin enough!
Seriously, I have never met anyone who thought their laptop was not thin enough in recent years. Not light enough, definitely, but not thin enough, never.
For work I need a Mac, and a year and a half ago when requesting a new one, even though I was tempted by the 16", I had them get me a maxed-out 15" 2017 model (even though you could only get it refurbished). The 16" is definitely faster, but people have to carry a set of
MacBook (Score:2)
You mean an affordable one ? Or one that can easily be repaired by a shop tech ? With available spare parts at affordable / normal market prices ? That would be a new kind of MacBook indeed :D :D :D
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Or one that can easily be repaired by a shop tech ? With available spare parts at affordable / normal market prices ?
Looking around here, I have a 2015 iMac, an MBP for work, a 2012 MBP for private use, an old 2010 MBP that refuses to break down, and none of them have ever seen a "shop tech". I think if I take cost per year, these Macs are very affordable compared to a cheaper PC with cheap repairs and cheap spare parts.
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A Whole New Kind Without Sharp Edges? (Score:2)
a whole new kind of macbook ?!?!?!!111 (Score:2)
the MacBook Air will be available in a range of color options
Oh wow, lets see samsung/lenovo/dell copy this one, eh? Color innovation is just not something that can be duplicated.
Still need an upgrade in RAM (Score:2)
Selling the M1 with 8 GB of RAM with an optional upgrade to 16 GB of RAM is not a modern computer. I'm a huge Apple fan, but I don't think any machine north of $500 should be selling with 8 GB of RAM. 16 GB as a base model with an option for 32 GB would be a huge improvement.
I'm really looking forward to owning an Apple ARM processor. The M1 doesn't have the longevity I'm looking for.
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"8 GB is generally adequate now..."
Especially when you don't do anything. Apple has been a master at making products that are "generally adequate" for undemanding users, an 8GB M1 is no exception. Apple customers routinely pay overpay for machines that are "generally adequate" for light loads but nothing more.
I've been a Mac user since the switch to Intel (and just prior), I can say with absolute certainty that 8GB is not "generally adequate" for anything more than running a screen saver, and often not ev
Re: Still need an upgrade in RAM (Score:2)
My guess until I get one of these machines myself (the only one I bought was a birthday present with a very happy user) is that an SSD drive capable of reading more than 2GB per second makes an awful lot of difference if you are low on memory, even compared to a 500 MB drive.
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I guess you haven't heard the complaints about M1 SSDs suffering premature wear either, despite there being an article on /. a while back. "I suspect that once your SSD drive is" overloaded "enough", it suffers premature degradation.
I also suspect the crowd you run with wouldn't dare complain about an Apple product.
Re: Still need an upgrade in RAM (Score:2)
The comments section on this story... (Score:2)
Is a total shitshow today (for those browsing at below 1). I had no idea that a article about a computer that goes bleep and bloop could ruffle so many feathers.
Retine MacBook replacement ? (Score:2)
I look forward to replace my 2015 model. Even if the keyboard is not very good, it is still overall a fantastic machine; and the perfect travel companion for those who prefer a real computer over an iPad.
Same old von Newman machine. (Score:2)
So this new MacBook Air just has a new cpu, nothing "new"
Heat issues (Score:2)
If it's anything like my current MacBook Air, it'll get hot as lava.