Next MacBook (Air)

[User.45]

I’ve seen an awful large number of lawyers, students, engineering managers, etc. using the 12”MB and, back in the day, the 11”MBA. They would definitely notice the difference if they couldn’t run their software

Definitely a market for a tiny portable Mac, and room for iPads in that market segment, too. How big is the market? Dunno. Not clear if it’s worth Apple’s time.

The issue is you're being logical vs. Apple having the market data to prove us both wrong. 11" = young user (Small screens like that hurt my eyes already). Young user = more openness to touchscreens.

Only if you don't want - or need - to write much.

To me, an iPad allows you to consume media, whereas a computer (with a proper keyboard) allows you to create stuff.

An iPad could never become a replacement laptop, at least, not for me.

Or anything... Even my 12" iPad pro, I'm primarily using it as a speaker and a second screen.

 

[Cmaier]

They should've put the stupid SD card slot into this new upcoming MBA instead of cluttering up the MBP with it..... Real photographers, who are more likely to be the ones buying and using MBPs, prefer card readers, not a slot in their printer or their computer, and these days most of the higher-end camera bodies come with CF Express Type A or Type B or other sophisticated cards beyond the simple SD memory cards.

Forget the MBA, especially if they make the thing off-white with off-white bezels and colors like the current iMacs: Yuck!!!! I agree, then they should rename it simply "MacBook," as it would resemble the white MacBooks of days gone by.

However, I would be all over an elegant, sleek 12" machine kitted out with the new Silicon chip and lightweight, suited to travel and ease of carrying anywhere and everywhere. That machine, genuinely deserving of the name "MacBook Air," which would reflect its nature, would be a perfect complement to the new MBPs.

I own a Sony A1, so I get your point re: CF Express (I use type A cards, but it also works with SD), but I am still happy they put the slot in. First, I *also* own other cameras that use SD. I also use SD to transfer files for use in Raspberry Pis. And you can use the SD card as “extra” storage - not as fast as the built-in SSD, but a big SD card could be useful when you are working with a lot of data on the road, especially if you buy a machine with a small SSD.

 

[User.45]

They should've put the stupid SD card slot into this new upcoming MBA instead of cluttering up the MBP with it..... Real photographers, who are more likely to be the ones buying and using MBPs, prefer card readers, not a slot in their printer or their computer, and these days most of the higher-end camera bodies come with CF Express Type A or Type B or other sophisticated cards beyond the simple SD memory cards.

Forget the MBA, especially if they make the thing off-white with off-white bezels and colors like the current iMacs: Yuck!!!! I agree, then they should rename it simply "MacBook," as it would resemble the white MacBooks of days gone by.

However, I would be all over an elegant, sleek 12" machine kitted out with the new Silicon chip and lightweight, suited to travel and ease of carrying anywhere and everywhere. That machine, genuinely deserving of the name "MacBook Air," which would reflect its nature, would be a perfect complement to the new MBPs.

JetDrive Lite 360 | Expansion Cards for Mac - Transcend Information, Inc.

Transcend's JetDrive Lite 360 expansion card is water-resistant, a great storage expansion solution to add up to 256GB capacity to your MacBook Pro.

www.transcend-info.com

You never used one of these then. These were totally awesome. On my first MBP I replaced the CDROM with a secondary HDD. On the next MBP i just used a jetdrive to achieve the same.

 

[Cmaier]

JetDrive Lite 360 | Expansion Cards for Mac - Transcend Information, Inc.

Transcend's JetDrive Lite 360 expansion card is water-resistant, a great storage expansion solution to add up to 256GB capacity to your MacBook Pro.

www.transcend-info.com

You never used one of these then. These were totally awesome. On my first MBP I replaced the CDROM with a secondary HDD. On the next MBP i just used a jetdrive to achieve the same.

It’s just too bad the slot is only UHS-II and not UHS-III. That would have been nice.

And if Apple wants to make it a CF Express A slot next time, I’m all for it But that would piss off the Nikon and Canon folks, who want CF Express B.

 

[User.45]

It’s just too bad the slot is only UHS-II and not UHS-III. That would have been nice.

Was about to post this. Sorta disappointing but AFAIK it can still do 320MB/s which is good enough to offload your music library.

 

[Cmaier]

 

[Clix Pix]

I own a Sony A1, so I get your point re: CF Express (I use type A cards, but it also works with SD), but I am still happy they put the slot in. First, I *also* own other cameras that use SD. I also use SD to transfer files for use in Raspberry Pis. And you can use the SD card as “extra” storage - not as fast as the built-in SSD, but a big SD card could be useful when you are working with a lot of data on the road, especially if you buy a machine with a small SSD.

Even before I bought my Sony A1, in anticipation of it, I bought the Sony CF Express (Type A) / SD card reader. I still use SD cards in my A7R IV, RX100 VII and RX10 IV, so the dual functionality works a treat. Prior to that I had used a card reader which handled only SD cards. I have three Sony Tough CF Express (Type A) cards and so far have not needed to put an SD card into that camera. I keep one of the CF Express cards in each of the two slots, the third as a spare if needed.

Actually, P_X, a few MBPs ago I DID use one of those Transcend JetDrive thingies and while I found it useful in some ways I was also a bit leery of it and so eventually gave up on it and went to strictly external drives that I could plug in and unplug as needed and about which I felt more secure regarding the device actually retaining the contents. Not sure why I was so skittish, as I never really had any issues with that Transcend JetDrive. Eventually, of course, over the past several years I've been moving from external HDD to external SSD and they've been working out well for me.

 

[User.45]

Even before I bought my Sony A1 I bought the Sony CF Express (Type A) / SD card reader. I still use SD cards in my A7R IV, RX100 VII and RX10 IV, so the dual functionality works a treat. Prior to that I had used a card reader which handled only SD cards. I have three Sony Tough CF Express (Type A) cards so so far have not needed to put an SD card into that camera. I keep one of the CF Express cards in each of the two slots.

Actually, P_X, a few MBPs ago I DID use one of those Transcend JetDrive thingies and while I found it useful in some ways I was also a bit leery of it and so eventually gave up on it and went to strictly external drives that I could plug in and unplug as needed and about which I felt more secure regarding the device actually retaining the contents. Not sure why I was so skittish, as I never really had any issues with that Transcend JetDrive. Eventually, of course, over the past several years I've been moving from external HDD to external SSD and they've been working out well for me.

TBH I still look at my old JetDrive fondly and sorta miss it. Never had any issues with it, but I also never kept non-redudant data on it.

 

[Cmaier]

Even before I bought my Sony A1 I bought the Sony CF Express (Type A) / SD card reader. I still use SD cards in my A7R IV, RX100 VII and RX10 IV, so the dual functionality works a treat. Prior to that I had used a card reader which handled only SD cards. I have three Sony Tough CF Express (Type A) cards so so far have not needed to put an SD card into that camera. I keep one of the CF Express cards in each of the two slots.

Actually, P_X, a few MBPs ago I DID use one of those Transcend JetDrive thingies and while I found it useful in some ways I was also a bit leery of it and so eventually gave up on it and went to strictly external drives that I could plug in and unplug as needed and about which I felt more secure regarding the device actually retaining the contents. Not sure why I was so skittish, as I never really had any issues with that Transcend JetDrive. Eventually, of course, over the past several years I've been moving from external HDD to external SSD and they've been working out well for me.

I have a couple ProGrade CF Exp A readers (like the sony, they also read SD). They work great so far. (I’ve only used them for CF Express, not SD). I keep two CF in the camera, too. Happy to see that you can now get cards from ProGrade - early reviews seem to say they match performance of the Sony’s.

 

[Clix Pix]

Back in those days, the MBPs just did not have adequate storage, even if one maxed out the machine. These days things are significantly different, thank goodness. Now one can have a 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB, whatever his or her little heart desires and what the bank account can afford!

 

[Cmaier]

Back in those days, the MBPs just did not have adequate storage, even if one maxed out the machine. These days things are significantly different, thank goodness. Now one can have a 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB, whatever his or her little heart desires and what the bank account can afford!

I thought I was crazy buying a 4TB this time around, but my pal pre-ordered an 8TB and now I feel inadequate.

 

[Clix Pix]

I have a couple ProGrade CF Exp A readers (like the sony, they also read SD). They work great so far. (I’ve only used them for CF Express, not SD). I keep two CF in the camera, too. Happy to see that you can now get cards from ProGrade - early reviews seem to say they match performance of the Sony’s.

Ah, thank you for that mention of ProGrade CF Express Type A readers -- if for some reason my device decides to get funky on me I'll keep this in mind! I haven't been doing any traveling lately but one thing I would definitely be doing before going on a trip where I'd be taking the camera and doing some shooting would be to of course purchase additional spares of everything: memory cards, batteries, etc., beyond what I've already got, and also the card reader, as right now I've only got just the one card reader attached to my machine here at home.

 

[Cmaier]

Ah, thank you for that mention of ProGrade CF Express Type A readers -- if for some reason my device decides to get funky on me I'll keep this in mind! I haven't been doing any traveling lately but one thing I would definitely be doing before going on a trip where I'd be taking the camera and doing some shooting would be to of course purchase additional spares of everything: memory cards, batteries, etc., beyond what I've already got, and also the card reader, as right now I've only got just the one card reader attached to my machine here at home.

The prograde are interesting because they have magnets in their base - you can use them to stack them, or to stick them to your laptop or whatnot.

 

[Clix Pix]

I thought I was crazy buying a 4TB this time around, but my pal pre-ordered an 8TB and now I feel inadequate.

Back in 2018 when I bought my 15" 2018 MBP I went with 1 TB, thinking that this would be more than plenty of space.... Yeah, well, that was before I had the A7R IV and now the A1!!!!! Definitely my next machine is going to have 2, maybe 4 TB of storage......then I won't need quite so many external SSDs kicking around! I definitely am not going to be stingy with RAM, either. The 2018 has 32 GB RAM and so the next one will need to have at least that, but I'm not sure that I really need 64 GB. My experience with the M1 13" MBP with its 16 GB RAM, is that it feels almost as fast as the older machine with 32 GB, with the distinct impression that it is a lot speedier and perkier than the 2018 machine, so it is quite possible that 32 GB RAM in a 14" or 16" silicon-based MBP will be more than satisfactory. I've got time to decide, mull things over...... Not planning to buy a new machine until maybe at the end of this year or early in 2022.

 

[Cmaier]

Back in 2018 when I bought my 15" 2018 MBP I went with 1 TB, thinking that this would be more than plenty of space.... Yeah, well, that was before I had the A7R IV and now the A1!!!!! Definitely my next machine is going to have 2, maybe 4 TB of storage......then I won't need quite so many external SSDs kicking around! I definitely am not going to be stingy with RAM, either. The 2018 has 32 GB RAM and so the next one will need to have at least that, but I'm not sure that I really need 64 GB. My experience with the M1 13" MBP with its 16 GB RAM, feels almost as fast as the older machine with 32 GB, with the distinct impression that it is a lot speedier and perkier than the 2018 machine, so it is quite possible that 32 GB RAM in a 14" or 16" silicon-based MBP will be more than satisfactory. I've got time to decide, mull things over...... Not planning to buy a new machine until maybe at the end of this year or early in 2022.

Ah. I keep all my photos on a Synology NAS (backed up onto another, off-site, Synology NAS), with each NAS having 2-disk redundancy, so I’d need a pretty catastrophic set of circumstances to lose them. So even my 6 year old MBP with 2TB disk is nowhere close to full.

I got an 64GB machine this time.

 

[Clix Pix]

Wow, you've really pretty much maxed out everything on your new machine!!! Wheeeeeeee!!!!!!

Somehow I've never gotten around to setting up a NAS system, which really would be an excellent approach to my storage and backup day-to-day care and maintenance....

 

[Cmaier]

Wow, you've really pretty much maxed out everything on your new machine!!! Wheeeeeeee!!!!!!

Somehow I've never gotten around to setting up a NAS system, which really would be an excellent approach to my storage and backup day-to-day care and maintenance....

Highly recommend Synology. Fairly easy to set up, and it supports remote time machine backups.

 

[Jorbanead]

Honestly, I feel like Apple should kill off every laptop except 2 pro sizes. Slap all the thinning and lightweight knowledge they have into those. Theoretically, that should save on manufacturing costs when only 2 models are being mass-produced. Pass the savings to the consumer along with stop gouging us for twice the average market cost for RAM and hard drives.

I know part of the attraction to the non-pro models is they are cheaper but I still think there's an excessive amount of gouging no matter which laptop you get and the further you go down the price chain the less future proofing and use you can get out of it. If you want to do anything marginally professional with audio and video then the only smart option is a pro and not the entry-level model either.

Eh I think there’s a clear need for two lines of MacBooks. The air works for the average consumer, and thus is compact, thin, lightweight etc. and then the pro is obviously for those who want more power and ports. If they just sold a lightweight thin MacBook, they wouldn’t be able to have higher performance notebooks?

I guess I don’t follow your logic here. The air is apples most popular mac so there is a clear need for it, but the pro models are obviously also needed for pro workflows.

 

[Alli]

You never used one of these then. These were totally awesome. On my first MBP I replaced the CDROM with a secondary HDD. On the next MBP i just used a jetdrive to achieve the same.

I had one on my second MBA. It was great for storing music and photos. It seems that everything I have now is stored on some cloud or another. Redundant systems are like a religion for me, but there’s no reason I have to keep anything local these days. However, that didn’t stop me from getting 1TB on the new MBA.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I'll always be partial to a MacBook Air. It was my first personal MacBook in 2015 and it convinced me to switch over to Apple. I used that machine for college classes, work, programming, World of Warcraft/Starcraft, etc. It was a workhorse that did its job well. My wife and I both got one and used ours for 3 years, then I sold mine back to Apple at almost 50% of the cost.

While I use MBPs now, I'll never forget how robust and powerful that laptop was. With the M chip, it's going to be a challenger.

Really hope Windows gets its act together because I still rely on Windows and I know quite a few college courses require windows applications. I imagine ARM Windows will only get better (hopefully).