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Portables (Apple) Apple Technology

Apple Plans Thinner MacBook Air With Magnetic Charger In Mac Lineup Reboot (bloomberg.com) 69

Posted by BeauHD from the what-to-expect dept.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is working on a thinner and lighter version of the MacBook Air, the company's mass-market laptop. From the report: The new computer is planned to be released during the second half of this year at the earliest or in 2022. It will include Apple's MagSafe charging technology and a next-generation version of the company's in-house Mac processors. Apple has discussed making the laptop smaller by shrinking the border around the screen, which will remain 13-inches. The current model weighs 2.8 pounds and is just over half an inch at its thickest point.

The company considered building a larger version of the MacBook Air with a 15-inch screen, but Apple isn't moving forward with this for the next generation, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment. The new model will have a pair of USB 4 ports for connecting external devices. The new laptop is destined to be a higher-end version of the current MacBook Air, which is expected to remain in the company's lineup as an entry-level offering. Apple last updated the product in November with its own M1 Mac chip, replacing a processor from Intel Corp. Last Friday, Bloomberg reported on Apple's upgraded MacBook Pro laptops that are expected to be released later this year. They too will feature MagSafe charging, but unlike the MacBook Air, Apple's planning to bring back an SD card slot so users can insert memory cards from digital cameras. The Touch Bar is also going.
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Apple Plans Thinner MacBook Air With Magnetic Charger In Mac Lineup Reboot More

Apple Plans Thinner MacBook Air With Magnetic Charger In Mac Lineup Reboot

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  • Why?! (Score:3)

    by aaarrrgggh ( 9205 ) on Friday January 22, 2021 @07:03PM (#60980508)

    I get reducing weight (20% lighter makes a difference for laptops), but thinner has long been a useless metric for Apple’s Air line...

    • Thinness is the whole point of a MacBook Air.

      If you don't care about thinness, just buy a MacBook Pro which is better in every other way.

      • Was better in every way.

        With the current M1 generation, they're just about the same thing.

      • Thinness is the whole point of a MacBook Air.

        Ya, but too much thinner and they'll be inside out. That'll be hard to type on.

      • The selling point is primarily weight, not thinness.

        • The selling point is primarily weight, not thinness.

          It has to be thin so it will fit in the ruggedized mil-spec OtterBox protective case.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          The cost of being thin is no upgradable parts. SSD soldered in, RAM soldered in, no sockets.

          I suppose at least you might get an SD card slot now for some cheap storage but lack of upgrades and ports is a deal-breaker on these machines.

          In a month or two Ryzen 5000 laptops will hit the market, if you are looking to upgrade.

      • Graphic of the design decisions for the new MacBook Air (ASCII art, may not work out):

        Apple designers / Apple users
        Give it a bigger screen 0% / 100%
        Make it 2 microns thinner 100% / 0%

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      When you've got a computer the size of its screen, "thinner" is equivalent to "smaller." And smaller/thinner is not useless.

      • Funny... Again you only state is is not useless. And do not write a single sentence to justify it, afterwards.

        And you somehow completely ignore the huge load of massivr disadvantages you are paying with, to get it.

        For ... *gasp* ... all of three millimeters less thickness.
        Put in the obligatory thick bag, can you literally even tell which one is in there without opening it, just from the bulk alone?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          Funny... Again you only state is is not useless. And do not write a single sentence to justify it, afterwards.

          The post I replied to bitched thinness was useless, with zero reasoning. I have no idea what you mean by "again."

          I see you've posted some of your own reasons elsewhere in the thread:

          Less battery life? Shitter cooling? Lower performance? Less repairability? Higher cost?

          I'm typing this on a mid-2013 MacBook pro. It's considerably thinner and lighter than its predecessor. It also has longer battery lif

          • The air is great for people that travel, which I do not dispute. However, losing the original mag-safe, the SD slot, and other similar moves (requiring a dongle for everything) really compromised that. Thin for the sake of thin was the cause.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

              The Air is really designed for people who need something to carry with them that they can do the spreadsheet/e-mail/wordprocessing/powerpoint thing on. I know a few people with them, and I don't think they've ever touched a dongle.

              The 13" MacBook Pro is just a bit bigger and has more of the ports. Apple really screwed up removing magsafe though, and they did it from the bigger computers too, so it wasn't in a quest for thinner. It's good to see them putting it back. And the SD card is a nice touch too.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by lsllll ( 830002 )
                But the point of the original post is accurate. How much thinner can you get than the Macbook Air? Just a little? It doesn't really get you anything in return. I don't really care much about the size of my laptop when I'm traveling (up to a certain extent), as if you multiply the thickness of the Macbook Air by 1.5, it just means the size of a Time or People magazine, but the weight is what matters the most. The weight of the Macbook Air is actually perfect. So, instead of decreasing thickness, which

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

                  The density of modern electronics is fairly fixed. Mass = height * width * thickness * density, and height and width are fixed by the screen and keyboard. So if you make it thicker, you either make it heavier or you're just adding empty space. There is utility it making it thick enough, and adding weight, to accommodate more connectors. There have been some ultralight laptops, tablets and phones with bulges for connectors and cameras, but you can also just make the whole thing thicker and fill up the extra

    • It's an excuse for a non-upgradable, non-serviceable machine.

      Glue everything down and replace the whole unit if there's any problem.

      • It's an excuse for a non-upgradable, non-serviceable machine.

        Apple through and through. Last time I was in the market, the Carbon X1 basically beat the Apple offerings across the board (except for not having a discrete GPU), being lighter, faster, cheaper, more storage, much better keyboard, better array of ports (USB-C fetishism not withstanding, it also had SD and SIM), superior cooling and an upgradeable SSD.

        Also run Linux perfectly so a better GUI too...

  • And the volume control will go up to 11.

    Thinner, too!

  • Or cut my wrists every time I make the error of thinking I can write with them? (That would fit the target group perfectly.)

    And will there be an equivalently thin phone so every time I try to hold it with my shoulder during a call, I lop my arm clean off... or, preferably my neck, so I don't have to think about having been so stupid to buy that anymore. ;)

  • And that's where you lost me. All I keep seeing from Apple is "high end" this and "high end" that.

    Yeah, you updated the Mac Mini. And I thank you. Now how about an actual upgradeable tower for under $2k.

    • Apple has no new ideas.

      • Apple has no new ideas.

        The entire industry has no new ideas. New computers, laptops, and phones for years have been just faster, cheaper, and smaller than the model from last year. Once in a while they are bigger, and heavier, because that's different than the model from last year.

        Go back far enough and you'll see that new models of hardware always came with new power/charging ports than the last model. That pissed people off enough at some point to where the earlier a manufacturer settled on some consistent power port the mor

        • Sure. Not a lot of new ideas in the industry. But Apple is in a class by itself. Apple has zero new ideas. Intellectually bankrupt. Out of gas.

          • Sure. Not a lot of new ideas in the industry. But Apple is in a class by itself. Apple has zero new ideas. Intellectually bankrupt. Out of gas.

            But Apple still has its usual jihadists prowling around on Slashdot. Sad.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Megane ( 129182 )
        Oh they do have new ideas. What they don't have is new good ideas. And then they double down on them.

    • Now how about an actual upgradeable tower for under $2k.

      That's the KFConsole.

      https://landing.coolermaster.c... [coolermaster.com]

  • "Nobody asked for that" -- Orson Welles as Louis XVIII

  • Is the new MagSafe just like the old MagSafe? (Score:4, Informative)

    by MacMann ( 7518492 ) on Friday January 22, 2021 @09:10PM (#60980914)

    There's a lot of words written about the new MagSafe, but are there any photos or drawings? Any specs to indicate if this is a return of the old MagSafe or something completely different?

    I have an 85 watt MagSafe power adapter and I see it provides 18.5 volts at 4.6 amps, which is certainly similar in specs to an Apple USB-C 87 watt power adapter which provides 20.2 volts at 4.3 amps. Power adapters for some on larger (and more power hungry) non-Apple branded laptops I have access to are not all that different with voltages in the 15 to 20 volt range voltage supplied , current output in the 3 to 4.5 amp range. Smaller non-Apple laptops will keep the voltage at 19 volts or so and drop the current to the 2 amp range, or drop the voltage to around 12 volts and keep the current in the area of 4 amps. This appears consistent with Apple's 29 and 30 watt USB-C power adapters which do much the same.
    https://www.hardwarezone.com.s... [hardwarezone.com.sg]

    It would seem logical to assume the new MagSafe power adapters will be similar to the currently sold MagSafe power adapters in voltage and current supplied. Will it be similar enough to be backward compatible in some way? Apple still sells MagSafe and MagSafe2 power adapters, will they just return to those?
    https://www.apple.com/shop/pro... [apple.com]
    https://www.apple.com/shop/pro... [apple.com]

    Will USB-C charging still be supported on the new laptops with MagSafe? I certainly hope so. Using the existing MagSafe power adapters will certainly save Apple some engineering costs, make some long time customers happy, and save on logistics. Will Apple have USB-C to MagSafe cables? That could save on logistics problems too, have USB-C power adapters in the existing 3 or 4 power ratings and then new and old MagSafe laptops use a MagSafe power cable while laptops with USB-C charging use a USB-C power cable.

    How many USB-C chargers does Apple offer now? 20, 30, 61, and 96 watt? I think that's it. The 29, 45, and 87 watt adapters don't appear to be offered any more.

    I doubt anyone here has answers. I'm just thinking that if Apple doesn't use the existing MagSafe and doesn't use a USB-C to MagSafe cable then that's a lot of different power adapters they need to track in their inventory and in support documentation. Creating something new for the sake of something new doesn't make a lot of sense.

    • then that's a lot of different power adapters they need to track in their inventory and in support documentation

      I mean that's a moot point. Presumably they setup their inventory management system very well when they decided the average user should be equipped with an entire backpack full of dongles in the name of simplicity.

      I'm only being partially funny here. If you tally up the number of accessories Apple must track in inventory it is absolutely insane, and that's before you get into lifestyle accessories like Airpods and whatever their headphones are called.

  • It's this effectively an iPad with non-detachable keyboard cover?

  • My 2018 MBA gets so damn hot even watching a normal YouTube video because there is virtually no good way to cool it other than sitting it on an icepack. This will get even worse the thinner it gets.

    • Re:Thinner == an even louder fan (Score:4, Informative)

      by Bert64 ( 520050 ) <bert@[ ]shdot.fi ... m ['sla' in gap]> on Friday January 22, 2021 @10:46PM (#60981048) Homepage

      My 2020 MBA barely gets warm even under heavy load, and its fanless. The new M1 based chips generate a LOT less heat than the older intel models.

      • I hear this a lot and i guess there’s some truth to it, but (depending on workload) they can get plenty hot, plenty quickly. Spinning up the iGPU is usually a surefire way to get hot AND spin the fans up rapidly on my M1 MBP.

      • My 2020 MBA barely gets warm even under heavy load, and its fanless. The new M1 based chips generate a LOT less heat than the older intel models.

        I call shenanigans. All reviews complain about it being both louder and hotter than previous models. Simply looking at a Macbook Air 2020 model shows a lovely fan. Also all models of Macbook Air have been performance limited due to thermal throttling.

        The M1 is the obvious answer there, but the MBA is not in any way not massively hampered thermally by its thinness, and to be honest I've yet to see a device in its class be it laptop, or "slate" the Surface devices. They are *ALL* thermally limited compared to

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Bert64 ( 520050 )

          No the 2020 M1 macbook air does not have a fan, the macbook pro does.
          It may well still be thermally limited, but it does massively better than the intel models.

          • Read what I said. I said the M1 is a solution to this problem. I never claimed the M1 Air to be an issue or that it had a fan.

        • > Simply looking at a Macbook Air 2020 model shows a lovely fan.

          I have a 2020 MBA, there is no fan.

          > All reviews complain about it being both louder and hotter than previous models

          I watched about three dozen reviews before buying, and every single one said the exact opposite. Some variation of the statement "you can't even tell its running" comes up in all of them.

          "I call shenanigans" indeed.

          • Cool story. Given the iFixit review shows a fan, maybe you were over generalising with your comment?

            I'll tell what you I was definitely not overgeneralising about: It doesn't run cooler. All the models of MBA ever released on the market, fan or no fan, high end, or low end (except the M1 for which I simply have no information on), hit their thermal throttling limit under load, that limit is 100C for every model.

            So if your Air is running "cooler" as in cooler to the touch then it's a reflection that Apple ha

  • The Touch Bar is also going... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by bb_matt ( 5705262 ) on Saturday January 23, 2021 @02:22AM (#60981360)

    ... finally.

    Back in those heady days when we could all crowd into offices to share diseases, I spent part of the day observing all of those who had touch bars on their Macs.

    The only real use case? - seeing what crazy things you could put on it.
    Not one person used it for productivity.
    Why? Because ... why would you?
    There's a disconnect - the features it often displays, to match an application, are already present and often have shortcut keys.
    That means if you can touch type, you never have to look away from the screen.
    The moment you have to reach over to a part of the keyboard that isn't tactile to do something, is the moment you lose connection with what you are doing. You have to take one hand off the keyboard, look away from the screen at a tiny little screen and make a selection.
    Because it's always changing, based on application, it makes finger memory harder to learn.

    How on earth did this get missed during development?
    Apple touts themselves on "we know best" when it comes to design and they have indeed managed to take existing tech and make it better, over the years.

    Sometimes, however, we end up with mistakes like this.
    The touch bar on my work macBook remains permanently stuck on displaying the function keys.
    I would not buy a macBook for personal use that has a touchbar. In fact, I would never buy a new macBook fullstop.
    I'm typing this on an old 2012 macBook Pro I picked up for $300 - it's a lovely little machine.

    And the sdcard slot? - yep, the 2012 model has one, I use it quite frequently.
    Clearly, at one point, Apple decided it was a bad idea to include a port that is widely used - did they feel it would be redundant soon?
    On that, they were wrong, the sdcard is one of those developments that has stood the test of time.

    It's just a damn shame Apple don't follow suit with their own designs sometimes - they don't always know better.

    • And another aspect of the touchbar on 2018/19 macs and yet another observation...

      90% of users in my office, a team of about 30 people, hooked up external keyboards and monitors.
      External keyboards because these particular models with touchbars just have the worst keyboards - we all know that.
      That makes the disconnect of the touchbar even more profound - the macBook becomes a second screen and is usually placed in accordance to that, some feet away. Are you really going to reach over to that? Or will you just

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Megane ( 129182 )

      I'm typing this on an old 2012 macBook Pro I picked up for $300 - it's a lovely little machine.

      Sure, until the lead-free contacts on the GPU go bad. Otherwise they're great, and still mostly usable. I have a 17" that I bought used many years ago as a "just in case", should something happen to my original one. It did, twice. The GPU broke worse the second time. Now I make sure to use gfxCardStatus to keep the Radeon turned off, and smcFanControl to watch its temperature.

      And you can't just completely disable and remove the GPU, because it contains the PWM used for screen brightness. Someone figured ou

      • I'm not entirely sure how many models were impacted, but my model isn't a retina. It has Intel HD Graphics.
        From what I've read, the 15 and 17" 2011 macBook pro's suffered from the issue, as did the 2012/13 retina models.
        So, yeah, think I'm pretty safe.

        I only use it casually - surfing, news, recipes, light office stuff - so, when it dies, whatever. No big deal.
        The insane thing is, it will probably *still* have some resale value even if it no longer works.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Megane ( 129182 )

          It's the PRE-retina (Unibody with optical drive) 15" and 17" from 2011-2012 (maybe 2010 as well) that have the problem. (Apparently Retina did too, but I avoided them for the lack of a 17" model.) Also the ones that have the problem can switch dynamically between the built-in Intel HD 3000 and the Radeon. "About This Mac" will only show the current one, so you have to use System Information to see both of them. But the 13" Unibody specifically didn't have a discrete GPU, as there wasn't enough room inside.

    • The only real use case? - seeing what crazy things you could put on it.
      Not one person used it for productivity.
      Why? Because ... why would you?

      I get this, but in this case that was little more than a failed experiment. Many features on the PC started this way: Implement some customisable technology, see if it sticks and if users use it. If not, abandon and try something different.

  • What has suddenly changed at Apple? Why are the finally (hopefully) releasing laptops with features customers actual want (back)? Is there are 18 month time lag between Jon Ive's departure and new hardware revisions?

  • > The Touch Bar is also going.

    Many companies add useless non-working features to their products in an attempt at wow factor. Samsung is famous for this, but my Lenovo's fingerprint senstor is another example - it barely works, and its location produces a weak spot in the case where it snaps (pictures on request). What's often the case is that when they don't work, they use its very existence as an excuse not to fix problems.

    Apple is not so much known for this, but the Touch Bar absolutely fits into this

  • Worried about climate change?

    Question: we can reduce climate changing waste by the efficient use of resources.
    Answer: yes

    The POINT: magnetic/remote charging is inefficient compared to plugging in a cord. Why is such a wasteful process allowed without a quibble?

    The CONCLUSION: people don't care about climate change if they themselves are inconvenienced

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