12″ Retina MacBook Air Coming Next Year Along with 12.9″ iPad?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a new 12-inch MacBook Air with “a higher resolution display” will enter mass production at the end of the year, suggesting a release sometime in early 2015.
Additionally, Apple has reportedly delayed production plans for a larger screen 12.9″ iPad until later next year, according to the same Wall Street Journal report. That delay is apparently due to “overwhelming demand” for the bigger screen iPhones, particularly the iPhone 6 Plus.
In August, Bloomberg reported that Apple would debut a 12.9″ iPad sometime in “early 2015”. The new WSJ report seems to suggest that an expected release timeframe for the so-called ‘iPad Pro’ has been pushed off slightly, though Apple could always change their plans.
Featuring a different screen size, a new MacBook Air with a 12″ Retina display would presumably arrive in a redesigned enclosure, with some fringe rumors suggesting such a Mac would be offered in the same three-color options of silver, gold, and dark grey that grace the metallic iPhones. It’s currently unknown whether such a 12″ MacBook Air would compliment the existing 11″ and 13″ models in the lineup, or replace them.
Apple has scheduled an event for October 16 where updated iPads and new Retina display iMacs are expected to debut. OS X Yosemite, which is currently versioned as Golden Master 2.0, is also presumed to launch publicly on that day. Given the production timeline outlined by WSJ, neither the 12.9″ iPad or 12″ Retina MacBook Air are expected to be announced next week, but Apple could certainly surprise everyone.
So Macbooks are getting smaller and phones and tablets are getting bigger in the Apple world.
I thought now that big is sexy they would bring 17” macbook instead of shrinking the Air further.
GM 3.0 is out
I don’t know which version of iPad the previous comments are referring to but my iPad Air bought a few weeks ago to replace my iPad3 is running fine under ios8.
I can understand the iPhone 6+ replacing an iPad mini but it would never replace my iPad Air, I’m now on my 3rd iPad and the bigger the screen the better as far as I’m concerned.
I’m looking forward to seeing this rumoured 12″ iPad and if it gets great reviews I can see myself buying one next year
Greg, I am on the same boat as well, and I have expected that to happen. So my 6+ IS my new iPad.
Retina MacBook Air would be interesting, but I am no longer interested in iPad at all. Getting an iPhone 6 Plus has basically killed my iPad (well, the horribly slow iOS update killed the iPad, but that’s another story), and I don’t use it at all anymore. I expect that will be the case for a lot of people, though I think iPads will still be a great couch device for grandma and grandpa, and kid gamers, classrooms, etc. Just marginal use, is my guess.
I think you are wrong Greg. There is no way a 5.5″ screen is a good replacement for most people compared to the size of the screen on an iPad. For occasional browsing on the toilet maybe, but not in real uses.
You’d be surprised. I spend HOURS on flipping through my phone at night and the small screen doesn’t bother me. The only other thing to do at home is connect with my husband Greg and work to improve our marriage. Who’s got time for that when you can spend hours taking selfies and sending them to your ex-college bf Monkeybutt in boston?
-Rebecca M.
#enjoy