How should Apple redesign the MacBook Air?

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How should Apple redesign the MacBook Air?

Posted by: BlackCode Tags: 11.6-inch device, 13-inch macbook pros, 13-inch pro, 3g, 4g, 9.7-inch iPad, Apple, Apple A4 processor, Apple Keyboard, battery-efficient version, Computing, core i7, current 13-inch macbook, current air, design dark horse, design goals, Display technology, dual screen, dual-screen toshiba libretto, feature set, fresh rumors, fulsome praise, good choice, graphics technology, great redesign, Horse, hybrid tablet-laptop, Insert, Intel, Intel ultralow power, iPad, iPhone, iPhone 4, killer display, Laptop, Macbook, MacBook Air, MacBook brand, MacBook family, macbook pro, Macintosh, Macintosh hardware, makeover, new air, new macbook air, next-generation air, next-generation macbook air, NVIDIA, nvidia geforce, overdue, pack features, power core, pricey ultraportable laptop, processor intel, Razor, recent write-up, redesigned macbook air, remote possibility, retina, retina display, snappy performance, speculating, steve jobs, story line, stunning display, stunning display technology, Subnotebook, tablet laptop, Technology Internet, Toshiba, toshiba libretto, tough act, two and a half years, Ultraportable, ultraportable laptop, ultrathin design, updated processor, variant thereof, Wireless Display technology, wireless tech Posted date: September 27, 2010 | No comment

With fresh rumors circulating about a new MacBook Air, and a makeover long overdue, what would constitute a great redesign?
What kind of a feature set should a next-generation MacBook Air have?

The story line seems to be that Apple wants to insert the new portable in between the current 13-inch MacBook Pro and the 9.7-inch iPad, thus the rumors about an 11.6-inch device.

Assuming Apple actually has something like this in the works, I can’t help speculating on the design goals for a new Air. Should it be a hybrid tablet-laptop? Should it be just a smaller, more powerful, more battery-efficient version of the current Air and pack features like a killer display?

But before I go any further, let me say that a recent write-up about the Air is spot-on. In short, unless you use the Air day in and day out (which I do), it’s easy to mistake it for just another pricey ultraportable laptop. What makes it so different? Above all, the finely tuned distribution of weight makes it feel lighter than it actually is (three pounds). And I could go on and on with seemingly fulsome praise. The keyboard (the best I’ve ever used in an ultraportable), the razor-thin but stunning display, and the snappy performance, despite its ultrathin design.

My point? The current Air is a tough act to follow. Possibly one of the reasons (the iPad and the updated 13-inch MacBook Pros being others) that Apple has taken so long (two-and-a-half years) to offer a next-generation Air (or that it may not even bother).

Getting back to what a next-generation Air should be. Beyond the updated processor (Intel ultralow power Core i7?), what would be a good choice for the graphics technology? The Nvidia GeForce 320M in the 13-inch Pro? A step up from this?

And the display? What new, stunning display technology could Apple use? Something analogous to the retina display in the iPhone 4? Or something along the lines of the dual-screen Toshiba Libretto?

And what about wireless tech? 3G? 4G? And/or something akin to Intel’s Wireless Display technology?

Then there’s the design dark horse: a product based on the Apple A4 processor, or a variant thereof. But this would likely make it more tablet and less laptop–and as a result it would fall outside of the MacBook brand. So that’s a very remote possibility.

What would readers like to see in a redesigned MacBook Air?

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20017644-64.html#ixzz10gjSg5hD