New MacBook Air rumored to have 11.6-inch display

[Matthew Smith]

Those still itching for an Apple netbook can re-kindle their excitement. According to DigiTimes, the next MacBook Air will drop the 13-inch form factor and instead use an 11.6-inch display. The new design will also be thinner and lighter than the current laptop, although exact size and weight is not known.

The thought of Apple developing a sub 13-inch notebook does seem odd considering the many negative comments Steve Jobs made towards netbooks during the iPad's launch. On the other hand, the current Air is slower and more expensive than the MacBook Pro. Moving to a smaller size would help differentiate it.

Pricing of the new 11.6-inch Air is not known, but the rumor states that Cupertino does not expect to shift more than 400,000 units by the end of the year. Although the timing of the product's launch will partially determine the number sold, 400k units is tiny compared to iPad or iPhone. The low sales expectation suggests that the new laptop is not likely to cost significantly less than the current model.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/39663-new-macbook-air-rumored-to-have-116-inch-display.html

 

[mattfrompa]

The macbook air was a step in the wrong direction. I suppose it follows suit to make it suck even more...

Dear Apple,
No sane person wants a smaller screen....13inches is not even adequate...

 

[Guest]

People do want smaller screens for mobility. If they didn't ultraportables wouldn't be so popular. 11.6 inch CULV laptops usually strike perfect balance between power and mobility, I'm waiting for a nice offer on the Acer 1810TZ myself.

 

[Burty117]

Guest has a point but we can completely dissmiss it because he is "waiting" for an "acer".

Thats the most horrid thing I can think of in the tech world! waiting for an acer. I would rather eat my mothers toe than to wait for a plastic (broken) toy acer anything!

 

[jink]

"No sane person wants a smaller screen....13inches is not even adequate... "

Ya. Like know one wants an iPad or an iPhone!

 

[Guest]

Hardy har har Mr. Burty117 , you've just unprovokedly offended a person which was just viewing his own informed opinion. Just look how cool you look now!........ I advise you do a bit of research re: Acer 1810TZ model, you could be suprised.

 

[Burty117]

Guest said:
Hardy har har Mr. Burty117 , you've just unprovokedly offended a person which was just viewing his own informed opinion. Just look how cool you look now!........ I advise you do a bit of research re: Acer 1810TZ model, you could be suprised.

Well your hiding behind the elusive "guest" account, why not create an account? And I was also sharing my opinion from personal experience with almost anything acer. Maybe if you create an account and attempt to contribute your knowledge, maybe i'll take back what I said

 

[tengeta]

Hey cool, a folding iPad!

 

[Technochicken]

To me at least, this would just be a fancy netbook. Granted, it will probably have better hardware than the majority of netbooks, but the Alienware MX11 is a netbook, right? I was under the impression that Apple was not building netbooks, because "they are not better than anything."

 

[SNGX1275]

Where does an ultraportable end and a netbook begin though? Back before the Intel switch Apple had 12" Powerbooks, they were pretty popular and ever since Apple dropped them people have been complaining. The 13" MBP is an alternative, and now the 11.6" (only .4" smaller than the esteemed 12" Powerbook) is another alternative, esp if you don't need the horsepower of the MBP.