[News] Apple about to kill off its pointless MacBook Air

[StyM]

http://www.fudzilla.com/news/noteboo...ss-macbook-air

Fruity cargo cult Apple has just worked out that its 13 inch MacBook Air is pretty pointless and probably thanks to Intel?s chip bug is now slower than an asthmatic ant with a heavy load of shopping.

Apple quietly killed off the 11-inch MacBook Air back in 2016, but the larger 13-inch version has lingered like a fart in a lift. It got a mild processor refresh last year? well we say refresh, the Air got a fifth generation Intel Processor which was three generations behind everyone else.

Apple probably thought it would save money on the chip while charging Apple fanboys 900 euro. After all they would buy a slide rule with an Apple logo, even if it was years behind the competition. However what is also possible is that the recent Intel bug patches have rendered these older chips so slow that the device is embarrissing.

According to DigiTimes, Apple has realised that the Air is not worth the time and effort. Even the most flagrant members of the Tame Apple Press in the US technology magazines are refusing to count the MacBook Air as a product when they are listing their top tens.

DigiTimes claims that General Interface Solution, a touch panel maker based out of Taiwan, is expected to land a big order from Apple for LCD displays. According to Digitime?s sources, those displays are intended for an ?entry-level 13-inch MacBook?.

The MacBook was originally Apple?s entry-level laptop when it was introduced as an iBook replacement back in 2006. Then it was slowly supplanted by the MacBook Air, which started off super sleek and overpriced (much like the current MacBook) before becoming the entry level device and the staple of Journalists working in the Tame Apple Press (you know who you are).

To be fair, retiring the MacBook Air and bringing in a cheaper MacBook at that price makes sense. What is surprising is that the entry-level MacBook would be a 13-inch laptop; the current MacBook, which starts at $1300, is a 12-inch device. It is also surprising that Apple did not do it years ago and that people still bought it.

[Sparky]

However what is also possible is that the recent Intel bug patches have rendered these older chips so slow that the device is embarrissing.

Nick, what's also embarrassing is your total failure to even run spell check

[iddqd]

That thing is long overdue for an update. It's still got a terrible TN film display with giant bezels (like ~1" is this 2006???). It's also not much lighter than the 13" MBP. There are also (finally!) some nice APU options cropping up in the 25-45W power envelope that the chassis can cool effectively, so it makes sense to work on an updated version now.

[[XC] Lead Head]

I never really understood the macbook air, and what it offered over a tablet with a keyboard cover.

[Sparky]

Well, at least it is a full OS instead of a mobile one.

[iddqd]

I never really understood the macbook air, and what it offered over a tablet with a keyboard cover.

The power of a full-fat (albeit only dual-core) x86 CPU with all the superscalar tricks Intel has come up with over the years, instead of a wet fart of a RISC chip you'd get in a tablet. It's also thinner than the tablet + keyboard combo. Tablet without accompanying keyboard is thinner, but you can't really get any work done on it that way.

[[XC] Lead Head]

The power of a full-fat (albeit only dual-core) x86 CPU with all the superscalar tricks Intel has come up with over the years, instead of a wet fart of a RISC chip you'd get in a tablet. It's also thinner than the tablet + keyboard combo. Tablet without accompanying keyboard is thinner, but you can't really get any work done on it that way.

There are tablets that out-bench the Mac Book Air. The air is slow.