Apple might replace its aging MacBook Air lineup, which only received minor CPU updates in the past few years, with an all-new MacBook model outfitted with a thirteen-inch screen.
Today's entry into our 2017 Holiday Gift Guide focuses on MacBook accessories. Whether the person you're shopping for has a MacBook Air, Pro or Retina MacBook, you're bound to find something for them in the curated list below. But you better get to shopping, Christmas is less than a week away!
Follow these tips before handing over your Mac to a new owner or sending it to Apple for trade-in to ensure your personal data is erased and Activation Lock is removed.
When it comes to protective sleeves for your MacBook, they are generally very similar: some outer material, a soft inner material and your Mac slides in and out.
Without protection for your Apple notebook when you’re traveling, hazards that spell out scratches or dents in the aluminum finish lurk around every corner.
The Picaso Lab classic leather sleeve lets you pack your Apple notebook with confidence. Available in a slew of color choices, I opted for the black and coral red option you see above because it's stunning and really pops. I even had my full name engraved in the leather to give it some ownership.
AirBar, a cool Mac touchscreen accessory that was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2017, is now available to purchase for $99 at Fry's Electronics, Evine.com and other retailers in the United States, its maker Neonode announced Tuesday.
The product will also launch through Amazon, Best Buy, Staples and other online outlets.
AirBar is basically a touchscreen sensor in the form of a USB laptop dongle that brings familiar touch gestures to your thirteen-inch MacBook Air. It uses an invisible light field projected on the surface of the MacBook Air's display to detect objects like a finger or stylus.
When an object breaks the light, the accessory is able to detect its precise position and distinguish between gestures like tapping, swiping, scrolling and pinch-zooming.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-4fFaWLnlQ
Remo Behdasht, Senior Vice President of AirBar Devices at Neonode, said:
We’ve seen an overwhelmingly positive response from the Apple community since our big debut of AirBar for MacBook Air at CES this year. Other Apple devices, such as the iPhone and iPad, have helped consumers become accustomed to a range of touchscreen products for several years now.
It’s a natural progression for MacBook Air to have touchscreen capabilities, and we are thrilled to provide Apple enthusiasts with this completely new way to interact with their MacBook Air notebook.
Neonode’s patented zForce AIR technology lets you use anything from a gloved finger to a paintbrush to interact with the MacBook Air's screen, ideal for scrolling through emails, reading e-books, zooming in on images and more.
The product is plug-and-play though support for additional gestures requires the installation of the AirBar multitouch software. AirBar does not support other Mac notebook models because it needs 17mm of free space below the display.
For more information, visit www.air.bar.
Apple is putting finishing touches on a new store on Chicago's North Michigan Avenue and one particular design detail immediately jumped out at us: an Apple logo on the top center of the building, making the flagship store look as if a massive MacBook Air just landed.
“Our store on North Michigan Avenue has welcomed more than 23 million customers since it opened in 2003,” said Apple spokesman Nick Leahy in 2015. “We're now creating something even more remarkable for Chicago.”
As reported by Chicago publication DNAinfo, less than an hour later crews rolled up the logo and took it away. The logo did not appear on store renderings dated 2015.
It's unclear whether it will be reinstalled.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmzPr106E7U
The upcoming 20,000-square-foot flagship outlet was designed by London-based Foster+Partners. As evidenced by the video, it consists of a huge glass box stretching from Pioneer Court to the riverfront.
Located on Pioneer Court, 401 North Michigan Avenue, the new store will, when complete, replace Apple's existing outlet on 679 North Michigan Avenue.
The Chicago store's attractive roof design reminds me of Apple's awesome-looking 20,000 square-foot retail outlet in Istanbul, Turkey, which too features a striking all-glass exterior with an Apple logo on its rooftop, as seen above.
It is now definitely clear that MacBook Air is, sadly, on its way out. First and foremost, Apple hasn't really updated its design following the 2010 debut. And while Apple continues to update MacBook Air with faster Intel chips and graphics, the latest hardware refresh to the popular notebook leaves a a lot to be desired.
The notebook now ships with a faster 1.8 GHz Intel Core i5 processor from Intel—a step up from the previous 1.3 GHz one—but that's about it in terms of hardware upgrades.
It didn't even get Intel's Kaby Lake chips, introduced in March.
The tech giant briefly mentioned the update during the keynote and made only a passing one-sentence mention in the press released announcing other Mac updates. “Apple today also updated the 13-inch MacBook Air with a 1.8 GHz processor,” reads the release.
Here's the updated MacBook Air lineup.
$999 MacBook Air
13-inch non-IPS LCD 1,440-by-900 display 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz 8GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 memory 128GB SSD storage Intel HD Graphics 6000$1,199 MacBook Air
13-inch non-IPS LCD 1,440-by-900 display 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz 8GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 memory 256GB SSD storage Intel HD Graphics 6000Apple hasn't given the notebook faster SSD storage, nor has it updated built-in graphics, like with today's updates to other Mac notebooks. It still ships with the pixelated non-Retina display and does not include support for the USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 standard.
The 11-inch MacBook Air models were discontinued last October.
I love all Mac notebooks, but that MacBook Air has a special place in my heart and I'm saddened that Apple has decided to phase it out, slowly but surely. Until that slim 12-inch MacBook Air gets a decent CPU, I'll be sticking with my Air.
How about you?
Twelve South just launched a new Space Gray color option for its popular BookArc stand for MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro on Thursday.
It's intended to look great with the OEM Space Gray color Apple offers for its MacBook with Retina display and 2016 MacBook Pro (with or without the Touch Bar), and it joins the classic silver finish, made to match the standard aluminum finish of the previous generation MacBook Pro, along with other notebooks in Apple's lineup.
Upgraded MacBook Pro models along with a second-generation twelve-inch MacBook Air with a faster Intel chip and possibly a refreshed MacBook Air are all reportedly coming at Apple's annual conference for app developers next month.
Bloomberg claimed Tuesday that MacBook Pro will get a faster Intel Kaby Lake processor. A new version of the current twelve-inch MacBook would pack in a faster Intel chip, too.
It should be noted that the Mac maker hasn’t announced new hardware at WWDC since 2013, when it launched Mac Pro and updated MacBook Air.
Apple and Intel declined to comment.
Here's a brief overview of the rumored MacBook upgrades:
MacBook Pro—The same looks as the latest model, but with Intel's faster Kaby Lake chips and updated internal architecture. It's unclear if Apple's rumored internally designed ARM-based chip for managing low-power mode is part of the new models. 12-inch MacBook—Last updated in spring 2016 with a rose gold color option, the ultra-thin machine will get a faster Intel chip. MacBook Air—Apple's cheapest laptop has not received a speed boost since 2015, but its sales remain “surprisingly strong”. The company “has considered updating” the MacBook Air notebook with a new processor.Fun fact: it's been almost seven years since Apple last redesigned the popular Air.
In the March quarter, Apple sold 4.2 million Mac desktops and notebooks, generating fourteen percent more revenue on these systems than in the year-ago quarter.
Previously, it pledged to release a modular Mac Pro system, all-new pro displays, refreshed Mac mini models and major upgrades to its all-in-one iMac desktop with better specifications.
As mentioned, the upgraded Mac notebook lineup may be announced during Apple's WWDC keynote, which takes place on Monday, June 5, at 10am Pacific Time.
Asides from previews of the next major versions of iOS, watchOS, tvOS and macOS, Tim Cook & Co. may provide other updates during the keynote address, including announcements related to the company's rumored AI-driven Siri smart speaker, 10.5-inch iPad Pro model, 4K-capable Apple TV and the discontinuation of the iPad mini lineup.
If you bring your MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro with you everywhere you go, then you should consider protecting your expensive investment with some kind of sleeve.
Because the outside world can be a lot rougher than the comfort and safety of your home computer desk, Mujjo makes classy protective sleeves that will fit every one of Apple’s notebooks. In this review, we’ll be showing you the Mujjo Sleeve for the 15” MacBook Pro.
Apple was trying “very hard” (in Elon Musk's own words) to recruit top talent from Tesla.
Now that its Project Titan has shifted gear from building an electric vehicle to developing an autonomous driving software, some of the engineers associated with the initiative have departed for Tesla.
Just as we've discovered that Swift creator Chris Lattner was leaving the iPhone maker to take a position as Vice President of Autopilot Software at Tesla, Electrek.co is reporting that the guy who designed many of Apple’s iconic Macs will now be building Tesla vehicles.