Well, crud. I knew the day was coming when my beloved 11-inch MacBook Air would become obsolete, but I hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. It appears those hopes are dashed: Apple will reportedly refresh the MacBook Air line in June, replacing the current Mini DisplayPort with their new 10Gbps bi-directional Thunderbolt I/O port.
The report comes from Apple Insider, who note that analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of Concord Securities has pinpointed the refresh thanks to sources in the Far Eastern supply chain.
If the MacBook Air makes a leap to Thunderbolt, it will also necessitated an upgrade to Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge line of processors… and, in fact, there are already a couple of low power Sandy Bridge chips that would make a great fit for the Air, which depends on power efficiency and a minimum of battery to maintain its sleek profile.
So if you haven’t bought a MacBook Air yet, hold off. In just two months, they will be faster both in terms of raw processing power and in terms of their transfer speeds to external devices. Whether Apple will be able to keep the price low and the battery life just as long, though, remains to be seen.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
44 responses to “Sandy Bridge MacBook Airs With Thunderbolt Tipped For June”
Any word on whether they might introduce a backlight keyboard with the refresh?
That’s my 1st concern, also! Will the MBA get a backlit Keyboard!
they probably won’t. cause they wanna keep that for MBP
i guess not, they haven’t abandoned it for no reason. Propably they can make the MBA much thinner without backlit keyboard
Exactly. I held off replacing my 2009 MBP with a MBA because of the lack of backlight keyboard, which frankly is a deal breaker for me. I need my backlight. :) I don’t see why they can’t do it, the original ones had it. At the very least, make the letters on the keys glow in the dark.
What’s the big deal with backlit keyboards? I have mine permanently turned off (Macbook Pro)
After the sun goes down I like to see the keys.
Could you explain to me why you need a backlight keyboard? It makes no sense to me at all…why look at the keys instead of at what you are typing? Makes no sense to me…this is the one feature request that I still can’t fathom.
And, to stay on topic, I too had hoped that my 13″ MBA wouldn’t be obsoleted so fast :/ Hell, I haven’t finished paying the creditcard charge yet lol! Ah, well…guess I’ll have to pay it off, give it to the wife and get a new one in june :)
Dear Jonny,
Delighted to hear about the refresh. It’s no shadow of a lie to say that my 11″ MBA is the best computer I have evey had because it is so usable.
A couple of grovels though (and I did ask on feedback too). Please put the backlit keyboard in as an option, I really miss it. Also, if it’s not too much trouble, can you swap the mic & headphone jack with the Thunderbolt port? It would be so cool to have all the display connections in a line just like on all the other MacBooks.
Love, a smitten Brit
Some of you ‘youngsters’ will find that as your eyes get older, backlit keyboards along with black lettering on white keys helps immensely as the natural light dims. I’d like the same feature in the new MBA even if it decreases the battery time span.
Just because “it makes no sense to [you]” doesn’t necessarily mean that this is not a legitimate concern for other users. As the responses to this thread indicate, this is obviously a matter of concern for several other users.
Dim cabin on a redeye flight. Lap board in a darkened media room where you don’t want to turn on a lamp that will reflect in the screen. Finding the q, z, {, and comma/period keys in the dark. I’ve been typing nearly 40 years, and I still can’t find those keys without looking. The backlit keyboard is the single reason why I have not upgraded from my old MBA. Bring it back!!
Hoping for a 256g option!
I think Apple will pull an “iPad 2 Launch” style and keep the price point. The price is whats drawing people in, if Apple brings it up by even 50 dollars MANY future Air owners will be alienated. I myself enjoy my 15” Pro but am on the market for something more mobile. I’m not interested in the new ones, just the price drop on the old models :) If I can get a 13” Air for just under a grand, that would make my year! Hell, my iPad 2 was more than the 11” Air when all said and done….good blog :)
Hopefully the backlit keyboard comes back!
AMEN
Mavis Beacon would frown on all of you who want a backlit keyboard. You should be ashamed.
I think they probably will as they did it and people seem to be treating the MacBook air like an ipad with a keyboard now days so why not? And also I would really like to have a backlit keyboard as a lot of the time the reflection off the screen isn’t enough you need the keys to glow
Real typists do not need back lit keys. You work off the home row. Typing class in high school taught us that. You should be able to find every key without looking at them.
I hate that “Teaching to Type” Software. If i could go back in time; first thing I’d do would be slapping her!
Even though I was taught the “home row” method in high school, I don’t use it. I type pretty fast, and I consider myself a real typist.
Backlit keyboards are not just for typing word, but for hitting certain controls i.e. F1, F2, screen or volume controls.
Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that all Apple products with Mini Display port will get Thunderbolt in the next revision. This is typical Apple MO. Slow, deliberate, well-planned and harmonious upgrades. The Mac mini, Mac Pro and MacBook Air will all get Thunderbolt in due time. The Air will also get low-power Sandy Bridge CPUs.
As for the Mac Pro taking so long for an upgrade, I believe the rumour floating around about the case being redesigned to serve as both desktop and server duties (due to the Xserve being discontinued late last year). That makes total sense and should have been done a long time ago.