So what happens when the lifespan of an Apple laptop—say, the MacBook Air—is about to reach its six-month anniversary? Rumors start flying about the next version.
A Concord Security Analyst was quoted as saying he had inside information from a manufacturing source about new MacBook Airs hitting the production lines. The Apple MacBook Air 13-inch and 11-inch models sold really well when they first launched back in October 2010. So well, in fact, that for every two MacBook Pros sold a MacBook Air was among them. That's a 1 to 2 ratio, according to the analyst. And then the new MacBook Pros arrived (Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt versions) and Air sales started tailing off by as much as 51% in the first quarter of this year.
The Airs are undeniably attractive and utterly thin, but the technology inside them is once again falling behind their MacBook Pro brethren. For instance, they're still using Intel Core 2 Duos—a three-year old processor that every other manufacturer has since abandoned in favor of Intel's Sandy Bridge architecture. An Intel Core i5 processor is at least 4 to 5 times faster than the Core 2 Duo L9400 found in the current MacBook Air 13-inch, based on PCMag's tests. A more robust graphics subsystem is also part of the Sandy Bridge package, so Apple can finally put the Nvidia GeForce 320M graphics chip to rest, like it did with the 13-inch MacBook Pro. From what we've seen, new Intel technology would also improve battery life without increasing the size of the battery.
There's also whispers of Thunderbolt, a transfer technology that's roughly 21 times the speed of USB and lives inside the mini-DisplayPort. The MacBook Airs have this Thunderbolt-less mini-DisplayPort, so injecting Thunderbolt seems like a no-brainer. Bring back the backlit keyboard, and the MacBook Airs would be the toast of the town again—or at least until the MacBook Pros get new updates. And that's what you call an Apple MacBook lifecycle.