The Moment
by Nathan Walker

The Rumored 12-inch MacBook Air

I've been thinking a lot recently about what my next computer is going to be, especially with all of the announcements about new technology coming along with CES. After looking around at my options, I think that I'm fairly certain that I will be purchasing another Mac, and I'm going to go with the notebook form factor this time around (right now, I'm using a 2011 iMac for most of my daily work, but I also have a 2010 MacBook Air).

The nice thing about staying on the Mac side is that there are only really two notebook choices: the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with Retina Display. For me, I ultimately decided on the 13-inch MacBook Pro, because I wanted the higher quality display and the faster processor for compiling code, making graphics, and editing video. However, with the great speed boost that SSDs brought to the general computing experience, the MacBook Air was a close second, with its greater portability and longer battery life.

And then I read Mark Gurman's report about the new 12-inch MacBook Air. And honestly, the purported new Air seems like a step backwards in many respects.

To be honest, it's really just two key respects: connectivity and charging. The rumored 12-inch Air has only two ports: a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB 3.1 Type-C connector. Essentially, all connections to the new computer will have to travel through the notebook's singular, atypical USB port. If I ever want to use anything, I'm going to need an adapter, dongle, or hub. At some point, simplicity starts to damage function.

Certainly, wireless peripherals and technologies have been improving. With its Broadwell chips, Intel has placed a greater emphasis on fewer ports and more wireless connections for things like displays. But for my uses, it's just a bit too soon for this leap. In a few years, I think only having one USB port will be acceptable, if not common, for most users. For me, it's just too soon.

by Nathan Walker

Tagged: apple, macbook-air, rumors