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MacBook Air (Image Credit: apple.com) |
Although the recent ultrabook devices have not surpassed the performance of the MacBook Air of Apple in the market, they are gradually closing the gap. In order to stay ahead, the MacBook Air may need to create some changes to keep its competitors at bay.
The recent upsurge in ultrabook offerings have started to make some headway in the market although they have not been able to outshine the ultra-slim notebook offering of Apple. The overall user experience has allowed the MacBook Air of Apple to remain on top in the market particularly due to its impressive touch pad and keyboard, impressive uni-body design, remarkable battery life and other features that have appealed to consumers in this particular niche in the tech market.
The existing design of the MacBook Air is nearly a year old and it may have to effect some changes in order to keep its lead in the market. The device needs to add some features that are being offered by its competitors to keep its edge over its rivals.
One important change that Apple should take into consideration with its next version of the MacBook Air is its price tag. A thirteen-inch entry level version of the MacBook Air has a price tag of $1299. However the HP Folio 13, which has the same Core i5 processor from Intel and 128GGB solid state drive, costs only $899. The Dell XPS 13, which is also similar to the MacBook Air, is priced at $999. Although the ultra-slim notebook of Apple may offer a better user experience, time will come where the price will become more important for consumers when they decide on their next ultra-slim notebook purchase.
Apple may also have to take into consideration the addition of an HDMI port, which is found in nearly all ultrabook devices. The current MacBook Air utilizes a mini-DisplayPort and it will be necessary to use an adapter to allow the device to be connected to an external monitor or large-screen television.
The Thunderbolt high speed data port is not quite widely used in the market. Currently most devices feature a USB 2.0 port and recently released ultrabooks and laptops feature a USB 3.0 port, which will become more widely used in the future. This is one feature that Apple may take into consideration for the next version of the MacBook Air.
An Ethernet jack is another feature that the MacBook Air may need in the future even though it can still be connected using an external adapter. With an integrated Ethernet jack, the users of the MacBook Air will not find it difficult to access the internet when the Wi-Fi connection is super-slow.
The current consumer aspect ratio standard is 16:9, and among all MacBook Air devices, only the eleven-inch version of the device features this aspect ratio, The thirteen-inch model along with all the models of the MacBook Pro are still using a 16:10 aspect ratio. Apple may find it worthy to consider this standard since it would allow the device to fit perfectly to the aspect ratio of HD and HDTV video content.
These are just some of the modifications that Apple may want to consider for the next version of the MacBook Air although in the end the company will make the final decisions on the features that it will offer that will optimize the experience among the users of its devices.
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