MacBook Air Retina Release Date, Specs & Features: Samsung's Fanless Ativ Book 9 to Crush Apple Laptop?
Much to the surprise of non-expecting fans, Samsung unveiled two of its newest-version computers ahead of the CES 2015 -- the ATIV One 7 and ATIV Book 9.
As we have recently noted, the ATIV One 7 is a 27-inch, all-in-one PC that materialized Samsung's efforts of bringing curved displays from television to laptops. The ATIV Book 9, on the other hand, was said to be its lightest version ever, arriving in two storage options.
However, probing into Book 9's specs reveal something much more interesting than just light weight. For months, industry speculations have pointed at one particular spec anticipated in Apple's rumored MacBook Air Retina. But Samsung's newest laptop rose to the occasion, proving the possibility for its own good: the 2015 ATIV Book 9, simply, is fanless.
With the Korean tech giant turning rumors into reality, does Apple's alleged laptop remain to spark interest?
To answer this controversial question, we'll have to hear official word coming from the Cupertino outlet first. A fanless architecture may only be part of a bigger picture, so we shift attention to greater things the MacBook Air Retina could possibly offer.
According to BGR, the new ATIV Book 9 is thinner than the MacBook Air, having dimensions measuring 11.19 x 8.37 x 0.46 inches. Should Apple take the fan off the MacBook Air Retina, Digital Trends wrote that a thickness between "three-tenths and five-tenths of an inch" would be likely. That's at least 0.30 inch.
In terms of display, TechRadar cited analyst Daniel Matte who claimed that the MacBook Air Retina would pack a 11.88-inch display panel, housing a resolution of 2732 x 1536 pixels. Meanwhile, the ATIV Book 9 sports a 12.2-inch display with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, The Verge reported.
But another variation of the display rumor believed that the MacBook Air Retina comes with a 12-inch screen instead, packing 2304 x 1440 pixels, said Digital Trends.
TechRadar reported that Intel has confirmed the launch of Core i3, i5 and i7 Broadwell-U chips in Spring 2015. The outlet is convinced that Apple expresses interest over these processors, as they possess low thermal design power (TDP).
Accordingly, a low TDP would let the rumored MacBook Air Retina pack high-resolution display without compromising on battery life. That means users could get to enjoy stunning visuals for longer periods of time.
The MacBook Air Retina has also been suggested to sport a new trackpad design, Touch ID and three color variants (gold, silver and space gray).
The laptop possibly arrives in Spring 2015, Realty Today cited. Considering price, the outlet predicted that it would retail the average of MacBook Air and MacBook Pro's prices, plus the cost of Retina Display.
If you haven't seen it, check out DetroitBORG's tour of the earlier Retina MacBook Pro below.