Appleinsider’s Daniel Eran Dilger reports that after meeting with Apple chief executive Tim Cook and chief financial officer Peter Openheimer, Citibank analysts noted that a strong iPad outlook is leaving little likelihood of Apple developing an ARM-based MacBook Air.
Dilger cites Citi analyst Richard Gardner reporting that Mr. Cook reiterated his comment, originally made during the quarterly earnings conference call, that the market for tablets would eventually grow larger than the conventional PC market, and alluding to “rapid innovation on the iOS platform” that will “significantly broaden the use case for tablets,” observing that his takeaway from the meeting was an impression that Apple feels iPad satisfies, or at least will soon satisfy, the needs of those who might have been interested in an ARM-based MacBook Air.
Can iPad Satisfy Ultracompact Laptop Aspirants?
CNET’s Brooke Crothers comments that based on a Friday note to investors from Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner, who met with CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer last Thbursday, more powerful, versatile iPads are on the way, with the Apple execs seeming to think that a MacBook Air with ARM internals, iPad-like features, and running the iOS is not necessary.
Crothers cites Gardner saying in the note that: “Tim Cook reiterated his view that rapid innovation on the iOS platform (and mobile OS platforms in general) will significantly broaden the use case for tablets, eventually pushing annual tablet volumes above those of traditional PCs. We have wondered whether Apple might offer an ARM-based version of MacBook Air at some point; we walked away from this meeting with the impression that Apple feels iPad satisfies – or will soon satisfy – the needs of those who might have been interested in such a product.”
Based on Gardner’s take, Crothers deduces that Mr. Cook appears to be convinced that the iPad – or at least future versions of the iPad – will satisfy any significant potential consumer demend for an iOS and ARM-based MacBook Air.
The current MacBook Air runs OS X on Intel’s second-generation “Sandy Bridge” Core processors, with the next version refresh expected to adopt Intel’s even more powerful and energy-efficient “Ivy Bridge” CPU family. Moreover, Crothers observes that Intel appears to be on track release its first power-conserving system-on-a-chip for mainstream laptops in 2013. Code-named “Haswell”–this would seem to be an ideal MacBook Air CPU, leaving less of a rationale for a move to ARM with the laptop.
So what is Apple planning for the iPad to satisfy would-be ARM Air enthusiasts? Crothers suggests that in the near term it’s rumored to take the form of an iPad 3 with a faster quad-core A6 chip, a high-resolution 2,048-by-1,536-pixel Retina display, and LTE “4G” broadband support. He also specualtes that a more elegant physical keyboard solution for the iPad could be in the works at Apple, as well as both smaller and larger screen size iPads.
