It's time for Apple to update the Air and/or a thinner, lighter Pro with a Retina screen. It's certainly doable.
The Windows 8.1 crowd is demonstrating that a Retina version of the MacBook Air is possible if Apple is willing.
Certain aspects of the Air are getting long in the tooth. Particularly the display. That shortcoming forced me to trade in my Air -- I got the first MBA in March 2008 and used it and newer versions for the next four years -- for a 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina.
I needed the extra desktop space the scaled display settings provide (1,680x1,050 in my case), and I appreciate the clarity of a Retina screen.
That said, I miss the Air's tablet-esque portability.
Enter the latest round of Windows 8.1 featherweight lappies, which trounce the MBA's unimpressive 1,440x900 (13-inch MBA) and 1,366 x768 (11-inch) resolutions.
Let's look at some of the competition that was announced this week to see just what Apple is up against now. All come with Intel's latest "Haswell" processors.
Here's another feature the Windows camp can crow about. All of the above have touch screens.
Despite what Apple has said in the past about the ergonomic impracticality of a touch screen on a laptop (e.g., your arm will get tired pocking at a vertical screen), it's becoming a feature de rigueur.
A word of advice: Hey Apple, I know you're a "post-PC" company but let's update the Air and bring it into the post-grainy-screen era.