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Comment by wffurr | Hacker News Reader

For the Mac Mini, I'd rather see it grow the ability to use more power than get smaller. More RAM, more cores, more GPU, more ports, eGPU capability. It's already a fairly convenient size that you can buy server racks and brackets for.

The new system design I want to see is an update on the 11" MacBook Air or the 12" MacBook. I'd like to see if they can get a clamshell with good battery life and decent performance under two pounds and just wide enough for a full-size keyboard. The 11" MacBook Air is still my favorite laptop I've ever owned; I'm sad they discontinued it and didn't refresh the design. Maybe it can come back with an M1 or M2 chip, though.

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I’d love them to just ship the MB 12” board inside a keyboard with 2 USB-C ports and have a modern day Commodore. It can be powered by the USB-C monitor.

Yes, what I'd like to see is a new Apple Silicon eGPU. Based on the Blackmagic design, but smaller, fanless and graphics power to compete with nvidia.

Why fuss over driver compatibility if the performance on Apple's graphics cards blows away the competition?

The new Air only weights 2.8 lbs. I'm curious, what difference does a pound less really make when it's already so light?

Another pound is a full third of that weight. That’s a big percentage.

Anecdotally, there was a step function between 3 lb ultraportable laptops with 12-13” displays and the 2.2 lb 11” MacBook Air. It was the most grabbable, portable computer I’ve ever owned with enough CPU power to handle my Computer Science coursework. It changed my relationship with my laptop. It no longer felt like a lump in my bag that needed to be handled carefully, like all the previous plastic bodied things I’d owned.

I have since used a 13” Air, Pixelbook, Samsung Galaxy Chromebook (until it died), and I’m typing this now on an iPad Pro, and I still miss that laptop.

The HP Dragonfly looks real nice, maybe if I put Linux on it. It’s also $2200 for decent specs though, whereas the 11” MacBook Air was a comparatively reasonable $899.

Yes, please a new 11“ would be truly awesome.

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