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Does the "New iPad" not "iPad 3" name suggest combined Macbook Air/Pro Model?

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bobbytallant

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 6, 2010
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So the "New iPad" is out dropping the numeric indicator of which generation model this is (previously iPad 2 etc). Does this suggest we will now be looking at the "New iPhone" next (not iPhone 4, iPhone 4S etc.) and ultimately, the "New Macbook" - representing a combined model of the Macbook Air and the Macbook Pro going forward?

Apple said we have a lot to look forward to in 2012 with major revisions of the iPhone and Macbook supposedly awaiting (and a TV perhaps), this would make sense - a much cleaner/neater way of referring to their major product lines...

Thoughts?
 
MonkeySee.... said:
MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are two separate products.

So to summarize......no.
Click to expand...

Two seperate products now yes - in the future I just don't think there will be a need for this - surely Apple will, as technology progresses, be able to offer the very best spec Macbooks Pro's in the same form factors as the current Airs. I'm not sure that is totally out of the question and unreasonable to suggest.
 
bobbytallant said:
Two seperate products now yes - in the future I just don't think there will be a need for this - surely Apple will, as technology progresses, be able to offer the very best spec Macbooks Pro's in the same form factors as the current Airs. I'm not sure that is totally out of the question and unreasonable to suggest.
Click to expand...

nah. I have no doubt the Pro line will get a slimmer make over but its called pro for a reason and it will be silly of Apple to combine the 2. They have already sacked off the MacBooks.
 
I take it that the iPad is brought in line with apple's other products. We don't have the version (or generation) for MBA, MPB, MacPro, etc. They're just called by their name. Now the iPad is like them as well.
 
maflynn said:
I take it that the iPad is brought in line with apple's other products. We don't have the version (or generation) for MBA, MPB, MacPro, etc. They're just called by their name. Now the iPad is like them as well.
Click to expand...
Hm, is that make me owning the original iPad feel a bit better? Haha.
 
I still own the iPad "1" and I'm happy with it. I've been kicking it around whether to buy the new one but I need a laptop more then a new iPad. My funds are limited so its an either or proposition

Still the screen appears to be gorgeous, I'm sure it looks even better in person and if I see it at my local apple store I may succumb to temptation :p.
 
As regards the "New iPad" moniker, this may well be Apple's attempt to move away from the numbering, and no doubt the next i models will follow suit with "New iPhone", etc, but I think the general public will continue to adopt the next number, as is evident already with discussion about the "iPad 3".

I have to say though that it was a clever and subtle change in the face of all the guessing (not to mention the betting) on whether it would be the iPad 3, 2GS, or HD :apple:

----------

As for the thoughts on whether the next generation of laptops will be combined, I think it is inevitable that the Pro and Air will be combined eventually.

As CPU, battery, and solid state technology continue to advance at a rapid pace with the consequent reduction in manufacturing costs, the "new" generation of Macbooks will, in my humble opinion, be simply one product, just a question of screen size and how much power, memory & disc space you want.

I think it is unlikely to happen with the next offerings, but my guess would be late 2013, but which time the Pro will go down in history as another evolution of the Apple line up.
 
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again, very right and I would have expected that from Apple ages ago.

Calling the current iphone an iphone 4s is just terrible. Kill Macbook Pros, make the new ones very MBA like and call the whole range just Macbook. Even if they keep the MBP as it is, time to just call it Macbook and have MBA as own category.

edit:not to forget, kill that ipod classic finally
 
The iPad and iPhone were the only Apple products to have digits in the name. You have MacBook Pro and then MacBook Pro, no MacBook Pro 3, 4 etc.
 
rikscha said:
again, very right and I would have expected that from Apple ages ago.

Calling the current iphone an iphone 4s is just terrible. Kill Macbook Pros, make the new ones very MBA like and call the whole range just Macbook. Even if they keep the MBP as it is, time to just call it Macbook and have MBA as own category.

edit:not to forget, kill that ipod classic finally
Click to expand...

They will not drop the "Pro" moniker, or they will lose customers.
They could rename MBP 13" to Macbook as it was earlier (because notebook without a discrete graphics card is not really "Pro")
but leave MBP 15"/17" Pro as it should be.
 
MonkeySee.... said:
nah. I have no doubt the Pro line will get a slimmer make over but its called pro for a reason and it will be silly of Apple to combine the 2. They have already sacked off the MacBooks.
Click to expand...

It was called a Pro, because it differentiated it from the MacBook. Now that there's no longer a lower level marketing can easily change.

The combination of the lines makes sense. For the pro level needs offload functionality to an expanded line of products that use the Thunderbolt bus but have a streamlined computer line.

The falloff of sales of the Mac Pro is an indicator. Apple's profits are at the consumer, not professional level.
 
Guess I'm the odd man out here, but based on the discussion we've had here over the last few weeks, anticipating the macbook line refresh, I'd say it's a distinct possibility.

I mean, who the hell knows at this point, but I think it's an astute observation and I wanted to throw you a bone since you were getting dog piled by the knuckle draggers. :D
 
bobbytallant said:
Two seperate products now yes - in the future I just don't think there will be a need for this - surely Apple will, as technology progresses, be able to offer the very best spec Macbooks Pro's in the same form factors as the current Airs. I'm not sure that is totally out of the question and unreasonable to suggest.
Click to expand...

While I agree technology plays a role in determining what can be put in a given form factor; in the end it's not a technology issue but a marketing decision to keep two separate names and form factors.

Apple could, for example, decide the #iPad can replace the Air and move the MBP is another direction.
 
Not any more than the iPod touch, iPod shuffle, iPod classic, and iPod nano have become a combined product.
 
Experts have determined that in order for Apple to sustain their year over year growth, they will have to increase their product offering... not consolidate it.

However it does seem like a possibility that the Macbook Air line will become the Macbook; with a macbook pro still existing separately.
 
AppleMacFinder said:
They will not drop the "Pro" moniker, or they will lose customers.
They could rename MBP 13" to Macbook as it was earlier (because notebook without a discrete graphics card is not really "Pro")
but leave MBP 15"/17" Pro as it should be.
Click to expand...

I agree the 13" shouldn't be a "Pro," though I doubt they would go from Macbook to Macbook Pro back to Macbook. They'll probably just get rid of the 13" MBP and stick with an 11", 13" and new 15" MBA and the 15" and 17" MBP, redesigned.

It was good that they go away from the naming. The iPhone will be next to drop the number and just go by the year like the computers.
 
I have a feeling they will keep the "Pro" designation, just that the 15" and 17" versions will get the Pro, while the 11" and 13" will just be a regular MacBook.

The 13" MacBook Pro I think will die.

-Tom
 
trhoppe said:
I have a feeling they will keep the "Pro" designation, just that the 15" and 17" versions will get the Pro, while the 11" and 13" will just be a regular MacBook.

The 13" MacBook Pro I think will die.

-Tom
Click to expand...

I tend to agree with you there, Tom
 
As Tom said, with the intent of making the MBP line slimmer as well, they will eventually drop the "Air" brand leading to an 11" and 13" MacBook and a 15" and 17" MacBook Pro, the latter with a faster CPU and graphics card.
 
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