Apple Kills Off White MacBook as Educational Institution Distribution Halted

not much of a surprise really , it wasn't likely they would keep manufacturing them for long, as there spec was rather outdated

They have 13,000 left. I heard this last month from the IT guy. Supposedly, they will axe the MBP next, but I call BS. The Apple Sales rep said that. But what does he know? So now we are deciding on either the 13" MBP, or the 11" MBA. I'm not liking the Air. To expensive, and limited.

Pretty sad, as the white MacBook was an iconic design that looked lovely on anyone's desk. They were always plagued with design flaws, but fun none the less.

The MBAs are nice, but the all aluminium finish doesn't have the same cleanliness, to me anyway.

Apple would much rather institutions needing a low-end machine buy iPads instead.

(*assorted grumbling about how an iPad doesn't fit your needs follows*)

Yeah, but Apple would rather you buy iPads.

Seems like Apple is pushing the iPad for the K-12 market now, rather than any MacBook Pro/Air. And for cash-strapped schools, if an iPad will do it is far less expensive and probably more reliable as well.

It's a shame, but things need to move on, now another Mac is added to my collectables wish list.

The whole MBP thing is up in the air, and we don't know which way Apple are going with it. I take the point on the limitations of the MBA, I love my 13" it's fast, light and a joy to use, but with 256MB it won't cut it as a studio tool without adding external storage.

My MBP 17" does that job most of the time. I wonder if we may have seen the last of the 17""s at the next refresh. I'm not due to update this year, so I have the luxury of waiting to see what happens.

The white Macs were always eye-catchers when they first arrived, the unibody alloy has become almost ubiquitous now. My dream MBP replacement would be a 15" MBA with a 1TB drive, but that's for another thread.

Anybody got a white Macbook for sale?

I'm gonna have to try to get one. There's something about the polycarbonate models, especially this one that just's so...appealing....and attractive...

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I have a white MacBook. I think it is an ok, but not great computer. If I hadn't gotten such a great deal on it as a clearance item when the short lived aluminum MacBook came out, I probably would have bought a MPB.

I still have the latest model. I really liked the white iBooks/MacBooks. Got my first iBook in 2003. That was a 12" iBook G3 with 900MHz. The second one was a 14" iBook G4 w/ the 1.42 GHz PPC CPU. Still have that one as well. Just used it today for watching some DVDs.

Yay, no more plastic shells!

when was the last time the white macbook was updated? if before the newest MBA then is smart to remove it from market and let the MBA & iPads rule the schools...

chrf097 said:

I'm gonna have to try to get one. There's something about the polycarbonate models, especially this one that just's so...appealing....and attractive...

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If you find two, let me know!

Macman45 said:

Anybody got a white Macbook for sale?

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I have a white Macbook. It can be for sale for the right price!

It is the upper end, late 2007 model with upgraded RAM to 4GB. It's been reliable for 4 years, but it's just about that time to upgrade.

chrf097 said:

I'm gonna have to try to get one. There's something about the polycarbonate models, especially this one that just's so...appealing....and attractive...

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That shouldn't be a problem on eBay. I always think I should have gotten a Blackbook or one of those 13" MacBooks in alu.

I have one and I like it so far.

It's basically the same as the Mid 2010 MBP with out the aluminum shell and card reader.

So the MacBook Air is renamed MacBook (or something new) at the next refresh?

grapemac said:

So the MacBook Air is renamed MacBook (or something new) at the next refresh?

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That's kinda what I'm thinking.

Introduce 15" MBA

drop the 13" and 15" MBP

Rename MBA to MacBook

Reduce the prices a bit.

Maintain the 17" MBP

miniroll32 said:

Pretty sad, as the white MacBook was an iconic design that looked lovely on anyone's desk. They were always plagued with design flaws, but fun none the less.

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plagued with flaws, and possibly not really that popular.

Makes sense they would kill it.

interrobang said:

Apple would much rather institutions needing a low-end machine buy iPads instead.

(*assorted grumbling about how an iPad doesn't fit your needs follows*)

Yeah, but Apple would rather you buy iPads.

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As the head of my children's elementary school (K-7) tech committee (comprised of teachers and parents), I have to say that the iPad fits our needs far more than a laptop does. There are more and more educational apps that are better and more interactive for elementary school age kids. And with the introduction of iText books, iPads make ever more sense.

It's not just Apple that wants schools to buy iPads, it's schools, as well.

How about this: make a MacBook Air-like machine that comes with a range of specifications, from current MacBook Air specifications to current MacBook Pro specifications. Price would range accordingly, from MBA price to MBP price.

Then you could plug in external graphics cards and I/O into the Thunderbolt port. Too bad this will be expensive, but it would be great if you could get it for a decent price…

But I'm sure that one day, soon, technology will permit the MacBook Pro to fit into a MacBook Air. Then it will be all unified, and very Apple-like!

The Air is the computer that makes the most sense for most users on the planet, after all.

Optical drive? Needed occasionally if at all, and so better to make it optional/external and not have to lug it all the time. And the Airs are durable and FAST with the SSD (even the smallest of which meets the needs of most average users). Great machines at a great price; recent Airs made the white MacBook seem like a bad deal anyway.

theironheath said:

not much of a surprise really , it wasn't likely they would keep manufacturing them for long, as there spec was rather outdated

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That is true, but it was an attractive and impressive design in its day, and I always liked to see them in Apple stores, even if I never bought one, preferring the MBPs or MBAs.

Re education, yes, I can see the attraction of iPads, but - to my mind, at least, - a fully functioning keyboard, and OS, (and, indeed, computer) beats the iPad any day, especially if you need to write a lot of papers.

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I always liked the shiny white portables too - ever since the iBook g3's. So it's sad that they are being discontinued. I'd love a unibody white Macbook, but it's just not light/small enough for my needs. I wish my 11"MBA were white.

To anyone who still has one of the later model white MacBooks: Is it still clean looking, or at least cleanable to look almost new?

I've been with the impression that they're really quick to appear sort of scuffed up and… less than pristine. Maybe I've been wrong though.

Like some other people here, now that it's even more discontinued than it already was, I want one.