Is the (Mid 2012) the last rev of the cMBP?

[Yebubbleman]

Out of curiosity, what do you think will happen regarding the MacBook Pros in the future? Do you think the non-retina MacBook Pro is currently on it's last rev and that the retina models will fully replace it as the only MacBook Pros? Or do you think that the non-retina/classic Unibody design has more left in 'er?

Personally, I think, based on current marketing, and comments made in Apple keynotes that this is the last rev of non-retina MacBook Pro and that the retina will fully eclipse it at the next update.

What say you? Discuss.

 

[A Hebrew]

I think it will stay around until they can get the 13" down to 1399 starting price and the 15 inch 1899 starting.

 

[Saturn1217]

I think it all depends on how fast the price of ssd storage drops. I'm guessing many people still prefer the cMBPs for the affordable storage.

If the 256gb ssd option was available for the base model MBAs and 13-inch retina I think apple would feel more comfortable dropping the classic macbook pros. I guess it also depends what sales are like for the 2012 models.

 

[tann]

It will stay until the price equals the current regular MBP prices, or until the price is only $100 more or so than the current MBP prices.

I reckon 2014 or 2015.

 

[Yebubbleman]

My thoughts are that Apple seems so dead-set on positioning this machine as their "Next Generation MacBook Pro" and that the only reason why they didn't outright replace it (price aside) was that they wanted to make the transitions (away from optical drives, FireWire 800, built-in Ethernet, and to SSD-only, retina) to the new machines as seamless, for those who need it to be, as possible. They made this transition similarly slowly with the jump to unibody; the 17" didn't officially make the jump until months later, while the 13" was first an off-shot Aluminum non-Pro MacBook before completing its transition to "MacBook Pro". I'm thinking this is a similar transition and that by next year, prices in SSDs and the retina screens will fall enough so that Apple can complete their transition and have there only be one MacBook Pro line and have that one be the one that they envision as "next generation".

 

[tharitm]

I think even though Apple wants the rMBP to be the future they will still make the cMBP until the rMBP overtake the cMBP in sales. This will happen when the prices on SSD's drop.

 

[Ploki]

I don't think you guys noticed that the 13" retina has almost the ideal space for a conventional drive under the trackpad. IF they transfer that to the 15" model... pair that up with increased GPU performance of haswell, cMBP is a goner.

 

[Kafka]

Prices must drop first.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I don't think you guys noticed that the 13" retina has almost the ideal space for a conventional drive under the trackpad. IF they transfer that to the 15" model... pair that up with increased GPU performance of haswell, cMBP is a goner.

The space under the trackpad is just way too thin. Unless it was a seriously low-profile hard drive, I don't see them putting one in. Though I'm surprised that, given the room under the trackpad, they don't offer a second mSATA blade slot.

I think even though Apple wants the rMBP to be the future they will still make the cMBP until the rMBP overtake the cMBP in sales. This will happen when the prices on SSD's drop.

Prices must drop first.

You both don't think that prices on SSDs won't come down that much between now and then. Also, given the cost of a 2012 13" MacBook Air with a 512GB SSD, wouldn't you think that the main reason for the expense is the retina panel and not the SSD?

 

[Ploki]

The space under the trackpad is just way too thin. Unless it was a seriously low-profile hard drive, I don't see them putting one in. Though I'm surprised that, given the room under the trackpad, they don't offer a second mSATA blade slot.

That would put the 13"er above 15"er in terms of expandability which just doesn't make any sense.

It's not way too thin actually, it's just a millimeter too thin - close enough to put a special apple 2.5" drive in there...
And ergo price drop.

 

[Kafka]

wouldn't you think that the main reason for the expense is the retina panel and not the SSD?

I'd say probably both?

 

[mslide]

I'd say we're another rev or 2 away from all retina MBPs. They'd need to get the price of the base rMBPs down to the price of the same sized cMBP. That's a big price difference.

 

[Yebubbleman]

This report in particular:

https://www.macrumors.com/2012/06/0...ird-macbook-line-with-retina-display-at-wwdc/

Especially this part:

Kuo believes that Apple will wait until next year to re-simplify its notebook lines with Intel's Haswell platform, at which point the company will merge the MacBook Pro and this new MacBook model, leaving a set of four models: 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Airs and 13-inch and 15-inch MacBooks.

...and the fact that this guy has been more or less spot on in the past with all of this.

(Also coupled with Apple's public attitude on the non-retina Unibody design)

Makes me think that this is the last run of cMBPs. Bummer as they really are a rock solid design of laptop computer.

 

[Ploki]

It probably is. It's surprising enough they kept it anyway.

 

[wabbit42]

I think the cMBPs will just become a regular 'Macbook' line, since they sell so well (particularly the 13"). If they kill them off completely I will be surprised.

 

[pgiguere1]

Unlike what most people here say, I don't think they'll wait until the rMBP line matches the cMBP line's price to discontinue it.

The MBA is now the new entry level and is cheaper than ever before so it makes sense for the MBP line to be higher-end.

Apple has always liked to have two distinct lines of computers with different pricing in order to avoid awkward situations like now where two computers are the exact same price and not totally different. That's just wrong, and probably one of the reason why Apple decided to introduce the rMBP at a higher price than the cMBP instead of waiting for its components to be more affordable to produce.

People who don't know the technical difference between a 13" MBA and 13" cMBP and which one is better for them have some sort of analysis paralysis won't feel as good buying one. Is was more simple before 2008 when it was basically like "Budget under 2k? Get a MacBook. Budget over 2k? MacBook Pro."

It's not really conscious, but you make people feel so much better about buying your product when they don't have to take any decision at all. Just buy the single model that's within your budget. This was the correct approach:

When Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, it was producing a random array of computers and peripherals, including a dozen different versions of the Macintosh. After a few weeks of product review sessions, he’d finally had enough. “Stop!” he shouted. “This is crazy.” He grabbed a Magic Marker, padded in his bare feet to a whiteboard, and drew a two-by-two grid. “Here’s what we need,” he declared. Atop the two columns, he wrote “Consumer” and “Pro.” He labeled the two rows “Desktop” and “Portable.” Their job, he told his team members, was to focus on four great products, one for each quadrant. All other products should be canceled. There was a stunned silence. But by getting Apple to focus on making just four computers, he saved the company. “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do,” he told me. “That’s true for companies, and it’s true for products.”

Relevant TED talk.

 

[Yebubbleman]

It'll be interesting to watch this poll as we get closer to the end of the current refresh cycle and towards the next one.

 

[Wicked1]

I think it will be around for a while only because they still need a cheaper alternative, not everyone will go for the retina MBP's.

I would like to see the MBP go the way of the design of the retina models, however one main drag is the ram and ssd upgrades, that needs to get better.

 

[TechZeke]

I think there will be a couple more iterations of the cMBP.

The first is cost, as been stated before. Until these retina panels and SSDs come down in price, it's not viable. Killing the cMBP would kill allot of their Macbook sales. The rMBP may be selling well, but it doesn't change that fact it's a $2200 base computer(atleast for the 15in) and isn't going to sell nearly as much as a sub $1500 computer.

If they CAN kill it next year, I can say with confidence they will be really pushing the profit margins.

 

[Poisonivy326]

I think they need to make some improvements on the Air before they kill off the cMBP line. The cMBP is a great sturdy computer. Definitely they need to update the base Airs to have more than 4 GB of RAM and 128 MB of storage. Maybe make a better screen for the Air as well.

 

[iExpensive]

Honestly, I feel the 13" MBP is in need of a price drop.

$999 should be the price of it.

There is no reason why a macbook air, which was seen as a premium product until 2011, should be entry level.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Honestly, I feel the 13" MBP is in need of a price drop.

$999 should be the price of it.

There is no reason why a macbook air, which was seen as a premium product until 2011, should be entry level.

I'd even append to this that the 11" Air should be AT MOST $799 and not $999.

I'm also now wondering if Apple will keep a single 13" cMBP model around in a similar fashion as the white MacBook while completely discontinuing the 15" cMBP. Crap, I should've put that as a poll option.

 

[lapeno]

Hopefully so..

 

[Poisonivy326]

The issue is Apple is always under-speccing their "consumer" machines in hopes that you ideally have an iMac or some other "main computer." The cMBP is a machine that's underspecced at its basics but easy to upgrade -- literally takes about 5 minutes to pop in more RAM and barely more to upgrade the HD. It also has a lot of the more "old fashioned" features that people might associate with a "main computer" (optical drive, ethernet ports).

The MBA line is in an awkward position because right now the basic ones are just underspecced enough that it can't be the "main" computer for most people. If they want to make the MBA the main consumer line then I think they need to at least upgrade the baseline RAM to 8 GB and upgrade storage to 128 GB SSD in the 11" and 256 GB in the 13". Put a better processor and while we're at it get a much better screen -- my friend has an 11" MBA and the screen sucks. It's not even low-res but it's just sort of washed out looking. I think they're still hoping that people with MBA's also buy iMacs and/or the rMBP.

The MBA's have been around long enough that they're losing their coolness factor and Apple has to decide whether to upgrade it so that more consumers can use it as their sole computer. JMO.

 

[richnyc]

It is surprising how equally are our opinions divided on the future of cMBP line