Apple Announces New MacBook Air With 13-Inch Retina Display and Touch ID

[dwaite]

Do they realize that they just made the MacBook most pointless product in the Mac line?

Probably? Since they totally could have killed it and did not, I'm assuming they have big plans for the next rev.

My suspicion is that the MacBook was originally meant to replace the Air, but they decided instead to make it the spiritual successor to the nTB Pro going forward (and possibly the 13" TB as well). The nTB Pro and prior smaller pro models have always focused on portability over power.

Ignoring parts in the case and build quality, the MB is still around 25" smaller and 25" lighter than the Air. I think they will double down on that, and make it a laptop for people who need true all-day battery life and portability and are willing to compromise on screen size and power to get there - target people like writers, jet-setters, and corporate executives.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Well that bites. I've used that (SD card) on Macs for years now to increase storage. I guess it's back to cloud drives for everything.

Or you could buy a $12 (or cheaper) adapter. I know that's one extra thing to have and use but it's an option unless you need the SD card plugged in all the time. Even then, that might be possible to do.

 

[Mainsail]

I understand that but for gen 3 I disagree. It’s a solid keyboard with few reliability issues.

Read it and weep. So, sad.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/gen-3-butterfly-keyboard.2127111/

I really want a path to upgrade my beloved MBA.....just going to have to wait for reviews and a few months of usage and hope this implementation doesn’t have the same issues as other gen 3 keyboards.

 

[Niklas_nick]

As someone who is going back to school. Im not sure if I should stick with my 2014 MacBook Pro, or sell it, and get a Air. Im definitely upgrading my iPad though

What kind of iPad are you going for? If you’re going back to school and can buy with an education discount, Apple has dropped the discount for the new iPad Pro from 13% for the 10,5” down to 5% for the 11” Pro. Oh, and as the prices for upgrades went up, an 11” in my configuration (256/Cellular) got €250 ($285) more expensive than the outgoing model... But you can still get the old model with the old release pricing (Base price, upgrade prices, discount). It’s amazing how they raise prices with every single update.

 

[neuropsychguy]

It's like the 13" Macbook Pro but even slower for more money. Huh?! It's not even really lighter or smaller either. Nor does it have a better screen or more ports or anything.

What am I missing?

It's tapered so it's thinner on the front edge. It's also .25 lbs (114 grams) lighter. The new Air's screen is not quite as good as the MacBook Pro's but that's probably not noticeable (it doesn't get as bright and looks like it has slightly less color range). On paper it's slower than the MBP but might not be appreciably slower in real world use. Is that worth the $100 savings? Maybe not but it's now an option.

 

[joueboy]

The only reason it was the most popular it's because it's the cheapest MacBook, but for $1200 that might make people think twice or better yet move up to MacBook pro for $100 more.

 

[robertcoogan]

It would be super awesome if Apple brought back the Magsafe port and at least 2 USB-A ports.

 

[Sam_S]

Pricing is crap! Its only $50 ($30USD) cheaper the the nTB MBP in NZ...

 

[dwaite]

Yeah I'll stick with my 2014 Macbook Pro thanks. Higher clock speed, same RAM, more reliable keyboard and the screen is still better. I was hoping to upgrade at some point but the pricing is getting silly. The base model Air costs £200 more than my Pro did yet has worse performance.

Isn't the point of the Pro is performance and screen quality? It'll take a long time and some changes in display technology to make an upgrade from a Pro to an Air compelling.

 

[JackieTreehorn]

I am sure this has been asked before, but is Apple discontinuing the 12" Macbook?

I like the size factor of that thing, which for me is perfect.

Or should I now buy a large iPad Pro, Apple?

 

[KPOM]

This "new" MBA is just a rebadged 13" non-TB MBP using a MB processor. Apple has downgraded the CPU from a competent 15W CPU down to a fairly inept 5W CPU.



I don't know how close the 7th-gen U-series is to the 8th-gen, but the U-series clearly outperforms the Y-series in the 8th-gen. Look at the post below from a different thread.



If Apple had put Whiskey Lake in the new MBA, I would not complain about the pricing, but as it is ....






I think you missed the massive thread here on MR discussing the continuing failure of Apple's butterfly keyboard in its third iteration.




This is personal preference, and as a touch typist I concur with others who cannot comfortably use Apple's new keyboards. This is a huge problem for me and many others who actually type on their laptops.

The nTB 13” uses a dual core 7th generation chip, not the quad-core Whiskey Lake. The extra cores explain most of the difference you are seeing.

 

[dwaite]

I'm looking forward to a breakdown comparing this to the 12" Macbook. Why not make them both part of the Air family now?

I suspect there to be a 2019 MacBook that focuses on being an ultraportable for that demographic of "pros". Right now, the benefits would be that it is 25% lighter and 25% smaller than a MBA, (do you have to upgrade the MBA's storage for $200 to match the baseline MB?), and is currently shipping with an eight week old CPU (aka last generation).
[doublepost=1540926430][/doublepost]

Air 2018 vs Pro 2018:
- non P3 display
- less bright display (300 nits vs 500 nits)
- no true tone display
- less storage
- slower CPU/GPU
- 2 Thunderbolt ports vs 4 on Pro
- Bluetooth 4.2 vs 5.0
- no Touch Bar
+ Touch ID comes as a standard feature and doesn’t require the Touch Bar
+ new gold color
+ supposedly better battery life

I personally don’t care about the storage, true tone, slower CPU, fewer ports and the Touch Bar. But the compromises with the display and older Bluetooth are frustrating.

The bluetooth is odd. Part of the pro line has always been paying for a better display.

I think the TB port limitation is due to the PCIe lanes in that particular intel chip. Apple didn't want to add USB-A ports or a separate bank of non-TB USB-C ports. I believe the two ports already share lanes (which is why no 5k monitor - that and integrated GPU performance).

 

[Jeremy3292]

US$ 1.199? No, thank you, Apple.
US$ 1.299 I could get a MBP far more powerful.

$1299 MBP has 7th gen processors, not 8th gen FWIW. $1299 MBP also has same storage and RAM as new Air. Idk if I would say the MBP is "far more powerful"

 

[Wowzera]

No you can’t. The New MBA is better in every single regard than the non-tb MBP... the Touch Bar is the next step up, with quad core CPUs and more premium components.

MacBook Air (128GB) - i5-5350U 15W CPU - 999$
MacBook (256GB) - Core m3-7Y32 7W CPU - 1299$
MacBook Air Touch (128GB) - Core i5-8200Y 7W CPU - 1199$
MacBook Pro nTB (128GB) - Core i5-7360U 15W CPU - 1299$

That means that the current MacBook Pro nTB is really the new Air if you looking only at performance (better cpu, gpu and screen). It's not worth it to buy the new Macbook Air Touch, when you get an MacBook Pro nTB for only 100$ more. The only things you will be missing is 3. gen keyboard and Touch ID.

If you compare the benchmarks of Core i5-8200Y and Core i5-7360U, you'll see that even though the first one has the new generation architeture, the last one has better performance.

@DipDog3
@yanksrock100
@Jeremy3292

 

[Rogifan]

We're being prepared by Apple for a new prices level. BTW, did you notice that Apple didn't lower prices on existing iPad Pro 10.5, despite it's being close to 1.5 year old?

Yes. Ridiculous.

 

[Jeremy3292]

Air 2018 vs Pro 2018:
- non P3 display
- less bright display (300 nits vs 500 nits)
- no true tone display
- less storage
- slower CPU/GPU
- 2 Thunderbolt ports vs 4 on Pro
- Bluetooth 4.2 vs 5.0
- no Touch Bar
+ Touch ID comes as a standard feature and doesn’t require the Touch Bar
+ new gold color
+ supposedly better battery life

I personally don’t care about the storage, true tone, slower CPU, fewer ports and the Touch Bar. But the compromises with the display and older Bluetooth are frustrating.

Reading this above, it seems you are comparing the new $1199 Macbook Air to the $1799 MBP. That doesn't seem like a worhty compariosn to me. Wouldn't the $1299 MBP be a far better comparison?

 

[Hildegerd]

Making it smaller is a mistake: it should have a 14inch display instead, so that the overall size is the same. Also, removal of MagSafe, and removal of USB-A is their means for convincing people buying the iPad Pro instead. They want everybody into iOS.

I have considered this agenda too.

 

[Naimfan]

Butterfly keyboard? Hard fail.

 

[Glockworkorange]

Apple has done the math and realizes there's enough richy rich folks willing to buy their Apple products year after year with ever increasing prices to offset losing the ones who used to buy their products at a lower price point. Apple's version of "They can eat cake" = "They can buy iPads!"

They can buy the “cheap education iPads,” because the pros are close to laptop territory.

 

[Wags]

I have considered this agenda too.

Just look at Apple’s retail store. Like 15% space dedicated to MacOS hardware. If even that much.

 

[Glockworkorange]

I don't know why people keep hating on the MacBook, if you ever tried using word professionally, you'd see iOS deficiencies and make you run for a laptop any day.

yes that gap is closing with every iteration but not quite there yet.

Value for money however places MBA and MB very close to one another.

The base MacBook comes with more storage...

I live in Office for work.

iOS is fine for a quick change here or there, but to really work effectively and comfortably, it’s best to have a laptop or desktop form factor with a precise input device.

Constantly reaching up, tapping, down to the keyboard, up and fumbling for that small cursor insertion, back a paragraph and highlight a block of text (tip over iPad, pick it back up), down to the keys...and on and on.

Awful.

 

[effineji]

View attachment 799487

I was feeling a little jealous and partially regretting my purchase of the 2017 MacBook (12") but thanks to a fan being in the 2018 MacBook Air (although I don't understand why it would need the extra cooling), I can keep being satisfied of my purchase timing. Being made the 'outdated' model in 2 years or more, I don't get too jealous, but when it's only a year, I feel regret, not being able to pick the best, efficient upgrade path.

I really only use my MacBook to browse quickly and efficiently and do a little file sorting and backing up my photos + music, so I really don't need performance, and all my previous Apple laptops have been too loud and hot so the MacBook (12") is a perfect little machine for me.

 

[Steve121178]

I think you miss the biggest point he was trying to make. In order to use these devices to access data and media that you've already bought, you have to have a subscription to rebuy said media.

I don't mean to be pedantic, but you can't re-buy what you don't own, in this case digital copies of physical media. Having said that, I have about 40 blu-rays that gave me the ability to add digital copies to my Ultra-violet library. Obviously old DVD's wouldn't have given him that option, but he might as well moan about his VHS library not being available as its the same argument.

 

[GalileoSeven]

The 12" MB would've replaced my 11" Air.........but at its current price? (vis-a-vis the new MBA) I got my 11" Air for $800-odd with tax - that's with 128GB of storage. The only thing the 12" MB has over my machine is a better screen and there's no way I'm paying a $400-500 Apple Tax just to move up

 

[Jeremy3292]

This explains the differences between the $1199 MBA and $1299 MBP processors:

http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/86...5-7360U_vs_Intel_Core_i5_Mobile_i5-8200Y.html