Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Discontinues White MacBook
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I agree with those who have said, "bad move for Apple".
Even though I don't have one, the white MacBook was a fine "entry-level" Mac for many. It was fully-equipped (at least vis-a-vis the MacBook Air), and "almost affordable".
It was also a "fully developed" product, from a cost-of-manufacture standpoint. Cheap to build and easy to sell.
What Apple should have done (with the re-vamped MB Air) is to retain the white MacBook within the product line, but dropped the price -- say, down to the $799 price point. Sales would have increased, more than making up for the drop in retail.
I don't see the 11" MacBook Air as being a viable candidate to "fill the space" left open by the discontinued MacBook.
It should remain a good seller at the refurb store for some time to come...
Even though I don't have one, the white MacBook was a fine "entry-level" Mac for many. It was fully-equipped (at least vis-a-vis the MacBook Air), and "almost affordable".
It was also a "fully developed" product, from a cost-of-manufacture standpoint. Cheap to build and easy to sell.
What Apple should have done (with the re-vamped MB Air) is to retain the white MacBook within the product line, but dropped the price -- say, down to the $799 price point. Sales would have increased, more than making up for the drop in retail.
I don't see the 11" MacBook Air as being a viable candidate to "fill the space" left open by the discontinued MacBook.
It should remain a good seller at the refurb store for some time to come...
Same difference. The 1.6 ghz i5 is in another league than the Core 2 Duo chips.
The 999$ MBA from Oct. 2010 had the same 320m GPU that the 999$ MacBook had. If the White MacBook had stayed, it would have gotten the same Intel 3000HD graphics you and I both loath so much.
Hardly an argument to keep the White Macbook around.
The MBA is a well functionning laptop. That's what I use mine as. It's very far from a netbook, which uses Intel Atom processors. It's an ultra-portable laptop.
Why do you keep talking about the 13.3" MBA? The replacement for the white MacBook is a 11" MBA, not a 13,3" MBA.
And 11" is a NetBook, period.
And please, read rmwebs post, the i5 isnt faster at all at 1.6Ghz in OSX because OSX lends on the GPU too much, wich is slower and thus your system will not run as fast as it on the white macbook
Now instead of the usual crippling of low end products to make you spend more, there's just no low end product at all.
I'm talking about the 11" MBA. Where did you get I was talking about the 13" ? The 2010 11" MBA sold for 999$ had the 320m GPU.
Agree to disagree, netbooks to me are not based on size, but specs, and all ship with low power AMD or Intel processors (the Zacate, the Atom).
rmwebs' post has nothing to do with processor speed as you point out yourself. OS X hasn't needed a faster GPU since the early 950 GMA days. It's just not that heavy to run OS X's interface smoothly.
I agree the GPU is downgrade, but that is a fact for all Apple computers going from C2D to SB and using integrated GPUs. The White MacBook would have suffered the same fate. Hence your argument is a non argument.
Same as they would have ran on a White MacBook, I don't quite get your point...
Whatever, i would bet on the fact that my latest generation macbook runs faster and better than one of those brand new 11" i5 MBA's, especially when you're going to use graphic apps like photoshop or games
And about your argument about the netbook?
Definition of NetBook (GOOGLE): Netbooks are a category of small, lightweight, legacy-free, and inexpensive laptop computers.
Now, describe the 11" MBA please... Just about the same now isnt it? exept for the inexpensive part, $999
for 11" is just insane.
Adobe Master Suite probably does not support integrated graphics chips.
SoI have to spend $ 1200. to have USB ports, print with my existing printer I already have, play my CDs and DVDs and the ability to add memory.
You have to pay $200 more for those features, yes. Sounds like a bargain when you put it that way.
Might not be their best selling laptop anymore. Apple themselves said that the MBP made up most of their laptop sales in the 3Q earnings call yesterday. I'd suspect that the MBA and 13" MBP may have been cannibalizing MB sales to the point where it made sense to finally drop it.
A bargain? Are you from this age? This stuff is supposed be integrated in the laptop, not cut out so you can sell more cables for compatibility
But again, that point is moot. An upgraded MacBook would have received the same Intel GPU that the MBA now has. The previous MBA had the same nVidia 320m GPU that the MacBook had.
You're making a null argument here. Basically, you're not posting about the MBA vs the White Macbook, you're posting about the nVidia GPU vs the Intel GPU. A completely separate debate, one which I fully agree with you.
However, please note that Photoshop and other Adobe apps are more reliant on the CPU than the GPU. A SB upgrade is a better upgrade for running Adobe's stuff.
So it would never have ran on a white macbook, because they always had integrated graphics chips. The new one would have had the Intel integrated graphics.
Fortunately, that is not true. Adobe's Master Suite runs wonderfully on my 320m equipped MBA, which is an integrated GPU.
So
The MBA has USB ports, prints to your existing printer and it's only 30$ to play CDs and DVDs...
Adding memory, granted, but then again, just add it when you buy. Apple has been moving away from upgradeable machines for quite some time, not a big surprise.
You're saying my argument is null by placing an argument assuming that the macbook was to be upgraded with that gpu in the first place.
My agrument is about the latest generation macbook before it got discontinued. The macbook I am typing at this very moment.
And the argument is indeed about the entirety of the product, you just keep posting about the graphics, in wich I, in my turn, am replying to.
How can you say $30 to play dvd's? The bloody optical drive costs $79 on the apple store!
About adobe, i meant that it probably won't support INTEL integrated graphics, wich is a lot different from the 320M in the macbooks, and in your MBA
For what its worth I can confirm that you can pick up a cheapo USB DVDRW drive and it'll work fine on the Air
I have one of these (below) which I keep as a 'just incase' solution for a few netbooks and our HTPC (its an ancient Mac Mini with a busted superdrive)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/174302
Dont bother buying an expensive Apple external as they are majorly overpriced for such a crummy product.
There was no other GPU possibility for the white macbook. Once it would have gotten a SB processor, it would have had the Intel GPU. Fact of life since the Intel vs nVidia lawsuit settlement.
So, you should compare it to the last generation of MBAs. That Macbook is not the latest generation, it's the old generation platform, based around Core 2 Duo and the 320m chipset, which the 999$ 11" MBA had prior to this update.
The graphics is the only downgrade.
Buy a 30$ one off newegg, or at BB. Samsung makes a nice model around that price that powers off the USB port same as the Apple drive.
It does work fine on the Intel GPU. The people with 13" MBPs can confirm it if you don't want to take my word for it.
ridiculous
My 2003 I Book (which still works great) is more user friendly than a damn I Pqd or or an Air.
Plays my DVDs and CDs without buying anything new
Prints to my existing printer without buying a printer or cables
Doesn't make me go to an online store for anything
My 2003 I Book (which still works great) is more user friendly than a damn I Pqd or or an Air.
Plays my DVDs and CDs without buying anything new
Prints to my existing printer without buying a printer or cables
Doesn't make me go to an online store for anything
You keep saying that. The MBA prints just fine to any OS X supported printer using the same cable you've used for all your other Macs.
Care to go into a bit more details on what you mean here exactly ?
It's not totally dead. Educational institutions can still buy 'em but trying to get a better deal on a 13" MBA seems like a smarter move.
MacBook C2D at 2.4GHz = 1508 on PassMark score
MBA Core i5 at 1.33GHz = 1550 on PassMark score (closest to 1.6 I could find)
These may not be the exact CPU models in both machines. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't get those who say that the CPU in the MacBook is more powerful than the CPU in the new MBAs.
MBA Core i5 at 1.33GHz = 1550 on PassMark score (closest to 1.6 I could find)
These may not be the exact CPU models in both machines. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't get those who say that the CPU in the MacBook is more powerful than the CPU in the new MBAs.
ridiculous decision
I have no dog in this race when it comes to a white plastic case or not, but when it comes to Steve actually thinking that the low end Air can be a realistic substitute for a Macbook, maybe as one blogger opined, Steve really was off his meds. No way are educational institutions going to opt for 11" screens, and I sure am not personally. Apple needed to think different(ly) before pulling this boner and have a low end repricing of the MacBookPro available to fill the void. I can't believe this insanity. I've had Apple computers from the very beginning and loved them, but if I go out to buy something affordable for my kidsI NEVER thought I'd say thisI may just get them PC's (ugh!).
I have no dog in this race when it comes to a white plastic case or not, but when it comes to Steve actually thinking that the low end Air can be a realistic substitute for a Macbook, maybe as one blogger opined, Steve really was off his meds. No way are educational institutions going to opt for 11" screens, and I sure am not personally. Apple needed to think different(ly) before pulling this boner and have a low end repricing of the MacBookPro available to fill the void. I can't believe this insanity. I've had Apple computers from the very beginning and loved them, but if I go out to buy something affordable for my kidsI NEVER thought I'd say thisI may just get them PC's (ugh!).
The 11" MBA's screen has more pixels than the 13" White MacBook's screen had.
Why wouldn't people go for it ? It displays more information and that's all that matters. Inches are a worthless spec when it comes to laptop screen. You can have a ****** 1280x800 17" screen or a very sharp 13" 1920x1080 screen. In the end, it's the pixels that create screen real-estate, not the inches.
Why wouldn't people go for it ? It displays more information and that's all that matters. Inches are a worthless spec when it comes to laptop screen. You can have a ****** 1280x800 17" screen or a very sharp 13" 1920x1080 screen. In the end, it's the pixels that create screen real-estate, not the inches.
