Not Apple's style; that's a stunt more characteristic of most of the other OEMs. Even the iPad is more complete than the type of rig you describe here without the limitation of being a clamshell form factor. Everything you describe as the possible use for such a version is already available for the iPad at an even lower price overall.
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Apple Looking to Launch $799 MacBook Air in 3Q 2012?
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Not Apple's style; that's a stunt more characteristic of most of the other OEMs. Even the iPad is more complete than the type of rig you describe here without the limitation of being a clamshell form factor. Everything you describe as the possible use for such a version is already available for the iPad at an even lower price overall.
If Apple would ever reduce margins...
they would just murder PC's. Well I guess that and getting more corporate custumers but that's again probably related to price per unit. SSD's prices should continue to drop as the technology is getting more mature and mainstream.
A lot of what makes mac prducts so expensive has got to be that Apple works on bigger margins then other companies. Yes there products are made with higher quality materials in a lot of cases but that alone wouldn't create such the size of the price differences with PC's. I'm still using my 2008 15" MBP, which if it wasn't so expensive to replace $2000+, I would have bought a new one by now. Hopefully I'll get a year or two more out of it.
they would just murder PC's. Well I guess that and getting more corporate custumers but that's again probably related to price per unit. SSD's prices should continue to drop as the technology is getting more mature and mainstream.
A lot of what makes mac prducts so expensive has got to be that Apple works on bigger margins then other companies. Yes there products are made with higher quality materials in a lot of cases but that alone wouldn't create such the size of the price differences with PC's. I'm still using my 2008 15" MBP, which if it wasn't so expensive to replace $2000+, I would have bought a new one by now. Hopefully I'll get a year or two more out of it.
I think Apple has gone a long ways towards proving that it's impossible to make an inexpensive "quality" product. It's either inexpensive or it's quality, it pretty much cannot be both. That said, Apple has proven that they can make a quality product for a lower price. The AppleTV at $99 is quite good at what it does (even allows me to stream music and videos from my iPhone 4/1st-gen iPad) and seems to me better at its overall purpose than devices like the Roku and other half-priced boxes. The Mac Mini is surprisingly capable, assuming you already own a display, keyboard and mouse which most households choosing to try it will already have on hand. My G4 Mac Mini, at 8 years old, is still running as well as it did when I purchased it and even serves as a media file server in my home. I know of few Windows-based PCs of the same price that have lasted as long un-touched for repairs.
So you can have either quality or price, not both. As such, I find any concept of Apple releasing a lower-priced notebook relatively unlikely though the hardware in a different form factor might be on the horizon. How about an iPad that actually fits into a 3-ring notebook?
I hope we don't have to wait very long for a refresh of Mac Air. I really wish Apple would speed up its refresh process to something a little more predictable and faster. My Sister and I could both use new Mac Airs, but we are both holding off for the next generation. I might look into a pro if it can be made a little more lightweight. But everything is too old right now for a purchase to make sense.
Who has said "repulsive"? From what I've seen, the majority of the naysayers to this price cut have said "unlikely." Significant difference in terminology, my friend.
Using the iPhone current model, I can see (as posted by another person here already) a continued manufacturing of the current MBA when a new model comes out.
Fixed that there for you.
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Sure it can. It can also be a monitorless box without a keyboard or trackpad. It can be called a Mac Mini too.
It can be many things, but the rumor states a 799$ MacBook Air. I doubt Apple would go "thicker" other than by a few 1/10s of millimeters.
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Yep, I doubt anyone would find it repulsive for Apple to actually use their cash horde to lower their margins a bit and give consumers a break. Are they likely too ? Anyone with half a brain knows it's not going to happen.
The only reason why I see this could be anywhere a near a possibility, is because Tim Cook is in charge now, and may be ok with a lower profit margin. For more sales, yes this isn't the first mac update since Tim has taken over, but would be the first significant one and changes in leadership, wont really show much affects on the company until a couple months later.
In hind sight, I realize what i just typed doesn't make much sense, but I am going to post anyways
In hind sight, I realize what i just typed doesn't make much sense, but I am going to post anyways
Sometimes you get both computer shoppers rolled into one. When you're an oxymoron like me (my name is Rich but I'm poor), you look pounce on deals when they come your way. I bought a refurb $699 MBA in January. I even had it shipped to my local store
!I had to replace a stolen MacBook and I love the form factor of the 11" Air. It reminds me so much of my PB 2400. Yes, it only has 64gb but that is plenty for someone like me. I do mostly writing on my machine and I keep little to no media stored on it. Most of my work resides in the cloud but I personally have no desire for an iPad.
This rumor is very plausible regardless of its accuracy. As others have pointed out, a stripped down configuration could be useful for schools. While 32gb is not a large drive, personal media such as movies and music (which take up the vast majority of space), are not supposed to be stored on the drives anyway, while large student projects could be stored on servers meaning that students wouldn't necessarily have to use the exact same machine every day.
Also, it will put downward pressure on that market, forcing competitor to lower their pricing which in turn narrows their profit. Even at a higher price-point, Apple can put the squeeze to that market segment with a slightly dated model.
Carrier subsidy?
It just might be possible for Apple to sell LTE-enabled MacBook Air models with a cell carrier subsidy. Offering the Qualcomm LTE chip as an option would increase Apple's purchase volume of that chip, giving them a lower unit cost. And that would help bring down the total cost of iPhone and iPad as well.
It all depends on whether Apple wants to grow market share at the expense of profit margins (on certain MacBook Air models.) And if and when Apple can get carrier subsidies for LTE-enabled MacBook Airs. I'm sure there's a Numbers spreadsheet somewhere in Cupertino with the answer(s).
It just might be possible for Apple to sell LTE-enabled MacBook Air models with a cell carrier subsidy. Offering the Qualcomm LTE chip as an option would increase Apple's purchase volume of that chip, giving them a lower unit cost. And that would help bring down the total cost of iPhone and iPad as well.
It all depends on whether Apple wants to grow market share at the expense of profit margins (on certain MacBook Air models.) And if and when Apple can get carrier subsidies for LTE-enabled MacBook Airs. I'm sure there's a Numbers spreadsheet somewhere in Cupertino with the answer(s).
When was that though? Costs do come down and if they're releasing a model that isn't the latest tech nor higher specs, sure they can.
Be careful. This is not your Stephen P. Jobs' Apple Computer.
Cook's willingness to talk to business about pricing and even rumors of a 7" tablet make me wonder if he's not going for the money on the table rather than sacrificing profit for the air of exclusivity like Jobs' Apple did. Jobs knew that not giving you want you wanted (making you wonder if and eventually agree that you really did want what Jobs was selling) was a better long-term way to build your brand than to cave to consumer whim.
Cook's Apple has lost some of the reality distortion that build brand, not short-term profit.
Kill it at the source. The Sony designed PowerBook before some of these kids were born.Fixed that there for you.
The $800-1,000 market is still pretty solid. If you play phone tag or the coupon game maybe you can throw one those tinted IPS panels onto a HP or a Lenovo X220t.
Lowering prices is simply unavoidable. The only question when the market sustainability factor will dictate significant reductions. Apple has been happily riding to the vault where a number of selling components are carefully balanced, one of them being that "status perception" of owning an apple product. This however may change with the common usage of the iPhone and the iPod, where approach may have to be bent. As saving costs are often mentioned the packaging methods where apple clearly exceeds is an important element, an often uncommented but serious cut. In this business it is critical how many units one ships per 20, 40 and 48 foot container.
I could see them seeding K-12 with these things to build their ecosystem.
Make them pretty useless so most consumers would spend the extra $200, but good enough for educational use. They could dump these into the bulk sales market that's currently filled with toshibas, hps and dells. Then the students influence the family purchases.
Of course pricing rumors are as lame as they come. Even if this is the plan, prices are easy to change.
Make them pretty useless so most consumers would spend the extra $200, but good enough for educational use. They could dump these into the bulk sales market that's currently filled with toshibas, hps and dells. Then the students influence the family purchases.
Of course pricing rumors are as lame as they come. Even if this is the plan, prices are easy to change.
I'm a bit worried about when the new Pro and Air will be released. I'd want a new computer today but it feels wrong not to wait. Q3 seems very far away. What do you guys say, will it be June, July or later?