Apple Looking to Launch $799 MacBook Air in 3Q 2012?

[ixodes]

If true, it will be proof that Apple's now free to do things that were previously off limits. It will signal the official beginning of the Post Jobs Era.

An all new, more open minded Apple, that responds to consumers & industry trends. Very encouraging.

 

[Karnivore]

I don't know why people think that a price reduction is not plausible. There are plenty of sub $1000 ultrabooks with 4gb RAM and 128 GB SSD's

 

[JAT]

Indeed. Could be worse - you could live in Canada, where the dollar has been stronger than the US dollar for a number of years now, yet most items still cost more in Canadian $ than they do south of the border...

If by stronger you mean, dead even, then that statement works. CAD was only ahead for a year. You can almost draw a straight line on the exchange rate the last couple years.

Why ? Different form factors. People that want tablets aren't suddenly going to buy laptops.

It's all the people that don't know what they want that might matter. Considering how the iPad exploded, I'd say there's quite a few in that state. Kinda like politics in our horrific 2-party mess in the US. All the campaigning is aimed at the "middle", not the wackos on both ends.

 

[pearvsapple]

Add in the updated Cactus Ridge, who wants Ultrabooks?

 

[KnightWRX]

It's all the people that don't know what they want that might matter. Considering how the iPad exploded, I'd say there's quite a few in that state. Kinda like politics in our horrific 2-party mess in the US. All the campaigning is aimed at the "middle", not the wackos on both ends.

Are you saying iPads are catching on because of some fad rather than a genuine need for a tablet form factor ?

Though I've been saying it for quite a while : What is drawing people into the iPad is not the tablet form factor itself. It's the experience of iOS. Yes, it's limited, it's walled and controlled. But frankly, for my grandma or step father, it's all they'll ever need and it's mostly hassle free.

Take the iOS experience, package it up as a tablet, a laptop, a desktop, you have a great big market there. The "Post-PC" era is not about hardware form factors, it's the software. Some vendors are catching on, Apple seems to be too focused on the tablet to notice it though. An ARM based MBA with iOS...

 

[Skoopman]

Interesting, even if Apple will cut the price by 200$, which in my opinion will never happen, Apple will still make tons of profit for one simple reason: With an entry price of 800$ it will become a potential product for more people. Not a lot of people would like to spend 1.000$ on a 11" notebook, but 800? Hell yeah. The only thing I'm afraid about is the hardware. I don't see them fitting a SD slot in there, but the biggest problem will be RAM. For 800$ don't expect 4GB and 128 GB SSD, I think it will be the same as the current model, but with Ivy Bridge CPU.

 

[David085]

I would buy a Air if is $799 later this year, If they do decide to lower it.

 

[wliew]

Understand that there will be new launches for MBA next quarter.
Any possibility of getting MBA 11" with Ivy Bridge on i7?

 

[fertilized-egg]

For 800$ don't expect 4GB and 128 GB SSD, I think it will be the same as the current model, but with Ivy Bridge CPU.

What if they simply lower the price of the current MBA and sell it as the new entry model like they do with iOS devices?

 

[JAT]

Are you saying iPads are catching on because of some fad rather than a genuine need for a tablet form factor ?

Not exactly. More that people are morons.

But frankly, most people only need a tablet (iOS/Android generation of tablets) for what they actually do with a computer. iOS happens to be the best choice yet made. Coincidence that became a positive.

Unlike, say, the popularity of cool-looking Dodge cars, despite the reliability record of a meth addict.

 

[314631]

If they did this, Mac marketshare would jump beyond 50%!!! PC OEMs will be crapping themselves with fear this rumour comes true.

 

[jouster]

It can be thicker.

I doubt it. Thin is one of Apple's most important design considerations.

 

[Eidorian]

Interesting, even if Apple will cut the price by 200$, which in my opinion will never happen, Apple will still make tons of profit for one simple reason: With an entry price of 800$ it will become a potential product for more people. Not a lot of people would like to spend 1.000$ on a 11" notebook, but 800? Hell yeah. The only thing I'm afraid about is the hardware. I don't see them fitting a SD slot in there, but the biggest problem will be RAM. For 800$ don't expect 4GB and 128 GB SSD, I think it will be the same as the current model, but with Ivy Bridge CPU.

Lacking 4 GB of RAM in 2012? The DIMMs sell for the price of a good meal and you have densities up to 16 GB. The same carries over to the DRAM chips themselves. Even SSD prices have tanked in the past few months. We are into the US$0.80/GB arena now or lower if you hunt and that is for SATA III.

The amount of RAM an artificial limitation Apple cooked up for product segmentation and bears little on reality unless you are in the market for a Brazos based notebook for $300.

 

[charlituna]

Most k-12 system I know have network mounted/portable home directories and need little in terms of local disk space. The base OS take up 10-15 before apps.

With Apple pushing the iPad for that market, I don't see them considering such things

----------

It is somewhat amusing to see that most Apple fans find the idea of Apple lowering prices absolutely repulsive. I wonder if t is some form of Stockholm Syndrome.

It's not the lowering of the price. But the illogic that Apple is doing it to compete with anyone. Or the illogic that would make a lower spec item to chase a price

----------

It can be thicker.

Then it's not a MacBook Air

 

[Mak47]

Despite the fact that the rumor came from Digitimes, there is some sensibility behind it.

If the entire MacBook line is being updated to fit the MacBook Air aesthetic, then it seems likely that the current Air models (11 and 13 inch) will stay essentially the same. An update to current generation processors seems obvious, but other than that, I don't know that much else would need to change.

The MacBook Air has matured at this point. The R&D expenses have already passed. Only now are competing manufacturers starting to get passable knockoffs to market, and they're designed to compete with a $999 price point.

Apple dropping a $799 11" Air even with a low-end Ivy Bridge processor would essentially kick those competitors in the teeth. Especially if it means that the 13" models start at a lower entry point as well. The only reason to buy a Windows ultra book is if the price point of the MacBook Air is too high. Apple knows this. They also know that their competitors have been patiently waiting to be able to offer a lower cost alternative to the MBA. They've let Apple create the market and then planned to undercut them on price to get a piece of it. Instead of innovating, they've been spending millions of dollars developing "Comparable" products. If this rumor proves true (and if it does it was still just a wild guess from Digitimes) it will happen because Apple wants to own this market. They'll see the low cost competitors drop off fairly quickly, much like they did with tablets.

I don't believe that competing based on price is in Apple's DNA. That said, taking advantage of smart supply chain management and an early leadership position in a market--thus allowing a lower entry level price point--is smart business.

Here's another way to look at it...there are lots of people who debate between an iPad and a MacBook Air. If the entry level price point is $200 lower, how many of those people might just decide to buy both? It's also a safe bet that with AirPlay mirroring in Mountain Lion, some of those people may buy an Apple TV, or might simply invest in some of the many super high margin accessories that Apple sells. I wouldn't worry about the small margin decrease. It'll be made up for in volume and sales of pull-through items.

As for those who think it might cannibalize iPad sales, or make people question the pricing of the iPad, I'd say you're dead wrong. The average consumer hasn't got a clue what components cost. Nor do they care. The average consumer views an iPad as a much more futuristic and therefore advanced product than a laptop computer, no matter how thin that laptop may be.

 

[Eidorian]

Instead of innovating, they've been spending millions of dollars developing "Comparable" products.

Keep in mind that it is Intel's money along with other subsidies.

 

[throAU]

2c:

apple will double (or quadruple in the base 11" spec case) memory to 8gb as standard and include ivy bridge.

ivy bridge will give them USB3.

price, and the rest of the design will remain as is.



apple don't have 40% margins because they continually redesign stuff. they have 40% margins because they do a good design and keep it for a large number of units shipped, with minor iterations. the current design is 2yr old, it won't change much. the progress apple makes is more software related.

 

[Skoopman]

Lacking 4 GB of RAM in 2012? The DIMMs sell for the price of a good meal and you have densities up to 16 GB. The same carries over to the DRAM chips themselves. Even SSD prices have tanked in the past few months. We are into the US$0.80/GB arena now or lower if you hunt and that is for SATA III.

The amount of RAM an artificial limitation Apple cooked up for product segmentation and bears little on reality unless you are in the market for a Brazos based notebook for $300.

I understand that it's 2012, but what the hell, my old Notebook I bought in 2005 had 2 GB of RAM and Apple released the MBA with only 2 GB standard in 2011. If they release a 800$ model it will have only 2GB of RAM. The 1.000$ model should have 4 GB.

What if they simply lower the price of the current MBA and sell it as the new entry model like they do with iOS devices?

I can totally see that happening. For a lot of people that entry model would be more than enough.

 

[KnightWRX]

But frankly, most people only need a tablet (iOS/Android generation of tablets) for what they actually do with a computer. iOS happens to be the best choice yet made. Coincidence that became a positive.

The problem Apple may find in adopting their "Post-PC" paradigm after a while though is that the tablet form factor is not something that is comfortable to use for everyone.

Again, I'm convinced the "Post-PC" era Apple speaks of is a software game, not a form factor game. Sticking to tablets and smartphones is limiting. They should go all in, with laptop and desktop form factors with iOS.

 

[Shadyriley]

They are going to sell the old ones at $799, refurbished and stuff. New ones will be $999.

 

[Sensation]

Dell said their ultrabooks were selling quicker than they could make them.

 

[KnightWRX]

They are going to sell the old ones at $799, refurbished and stuff. New ones will be $999.

That's pretty much what the refurbs go for already... I really doubt this rumor has anything to do with refurb models.

And anyway, I doubt this rumor has any basis in reality. Unless Apple is really ready to turn a new leaf in their pricing.

 

[Geekbabe]

Get them into the Apple ecosystem when they are young by offering schools seriously attractive pricing for bulk orders. Continue in that mission by offering better discounts on MBA & MBP for high school and college students.

Apple could accomplish this by producing less fully featured products or they could just decide to lower their already pretty healthy profit margin a bit more in these cases. If a kid grows up with Apple products chances are good that when he's no longer a struggling student & finally has that good job, he's going to want to buy premium Apple devices.

I work with young people who went to high school in wealthy areas, they used Apple computers throughout their educational years, the thought of buying Windows PC's because they are cheaper is just not something any of them will consider.

 

[MrNomNoms]

For some reason the idea of 'one line of laptops to rule them all' seems to give me a shudder up the spine. I hope that they'll maintain their MacBook Pro line even if it involves making a MacBook Pro sans drive but with a bigger battery.

 

[SBlue1]

Never ever. But i dont mind if i am wrong.