My point exactly - which is why the original statement you made:
Any piece of electronics that does not have moving parts will be more reliable than those that have moving parts.
is a commonly held, but incorrect, belief.
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 Phasing Out White MacBook in Favor of Entry-Level MacBook Air?
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
My point exactly - which is why the original statement you made:
Any piece of electronics that does not have moving parts will be more reliable than those that have moving parts.
is a commonly held, but incorrect, belief.
True. Maybe I'm a little more tenacious than most, but I survived both under grad and grad with a thumb drive and the school library..
Many studies require no sort of significant processing power in a notebook.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_4 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8K2 Safari/6533.18.5)
Would make sense to me ; White Plastic don't fit anymore ...
Would make sense to me ; White Plastic don't fit anymore ...
I'm not saying that Apple will or Apple won't kill the MB, but I don't really see what a lot of posters are saying about the two models (base MB and base MBA) being the same price as being evidence of the macbook's irrelevance.
If the macbook finally gets the much-needed bump in specs, Apple could still offer both at the same price point. They'd just be offering consumers the choice between two computers that suit different needs. If you're looking for portability above all else, then the Air is probably right for you. If you're looking for more of an affordable desktop replacement, the macbook is probably right for you. Either way, consumers can find what works for them at a reasonable price (for an Apple product).
If the macbook finally gets the much-needed bump in specs, Apple could still offer both at the same price point. They'd just be offering consumers the choice between two computers that suit different needs. If you're looking for portability above all else, then the Air is probably right for you. If you're looking for more of an affordable desktop replacement, the macbook is probably right for you. Either way, consumers can find what works for them at a reasonable price (for an Apple product).
The MB seems pretty redundant. When they came out with the $1000 MBA, I wondered, if someone didn't have a need for the power of a MBP, why would they buy a MB? Ports?
If it were $700, I could see them selling a big plastic entry-level notebook, but otherwise, it just doesn't fit in with the rest of the line.
They could just drop the "Air" designation and rebrand those "Macbook"s. Or keep em the same, and consider them all Macbooks, just that some are "Air"s and some are "Pro"s.
If it were $700, I could see them selling a big plastic entry-level notebook, but otherwise, it just doesn't fit in with the rest of the line.
They could just drop the "Air" designation and rebrand those "Macbook"s. Or keep em the same, and consider them all Macbooks, just that some are "Air"s and some are "Pro"s.
I agree with most of what you said. But a 50 gb drive is not enough. Thats easily my daughters music and itunes video collection.
If anything I think the Air should be targeted at iPad users looking to step up (add native 3g or 4g service and I'm there!) and keep the Mac Book for educational users
haha I found this post quite ridiculous this morning. If I was 6-7 years old and received a MacBook air, I wouldn't be complaining one bit.
It may be 2011 However when your MAX speed is 3Mb and in a small 8,000 people town the days of needing an optical drive for software installations are NOT gone! (Won't be till everyone has a 10 Mb+ connection) including people who live in rural area's like I do
That's like a red rag to a bull.
I think that analogy applies to most MacRumors threads
I didn't see any indication from his post that he is angry. Perhaps you are projecting?
And you were NOT "simply stating a fact." You stated a rather ludicrous opinion that optical isn't going away in the next 20 years. I have news for you - it's already gone for all practical purposes. I can't imagine using a physical disc these days (other than as a coaster). We are just waiting for the rest of you to catch up. And it won't take 20 years.
I, for one, really hope this is wrong - and it would seem to be - why get rid of a machine that, per the report, is selling around a million units a year? From a consumer standpoint, I'd also be sad to see it go. It at least seems a lot more durable than the MBP (any comments on the MBP's durability appreciated), which I've grown in appreciation for having small children at home, who love to open and close it and "type".
Dave (owner of circa 2006 Macbook, still going strong)
Aluminium dents and scuffs, Plastic Cracks, shatters, snaps, and scratches.
The white MacBook is also notorious for the hinge cracking issue, as well as the fact that the bottom of it gets dirty just by looking at it
So what if there isnt a plain macbook.
There is nothing wrong with choosing between the air model or the pro model.
I would agree having only a pro model doesnt make a lot of sense with no other "non pro" models. But the air has its strengths which are different than the pro. To me all you really need is two product lines in a laptop category and there is no need to have a base product name like macbook. To me Macbook describes the device, and the air/pro designation describes the model.
If anything I wish the pro was more different than the air. because i have a feeling for lots of folks, its hard to choose between the two for what best serves their needs...especially for people that want a full functioning longterm laptop with no real need to run 3rd party power hungry software. Handling MS Office and internet/email is good enough for most non gamers or photo/video editing folks.
Anyone on a "low budget" shouldnt be looking at brand new apple products anyway. The PC world gives a lot more for the money. You don't buy an apple product to save money, you buy it for the emotional connection with an electronic device that competitors haven't seemed to mastered yet.
There is nothing wrong with choosing between the air model or the pro model.
I would agree having only a pro model doesnt make a lot of sense with no other "non pro" models. But the air has its strengths which are different than the pro. To me all you really need is two product lines in a laptop category and there is no need to have a base product name like macbook. To me Macbook describes the device, and the air/pro designation describes the model.
If anything I wish the pro was more different than the air. because i have a feeling for lots of folks, its hard to choose between the two for what best serves their needs...especially for people that want a full functioning longterm laptop with no real need to run 3rd party power hungry software. Handling MS Office and internet/email is good enough for most non gamers or photo/video editing folks.
Anyone on a "low budget" shouldnt be looking at brand new apple products anyway. The PC world gives a lot more for the money. You don't buy an apple product to save money, you buy it for the emotional connection with an electronic device that competitors haven't seemed to mastered yet.
Small hands on keyboards and carrying closed yes. However, the lid/screen on a MBA 11" isn't exactly build for abuse.
The other issue is curriculum. if part of the process is to make DVDs ( movies of school projects so they can be shown on DVD player ) then the MBA is a fail. Sure you could say just change the whole labs and buy video projectors ( instead of using the TV/DVD players the schools already have ) but that is something different. Often schools have trailing edge technologies to integrate with.
I'm sure Apple would like a curriculm that taught optical disks went out with the horse and buggy, but they'll have to wait a bit longer for that to be pervasive.
I though we dispelled the myth that clock speed is relevant when comparing two or more processors from different families earlier last decade. At any rate you are comparing the current MBA w/ the current MB, not MBA to-be-released this week. We don't know the specs on that one and it very well could be a much faster Sandy Bridge based chip than what is in the today's MBA or MB.
Also, the same people who claim they can't do w/o an internal optical drive are the same ones who said they couldn't do w/o an internal modem when Apple dropped those. Some people don't like technological change.
But, honestly, I haven't burned an optical drive in a long time. I have MBPs for only one reason -- I need the extra ports. I'd be fine if Apple ditched the optical drive and lowered the price $100. I can always find an external drive if I really need to burn something but usually I save to a flash drive or to the cloud.
Optical drives will be gone in all Mac laptops by the end of 2012. Bank it.
Yeah, my brain is wandering. Meant Sandy Bridge.