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Apple Said to Release New Entry-Level 13-inch MacBook This Year, Likely Replacing MacBook Air
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It is easier to understand if you could learn the difference between "subjective" evaluation and "objective" fact. I am typing this on an AIR 11 and it is a perfect size for me and I personally like the bezels which get the fingerprints. The AIR is what it is, and a lot of people evaluate it as "great", and you obviously evaluate it as "crap".
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Well, didn't Coke bring back Coke Classic?
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They 'make' the future, it seems, more than they 'see' it, at least for certain features that are still liked by many, like ports.
Personally I don't think USB C will ever become ubiquitous. It's actually very poorly designed and overly complicated.
Apple is the highest taxpayer among tech companies. Apple is Top 3 overall highest tax payer in US. Just behind with ExxonMobil (energy center) and Chevron (oil giant company)
"If You Don't Cannibalize Yourself, Someone Else Will" - Steve Jobs
"I'd rather Apple cannibalize Apple than somebody else cannibalize Apple" - Tim Cook
Except that I returned a new 13” MBP and bought a 12.9” iPad Pro instead because the screen is as good quality and bigger (height-wise when in the same orientation as the MBP, which is more relevant to how I use it). Meets all my needs (my needs that is, not everyone else’s) which includes extensive use of Word docs without having a Word app (weird, right?). The new file system in iOS 11 is great.
And saved about $1,000. Absent iPad Pro, would have had to get a 15” MBP, but would not want to carry that everywhere, everyday which I do now, and besides I couldn’t afford one. Way over-powered for what I need.
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Hey, that’s where the iPad Pro 12.9” comes in
Get a keyboard case and you’re good to go with a Retina screen.
That’s great that you’re able to use iPad Pro instead of MBP. It all depends on what you’re trying to do. Matching your requirements to the right tool, sometimes the answer is an iPad.
But the OP was trying to say Cook stopped making the 11” Air because he wants to sell iPads instead. When in fact Apple will sell you either; they’ll make their margin either way. But in general Apple would rather sell you a $2,000 MBP rather than a $1,000 iPad Pro—or a $329 iPad
Which is why I get irritated when people throw out the canard that Cook would rather sell iPads instead of Macs, or that he even wants to get rid of Macs altogether (more ridiculousness).
Yet they pay only a tiny percentage of taxes from what they actually make. Of course they are in absolute numbers one of the highest taxpayers. They are the most valuable company in the world. Are you thinking?
All I want is an updated version from the MacBook pro 13" unibody (mid 2012) with user replaceable RAM, HD and battery. That one had good IO and MagSafe. Just replace the FireWire and Thunderbolt 2 ports for 2 TB3 USB C.
Same form factor. just put up to date the internals and improve the screen panel to Full HD and that's it.
I get the point of light-wave MacBook Pros that some people dig, but these are not for me. I want well designed and user serviceable machines. I don't care if they are more "bulky". Am I crazy to long for this?
Crazy? No. But it’s not going to happen. “User serviceable” in Macs is history. To upgrade a Mac you sell it and buy a better one.
That’s just the way it is now, but i honestly don’t understand why this concept is such a problem for people. Macs hold their value so the price difference between the one you sell and the one you buy is no different to paying for an upgrade anyway. (And note I didn’t say “buy a new one”. “Better” could be used or refurbished.)
If you can’t cope with this paradigm change then you just have to get out of the Mac market and buy a PC. It’s not going to change. This is how it is. I honestly wish everyone would stop whining about it.
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How is the move to usb-c/TB3 different to Steve replacing everything in the beige 90’s macs with USB-A in the original iMac. Everyone kicked up the same fuss then. Same with removing floppy drives and optical drives.
This USB-C/TB3 move is exactly what Steve would have done.
Why would long term apple fans stop to whine about this? Would this also apply to Mac Pro users that had to bear with the trashcan, with no upgrades available? ...
You can be an Apple "fan" and also be able to exercise critique, don't you think?
On the other hand, Jobs is not around anymore to engulf us all in his "aura" of awe and make the whole industry bend the knee and follow through...
It’s already the preferred charging port for Android phones. There are MagSafe-like cables in the market (I don’t know why Apple doesn’t make one). Plus Apple’s MagSafe chargers were prone to fraying. Now you can use an industry-standard cable.
No, because he didn't write "terrible keyboard" or "only one port, unless you're charging it, in which case, zero ports".
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Look at the reviews of the MagSafe charging cables on Apple’s website. They are almost all 1 star. Terrible design. I’m glad the new Macs use industry standard charging ports.
Adding a trashy protruding aftermarket adapter ≠ MagSafe
The breakaway functionality has saved me (and a lot of people) more than enough money to buy a new adapter once every few years. And hell, even the basic convenience of that excellent design is worth it. You can see at a glance whether your machine is fully charged, and you can connect/disconnect very simply by holding the connector up to the computer.
The "industry standard" thing is nice, and I'll concede that Apple should have licensed MagSafe years ago and made the cables replacable. But now they're abandoning it for this inferior design anyway. I guess the upside is that USB-C cables are cheap enough to be disposable? That's what you get when you go with the lowest common denominator instead of a connector that was elegantly designed and optimized for the job.
Interesting. For me personally, the 11" Air hits the sweet spot - I can take that anywhere and do anything (including light Photoshop work) with little to no fuss - battery life and port selection can't be beat either. It's still in good shape and handles everything I throw at it. To get me to upgrade though, Apple would really have to hit the bullseye when it comes to value.
At the minimum, I'd like something that matches my current Air:
-4GB Ram
-At least 2 ports
-128GB SSD (I was skeptical on this at first, but have come to live with it well)
Abandoning MagSafe is already a serious strike against a new machine. If Apple wants to skimp on ports or up the price (above $999), then RAM or SSD specs need to be boosted in kind.
At the minimum, I'd like something that matches my current Air:
-4GB Ram
-At least 2 ports
-128GB SSD (I was skeptical on this at first, but have come to live with it well)
Abandoning MagSafe is already a serious strike against a new machine. If Apple wants to skimp on ports or up the price (above $999), then RAM or SSD specs need to be boosted in kind.
I REALLY hope that this doesn't kill or replace either the current 12-inch Retina MacBook or the 13-inch MacBook Pro without TouchBar. (i.e. In order to give Apple an excuse to put in something like the T2 found in the iMac Pro.)
This is true, it is a very complicated port. There's actually a few different kinds of USBC ports. Regular USBC that only supports data, USBC that supports charging / power delivery, USBC that supports displayport and USBC that has thunderbolt 3. The latter is the most powerful USBC port. Many laptop makers dont distinguish well between these, also depending on the port you might need different cables and adapters. It's a mess.
Wrong.
Steve Jobs made a bold move when he replaced serial ports and Apple Desktop Bus with the
far more capable USB.
USB-C represents no increase in capability whatsoever.
None.
It's just Apple cramming two ports into one (Thunderbolt3 and USB)
Now the customer is forced to buy a dongle to restore connectivity.
Steve Jobs also made a mistake with the first MacBook Air.
In 2008 it had only one USB port and crappy battery life.
They fixed those problems in 2010 and the result was an instant classic that
endures to this day.
Apple repeated the mistake with the current MacBook but made it even worse
by also removing the separate charging port and adding a wooden keyboard.
MagSafe chargers are reliable and the quality is assured. (never had one fail)
Apple does customers a disservice by letting them
use questionable third party USB-C cables for charging.
Steve
ok.. "Round Two"
lets see if we can replace the MBA with another Mac this time round Apple... If they keep trying sooner or later, it will happen.
Not worried.
I always looked at the Air as a budget Mac laptop,, the same as a budget iPhone SE is..
The only other way would be for Apple to price this new Mac at the same price tag as the Air... otherwise people will be put off. If all your looking for is a budget laptop
lets see if we can replace the MBA with another Mac this time round Apple... If they keep trying sooner or later, it will happen.
Not worried.
I always looked at the Air as a budget Mac laptop,, the same as a budget iPhone SE is..
The only other way would be for Apple to price this new Mac at the same price tag as the Air... otherwise people will be put off. If all your looking for is a budget laptop
I want to just mention that in the case of floppy drives, it was replaced by optical media. Optical media in turn, was replaced by thumb drives + downloadable content. What is HDMI and SD replaced with? Well? Does your 4K TV come with a thunderbolt port? Does your DSLR come with a thunderbolt port? until then, there is no replacement for HDMI and SD. Which makes this move kind of baffling and def not something Steve would have done.
Even if that were the case the transition would have been gradual.
Gone are the days when there was Thunderbolt 2, Firewire 800 and USB 2.0/3.0 available as ports as in earlier iMacs (complete with built in superdrive and user serviceable) but that was Apple when Steve Jobs was at the helm.
Granted there is the argument when Apple switched chips from PPC to Intel but the PPC chip had reached as far as it could go. That much was evident with the PowerMac G5 which was uneconomical and power hungry.
Give me Retina Macbook Air, with real ports in it (or at least a bundled Thunderbolt hub), and I'll be happy again.
You mean Intel. Intel “crammed” Thunderbolt 3 into USB-C.
Also I’ve had many MagSafe adapters fail due to fraying in the cable, requiring a new, replacement adapter. USB power delivery is a standard and is being increasingly popular.
When Steve Jobs died in 2011, HDMI was only available on the Mac Mini. Under Steve Jobs, Apple frequently used obscure display connectors and changed them regularly until they started using Mini-DisplayPort/Thunderbolt. I’ll presume you forgot about mini-VGA, mini-DVI, and micro-DVI (which were all proprietary as well). DisplayPort is a standard that’s widely used.
Yea, please ruin the last decent laptop - meaning the one with good enough battery for normal use and at least some connectivity. Soon we'll get a nice 13" laptop with 5h battery and probably two usb-c ports in total and of course a +$200 price hike so nobody would get anything for too cheap.
When will they pull their heads out of their asses and make at least _ONE_ laptop with _GOOD_ battery life? Is that really too much to ask?
[doublepost=1516829863][/doublepost]"Apple is also reportedly looking into using ARM-based core processor chips for future MacBooks, which would reduce the company's dependence on Intel, especially given the recent Spectre and Meltdown troubles. "
That makes a lot of sense considering ARM processors are also vulnerable.
When will they pull their heads out of their asses and make at least _ONE_ laptop with _GOOD_ battery life? Is that really too much to ask?
[doublepost=1516829863][/doublepost]"Apple is also reportedly looking into using ARM-based core processor chips for future MacBooks, which would reduce the company's dependence on Intel, especially given the recent Spectre and Meltdown troubles. "
That makes a lot of sense considering ARM processors are also vulnerable.