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Apple to Debut Low-Cost MacBook Air With Retina Display, Revamped Pro-Focused Mac Mini in 2018

erasr said:
Argh it’s so complicated that’s EXACTLY why they do it. Always have 3 options in the line up if you can. ‘Psychology of selling’.
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yeah, people forget they build and market to sell, not to please a handful of geeks although one could argue that value as well I suppose. I do like that this mac related thread has gotten a little attention for a change.
 
xgman said:
yeah, people forget they build and market to sell, not to please a handful of geeks although one could argue that value as well I suppose. I do like that this mac related thread has gotten a little attention for a change.
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True and what would sell better then updating the Air with a Retina display and reducing the bezels, something people have asked for many times before now. The 12” is a great looking MacBook BUT the Air will probably be more powerful ans cheaper than the 12” MacBook.

Also this will sell like hot cakes to students and general consumers. I will consider getting one if they do what Bloomberg are saying that they will.
 
thisisnotmyname said:
What will the mini-crowd have to complain about then though? Their lives will feel a little more empty. Maybe the price?

(I'm kidding... mostly)
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You nailed it. Most of them have convinced themselves they’re entitled to a $499 quad-core 8GB/256GB mini with upgradable RAM and NVME slots.

I do think there will be socketed DDR4 RAM but that’s probably a $999-1,099 config. Dual core version at $799-899.
 
JPack said:
The difference between MacBook Air and Pro will probably center around the Touch Bar.

Other peripheral differences might include processor, battery life, and # of ports.

The non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro is probably going away.

The 12-inch MacBook will probably remain unchanged as Apple's premium small notebook.
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But Apple always uses size from small to large as an indicator of premium. To pay more for a 12" MacBook that is less powerful than a 13" MacBook Air is odd. It's also odd to call the heavier machine an "Air" when there is a lighter/airier MacBook. I suppose this has been the case for years now, but people dismissed the Air as being irrelevant due to it being a non-Retina dinosaur. We'll see how it shakes out.
 
Mixed feelings on this. It will be great to have a Retina MacBook Air without Butterfly keyboard or USB-C keep to the tried and tested design Apple and it will kick the 12" MacBook in to touch which is all but a failed product.

As for the updated Mac mini most welcome but and its a big one. For the pro market not so good. Apple are aiming for the top end as with the iMac Pro and forgotten the purpose the original Mac mini and that was a budget Mac which many in the past have used as a stepping stone to get to know the Mac platform. If the new Mac mini is to be pro only then that option will be gone.
 
ArtOfWarfare said:
If it's going to be a budget machine, it needs to compete with the Raspberry Pi. I don't see Apple making a computer that's 10x more expensive than the Pi, nevermind cheaper than that.
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I don't think apple has any interest in competing with the Raspberry Pi.
 
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Guy Clark said:
Mixed feelings on this. It will be great to have a Retina MacBook Air without Butterfly keyboard or USB-C keep to the tried and tested design Apple and it will kick the 12" MacBook in to touch which is all but a failed product.
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I would not say the 12” MacBook is a failed product, far from it the 12” MacBook is a popular machine that looks great, is ultra portable and more capabl than people think. Hardy a failed product.
 
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Appleaker said:
Why would the 12” MacBook be called a MacBook when the Air is already well known as the thin and light notebook?
I don’t think that’s a valid argument for retaining the name.
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It also ignores the historical fact that the MacBook Air (before its repositioning) was for a time an eye-wateringly expensive flagship design product in the lineup. Meanwhile, the MacBook was a lump of plastic.
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Dave245 said:
I would not say the 12” MacBook is a failed product, far from it the 12” MacBook is a popular machine that looks great, is ultra portable and more capabl than people think. Hardy a failed product.
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The 12" Retina MacBook is also a house fire waiting to happen.
 
macduke said:
It could start with a six core processor and 256GB or maybe 512GB SSD and you built it up from there. Starting at $1499. Add on bits as you like. I'm also not sure if they would allow CPU upgrades. Surely a modular machine would have a RAM access door.
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This has been my thinking ever since they announced the modular pro as well. Only I was thinking $999 would be the starting point. Now that you say it $1499 is probably more realistic for the Mac Mini base model.
 
I still don’t understand how a retina MacBook Air with more ports than the rMB is gonna be Apple’s “cheap” laptop. Besides, the whole “Air” moniker still makes NO sense anymore. It’s bigger, thicker and heavier than the 12” MacBook. So weird.

Why not just make the 12” retina MacBook the cheap laptop....and this new 13” retina MacBook “air” the mid priced one between the 12” MacBook and the 13” MacBook Pro. Just please...don’t call it the AIR anymore!
 
Veinticinco said:
It also ignores the historical fact that the MacBook Air (before its repositioning) was for a time an eye-wateringly expensive flagship design product in the lineup. Meanwhile, the MacBook was a lump of plastic.
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The 12" Retina MacBook is also a house fire waiting to happen.
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It’s like they have switched roles. I wonder if the 12” MacBook will be the one that has the $999 price tag while the Air is updated with a Retina display, thinner bezels and higher specs (surely they will put more higher end in than the 12”) and it could start at a more expensive price of around $1,200?
 
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coolfactor said:
Ya, why the Pro focus, I wonder? All I want is a current-generation Mac mini. I don't want to spend full price on a four to five year old computer. I don't need a screen or keyboard or mouse, just the computer!

Seems that Apple is ignoring this market, but ironically, that was the very market the mini was originally conceived for. To go in the Pro direction suggests Apple is trying to position it to maximize profits.
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Or maybe, just maybe, Apple is trying to reclaim their reputation as the "go-to" company for "Pros", eh?
 
New Macbook air base model will ship with 8GB ram, 128gb HD, 1 USB-C port and 4 core for $999.00
So when you are adding all the specs for a real functioning computer (16gb ram, 500gb-1tb hd) then the computer ends up costing $1400.
Ahhh and they will be NOT upgradable.

IT is the same old trick Apple has been using for many many years.
 
macduke said:
I had this crazy theory that what Apple meant by modular for the Mac Pro was starting off with a Mac Mini-like base. I wonder if this is what that is or something else entirely. Basically you would have a base "box" which is the processor, RAM, and logic board. It would have Intel integrated graphics and an small SSD blade so it could run on it's own. Then you can stack components on top of this: GPU(s), SSDs, HDDs, capture cards and similar components for both video/audio production. It could all connect with a series of Thunderbolt 4 connectors (perhaps a variant that allows the components to stack together like lego bricks. The thing I'm not sure about is how the power supply would work, such as needing a larger one with multiple GPUs. I'm also not sure about whether Thunderbolt 4 would be fast enough for professional, highest-end GPU work. Isn't it supposed to be around 100Gbps? Perhaps the reason it has taken this long is they've been working with Intel on that standard (or building their own?).

It could start with a six core processor and 256GB or maybe 512GB SSD and you built it up from there. Starting at $1499. Add on bits as you like. I'm also not sure if they would allow CPU upgrades. Surely a modular machine would have a RAM access door.
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Kind of like the Acorn RiscPC, with stackable slices: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RiscPC

Acorn stopped making computers shortly after this, and their processor division split off, focused on low power uses like set top boxes. Imagine, a whole PC ran on early ARM chip! History doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme...
 
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We'll see, I don't really have high hopes for an improved mini. Once Ive gets done with it, it will be slimmer, sleeker, shinier and even more underpowered. But if he stays out of the way, maybe we'll actually get a usable computer. Unfortunately, it will be sunk by ports, soldered GPU, etc. to be nothing but another expensive (for the features) throwaway toy.
 
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