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They should have:

12" Macbook - $999
13" MacBook Air - $1199
13" MacBook Pro - $1299
15" MacBook Pro - $2299
17" MacBook Pro - $2499

and...

a 27" MacBook Pro - $4999

Um... WHAT?? That makes ZERO sense. No, scratch that, it makes negative sense. Take neutral sense and then subtract from that and that's your post. o_O
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Just shows what happens when a finance guy is making tech decisions.

And he has no vision, none. It's very, very clear that Apple aside from the money part and logistics / production is run by Ives. And Ives was great, when he was curated by Steve. But Steve is gone.
 
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Its confusing, and will likely confuse the traditional buyer who isn't educated enough. Most probably those who'd be buying a MacBook (Air/Pro/_) for their kids for the holiday but will Apple or Tim Cook listen to us? I highly doubt it. He just wants to earn $$$, best example is there have been zero price cuts to the products he released, with each upgrade, its just getting expensive.
 
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Pretty stupid article. Nothing confusing at all. The models will realign when the MacBook is refreshed. There is still a market for a very small 12" form factor. Hell, lots of folks are still crying that there is no 11" Air. I guess they never set an 11" Air next to the 12" They are nearly the same size. The 12" is also over a half pound lighter.
It is a decent article except that it doesn't discuss the reasonable conclusion that the macbook will be refreshed with something other than an Intel chip. It does a good job of describing the conundrum of an intel update path.

Also: ITT, an easy guide on users to ignore who mindlessly hate on Tim Cook or suggest the return of a 17" MBP.
 
I'm hoping they do away with the 12" MacBook and reintroduce an 11" MacBook Air with the new features for $100 less.
Nah, Timmy love to mess it up :rolleyes:

Before launch of MBA 13" I was hoping that they would launch MBA 11" too.

I had it before and loved it.

But now I ordered a Gold MBA 13"
Took out my old RadTech sleeve that I had for my 11" AND It will fit perfectly to the new MBA 13"

So the 13" is the new 11" :)
 
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I predict the MacBook price will go below the Air at some point. I remember the original MBA being tough to lay cash out for in the beginning.

I keep earring that for a few years. Tim does not like to lower prices, instead you increase the price of other products, so you make the former -relatively speaking- cheaper. They made it clear, the futur is higher ASP.
 
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I think they had change of hearts, Air was most likely already canned until they realized it actually could fix MacBook poor sales by reskinning MacBook upgrade. I somehow don't believe MacBook was just a stopgap between old and new Air.
I think it was intended to be this, but Intel failed to deliver on cheap, increasingly performing low power processors.
 
I don’t see an AXX any time soon. Being able to run Windows is a huge factor in the success of the Mac. Hurts to say, but many of us could not use an OSX only Mac. Of course, most of us that need MS are running pro apps, so it could happen.
 
Apple has failed to learn from its past.

The 12" Macbook vs the new MBA is the 11" MBA vs the 13" MBA all over again. After poor sales Apple abandoned the 11" MBA only to essentially resurrect it as the 12" macbook. Then they created the new 13" MBA to kill it again.

When you offer a 12" notebook and a 13" notebook for the same money people will most likely take the extra inch of screen real estate.
 
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The naming needs to be swapped.

The new Air should just be the MacBook and the current MacBook should be the MacBook Air.

- MacBook (Current MacBook Air 13)
- MacBook Air (Current MacBook Retina)
- MacBook Pro (Current Touch Bar MacBook Pros)

The non Touch Bar pro should go.

Alternatively

- MacBook Air 12 (Current MacBook Retina)
- MacBook Air 13 (Current MacBook Air 13)
- MacBook Pro (Current Touch Bar MacBook Pro)
 
Bottom line, I was seriously thinking of getting a MacBook air, 16 gigs or ram, 512 SSD... I like the design, and the touch id. For $1800. But then I looked at swappa. I can get a 2015 MacBook pro 13, with the same screen, 256 Gig Ssd for... $700? More ports I need, and a keyboard I prefer. for a $1000 less. Yes, it's old, but my laptop is not my iMac, I only need it over an iPad for a few full programs, that work just fine on a 2015. If it gets updates for another 2 years (and it should,) I can use that as a stopgap until they fix the damn keyboards, or I can switch fully over to an iPad for my mobile needs. Seriously considering it.
 
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The ideal notebook lineup would've been this IMO

MacBook: $999
New 2018 MacBook Air: $1099
MacBook Pro non-TB: $1299
MacBook Pro TB: $1599
15-inch MacBook Pro TB: To infinity and beyond
 
I like the air, probably not ready to buy a new laptop but it would be my choice. In Canada it cost $230 less than the cheapest pro for the same ssd. As a longer battery life and updated keyboard. Many are disappointed by it’s performance but for me it’s fine, i don’t mind waiting an extra hundred of a second when i click on something.

Battery life is a huge factor for me, my 2011 air was my only laptop that came close to give me full day. Wish they would even have increased more.
 
I'm honestly unsure why the MacBook Air didn't just take the corresponding U-series processor and just replaced the 2017 Function Keys/Escape Edition 13" MacBook Pro.

Hell, even a version that lacks the worthy successor to that Mac's Intel Iris Plus 640 graphics would've been superior in terms of performance across the board compared to the Amber Lake CPU that it used.

It's made even weirder in that the Function Keys 13" Pro was more or less introduced as the Mac for 2015-and-earlier MacBook Air crowd. Like Phil Schiller outright introduced that machine in that context. Even stranger that, if you factor that in, there are essentially three MacBook Airs in the market along the MacBook and Touch-Bar 13" MacBook Pro; the old 2015 one, the new 2018 one, and the 2017 version of the MacBook Pro that was all but designed to be the retina Air everyone wanted (lacking only the tapered design).

As for the MacBook, I'll bet Apple will still update it. It might not be quick to move to T2 and TouchID, but this is the replacement 11" Air. The MacBook and new MacBook Air are now basically the modernized version of the 11" + 13" MacBook Air duo of old.
 
I'm hoping they do away with the 12" MacBook and reintroduce an 11" MacBook Air with the new features for $100 less.
12” Macbook is much better formfactor than the new Air if portability and handling is important.
And 11” is just too small.
12” is the best Mac for casual/ home/ travel use.
MBA is for students and study in general..
And Pro is for heavier users.
regardless of orice,I definitely prefer the 12” MB.
They (or should I say intel) just need to make it faster and more powerful.
 
What a confused article. The reason why people will continue to buy the MB over the MBA are simple.

SIZE.
WEIGHT.

If you’re looking for the smallest lightest Mac laptop you’re not going to get the Air.
 
I don’t see an AXX any time soon. Being able to run Windows is a huge factor in the success of the Mac. Hurts to say, but many of us could not use an OSX only Mac. Of course, most of us that need MS are running pro apps, so it could happen.
Are there any stats on this? I would guess the number of people who run windows on Mac using paralells or boot camp is a very small percentage of the customer base.
 
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Bravo to this excellent article!

Previously, the MacBook AIR existed to serve the education market and also every MacBook lover who wanted practical features like a built-in SD card slot, a good keyboard, the fun glowing Apple logo, USB-A ports (which will definitely still be around even 10 years hence), and MagSafe. All the 2018 updated AIR needed was updated CPU & GPU, a Retina Display, Force Touch Trackpad, and a couple USB-C ports to supplement (but not replace) USB-A. That would have been a knock-your-socks off machine for Pros and students alike. And suckers who think USB-C-only, the butterfly keyboard, and the loss of MagSafe is OK need only purchase the MacBook or MacBook Pro to satisfy their cravings for extremist minimalism.

I've loved Apple and Macs since my 128k in 1984, but sometimes I think Apple is little more than a band of idiots at times. Seriously.
 
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Goes to show how clueless Cook is. He has no idea about product. The correct product lineup if Steve were alive would have been when the 12” Macbooks were introduced. Here it is. Please pay attention:

12” MacBook
13” MacBook Pro
14” MacBook
15” MacBook Pro

No MacBook Air as it’s replaced by the 14” MacBook which would have the same footprint as the old Air due to the smaller bezel of the 14”.

See. Simple and elegant. Stupid Cook and stupid Schiller.
 
Apple ought to have

1- increased the ram amount to allow up to 32gb ram
2- allowed larger sad
3- sd card slot
 
Are there any stats on this? I would guess the number of people who run windows on Mac using paralells or boot camp is a very small percentage of the customer base.

I know almost no one that uses a Mac in the pro world that does not have either Fusion or Parallels installed. Many of us have apps that simply have to run in Windows. I have to use a dedicated lighting design app (AGI), the biggest app I can think of that has no Mac option would be Revit. I also have to use dedicated control system configuration apps as well. Hell even my tuning software for my car is Windows only.
 
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I'd discontinue the MacBook in its current form, then once it's discontinued, remove the "Air" from the current MBA and just simply name it MBA, then keep the MBP as is. My two cents.

EDIT: Monday exhaustion... I meant, keep the current MBA format, give it a 11" size, then rename it simply as MacBook. Keep the MBP as is.
My thought exactly. Then you have a MacBook and MacBook Pro, just as you have iPad and iPad Pro or iMac and iMac Pro. Maybe even do the same with iPhones.
 
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