And at no extra charge -- no matter which model suits your fancy -- every Mac laptop comes with the award-winning, professionally acclaimed, Jony Ivie-inspired/designed Butterfly keyboard! /s
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's Confusing Mac Lineup: MacBook Air vs. MacBook
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The Mac line up is a complete mess. I assumed Apple would just slot the MacBook Air in as a top end MacBook and kill the air name.
Oh please, must we fight here also? 
I can't fight on two fronts. My resources are exhausted.
I'll never surrender......
I can't fight on two fronts. My resources are exhausted.
I'll never surrender......
The article doesn't mention some other differences between the Air and 12":
* FaceTime HD (720p) vs. 480p webcam
* Active cooling with a fan (7W chip) vs. passively cooled (4.5W chip)
* Third-generation butterfly keyboard vs. second generation
Compared to the Air, the MacBook Pro Escape has a brighter and more accurate 500 nit DCI-P3 display and Iris Plus graphics with eDRAM, but a second generation keyboard.
I hope the 12" MacBook [Air] gets a refresh next year. Maybe it's waiting for Cannon Lake or Ice Lake (10nm).
* FaceTime HD (720p) vs. 480p webcam
* Active cooling with a fan (7W chip) vs. passively cooled (4.5W chip)
* Third-generation butterfly keyboard vs. second generation
Compared to the Air, the MacBook Pro Escape has a brighter and more accurate 500 nit DCI-P3 display and Iris Plus graphics with eDRAM, but a second generation keyboard.
I hope the 12" MacBook [Air] gets a refresh next year. Maybe it's waiting for Cannon Lake or Ice Lake (10nm).
Not sure why they added the air, the MacBook is just fine.
And yet the 12-inch MacBook is still more enticing to me than the Air because it’s smaller, lighter, fanless, and the base comes with 256GB.
The Macbook wasn't refreshed because it will be the first laptop shipped with Apple's A-series processors next year. This platform's low-power fanless design makes it an obvious choice as one to be used the first post-Intel macOS machines.
One looking with an imagination can make an educated guess what is happening now. Alternatively, one could look at Apple's transition from PowerPC to Intel processors in 2005. The speed of the transition -- less than a year -- was somewhat remarkable. The lack of bugs in the Rosetta app-compatibility libraries was completely remarkable.
One looking with an imagination can make an educated guess what is happening now. Alternatively, one could look at Apple's transition from PowerPC to Intel processors in 2005. The speed of the transition -- less than a year -- was somewhat remarkable. The lack of bugs in the Rosetta app-compatibility libraries was completely remarkable.
Last edited:
CPU, yes, excluding the $799 i3 that is. But the GPU is much weaker than both the iMac and Mac Pro.
They should have included a Touch Bar in the Retina MBA.
/s
/s
with the base MacBook Air vs. the base non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro priced at $1,299, there's not a huge difference. When deciding between these two machines, it's going to come down to whether you prefer a smaller form factor and Touch ID or slightly better performance.
Re: “ smaller form factor“
I think the knew retina MacBook Air and the current MacBook pros have the same footprint, the MacBooks are just a little thicker.
I’m still torn between the two.
Are you all really that confused? No wonder Apple doesn't want more than a few options available to people.
This.
The editorial staff here at MacRumors can't seem to grasp that with their definitive pronouncement:
The Mac lineup is indeed confusing - but the problem is the odd positioning of the new MacBook Air.
Last edited:
Absolutely pathetic article. The question is not why to keep the MacBook on sale.. it is why is there a need for the MacBook Air in 2018? The MacBook is the ultra light laptop, and the base pro is perfect for casual useres. So why is there a neeed for the air? The original MacBook has more air the MacBook Air...
You can literally get a Mac mini and add a Vega 64+enclosure and blow away the iMac and Mac Pro for far less money though....
Yeah, the only think I can think is that they plan to switch the fanless 12" MacBook to an ARM processor at the next refresh.
Yep, my wife loves the weight/size of her 12" MB and carries it in her tote daily.
That's pretty much what I think will happen and why it's been kept around. its an ideal candidate to be the first laptop to get an ARM processor IMO.
As to the current one, some people want the lightest, most portable laptop - whilst the article days there's nothing in it, there seems to be 0.75 pounds in it, which does make the MacBook noticeably lighter if you're carrying it around all day.
I really wondered even during the keynote what the heck Apple is thinking with this product line. You should also take the 13” rMBP into the mix. It gets even more confusing
That's hard to say. For whatever reason, those Y class processors from intel cost an arm and a leg. I suspect we'll see one more iterration of the macbook with 8th gen Y series processors, then Apple will put in an A12X or A13X.
MacBook Air name is dumb.
This event should have eliminated previous MacBooks and MacBook airs and replaced them with this machine as new MacBook.
As for paying more for less, this has been true in wintel laptop world forever, where an ultraportable model costs more than a 7 pound brick model that has more features. But in the Apple case, we are talking about 25% lighter but otherwise the same form factor, and the Air isn’t heavy at all even at 2.75 pounds.
This event should have eliminated previous MacBooks and MacBook airs and replaced them with this machine as new MacBook.
As for paying more for less, this has been true in wintel laptop world forever, where an ultraportable model costs more than a 7 pound brick model that has more features. But in the Apple case, we are talking about 25% lighter but otherwise the same form factor, and the Air isn’t heavy at all even at 2.75 pounds.
Your Mac mini will outperform the iMac for less money, until you realize there's no display attached. Add an equivalent 5K display (LG Ultrafine 5K), and now your cost is actually hundreds more.
The MacBook was a hobbled failure from day one. The one port and price killed it. Only ever seen one outside a Store display.
As for an MBA vs nTB MBP, if Apple just updated the nTB MBP to a third gen keyboard and an 8th gen u series quad core processor, it would be a no brainer.
This is the frustrating thing: just stop neglecting macs and keep them up to date! Why is that too much to ask?
As for an MBA vs nTB MBP, if Apple just updated the nTB MBP to a third gen keyboard and an 8th gen u series quad core processor, it would be a no brainer.
This is the frustrating thing: just stop neglecting macs and keep them up to date! Why is that too much to ask?
i think many times when they make a big change they change the name. This not only communicates the change but allows them to switch back to the other name if the big new change doesn't pan out.
I get the feeling that is what happened here. the MB line wasn't taking like they hoped. Maybe customer confusion a bit. Maybe the step back in power because of slimmer design. Maybe the 12" screen instead of 13.3".
Whatever it is I think they moved back to the MBA name because of this and went back to 13.3" and this latest intel cpu was now 3rd gen and has gotten faster.
I think the MB line is toast.
I get the feeling that is what happened here. the MB line wasn't taking like they hoped. Maybe customer confusion a bit. Maybe the step back in power because of slimmer design. Maybe the 12" screen instead of 13.3".
Whatever it is I think they moved back to the MBA name because of this and went back to 13.3" and this latest intel cpu was now 3rd gen and has gotten faster.
I think the MB line is toast.
This is the most important paragraph for analysis and it feels entirely disingenuous.
Macrumors just reported on ARM chips going into a Mac only three weeks ago. It seems obvious to at least suggest that maybe Intel cpu chips are not going into the next MacBook. It wouldn’t hurt to speculate on why Face ID was left out of the Air and how they could be combined with an ARM release to make MacBook stand out again.
There isn’t more than enough evidence, including long standing implications from changes to how Xcode can compile software that MacBook is now the natural candidate for Apple’s first foray into using it’s own chips.
We don’t need scooby doo to speculate on this literal MacRumor.