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Apple's Confusing Mac Lineup: MacBook Air vs. MacBook
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What does the display have to do with power? Thats outside the argument. Mac Mini wins power per dollar argument.
MacBook with ARM
I don’t think there will be any x86 emulation, if people want Windows that badly on the MacBook, Microsoft can update/bring back Windows RT to support MacBook ARM. (But why do you want Windows on your Mac?)
Overall, MS Office should be able to compile for this, and if you want Windows, buy a thin cheap PC notebook.
I don’t think there will be any x86 emulation, if people want Windows that badly on the MacBook, Microsoft can update/bring back Windows RT to support MacBook ARM. (But why do you want Windows on your Mac?)
Overall, MS Office should be able to compile for this, and if you want Windows, buy a thin cheap PC notebook.
It is deeply confusing but I disagree with the video. I don’t think the MacBook should go away. It’s a testament to portability and there is a market for people who want extreme portability at the cost of ports, screen size, and power.
Apple should have just halved the base storage of the MacBook to 128GB, updated the specs, lowered the price to $1099, and called it a day. The lineup should have looked like this:
MacBook Air (last gen): $999
MacBook: $1099
MacBook Air: $1199
MacBook Pro: $1299
Then in a year, eliminate last gen MacBook Air and lower price of MacBook to $999.
Apple should have just halved the base storage of the MacBook to 128GB, updated the specs, lowered the price to $1099, and called it a day. The lineup should have looked like this:
MacBook Air (last gen): $999
MacBook: $1099
MacBook Air: $1199
MacBook Pro: $1299
Then in a year, eliminate last gen MacBook Air and lower price of MacBook to $999.
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I have a 27" 5k iMac for the office and alternate between a 15" MBP and 12" MB for travel. I upgraded to the 12" MB from an 11" MBA and volumetrically they're almost identical, which I judge based on how they both fit into a thin sling bag I use for day trips. The 12" MB was really just more screen size (and retina) in *almost* the same overall volume. That said, an 11" MBA now seems like it might be *too* small if it were less volume than a 12" MB. At that point I think the 11" iPad w/ folio keyboard takes over.
I don't think the existence of the 12" MB is confusing, but I do think the nomenclature is, as well as the introduction of these models and how they corresponded to the Intel CPUs available at the respective times.
I do agree the lineup is confusing for average consumers. It seems solvable by:
1. Renaming the 12" MB the 12" MBA - or - renaming the 13" MBA the 13" MB, and
2. Removing the low end 13" MBP
The mistake is obvious: The Air should have got a 14inch display, while the MacBook should be the low-cost option at 12inch. But they are too busy designing strategies for making everybody jump into iOS, so no wonder the MacBook line is nonsense in this moment.
This is not the smartest editorial that I have read on MacRumors, let's put it that way.
The 12" Macbook exists because it's 12" and because it weighs 2lbs. That's a heck of a lot more portable than 13.3" and 2.75lbs. For a lot of people who are after portability and also own an iMac or something like that, the 12" MacBook is the only one that is worth considering.
The line up is not too confusing if you adjust for 256GB storage:
12" MacBook 8GB/256GB: $1299
MacBook Air 8GB/256GB: $1399
13" MBP nTB 8GB/256GB: $1499
13" MBP TB 8GB/256GB: $1799
...I don't see much that doesn't make sense.
What I agree that makes no sense is:
1) Apple shouldn't still be selling the 4 year old crappy non-retina Air
2) Apple shouldn't still be selling laptops with non-2018 keyboards (ie the 12" MB and the nTB MPB)
3) Apple shouldn't be selling 128GB laptops. 5 photos from a modern iPhone and you're out of space...
The 12" Macbook exists because it's 12" and because it weighs 2lbs. That's a heck of a lot more portable than 13.3" and 2.75lbs. For a lot of people who are after portability and also own an iMac or something like that, the 12" MacBook is the only one that is worth considering.
The line up is not too confusing if you adjust for 256GB storage:
12" MacBook 8GB/256GB: $1299
MacBook Air 8GB/256GB: $1399
13" MBP nTB 8GB/256GB: $1499
13" MBP TB 8GB/256GB: $1799
...I don't see much that doesn't make sense.
What I agree that makes no sense is:
1) Apple shouldn't still be selling the 4 year old crappy non-retina Air
2) Apple shouldn't still be selling laptops with non-2018 keyboards (ie the 12" MB and the nTB MPB)
3) Apple shouldn't be selling 128GB laptops. 5 photos from a modern iPhone and you're out of space...
If anything, it seems to me that there isn't a great reason to buy the MacBook Air.
Others have already mentioned that the 12" MacBook is MUCH smaller and lighter and fanless. However, at the other end, a refurbished non-TB MacBook Pro is actually cheaper and has higher performance than the MacBook Air. The Air is only 10% lighter than the Pro, has the same footprint as the Pro, and is actually slightly thicker at its max than the Pro.
The odd one out here seems to be the Air. It seems to me that Apple just wanted to keep the brand, but perhaps a simpler solution for consumers would have been just to add another port to the MacBook and made them Thunderbolt, and then update the non-TB Pro.
Others have already mentioned that the 12" MacBook is MUCH smaller and lighter and fanless. However, at the other end, a refurbished non-TB MacBook Pro is actually cheaper and has higher performance than the MacBook Air. The Air is only 10% lighter than the Pro, has the same footprint as the Pro, and is actually slightly thicker at its max than the Pro.
The odd one out here seems to be the Air. It seems to me that Apple just wanted to keep the brand, but perhaps a simpler solution for consumers would have been just to add another port to the MacBook and made them Thunderbolt, and then update the non-TB Pro.
The MacBook 12” is literally the best travel laptop ever made.
I don’t see the problem here. Buy the thing that fits your needs.
“Only” half a pound heavier starts to feel very heavy when you’re lugging it around for days.
I don’t see the problem here. Buy the thing that fits your needs.
“Only” half a pound heavier starts to feel very heavy when you’re lugging it around for days.
I personally prefer a clean look to my desk setups. Adding an eGPU just takes up more space and things start to look messy and unbalanced and it really annoys my OCD lol. Take the trash can Mac Pro, everything had to be an external add on and users would just have cluttered desks with lots of cables which is exactly what Apple made fun of PC’s for back in the day.
I currently have an iMac 2017 model but if they bring the Mac Pro design back to something like the old G5 tower with slots for 4 hard drives I’d be purchasing straight away, then I could get rid of the external hard drives I currently have sitting on the desk.
I think this is very close to correct except I don’t think it will handle x86. And people will howl and complain and they can then buy what will be a minorly updated MacBook Air over this recent release which happily runs x86 but lacks Face ID is heavier etc
Keeping aside all wishes and fan following, Apple is getting into a evolutionary sphere where it has no choice but to expand its lineup. Cook has repeatedly expressed this (in terms of the new iPhone lineup) that Apple now offers broad range of price point for its broad range of customers' affordability. There will be some pruning down the road, but no matter how much Apple denies that keeping-wall-street-happy is not it's priority, it still WILL HAVE TO do that, implicitly. Just see how the Wall Street reacted to Apple's decision to not publish it's quarterly Units-Sold metric anymore - in spite of having a record quarter, the market showed a bad reaction. My two cents...
The only other way I can foresee Apple having a bigger market share is getting into an ALL NEW category (like Apple Car, or AR/VR glasses etc.), but it is not easy and does not happen every year.
BTW Apple has increased its R&D spending $3 billion from last year - to up to $14 billion. Something is 'COOK-ing'
The only other way I can foresee Apple having a bigger market share is getting into an ALL NEW category (like Apple Car, or AR/VR glasses etc.), but it is not easy and does not happen every year.
BTW Apple has increased its R&D spending $3 billion from last year - to up to $14 billion. Something is 'COOK-ing'
The problem is these ARM chips aren't rumored until 2020 or 2021. What's going to happen in 2019?
My suggestion would be:
Eliminate the MacBook and the low-cost MBP and drop the MBA price down another $100 or so and you have a beautifully simple yet effective lineup. Which macBook do you want? The Air, or the Pro?
The only tricky decision at that point is screen size and portability for the Pro. Spec out a portable 13, or get a less-customized 15? They have done an okay job at differentiating, though, with the 15's minimum 16gb of ram, dedicated graphics, etc. The primary limitation of the Air, likely due to its form factor, is a lack of processor upgrades, which would provide the perfect differentiation between it and the MBP 13.
The low-cost 13 only made sense at release because the Air was so aged and the Macbook was so underpowered, lacked a useful number of ports, and had a smaller screen, it's cost only being justified by its size, really. Now that there is a brand new 13" notebook at the same price with the same performance, the low-cost 13 makes exactly zero sense. The low-cost 13 isn't even able to be configured beyond the Air (except a marginal CPU advantage), so it's not even a matter of performance.
Eliminate the MacBook and the low-cost MBP and drop the MBA price down another $100 or so and you have a beautifully simple yet effective lineup. Which macBook do you want? The Air, or the Pro?
The only tricky decision at that point is screen size and portability for the Pro. Spec out a portable 13, or get a less-customized 15? They have done an okay job at differentiating, though, with the 15's minimum 16gb of ram, dedicated graphics, etc. The primary limitation of the Air, likely due to its form factor, is a lack of processor upgrades, which would provide the perfect differentiation between it and the MBP 13.
The low-cost 13 only made sense at release because the Air was so aged and the Macbook was so underpowered, lacked a useful number of ports, and had a smaller screen, it's cost only being justified by its size, really. Now that there is a brand new 13" notebook at the same price with the same performance, the low-cost 13 makes exactly zero sense. The low-cost 13 isn't even able to be configured beyond the Air (except a marginal CPU advantage), so it's not even a matter of performance.
Yes, because, after all, Apple aren't a $1tn company any more, just a tiny $950bn Mom & Pop outfit who don't have the resources to keep half-a-dozen Mac models up to date with this year's components at the same time.
The Macbook is already priced below the Air if you compare models with same size SSDs.
I don't see the problem/question as to why the 12 inch Macbook is around. That is not the question we should be asking. The question we should be asking is, why is the new Air around?
The 12 inch MB makes sense. The new Air does not.
The 12 inch MB makes sense. The new Air does not.
Bingo. The Macbook Air is closer in weight to the 13" MBP than it is to the Macbook.
You’d make for a better & affordable CEO
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Yeah. It's not even close to the MacBook either.
The MacBook Air is 35% heavier than the MacBook. 35%!
The MacBook Pro is 10% heavier than the MacBook Air (and the Pro is actually slightly thinner too).
Sure seems to me like the 12” MacBook will be Apple’s first ARM laptop.