I’m just saying it will be called something else.
For marketing purposes. But yes, basically the same chip with some tweaks here or there
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Apple's Confusing Mac Lineup: MacBook Air vs. MacBook
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For marketing purposes. But yes, basically the same chip with some tweaks here or there
don't really care,
not buying because the new Macbook Air should start at
$949 with 256 Gb SSD. 128 GB at that price in a dual core machine is is ridiculous
not buying because the new Macbook Air should start at
$949 with 256 Gb SSD. 128 GB at that price in a dual core machine is is ridiculous
I'm not a gamer but have always loved the beauty of the 17" Pro. I agree that there's not a large demand for them, and not many people would shell out what Apple would charge for one.
I agree. I don’t know what Apple is going to do with this 13” Escape MBP. Intel is making fewer CPU SKUs than they did just a generation ago. For example there aren’t any quad core i5s with Iris that are slower than the ones they use in the 13” TB. None! And there probably won’t be any.
Intel is also not making 15w/28w dual core i5s anymore. This makes it hard for Apple to find a suitable CPU to replace the Kaby Lake dual core i5/i7.
The bottom line: We complain about Apple confusing people BUT Intel’s lineup is the real mess here! 7th gen Kaby Lake, 8th gen Kaby Lake Refresh, 8th gen Kaby Lake G, 8th gen Coffee Lake, 9th gen Coffee Lake, Whiskey Lake, Ice Lake, Cannonlake, Amber Lake!
This is madness! They are using the same code name for multiple generations now!
Every major manufacturer still has a 12" model in their lineup. To road warriors, a 12" notebook is significantly smaller than a 13.3" chassis.
No matter how powerful, the iPad Pro simply can't replace MacBook. Without a keyboard, mouse, and an actual file system, it's a different device altogether.
Right. Which is why I can love my 12" MacBook and the 11" iPad Pro, equally. I can run Windows and integrate with peripherals on my MacBook in a way that won't happen with iOS.
I never said you were! I just said that most people who buy these today are gamers. These bulky 17” machines have nearly desktop grade nVidia GPUs. Very powerful.
Everyone I knew who had the 17” MBPs was almost always a video editor. They were definitely beautiful machines. One of my ex-gfs has one around 2009.
Price-wise these would start at $2999 today going by the $600 price increase from 13” to 15”. Well equipped with a 512-1TB drive and 32GB RAM it would be over $4000. This is just too expensive even for those that want one.
One of my macs is the last 11" 2015 mba model. I was disappointed they discontinued the 11".
It needs to be as small as possible. So if I were to replace it I would definitely get the 12" macbook, NOT the 13" mba. For me the 13" would be too big.
So I'm glad they kept the 12" macbook in their lineup.
But I agree that it would be good if they reintroduce an 11" mba in the future.
First of all, with 256 GB storage the 12” MacBook is $100 cheaper. And the size/weight difference isn’t trivial. The Amber Lake processor is only about 9% faster than the Kaby Lake i5 in the MacBook (and about the same as the i7). The main advantages are the Thunderbolt ports and ability to connect to a 5K display.
Apple at its October event unveiled a new 2018 MacBook Air that's been entirely overhauled with a Retina display, Thunderbolt 3, a slimmed down design, a faster processor, and other hardware upgrades.
The new $1,199 machine is a great addition to the MacBook Pro, but there's just one problem - Apple already had a notebook with all of these features. The 2018 MacBook Air is very similar to the 12-inch MacBook, which did not receive a 2018 update.
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The 2018 MacBook Air, which Apple is selling for $1,199, is better in almost every way than the 12-inch MacBook, which is still priced at $1,299. It has a larger Retina display, a faster Amber Lake processor, upgraded Intel UHD Graphics 617, two Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, up to 1.5TB of storage, Touch ID and T2 chip, better battery life, and it costs $100 less (though you're getting 128GB storage instead of 256GB with the base model).
At this point in time, with no update, all the MacBook has going for it is a slimmer body and a lighter weight, but even then, the difference is minute given the revamped design of the MacBook Air.
The 2018 MacBook Air measures in at 0.16 to 0.61 inches thick, compared to the MacBook, which comes in at 0.14 to 0.52 inches. It also weighs 2.75 pounds instead of the MacBook's 2 pounds, but those are really the only differentiating factors.
Right now, there is absolutely no good reason to purchase a MacBook over a MacBook Air, and anyone considering a new Apple notebook that's aiming for portability and good battery life should choose the MacBook Air.
You can get close to MacBook Air performance with the upgraded MacBook with a 1.4GHz Core M processor, but the MacBook Air is still going to beat it because it's using eighth-generation processors instead of seventh-generation and it costs $1,549 to upgrade to that higher-powered processor.
If and when Apple upgrades the MacBook with next-generation Intel chips, it's still going to be almost on par with the MacBook Air if there are no other changes to form factor or specifications, so it's a mystery why the MacBook is still in Apple's lineup and why Apple has opted to have two machines that are so similar.
Prior to the October update, Apple hadn't made significant changes to the MacBook Air since 2015, and it was believed that the machine, which was priced at $999, was sticking around as a low-cost option until component prices for the MacBook came down. With the launch of the new version, that's clearly no longer Apple's plan, and the future of the MacBook and MacBook Air is murkier than ever.
As for the MacBook Air vs. the MacBook Pro, things are a bit clearer. The MacBook Air is still the lower-cost lower-performance option that is ideal for lighter workloads that don't require high-powered software.
All MacBook Pro models, including the 2017 non-Touch Bar models, offer better performance than the MacBook Air's 7W Amber Lake processor, but 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.
What do you think Apple is planning for the MacBook in the future? Let us know in the comments.
Article Link: Apple's Confusing Mac Lineup: MacBook Air vs. MacBook
My guess is that Apple will add TouchID and maybe Thunderbolt when Intel finally ships Cannonlake next year. The 10nm process may provide enough thermal capacity to add Thunderbolt (the MacBook Air needs a fan because of the heat the 14nm processor puts out).
Apple really should have pushed themselves to get this Air in at $1,099 to put some space between it and the nTB Pro even if they couldn't quite get down to the $999 point yet. At the price it's at, it doesn't really bring anything new to the table, unless you really want touch ID that badly without going for a TB Pro.
The bigger picture is they've introduced another slightly different 13" thin and light machine rather than trying something a bit different. Why not do a 14" or 15" MacBook? Reintroduce a powerful 17" Pro? Be a bit more bold and kill off the nTB, 12"MB and 2015 Air if they really were convinced they've got the formula right with this one? It just feels like they're throwing the brown stuff at the wall to see what sticks, rather than moving forward with a coherent plan for the lineup as they have done in the past.
The bigger picture is they've introduced another slightly different 13" thin and light machine rather than trying something a bit different. Why not do a 14" or 15" MacBook? Reintroduce a powerful 17" Pro? Be a bit more bold and kill off the nTB, 12"MB and 2015 Air if they really were convinced they've got the formula right with this one? It just feels like they're throwing the brown stuff at the wall to see what sticks, rather than moving forward with a coherent plan for the lineup as they have done in the past.
Wouldn't that mean a AMD CPU?...I don't see them going away from Intel unless they go to in-house chips./
Right now, it really looks like Apple has nobody responsible for maintaining their entire laptop lineup from a marketing perspective.
One of the problems with comparing the different models is that you're not comparing similar configurations.
For instance - the older MacBook Air, the new MacBook Air, and the MacBook Pro "Escape" all have SKU's starting with a 128 GB storage option. The MacBook does not (starts with 256 GB storage.) If they created one with a 128 GB SKU (with their traditional $200 price difference), the lineup would actually make some sense:
But they didn't - the 128 GB MacBook SKU doesn't exist. As you go up in price, you would get a bigger machine, with more performance, and better I/O options.
What the MacBook needs is an 8th gen processor, TouchID, and a 128 GB SKU. What the MacBook Pro Escape needs is an 8th gen processor and Touch ID. Hopefully, these come with a Spring release.
One of the problems with comparing the different models is that you're not comparing similar configurations.
For instance - the older MacBook Air, the new MacBook Air, and the MacBook Pro "Escape" all have SKU's starting with a 128 GB storage option. The MacBook does not (starts with 256 GB storage.) If they created one with a 128 GB SKU (with their traditional $200 price difference), the lineup would actually make some sense:
But they didn't - the 128 GB MacBook SKU doesn't exist. As you go up in price, you would get a bigger machine, with more performance, and better I/O options.
What the MacBook needs is an 8th gen processor, TouchID, and a 128 GB SKU. What the MacBook Pro Escape needs is an 8th gen processor and Touch ID. Hopefully, these come with a Spring release.
They could’ve used Kaby Lake G with Vega. BUT no hexa core i7! There’s always a trade off and I think more people benefit from 2 extra cores and 4 extra threads than a stronger GPU.
Most casual users are fine with the 12” MacBook. The processor in the Air is only 9% faster. Casual users don’t need Thunderbolt.
Well, not in terms of GPU. At all. And I’m not sure you’ll catch many consumers confusing an iMac for a Mac mini.
The 8th gen Y processors are just the 7th gen with higher clock speeds. They provide only modest improvements. The Air is only about 9% faster than the i5 MacBook.
This isn't the first time that Apple has done something similar, back in the early 2000's Apple was selling the 12 in PowerBook G4 along side the nearly identical iBook G4 and they had the 14 in iBook G4 not to mention the 15 and 17 inch PowerBook G4 so things really haven't changed much.
12 in. iBook G4 - 12 in MacBook
14 in. iBook G4 - 13 in MacBook Air
12 in. PowerBook G4 - 13 in MacBook Pro w/o Touch Bar
15 in. PowerBook G4 - 13 in MacBook Pro with Touch Bar
17 in PowerBook G4 - 15 in MacBook Pro
12 in. iBook G4 - 12 in MacBook
14 in. iBook G4 - 13 in MacBook Air
12 in. PowerBook G4 - 13 in MacBook Pro w/o Touch Bar
15 in. PowerBook G4 - 13 in MacBook Pro with Touch Bar
17 in PowerBook G4 - 15 in MacBook Pro
I was just talking with another guy earlier and basically thought it would be pretty cool if they shrink the 12" MB down to the 11" MBA size (reduced bezels) and increase the 13" MBA up to 14" (reduced bezels). They could do the rounded corner thing too. Maybe even the 15" MBP could become 16".
I think they keep it with 256 GB because it only has one port. Because of this a smaller 128 GB drive would really cripple this machine. I always thought a single port was crazy. Not only was there nearly no USB-C stuff but you need a dongle to charge and use a flash drive at the same time.
In addition it doesn’t even get the benefits of USB-C 3.1 gen2 or TB3 which makes the USB-C port useless!