I don't disagree, but the 2008 model is the one that pushed the envelope by coming out of it!
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Apple's New MacBook Air Uses MacBook-Class Amber Lake Chip [Updated]
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This.
Or if they didn't want to associate the iPhone brand with the 'Pro' brand, they could've revived the 'Edition' brand.
So:
Mac Mini - Mac Pro
iMac - iMac Pro
MacBook - MacBook Pro
iPad - iPad Pro
iPhone - iPhone Edition
with the regular 'iPhone' being what the Xr is right now.
Would make it WAY easier for me to recommend to my aunt which product to get.
Right now, I, an Apple enthusiast, would have difficulties doing that. Let alone the regular consumer.
Who is making millions of dollars a year to NOT come up with this??
I am not sure what is so complicated. The rMB is for people that need an ultra ultra portable computer.....it’s a niche device. The MBP is for people that need high power processors and really tax the system. The MBA is the everyday consumer laptop for most buyers. Assuming your aunt is a typical laptop user, tell her to buy the new MBA.
As always, I would wait a couple of months to be sure there aren’t significant burn-in issues that sometimes occur with new devices. In this case, I would want to be sure the butterfly keyboard operates reliably.
So why would I tell her to buy the Macbook Air when she could instead get the macbook pro non-touchbar? for example.
Then she'll be like...oh what about the iPad pro with the keyboard?
All the same price....
Well, the nTB MBP doesn’t have Touch ID or 12 hour battery life. It is also $100 more expensive. It also weighs a bit more. So unless she really needs a higher power CPU (which 90% of the traditional consumers dont need), I dont really see any advantage to the nTB MBP. BTW - my guess is that the nTB MBP is on the way out long with the legacy MBA.....just a guess.
The iPad Pro with keyboard is a completely different animal. I mean you can’t be saying that Apple has confused their product lines with two completely different type of devices that use completely different operating systems and UIs just because they are similarly priced. One is a touch based devise and the other is a keyboard/mouse based device. There are threads with hundreds of posts that go on and on about the pros and cons of using an iPad as a laptop replacement. If that is the source of confusion, then your aunt should play around with them in the store and decide if she is willing to go iOS only. The only thing these devices have in common is a similar price.....but so do a mini van and a pickup truck. The mini van carries 6 passengers and some groceries. The truck carries two passengers and a ton of manure. I don’t see how car companies would be accused of confusing their customers just because these two vehicles are similarly priced.
The iPad Pro with keyboard is a completely different animal. I mean you can’t be saying that Apple has confused their product lines with two completely different type of devices that use completely different operating systems and UIs just because they are similarly priced. One is a touch based devise and the other is a keyboard/mouse based device. There are threads with hundreds of posts that go on and on about the pros and cons of using an iPad as a laptop replacement. If that is the source of confusion, then your aunt should play around with them in the store and decide if she is willing to go iOS only. The only thing these devices have in common is a similar price.....but so do a mini van and a pickup truck. The mini van carries 6 passengers and some groceries. The truck carries two passengers and a ton of manure. I don’t see how car companies would be accused of confusing their customers just because these two vehicles are similarly priced.
Over time, as the iPad Pro takes on more tasks that were once relegated to the Mac, I don't see a bright future for entry-level ARM Macs. If anything Macs will move more high-end as the iPad Pro cannibalizes the entry-level to mid-range segment of Apple's market.
Well, the nTB MBP doesn’t have Touch ID or 12 hour battery life. It is also $100 more expensive. It also weighs a bit more. So unless she really needs a higher power CPU (which 90% of the traditional consumers dont need), I dont really see any advantage to the nTB MBP. BTW - my guess is that the nTB MBP is on the way out long with the legacy MBA.....just a guess.
The iPad Pro with keyboard is a completely different animal. I mean you can’t be saying that Apple has confused their product lines with two completely different type of devices that use completely different operating systems and UIs just because they are similarly priced. One is a touch based devise and the other is a keyboard/mouse based device. There are threads with hundreds of posts that go on and on about the pros and cons of using an iPad as a laptop replacement. If that is the source of confusion, then your aunt should play around with them in the store and decide if she is willing to go iOS only. The only thing these devices have in common is a similar price.....but so do a mini van and a pickup truck. The mini van carries 6 passengers and some groceries. The truck carries two passengers and a ton of manure. I don’t see how car companies would be accused of confusing their customers just because these two vehicles are similarly priced.
Nobody wanted the underpowered MacBook and everybody loved the decently powered AIR and just wanted a Retina display, so what does Tim Cook do?
Rip the guts out of the Air and add a Retina display? You bet!!
A MacBook by any other name would still smell thusly rank… (to paraphrase Tom Stoppard).
Waiting for the other shoe to drop on Mac Mini (as if i3 and 3 Thunderbolt ports on one channel wasn't enough).
Any wonder Apple filled the audience with hyped up store employees… there was a lot of hot air being blown up customers that day! Shame!
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Until Apple realises iPad is for people that don't need a computer and starts making fully capable touch Macs, we're headed down Performer-way again. Put Pencil on a Mac and you have a professional device. The rest is tone-deaf demo-porn, chasing profits for Wall St.
Do you see AR product pics on apple.com? Could it be that Apple's marketing department doesn't use those fancy new iPads with Adobe AR swill? Of course they don't, they're professionals with a job to do!
Cook has outlived his usefulness. A product visionary, Apple doesn't have, right now. The BS at this event was as high as the store employees whooping every deposit made on the stage. A bad day for Apple customers.
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Curiously, a fanless chip with a fan. Should bridge the gap a bit, but probably land just under the 13" nTB Pro. Not so close on GPU performance though.
All I wanted was a decently powered MacBook. I love my 2015 MacBook, very original Mac - no fan, great display. And I do video editing and photo editing on it when I'm away from home - slowly, but not much slower than my quad core i5 2011 iMac with discrete GPU! I understand nobody else wanted MacBook, but Apple is so clueless, they think they can keep the Air "brand" and nobody will notice it's a MacBook.
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Er… with an iPod hard drive and gutless CPU… sure! People forget just how dreadful that original model was, and IIFX expensive.
"Until Apple realises iPad is for people that don't need a computer"
That is what the 9.7" iPad is for. The iPad Pro is now a different animal altogether. If rumors are correct, beginning with iOS 13 it is going to get more "computer-like"
I'm not the best at comparing computer specs so I'll ask here: Is the cheapest Macbook Pro 2018 a much better computer compared to the new Air? It's not THAT much more expensive, and the only thing I'll lose out on is TouchID, I guess.
What do you guys think?
What do you guys think?
Curiously, a fanless chip with a fan. Should bridge the gap a bit, but probably land just under the 13" nTB Pro. Not so close on GPU performance though.
Isn’t the fanless version 5w and this one 7w?
I believe Apple upped the TDP to 7 even on the 12" (original Anandtech review from 2015), so 7W can be fanless just as well. This one will perform better with the fan though, keep the clocks from crashing to base longer.
I feel like they wasted time, resources, and capital making the macbook air if it's seriously only going to be $100 less than a macbook pro. They should've developed touch id for a macbook pro non TB refresh and created a lower-cost-optimized pro to shave off that $100.. why have a totally different product line if you can configure a macbook pro just just a low? Once you start upgrading the air it starts to make even less sense...
The cheapest Macbook pro 2018 has TouchID. The 2017 non-touchbar didn't get a 2018 update, but it's still better in a few ways, P3 gamut, 500 nits, Iris Plus, higher wattage CPU.
If they update the nontouchbar soon to T2 and Butterfly 3, it'll be run away the better choice than the Air.
Thanks for the info. Didn’t know the non-touchbar version didn’t get updated this year. Ah, decisions decisions
I wonder if the increased Air price is to make it more of a decoy for opting for the slightly more expensive Pro. If the Air was a bit cheaper as usual I’d definitely choose that, but now that the low-end Pro is only slightly more expensive, I might have to choose that one
While I agree that your simplified line up is logical, I think Apple (rightly) determined that there is a lot of brand visibility and positive consumer perception associated with the "Air" brand in particular. Dropping the "Air" moniker might be cleaner, but they would be giving up a lot in terms of marketing and consumer perception.
I thought about it myself, and you are right, Air brand is too vital to abandon. I just realized that MacBook Air is not the only product where they use the brand. Another current one is AirPods. So yeah, Air is not going anywhere any time soon. With that said, I am changing my stance on the Air moniker to support it.