Assuming the iPad Pro rumors are true, do you still feel the MacBook is the best/a worthwhile portability option? Does an iPad Pro make the MacBook redundant? Just purchased the new MacBook and am within the return period so I am wondering if the expected iPad enhancements change any views. Thanks very much!
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Assuming the iPad Pro rumors are true
- Thread starter Vudols1
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Coming from a surface pro 3 owner to now the rMB, I can say that having a proper keyboard and trackpad are huge for me and thus I don't feel that the iPad pro (especially if running iOS) is a direct competitor for the rMB - at least for me.
I think the MBA, which existed prior, makes the rMB redundant. iPad aside, I would wait for a refresh on the Air if you are considering returning your rMB.
This is purely an opinion.
As much as Apple wants to position the iPad as a productivity device, it just isn't. I just bought the rMB and it has all but replaced my iPad Air. However, when I want to just sit in bed and watch a movie, I still go for the iPad. But that's about it. Anything productivity-related, it's the rMB. And now the rMB has earned the spot the iPad used to hold in my travel bag as well, because of its versatility.
The only thing that would make the rMB better for me would be a touch screen and a tablet mode, like the Toga laptops. I could kind of see that being nice. But it's totally unnecessary as well.
The only thing that would make the rMB better for me would be a touch screen and a tablet mode, like the Toga laptops. I could kind of see that being nice. But it's totally unnecessary as well.
I appreciate that. Boy would it be hard to go back to my old Air after working on this screen.
This is a question that I've asked myself ever since WWDC. With the implementation of multitasking on iOS, I think iPads are finally going to be useful to me again. I really enjoy using a keyboard folio case on my iPad 4, but I'm not sure I can ever truly leave a real keyboard and mouse. Hence the reason the Surface Pro 3 was never really in contention for a spot in my backpack.
If you need a OS X, rMB. If you need iOS, "iPad Pro." It's as simple as that.
Apple could simply kill the MBA just like how MB was killed when made redundant with the introduction of MBA.
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I respectfully disagree. I'm of the minority here but I do believe that the MBA and the rMB can coexist, at least in the next year or two. I believe that the Air is really the entry-level, long battery life, portable laptop, and the rMB is/will eventually be the premium ultraportable with a great screen, great design and the best "wow" factor (for the whole two weeks of it). You can just look at the respective price tags to see that they're not exactly for the same market.
This is probably for a different thread, but I do think the coexistence of the MBA and the RMB is hugely due to the retina screen being (although beautiful no doubt) expensive and/or taxing on battery (of course this is just pure assumption). I'm somehow sure of this because every Apple line of products with a physical keyboard has a retina and a non-retina alternative for specific "use cases".
Portable: retina MacBook <-> Macbook Air
Versatile: retina MacBook Pro <-> (The amazingly still not discontinued) non-retina Macbook Pro
Desktop: retina iMac <-> non-retina iMac
I might have missed a few. Whatever.
Of course Apple is going to kill the Air off, first they will let it dwindle as the entry level Mac for a few years first.
Q-6
Q-6
They'll eventually kill the MBA. Look up Steve Job's "four quadrant" philosophy, and you'll see why.
Here's a link that explains it better: http://www.casestudyinc.com/apples-four-quadrant-product-grid
Here's a link that explains it better: http://www.casestudyinc.com/apples-four-quadrant-product-grid
I'd keep the rMB. I'd much rather have that than an alleged iPad Pro even if it ran OS X/iOS hybrid which there's no chance that'll happen in my opinion. You can't beat a keyboard, trackpad, and OS X. My iPad is used strictly for media consumption...would never create content on an iPad it just doesn't feel right to me. Keep your rMB.
Don't expect it to be announced before October, and don't expect being able to actually buy one until next May...
As a Surface Pro 3 owner who just ordered a Mabook, and still carries his iPad, I'm excited about what the iPad Pro will bring to the table. The Surface couldn't replace my iPad, the Mabook certainly won't, and honestly, after living with one combined device for a while, I don't think I want it to. The only thing that I really want from the iPad Pro is a proper stylus - that is one thing the Surface does great. My ideal combination would be the Mabook plus a 10" iPad with a stylus. I might be willing to go to the pro size for the stylus, depending on size/weight/price.
The MBA being the original ultrabook doesn't come into consideration when any company thinks of killing a line of product.
I suppose, but why are we arguing about what name is going to be used. It's still going to be their only "ultrabook" if it does get consolidated.
Who cares if it is called the MacBook or MacBook Air as long as they achieve a median in design that is best for everyone?
Because you said MBA is redundant and told the OP to wait for a refresh. If it is indeed redundant and Apple deems the demand of MBA to be lower that it would cause the immediate and future marginal cost to be higher, then they might as well just kill the line and sell rMB at a cheaper price with the next iteration of rMB. We wouldn't know anything since this is a company that we are talking about, and all we can do is speculate.
This is not what I said. My opinion is the rMB is redundant as the MBA existed prior. I have stated multiple times in the forum that I understand how they can coexist in this exact present moment but not in the long term.
Whichever one is eliminated, if at all, doesn't matter to me. I'd like to see a happy medium though between a "wireless world" and a more powerful ultrabook. I personally don't think that shredding less than one pound is worth all that was sacrificed and gained when comparing the two, but that is just my opinion.
I see that in your first post on this thread (when you said forum I thought I had to go through the entire Macbook forum to find your post) that the rMB is the one being redundant. Well, I took it as the other way around; while the MBA is superior in performances, retina display is the future and now that all size and form factors of Mac has retina display (with the exception of the Cinema Display, but it is just a display so we will skip on that), the only thing we can see for now is MBA line to be scrapped or upgraded with retina display (and when it does I assume it will be the death of rMB since rMB will be just a highly underpowered MBA with a retina display at a higher price point.)
And yes, I agree with you on the idea of 'whichever one dies doesn't matter,' although I would kick myself if Apple will retain that eye-straining non-retina display on the MBA for more than a year.
They'll defenitly kill the MBA! But not because it's redundant to the rMB! It's because it became too much the "same same but different" rMBP. If Apple just mounted a retina-screen to the MBA, there would hed been no difference to the rMBP. Ergo: frst they had to bring out something really new and innovative (rMB), before they could reveal a redesigned, Intel i-series based rMBP with TB3/USB-C connectors (thinner than the MBA, thicker than rMB), so the MBA will be the old chunk and stays in the Apple stores for 2-3 years (like the non-retina MBP today). Just my opinion
That's my basic thought too - that the 13" rMBP had come very close to the 13" Air in size and weight, and adding the retina screen would have only closed the gap further, while making the price of entry nearly identical between the two machines.
If the Air stays around as the entry-level model that's fine, the only thing I think Apple misses out on then is tucking those lower-power processors into a chassis with even more battery - imagine the battery life of a base 13" rMBP with a 15w processor rather than a 26w part? And the 15w processors are more than powerful enough for a huge number of users.
If the Air stays around as the entry-level model that's fine, the only thing I think Apple misses out on then is tucking those lower-power processors into a chassis with even more battery - imagine the battery life of a base 13" rMBP with a 15w processor rather than a 26w part? And the 15w processors are more than powerful enough for a huge number of users.
I could see myself keeping my Macbook 2015 over the iPad Pro. If third party keyboards were the only option I have to say the MB 2015 still wins for me. I've yet to see/own a third party keyboard that works as well as a truly integrated keyboard for the many versions of iPads I have owned.
I do have an iPad Air2, so my tablet needs are covered. Maybe the iPad Pro could replace my iPad Air2 if the tech. specs. were compelling? But I bet that OS X will still be more useful over IOS, probably even against IOS9 (though I eagerly anticipate IOS9 for my iPhone 6+ and iPad Air2).
I do have an iPad Air2, so my tablet needs are covered. Maybe the iPad Pro could replace my iPad Air2 if the tech. specs. were compelling? But I bet that OS X will still be more useful over IOS, probably even against IOS9 (though I eagerly anticipate IOS9 for my iPhone 6+ and iPad Air2).