Did the lack of discreet GPU kill the 13" rMBP for you?

[twietee]

There's a reason the 13 inch macbook pro is your best selling macbook. It's the best price/performance ratio and relatively low cost in comparison to the rest of the lineup.

I too think it's a risky strategy by Apple. 13" MacBook was their mainstream product along the 13"MBP...both now seem to be replaced by the MBAs. But for example an ODD is still strong mainstream. Now the MBA + rMBP doesn't offer that anymore..the rMBP is waaay too pricey anyway. I can see a lot of people turning away or buying a 13"cMBP, but that's about to be killed quite soon we'd all guess and looks already outdated in comparison (to the general public anyway).

Pesonal story: want a capable machine for some 3d/CAD/PS stuff to replace my PC desktop (or MBA as well). But nothing fancy at all.

Waited for the MacPro update - nada
Looked at the mini '11 - nada (no 4c and dGPU)
Looked at the rMBP "15 - nada (but that was a close one, ordered already but canceled because of IR and general RevA issues - call me a sissy if you'd like to)
Looked at the mini '12 - nada (see above)
Looked at the iMac'12 - nada (have a beautiful ACD and that wouldn't work well with a 2013 MacPro refresh - here's hoping...)

That is one really tedious story to find a normal product that is kind of fitting nowadays from apple (for me). Don't think it has to be that hard. The cMBP 15" seems like the logical decision, but since I know what is possible with a retina (screen-estate!) I'll wait for the next revision.

 

[dndandrea]

For $400 you get a better processor, bigger hard drive, dedicated graphics card, and of course a large screen. Plus i'm sure the audio might be better in 15" due to the speakers on top, also the cooling system might not be a effective as it is in the large 15" casing.

The 13" is a joke at that price, I don't understand the target audience... 128GB hard drive LAPTOP? Why? Just why? They expect you to carry around an external hard drive everywhere? Are you that stupid wtf? For all those that waited for the 13" once the 15" came out looking for a deal, i feel bad for you.

 

[dusk007]

PRO = Profit Reaping Overkill

Absolutely agree. The price is a joke.
US price $1600
EUR price €1750 exl. VAT that is €1470 or in USD it is $1900
So exclusiva all taxes the EU price is $300 higher. That is ridiculous.
With taxes the difference is over $500.
That is enough to pay a courier a plane ticket to fly it over from the US.

 

[Maczor]

Absolutely agree. The price is a joke.
US price $1600
EUR price €1750 exl. VAT that is €1470 or in USD it is $1900
So exclusiva all taxes the EU price is $300 higher. That is ridiculous.
With taxes the difference is over $500.
That is enough to pay a courier a plane ticket to fly it over from the US.

The price difference is not something new...
It wasn't introduced with the new model US always had cheaper stuff.
Come on... stop it with the nonsense.

 

[dndandrea]

Whoever buys the 256gb 13" is on drugs.

 

[Maczor]

Image Image

Whoever buys the 256gb 13" is on drugs.

I can assure you... I'm not on any drugs and I still bought one ( more so... a fully maxed out version ).
Don't you have better things to do? Like caring about your own wallet instead?

 

[Hephaestus]

Image Image

Whoever buys the 256gb 13" is on drugs.

So true. For an extra $100 you can get a bigger and better display, quad core faster processor, MUCH better graphics card. Why anyone would buy a 13" Retina "Pro" is beyond me. It's a total rip off.

 

[smwatson]

The 13" MBPr is the strangest laptop release by Apple I think I've seen since I started paying attention to these things (2007?). Apart from the lack of a Powerbook G5 of course.

It's not really positioned in the logical place in the product line. It's so expensive that, from a purely technical viewpoint, you might as well buy the 15". It's faster and more powerful in every way, for a very small price difference (at comparable specs). It's portability would be the selling point over the 15" MBPr, but if you want something portable you can get the more portable MBA 13" for less! The only thing you sacrifice is the retina display (overhyped IMO, though I guess some really want this - but then buy the 15", it's bigger!) and processor speed. But real world performance, especially with the tasks the vast majority of 13" laptop owners do (students I'm looking at you), is barely affected.

Bizarre.

Basically, it should be cheaper. They should have been aggressive and targeted the people who used to buy the old 13" MBP. If you wander round any University in the UK you will see loads of students with 13" MBPs. They're now slowly being replaced by MBAs. Apple has canabalized it's own cMBP 13" with the MBA 13". Which was fine, because we all thought they were going to release a (relatively) similarly priced MBP 13" with retina display and SSD etc. But what they did was release a super expensive MBPr 13", where the only logical reason to buy one is if you need a retina display AND the 13" form factor. A pretty small market...


Having said all that, they'll sell millions so who cares.

 

[bob24]

Having said all that, they'll sell millions so who cares.

Yes post summerizes the situation pretty well. I just am not sure about the last sentance

Let's see how it works for Apple, but at the current specs and price point; I am not so sure they will sell it very well. As you explained pretty well people looking for portability will be tempted to good MacBook Air get even more portable for much cheaper, and people interested in retina and power will look at the 15 which offers much more for not too much more money. The only customers left are the ones who definitly don't want a 15 inch laptop and definitly want a retina display (they will also get a bit of extra power compare to the Air, but likely not THAT much more).

I have actually skiped the 15 Retina because I was waiting for a powerfull 13" with Retina display, so I should be the perfect customer. But I am still very much underwhelmed by the price and low specs; and I will probably wait for the next revision.

I would expect not so good sales, and Apple bumping up the specs and lowering the price in the summer (along with a smaller spec bump on the 15 which will rebalance the 2).

----------

If you're not on drugs you aren't very intelligent. How is that not obvious?

How intelligent do you seem someone has to be to understand some people just don't want a 15" laptop at all because it is too big and heavy for their use.

My level of intelligence doesn't let me understand how the 15" is better value than the 13" for these people...


Now having said that, everybody probably agrees that looking at the specs and the price, the 15" does with no doubt deliver more power/storage/memory for your money.

Syes yes we agree the 13" is a bit of a rip-off, for someone who wants more portability and a Retina Display there isn't better value anywhere else.

 

[twietee]

Having said all that, they'll sell millions so who cares.

Yes post summerizes the situation pretty well. I just am not sure about the last sentance

Anyone knows how the first MBAs sold when priced outrageous?

 

[bob24]

Anyone knows how the first MBAs sold when priced outrageous?

I dont' know if Apple ever provided numbers, but try to think of how many first generation Macbook Airs (they have a different design than the current one) have you seen in Airports/Coffe Shops/Universities/Offices before 2010? For me really not very much ... at the time it was all about the plastic MacBooks and and you could also see somes Pros especially on university campuses, but really no Air in my experience (even compared to the 17in Pro which has always been considered a niche product by Apple).

Nowdays I see them everywhere.