If "best value" is lighter, and more travel friendly, then I think 12" - despite being a bit more expensive - make sense.
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This. Fully agree -- for a frequent traveler, this is really important.
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Hands-On With the New 2018 MacBook Air
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If "best value" is lighter, and more travel friendly, then I think 12" - despite being a bit more expensive - make sense.
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This. Fully agree -- for a frequent traveler, this is really important.
Except you're not accounting for crossover specs and price, which is where the comparisons get a bit messy.
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He said he bought a used but as new condition 2017 MBA. As for your claim of "underpowered" the new MBA is hardly a racehorse by comparison. So I'd say good for him, he probably got a great deal if he can live with the non-Retina display.
You want to pay $1,199 instead of 1,399. So this is just the typical “Apple is too expensive for me” complaint we’ve seen a ten or twenty million times over the past three and a half decades.
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Why? The 256GB 12” MacBook is $1,299.
And $1,199 is the price of the previous 256GB MacBook Air. You can still buy that 256GB entry level model for $1,199 if you choose.
What you’re really saying if you want the new 256GB MacBook Air for $1,199 is that you want the Retina screen upgrade, TouchID and Thunderbolt 3 for free.
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I honestly don't understand the constant bellyaching by "media types" about the butterfly keyboard, as well as the "get rid of the Touch Bar" sentiment. I have a 2016 MBP with Touch Bar. I really like the keyboard, I've not had a single problem with it. Also the Touch Bar is absolutely a productivity increaser. I use it for practically everything I do and absolutely love it.
Even if you like Touch ID on iPhones (I disagree, as after using Touch ID for years I instantly found Face ID to be much faster and more convenient for me), it seems awkward on a laptop. Face ID would be much more natural to use - just open the laptop (or put your face in front of the screen) and you'd be logged in.
Putting a Touch ID sensor in the keyboard just seems awkward to me, and I wonder why they've done it. Is Face ID that much more expensive? I doubt it!
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I wouldn't mind the keyboard on mine, except the keys frequently jam up when dust and debris gets under them. No doubt because I spend too much time in cafes eating sandwiches with my laptop open.
I've heard that it's solved in the 2018 models by the addition of the "key condom" which prevents ingress of dust and dirt into the mechanism.
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Awesome analogy. It is shocking how they make these even more out of date as new products, just when you think they've turned a corner. And the pricing is crazier than ever, even compared to Surface products. What a crazy time.
What I don't understand is why TouchID was not added to all of Apple's laptops 5 or 6 years ago when it debuted on the iPhone. Seems to me that Apple missed the opportunity to cash in on the hype of what was then a brand new and very helpful technology.
It's kind of a sleight of hand on Apple's part so they can say it's their lowest priced laptop. But 128GB in this day and age is a joke. Anyone with modest requirements now and wishing to future proof the laptop will want the 256GB. Of course, this is nothing new - Apple has been charging exorbitant prices for added storage and RAM for years.
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They lost their "courage" when designing the laptop.
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Agreed. Based on previous years, do you expect there might be a discount on the 256GB version during the holidays?
This might be seen as a troll / joke comment but I think it is a good question actually.
One way to look at it is that it is very inconsistent to continue to offer this legacy port when Apple clearly wants people to move to Bluetooth or USB-C for all of the things.
But another way to look at it is this is one of several customer-oriented compromises made on this machine that have been surprising to people: a lot of people still want a headphone jack, it is easier than an adapter and dongle.
So this could be grouped in with making the batteries replaceable and offering Touch ID without the loathsome touchbar. And more broadly that the company is softening somewhat with what many people felt was a dogmatic approach to design over functionality and port progressiveness over practicality.
For me personally, I'd prefer it have been a 3rd USB-C on the right side. That would have been much better for my purposes.
Edit: Another way to look at this is that if the next Macbook is ARM and all USB-C on both sides--this older machine will serve as a true workhorse for some time for people who really want or need x86 and at least one older port. With the more easily replaceable batteries, the 2018 may be in use for a lot of folks in 2026.
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Good question.
For one, I think Apple uses specific features to drive sales of very specific products. You see this on iPhone where iPad doesn't get the newest stuff until long after it has been on the new flagship iPhone.
But I also I think Apple spent a lot of time trying to decide whether they would support the touchbar and tether touch id to it or not. And also, whether Face ID would usurp Touch ID and how to time offering that in laptops instead.
Regardless, I think after a difficult decision process they are dumping the touchbar. I think we'll see a new magic keyboard next year with touch ID but now TB in it.
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128GB might not be enough for you, but I think you’d be surprised how many users don’t have your same requirements. Especially business customers.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the entry level Air was the most popular. Apple’s ASP for Mac is up over previous years, but in the latest quarter it’s still less than $1,400. They sell a LOT of entry level-priced machines, whether Air, MacBook, MBP or iMac.
I'll take the slightly increased weight and thickness or the Air for its superior weight distribution when used in the lap. The 12" MacBook has a higher center of gravity, and pitches forward too easily.
The new machine is so much faster in daily use than the fully loaded 2015 11", I'm surprised I ever doubted it wouldn't be. The 2015 11 air is super super slow compared to the feel of the new one.
This release is dissappointing, even MIcrosoft Surface pro has Quad Core and all we get in a Macbook Air 2018 is an Intel 8th gen Dual Core. This just sucks! 
Checkout out Surface https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/02/surface-pro-6/
Checkout out Surface https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/02/surface-pro-6/I wanted to love the MBA, the specs sound OK and it'll be powerful enough for my use.
But, having just compared them to the 13" MBP
1. The size and weight difference is minimal to me
2. The screen seemed dim in store at 100% brightness compared to the MBP.
Sure it's cheaper - but you get less... I'll wait for a refurb MBP with the specs I want
But, having just compared them to the 13" MBP
1. The size and weight difference is minimal to me
2. The screen seemed dim in store at 100% brightness compared to the MBP.
Sure it's cheaper - but you get less... I'll wait for a refurb MBP with the specs I want
I posted about why I'm returning mine here:
https://old.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/9voa55/after_3_days_im_returning_my_2018_macbook_air/
TL;DR Apple has essentially cut out the "medium" user group with this machine which used to be solved by maxing out the specs of the previous gen MBA.
https://old.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/9voa55/after_3_days_im_returning_my_2018_macbook_air/
TL;DR Apple has essentially cut out the "medium" user group with this machine which used to be solved by maxing out the specs of the previous gen MBA.
I think so too. Seems like more of a gimmick/excuse to pay more for the Macbook Pro laptops to me. I mean, I have a Macbook Pro with it and it's cool-looking and gives you a feature you can't get on any competing Windows laptop. But realistically, the ability to use the fingerprint Touch ID is really the most useful part of it. So makes sense they just put that part on the new Airs to keep costs down a bit.
If I'm focused on the screen and working with software that has its own menus and keyboard shortcuts, it's not usually saving me time at all to look down at the touchbar, where I have to scan my eyes across all of the options that are lit up at a given point in time, to see if there's a useful one to tap.
If Apple was more committed to it - I think they'd at least sell an external wireless keyboard with it built in by now.
If I'm focused on the screen and working with software that has its own menus and keyboard shortcuts, it's not usually saving me time at all to look down at the touchbar, where I have to scan my eyes across all of the options that are lit up at a given point in time, to see if there's a useful one to tap.
If Apple was more committed to it - I think they'd at least sell an external wireless keyboard with it built in by now.
I think this definitely the case and the next magic keyboard will include Touch ID and no Touch Bar. Will probably cost $140 still.
But now that I know how good Touch ID can be on a laptop—I need it for when I’m docked.
If he need 256GB, how will the availability of 128GB affect him? It doesn't matter whether it exists or not. He will still buy the 256GB model. In your proposed scenario, it is even at the same price.
Why not just make the leap to FaceID on the MBP? This way, Apple can save face when they eliminate the Touch Bar.
That was my point. But what the OP actually wanted was the 256GB for $1,199 instead of $1,399. Just the usual “too expensive” complaint we’ve heard millions of times over the last 35 years. Might as well complain the iPhone XS should be $799 or the XR should be $549.