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I don't get it

M

MBX

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Sep 14, 2006
2,030
817
What's the point of the new MacBook Air 2018?

Is it really much different than the MacBook? It just has an additional USB-C port and TouchID.

It's not enough different to justify its existence when the MacBook's are already so thin.
 
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turbineseaplane said:
Not really. They provided a 13 inch retina MacBook.

They missed a lot of the notes about what people liked about the existing Air and its flexibility and value.

The CPU line downgrade alone is a big miss
Click to expand...
I agree that the MacBook and Air have a lot of similarities but it doesn’t change the fact that Apple’s Air line up has retina.

I personally find it difficult to use the word “value” when describing a newly-introduced Apple product.
 
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MBX said:
What's the point of the new MacBook Air 2018?

Is it really much different than the MacBook? It just has an additional USB-C port and TouchID.

It's not enough different to justify its existence when the MacBook's are already so thin.
Click to expand...
Perfect balance of price and size. I’m very surprised it starts at $1,199 but I believe that’s why it’s been so popular and apple knew that’s.
 
The new macbook air makes no sense. Why would you buy it over the low end macbook pro? They are basically the same price but with the pro you get a better screen and a better CPU and better integrated graphics. What does the air have as an advantage? Slightly better battery life and slightly thinner? I can't see many making that choice!

The air should start at 999. Then it would make sense as a budget computer.

I don't know who is buying macbooks!
 
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pendragon1984 said:
The new macbook air makes no sense. Why would you buy it over the low end macbook pro? They are basically the same price but with the pro you get a better screen and a better CPU and better integrated graphics. What does the air have as an advantage? Slightly better battery life and slightly thinner? I can't see many making that choice!

The air should start at 999. Then it would make sense as a budget computer.

I don't know who is buying macbooks!
Click to expand...

Where does it say the Pro has a better screen than the new Air?
 
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I wonder what took them 3,5 years to do this. Back then it would have made more sense to shift from the 11“ and 13“ at the same time to the new design.

Now its just too little too late in my opinion.
I still miss a hybrid like the 2in1 XPS. That would have been now the time to introduce some iOS macOS crossover. Maybe in 4years :(
 
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Is it just me, or was an outright lie told during the keynote when she said they had quadrupled every pixel? The Tech Specs page states the new MacBook Air's resolution is 2560x1600, not 2880x1800, which would be exactly 4x the pixels of the 1440x900 2010-2017 13" MacBook Air.
 
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It really makes no sense. It's basically a "MacBook" with TouchID and slightly bigger. They could've just upgraded the MacBook's with TouchID and another port.

Apple should be about simplicity. This also means simplifying the product line up and naming scheme.

Now they're doing the opposite of that.
 
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There's two ways to look at things I think.
#1
Is the new MacBook Air an exciting product? Does it have it's advantages, and will people be willing to pay what Apple is charging? I think the answer to all of those is yes, and I think this machine will do well.
#2
Does the MacBook Air clarify Apple's strategy at the bottom of their market? Is it clear which computer those who don't have demanding needs should buy? Absolutely not, and I think that's the thrust of this thread. In that sense the Air is a bit of a let down.

Now I think the situation with #2 will change in a few months when Apple updates the MacBook. Apple is changing direction here, and it's going to take them a bit of time to get all the pieces in place. I'm guessing we're either going to see a redesign or something else that makes it stand apart from the Air. My guess is that we'll see an even thinner MacBook, with CPUs that are at the very bottom of Intel's offering in terms of performance. This will become the machine where Apple will try to shave every measurement possible to get the smallest, thinnest, lightest machine they can. And with that will come compromises that may not be for most people. In other words, the MacBook will be come the niche ultra-thin. MacBook Nano anyone? Finally, I bet once that happens we will see the MacBook Pro w/o touch bar discontinued.
 
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I agree it's an off offering in a very crowded lineup. I guess they want to serve the full laptop market of $1200+.

I am surprised they did not drop the price of the MacBook so they would have something closer to $1000 other than the old Air.
 
I think the overlap between the nTB MacBook Pro and the new air is even more confusing than the overlap between MacBook and Air (which is also confusing). They have the same number of ports, the same size and weight (almost exactly), retina screens... the primary difference is that the MacBook Pro has the older keyboard and a higher end 7th gen processor instead of a lower end 8th gen.

Apple made the air nearly as good in every way, but they also closed the price gap to within $100. So what’s the point?

I’m sure the new air will sell because of the Air branding, but it’s hard to see how this presents a particularly more compelling option than the nTB Pro that has been out for over a year now.
 
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Pretty much it's a slightly buffed MacBook in a larger size - but I would imagine the Air branding is too valuable/ has too much goodwill for Apple to just throw it aside completely. You saw Tim play it up in the keynote...
 
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Falhófnir said:
Pretty much it's a slightly buffed MacBook in a larger size - but I would imagine the Air branding is too valuable/ has too much goodwill for Apple to just throw it aside completely. You saw Tim play it up in the keynote...
Click to expand...

This is what I suspected.

It's all just because of branding/ marketing.

But more confusing than ever. When they introduced the MacBook's it was immediately clear you can't go much thinner than that if at all. And "Air" has always been about being the thinnest laptop. Otherwise what's the point of the "Air" brand?

So essentially if you buy a MacBook Air now it's just for nostalgia reasons because you like the name "MacBook Air".
 
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MBX said:
This is what I suspected.

It's all just because of branding/ marketing.

But more confusing than ever. When they introduced the MacBook's it was immediately clear you can't go much thinner than that if at all. And "Air" has always been about being the thinnest laptop. Otherwise what's the point of the "Air" brand?

So essentially if you buy a MacBook Air now it's just for nostalgia reasons because you like the name "MacBook Air".
Click to expand...
Yeah, pretty much if you've had a MacBook Air previously and loved it, Apple's banking on you seeing this as a natural upgrade. That they've left the old air on sale is interesting - a way for them to see if there really is demand for USB A, Magsafe and scissor keyboard/ resistance among Air patrons to the USB C and butterfly paradigm going forward?
 
parseckadet said:
There's two ways to look at things I think.
#1
Is the new MacBook Air an exciting product? Does it have it's advantages, and will people be willing to pay what Apple is charging? I think the answer to all of those is yes, and I think this machine will do well.
#2
Does the MacBook Air clarify Apple's strategy at the bottom of their market? Is it clear which computer those who don't have demanding needs should buy? Absolutely not, and I think that's the thrust of this thread. In that sense the Air is a bit of a let down.

Now I think the situation with #2 will change in a few months when Apple updates the MacBook. Apple is changing direction here, and it's going to take them a bit of time to get all the pieces in place. I'm guessing we're either going to see a redesign or something else that makes it stand apart from the Air. My guess is that we'll see an even thinner MacBook, with CPUs that are at the very bottom of Intel's offering in terms of performance. This will become the machine where Apple will try to shave every measurement possible to get the smallest, thinnest, lightest machine they can. And with that will come compromises that may not be for most people. In other words, the MacBook will be come the niche ultra-thin. MacBook Nano anyone? Finally, I bet once that happens we will see the MacBook Pro w/o touch bar discontinued.
Click to expand...

Didn't notice this myself but The Verge has pointed it out:
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbre...old-macbook-update-new-color-rose-air-12-inch

The fact that they tweaked the gold color of the current Macbook (to match what is currently offered with the iPad and the new MBA) without any other updates suggests that the Macbook won't be updated for a while. If updates were on the horizon they would have just kept selling it as is in the interim.
 
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Falhófnir said:
Yeah, pretty much if you've had a MacBook Air previously and loved it, Apple's banking on you seeing this as a natural upgrade. That they've left the old air on sale is interesting - a way for them to see if there really is demand for USB A, Magsafe and scissor keyboard/ resistance among Air patrons to the USB C and butterfly paradigm going forward?
Click to expand...
I think it’s just to be able to say that you can get an Apple laptop under $1000. Then the upsell begins.
 
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