I wrote Apple asking for a 14'' MB. Would you like such a MB?

[Clix Pix]

One possible solution for a great setup is the 12" MacBook for travel, commuting, etc., and the 15" MacBook Pro for more extensive work at home or in an office, as it can be used as a desktop replacement when set on a stand with an external keyboard and mouse.

If Apple were to offer a 14" MacBook, I wouldn't buy it; I would instead go for a 15" MacBook Pro, which would be far more powerful.

 

[Randall2018]

I don’t think the market that cares solely about weight is large enough for Apple to recoup their R&D costs. The price would get driven up close to the MBP so all you would end up with is a less powerful but slightly lighter version of the MBP. I just don’t see that many people buying it especially considering the MBP isn’t all that heavy these days.

 

[toddzrx]

Why would it happen when the FANTASTIC quad core MacBook Pro is only £400 more expensive than the MacBook 12" where exactly would a 14" MacBook fit in price wise? Answer - the same as that very impressive MacBook Pro. The Core M is simply not strong enough to drive a 14" screen and I guess that you'd want P3 wide colour gamut and TrueTone?

It would simply over complicate the line up and probably create a lot of bad press for Apple with a hugely expensive under performing machine. It simply does not make sense when the new 13" & 15" MacBook Pro's are now so damn good.

I'm a huge fan of the MBK but I know that it's hugely overpriced at £1250 upwards in the UK. We don't get the bargain offers like the BestBuy prices here in Brexit land

I truly believe that the MBK was meant to be chic and tiny and different from the MBKP. A 14" doesn't fit.

Disagree wholeheartedly. If what you say is true, then Apple should have never built the 12" MB in the first place. It's always had the Air and Pro along side it that easily out perform it while still costing the same or less. The point of the MB is how small and light it is. What the OP desires is something similar, just with a slightly larger screen and another port. In other words, trade the computing power and extra weight of the 13" MBP for something lighter, less powerful, but has a retina screen, at the same price. I think there's a market for one.
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I think we are basically talking here about the successor to the MacBook Air. The origin of the MBA was as a premium product, and I bought mine back in 2010 for using it with professional software (when most of the people were telling me it was a wrong choice and that I should have chosen a MBP instead... but my decision proved right, the MBA was perfect to run professional software in a very light MacBook, yet with a decent screen size, and it was indeed the pioneering concept of the MBPs we have today).

Nowadays the MBA is left as a low-cost entry solution, but its concept (ultralight with decent screen size) has no successor. People will argue that the 13'' MBP has the same weight as the MBA, but, however, the 13'' MBP is not the MBA successor (if it were, it would be lighter than the MBA rather than having the same weight, because we are 10 years after the MBA... weight would improve in the successor, rather than remaining constant).

Regarding the pricing for a 14/15 inch rMB, I think it would be quite similar to the 13'' MBP, and it would make sense: given a price, you could choose between more performance with an smaller screen and heavier weight, or less performance with a larger screen and lighter weight. It would make sense.

BTW, I don't really think the current MacBook pricing avoids "cannibalization", because the whole range (except perhaps the MBA) falls within less than $1000 difference. If you can afford the 12'' rMB, you can also afford the 13'' MBP with just a minor extra cost effort. I don't think the choice between the 12'' rMB and the 13'' MBP today is a matter of money, but tastes/preferences.

Agreed. Hopefully we'll see Apple release a successor to the 13" Air within the next couple of months. I'm hoping for a 14" screen and true TB3 ports plus a headphone jack. The question on my mind is this: if Apple were to build one, what happens to the 13" nTB MBP? I think if Apple puts a 15W processor in it (what the Air has now) then the nTB MBP is a gonner.

 

[Dave245]

Apple are rumoured to be working on a 13" budget laptop for later this year, now whether that will be under the Air name or the MacBook one i'm not sure. Ming Chi Kuo did mention about this not long ago:

"In addition to the spec boosts mentioned above, Kuo says that Apple will finally replace the older MacBook Air with a new, budget laptop model, although there’s no real information about what that will look like."

It seems that Kuo have changed his initial report from saying that it will be under the Air name, the above statement to me says that Apple will be replacing the MacBook Air with something else, so maybe it won't even be a MacBook? it could even be a brand new design!

There was also this report earlier in the year:

"Apple originally looked to reduce cost by seeking panel supply for the new MacBook from a China-based maker, but the US-based vendor has decided to source the panels from Korea-based LG Display due to issues at the China supplier.

The 13.3-inch a-Si panels for the new notebook feature the same resolution as Apple's 13.3-inch MacBook Pro at 2,560 by 1,600."

So it looks like this new 13" MacBook Air replacement will cost around the same as the Air does now but with a retina display.

 

[toddzrx]

Apple are rumoured to be working on a 13" budget laptop for later this year, now whether that will be under the Air name or the MacBook one i'm not sure. Ming Chi Kuo did mention about this not long ago:

"In addition to the spec boosts mentioned above, Kuo says that Apple will finally replace the older MacBook Air with a new, budget laptop model, although there’s no real information about what that will look like."

It seems that Kuo have changed his initial report from saying that it will be under the Air name, the above statement to me says that Apple will be replacing the MacBook Air with something else, so maybe it won't even be a MacBook? it could even be a brand new design!

There was also this report earlier in the year:

"Apple originally looked to reduce cost by seeking panel supply for the new MacBook from a China-based maker, but the US-based vendor has decided to source the panels from Korea-based LG Display due to issues at the China supplier.

The 13.3-inch a-Si panels for the new notebook feature the same resolution as Apple's 13.3-inch MacBook Pro at 2,560 by 1,600."

So it looks like this new 13" MacBook Air replacement will cost around the same as the Air does now but with a retina display.

I remember reading the Ming Chi Kuo quotes when they came out a few months back, and thinking "oh great, we'll just get a warmed-over MBA." When Apple releases something "budget", it's usually underwhelming; case in point is the 21.5" "budget", non Retina iMac that Apple released a few years ago and still sells. Underpowered with a spinning hard drive; no thanks. I had hoped by this point (2018) that Apple would be selling all of its computing products with retina screens and an SSD as standard.

 

[Falhófnir]

I hugely favour the 15” size over the 13” but the 15” pros have gone from expensive to pretty eye watering, and with keyboard issues and a potential ARM transition coming up I’m not certain I would like to invest £2,700 in one. Particularly as I can do without the power. I would certainly look at a 14” MacBook, if it were 14.5” or larger I would really start to become interested if you could get a 512GB higher stock configuration for about £100 more than the 12” (as with the two screen sizes of air) so that’d be about £1,649. I do also like the sleeker wedge design over the slabbier MacBook pros too.