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Is the future of the MBP 13 dead?

S

surjavarman

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 24, 2007
645
2
So I just had a discussion with my classmates about the MBA and the MBP13. And we just happened to have both of them lying around. So I showed my MBP13 (early 2011) and another classmate his MBA13 (late 2010). And immediately everyone was literally laughing at how thick my MBP was. I couldn't convince them that the thickness is irrelevant since its always in your backpack anyway. That was the first thing they noticed. Then they compared the weight of it and they just destroyed my MBP based on those two things. It's like they were blinded by design only. Well we did a comparison of the screens too. But it didn't matter everyone was already biased. Although everyone admitted that there wasn't really a big difference in the display.

We never even got to the point that my mbp blows the mba out of the water in terms of sheer power. In terms of hdd capacity it has more than 10x as much capacity than the mba it was compared to. It was also using a sata3 ssd. The only remark I got was " yeah you got thunderbolt, I dont".

Even on macrumors I read some comments they some people hoped that they would just finish off the MBP13 line. I also see alot of comments that you should get a MBP15 instead. Since its not that much bigger.

Well the MBP13 is significantly cheaper than the MBP15 and its also a pound lighter. And compared to the MBA13 its has tons more storage. Having 1TB of data in the cloud is going to cost a fortune and if you got data caps on 3g and a crappy internet connection both at home as well as 3g then its just not going to work. Why is there so much negativity towards the MBP13?
 
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surjavarman said:
So I just had a discussion with my classmates about the MBA and the MBP13. And we just happened to have both of them lying around. So I showed my MBP13 (early 2011) and another classmate his MBA13 (late 2010). And immediately everyone was literally laughing at how thick my MBP was. That is the first thing they noticed. Then they compared the weight of it and they just destroyed my MBP based on those two things. It's like they were blinded by design only. Well we did a comparison of the screens too. But it didn't matter everyone was already biased. Although everyone admitted that there wasn't really a big difference in the display.

We never even got to the point that my mbp blows the mba out of the water in terms of sheer power. In terms of hdd capacity it has more than 10x as much capacity than the mba it was compared to. It was also using a sata3 ssd. The only remark I got was " yeah you got thunderbolt, I dont".

Even on macrumors I read some comments they some people hoped that they would just finish off the MBP13 line. I also see alot of comments that you should get a MBP15 instead. Since its not that much bigger.

Well the MBP13 is significantly cheaper than the MBP15 and its also a pound lighter. And compared to the MBA13 its has tons more storage. Having 1TB of data in the cloud is going to cost a fortune and if you got data caps on 3g and a crappy internet connection both at home as well as 3g then its just not going to work. Why is there so much negativity towards the MBP13?
Click to expand...
I believe the MBP13" is still Apple's best selling laptop, at least it has been for a while. Things is it provides reasonable performance a reasonable size, in the future I see Apple removing the Optical Drive and putting more grunty graphics in it. This is purely my opinion but i have a sneaking suspicion that opinion could become fact.
 
I have a difficulty time figuring out what Apple is up to, especially with the 13".

From my perspective, I want a computer that can be upgraded, especially with RAM and potentially HDD. I've got little interest in paying more for a computer that does less (the mba), because I don't need the portability. I think we are up against physics here, and the mba cannot be fully powered with lots of RAM. The 15" is bigger than I want, so I have the 13".

I don't care about the resolution, and I love the glossy screen, but I think 90% of the hating on the MBP would be eliminated by a higher resolution screen and non glossy screen. It would definitely make me happy to see the 13" with a quad core. That is one thing I admit makes it less than ideal for the MBP line.
 
Macsavvytech said:
I believe the MBP13" is still Apple's best selling laptop, at least it has been for a while. Things is it provides reasonable performance a reasonable size, in the future I see Apple removing the Optical Drive and putting more grunty graphics in it. This is purely my opinion but i have a sneaking suspicion that opinion could become fact.
Click to expand...

I love the 13" but i game quite frequently so the graphics in the 15" were the upgrade I was looking for. However if they done as you said above, i would be right back on the 13" bandwagon. For me it is the perfect size laptop. I am used to the 15 now but the 13 is just betetr for carrying around.
 
IMO, i dont think so, it seems that the MBP13" has replaced the MacBook(or maybe its the 13" Air) But if i remember, the MBP13" is the second best selling Apple laptop, first being the MB.
 
surjavarman said:
So I just had a discussion with my classmates about the MBA and the MBP13. And we just happened to have both of them lying around. So I showed my MBP13 (early 2011) and another classmate his MBA13 (late 2010). And immediately everyone was literally laughing at how thick my MBP was. I couldn't convince them that the thickness is irrelevant since its always in your backpack anyway. That was the first thing they noticed. Then they compared the weight of it and they just destroyed my MBP based on those two things. It's like they were blinded by design only. Well we did a comparison of the screens too. But it didn't matter everyone was already biased. Although everyone admitted that there wasn't really a big difference in the display.

We never even got to the point that my mbp blows the mba out of the water in terms of sheer power. In terms of hdd capacity it has more than 10x as much capacity than the mba it was compared to. It was also using a sata3 ssd. The only remark I got was " yeah you got thunderbolt, I dont".

Even on macrumors I read some comments they some people hoped that they would just finish off the MBP13 line. I also see alot of comments that you should get a MBP15 instead. Since its not that much bigger.

Well the MBP13 is significantly cheaper than the MBP15 and its also a pound lighter. And compared to the MBA13 its has tons more storage. Having 1TB of data in the cloud is going to cost a fortune and if you got data caps on 3g and a crappy internet connection both at home as well as 3g then its just not going to work. Why is there so much negativity towards the MBP13?
Click to expand...

This just proves that an education can definitely help change your views on the world. I meant by educating yourself on tech stuff. If they actually knew their stuff, the MBP definitely is a better buy since you can add an SSD and more RAM, something that the Air cannot do, in the long run. I actually see more people on campus with MBP than Airs mainly because of its price point and the fact it is a perfect size to fit on those stupid small lecture hall desks. Next time, just say you can put two hard drives in your laptop. :)
 
why would apple kill it?
It does not make any sense,to be doing that.It is after all one of apple's best selling products,then again they did away with the Macbook,but maybe that was due to design.
Only Steve Knows. :confused:
 
With the performance of the recently released MBA, Apple will need to, and probably will, offer a compelling performance upgrade to the MBP13 to justify keeping it around. For the needs of 90% of users out there (web browsing, e-mail, word processing, video, music etc etc), the MBA is more than adequate. I'd argue that for the uses of 90% of the people out there, the performance difference between the MBA and the 13" MBP would be negligible, with an advantage actually going to the air because of the SSD (granted you can install an SSD inthe 13" pro, but realistically, most people won't).

Computers today are very different from computers 5, 10, and 15 years ago, where an obsolete computer meant you couldn't run the latest versions of the most basic computing tasks. You don't need a top of the hardware to handle basic computing tasks nowadays....user upgradable RAM, top of the line processors, etc etc aren't really necessary for most people anymore, unless you're into gaming, or heavy photo and video work. (I fall into this category).

The fact of the matter is that for 90% of the users out there portability and *cool factor* are more important...particularly when it comes to Apple customers.

I think over time the divide between top of the line machines and average machines that can handle the needs of most users will grow wider over time, and the Macbook Pro will become more of a niche product for people who really need the performance. This puts the current MBP13 in an awkward market position, as the lack of a quad-core processor and discrete graphics card isn't enough to suit the needs of heavy power users, and the size of the MBP doesn't suit the portability needs/wants of many casual users.

Apple will need to give the 13" MBP a compelling upgrade in the performance department to justify the "pro" moniker and to justify keeping it around.
 
personally i love mine

all i want is a better screen resolution, remove the CD drive and make it a little lighter

for me its perfect - more powerful than the air not as chunky as the 15
 
I don't think so. There is plenty of opportunity for Apple to step up the 13" MBP now. I love the MBA but I need the ports on the MBP -- and without need of a dongle or cable. MBP can survive in an MBA world if Apple wants to make it a truer pro machine, i.e., bump up resolution & shoe horn a real video card (maybe remove the optical drive for the space b/c that is used less on a daily basis).
 
A 13'' MacBook Pro is nothing like a 13'' MacBook Air. The fact that people lol'd at you because they are most likely fixated on a "sleek, slim" design is the exact reason as to why so many people hate on Apple products; they are attracted to its looks rather than how practical it is and what it is used for.

It's not going to replace the 13'' MacBook Pro anytime soon.
 
I actually wonder what the hell the MBA offers aside from the cool factor. To me, the current 13" MBP is just about perfect. It's faster, expandable, and has the perfect form factor. When I've worked on a MBA I'm always worried I'm going to break it - as one poster wrote elsewhere, he worries he's going to punch right through the keyboard while typing. And I, for one, don't care for the teardrop design--the uniformity of the MBP is much more attractive to me.

One thing that always cracks me up is when people talk about how the Air has SSD, which is faster, while in the same breath saying most people will never need the superior processing power of the MBP. Oh, the irony! And never mind the crappy color spectrum of the Air . . .

And, finally, there is the small matter of price--you can get a brand new MBP for $999, while the least expensive 13" MBA is $1299--while offering less than half the storage out of the box. The Air requests a huge premium for taking away a lot of useful stuff in exchange for things that the overwhelming majority of users will never benefit from.
 
I don't think the MacBook Pro will necessarily disappear -- assuredly, it will bear a different appellation and sleeker/slimmer form factor one day, yet Apple won't cease in offering a "high performance" portable line of computers. Hopefully, Apple doesn't continue this trend towards non-upgradable devices.
 
AppleGoat said:
I don't think the MacBook Pro will necessarily disappear -- assuredly, it will bear a different appellation and sleeker/slimmer form factor one day, yet Apple won't cease in offering a "high performance" portable line of computers. Hopefully, Apple doesn't continue this trend towards non-upgradable devices.
Click to expand...

i think this is one of my biggest concerns at the moment. the ipad is built to become obsolete. so is the macbook air. the macbook pro can get a new lease on life (or be customized for its current one) with various enhancements. given my future work needs, i could conceivably still be using it after three years (assuming an ssd addition down the line, and maybe even more ram).

but, if apple continues down this path with fewer product lines, fewer options (the 13" has too few alreader), and thinner computer bodies, it is going to get very frustrating. my fear is that the pro line will get merged into the air one (15"ultraportable supposedly on its way, and they dump the 17"), and pro users will have to pay a premium for portability they don't need with underpowered computers, or shift to the mac pro line.
 
I love the 13" MBP. I actually have two, one is a spare.
It's a perfect form factor for keeping in my lap for surfing, e-mail, iTunes, plus other things.

I tried a 13" MBA, and it was OK, but the trackpad didn't work well. Took it to Apple store, they sent it out for replace top case, came back, still didn't register clicks (verified by genius), so I returned it and bought an MBP.

Battery life is fine, it's fast, supports firewire and wired ethernet.
I'm happy to have the optical drive.
 
Well, you were comparing the 2011 MBP and 2010 MBA which is not a fair comparison. The 2011 MBA is a much more capable machine and scores very well in benchmarks.
 
Steve's Barber said:
Where is there negativity other than your classmates? :eek:
Click to expand...

it is kind of a recurring theme in this forum and the one for the mba.

i understand where people are coming from, but they're often overly enamoured with whatever other device they have and really hung up on the low resolution, glossy screen (without option to get anti glare), and dual core (without quad option). for a lot of people (like myself), the first one doesn't matter, the glossy is much preferred over the bezel, and i think everyone would agree that quad cores would really make the 13" sing.
 
My answer: probably it is not.
Right now, the 13" MBP and MBA are quite balanced to guarantee their survivals in the market. Keeping the MBP at a lower resolution is, in my opinion, very useful in terms of marketing as it represents a very important feature (1260x800 is very very low).
If Apple decides the MBP has to gain in screen resolution, then the Air will gain in something else probably just to keep a gap – 8 GB max RAM? Double SSD? Processor bump?

However, a redesign could become very important by itself. Everyone is interested in having a good looking <object>, and Apple has always proved intelligent in this. I think a newly designed MBP 13", with pretty much the same specs, could sell a lot and again, probably Apple will have to add some exclusive feature in the MBA if it wants to avoid cannibalization.

Ultimately, the 13" MBP and MBA are very similar performance wise, and the turbo boost technology can become an important factor even for the pro.
Just my thoughts.
 
surjavarman said:
So I just had a discussion with my classmates about the MBA and the MBP13. And we just happened to have both of them lying around. So I showed my MBP13 (early 2011) and another classmate his MBA13 (late 2010). And immediately everyone was literally laughing at how thick my MBP was. I couldn't convince them that the thickness is irrelevant since its always in your backpack anyway. That was the first thing they noticed. Then they compared the weight of it and they just destroyed my MBP based on those two things. It's like they were blinded by design only. Well we did a comparison of the screens too. But it didn't matter everyone was already biased. Although everyone admitted that there wasn't really a big difference in the display.

We never even got to the point that my mbp blows the mba out of the water in terms of sheer power. In terms of hdd capacity it has more than 10x as much capacity than the mba it was compared to. It was also using a sata3 ssd. The only remark I got was " yeah you got thunderbolt, I dont".

Even on macrumors I read some comments they some people hoped that they would just finish off the MBP13 line. I also see alot of comments that you should get a MBP15 instead. Since its not that much bigger.

Well the MBP13 is significantly cheaper than the MBP15 and its also a pound lighter. And compared to the MBA13 its has tons more storage. Having 1TB of data in the cloud is going to cost a fortune and if you got data caps on 3g and a crappy internet connection both at home as well as 3g then its just not going to work. Why is there so much negativity towards the MBP13?
Click to expand...

How many of those laughing actually have a nice MacBook Pro or a MBA (and not some cheap, ugly PC laptop?)
 
No offense, but typical apple customers are clueless. All they care about is form, not function.

Whether or not Apple decides to continue to cater to these clueless individuals is anybody's guess. If they get rid of the 13 inch MBP in favor of the MBA, Well, let's put it this way, I'm not buying an MBA.

And honestly, I really don't think the MBA looks all that hot.. If I wanted a non-upgradeable MBA, I would have bought one. I don't, so I didn't.
 
Criticalmass said:
No offense, but typical apple customers are clueless. All they care about is form, not function.

Whether or not Apple decides to continue to cater to these clueless individuals is anybody's guess. If they get rid of the 13 inch MBP in favor of the MBA, Well, let's put it this way, I'm not buying an MBA.

And honestly, I really don't think the MBA looks all that hot.. If I wanted a non-upgradeable MBA, I would have bought one. I don't, so I didn't.
Click to expand...

Wow. Low opinion of your fellow consumers. I have no idea whether the so-called typical apple customer has a clue or pays attention to function as well as form. From my experience on these forums and with apple owners in real life, they are rather savvy and have a good sense of how their model compares to other apple products and pc devices as well.

as for form, it matters. i definitely purchased my computer with form in mind, because i very much appreciate beautifully designed products, and i am happy to pay a premium for good design. life is short, and i prefer to spend my time looking at things i find appealing rather than looking at crap.

the mba is gorgeous and i think it is well-priced, but you are paying for the portability in price and lower performance. for a lot of people, the tradeoff is probably fine. for me, i don't want to make that sacrifice.

someone previously said that apple is keeping the mbp's screen resolution low on purpose to make some kind of performance gap between it and the mba (if i remember correctly). i sincerely doubt that is the case. i do not know why apple has made the resolution low, but i suspect it has more to do with distinguishing between the 13"and 15"mbp, with some hope of upselling and getting consumers to buy a more expensive computer in order to access popular options (better displays and better processors). The strategy might be changing, though, because the mba line (unlike in the past) is not differentiated that way anymore.
 
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