Is the MacBook air dead?

[motrek]

I got my 13" MBA last year for $900. From what I have read it's WAY more powerful than the new MacBook and also obviously cheaper. I'm not really sure what the point of the new MacBook is unless it's to test the market for going WAY thin. The ports stuff isn't much of an issue because of all the wireless options we have and the adapter cables you can buy.
...

I think the point is just to make the smallest laptop possible.

Assuming you want a full-size keyboard, the width of the laptop is constrained by that. Then assume that you want a 16:9 or 16:10 display, which most people seem to. That gives you the smallest possible length of the laptop. Make it a fraction of an inch thick, and bob's your uncle, you have the smallest laptop that's theoretically possible that would be convenient for anybody to use.

It's interesting that technology has finally gotten us to the point, today, where laptops just can't get any smaller.

(Although I suppose one might argue that the 12" PowerBook got there first, although its 1.2 inch thickness and 4.6 lb weight seems kind of enormous these days. Maybe in another 10 years we will all think that 0.5 inches thick and 2 lbs is pointlessly large for a laptop.)

 

[deepen03]

Air and Pro being alive together alongside the MacBook is kinda stupid IMHO. Macbook is thinner and lighter than the "Air" Air should've been discontinued today.

And give customers one option starting at $1299? That makes absolutely no sense. At best, the Air should have gained a 1080p screen and 8gb ram for the same price
Of course Apple won't do that because 1080p looks so close to the 1440 Retina that they risk sales. The same reason why the keep the MD101. I don't even have a problem with keeping old models if they just improved standard features. Why not offer the 101 model with 1080p and 8gb ram? Why not give customers great options at all levels?

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And say what you will about Windows. As this is a Mac forum. But the Surface Pro 3 actually tears the New MacBook Air to shreds with an i7 and 256GB with 8gb ram at the same price as the higher level New Macbook.

You also get a Touchscreen and Digital Pen, MicroSD expansion, Full Size USB, and MiniDisplay Port. Higher than Retina resolution at 2160x1440p. Windows 8.1 Pro is actually fine, before someone comments bashing Windows 8.

 

[motrek]

... And say what you will about Windows. As this is a Mac forum. But the Surface Pro 3 actually tears the New MacBook Air to shreds with an i7 and 256GB with 8gb ram at the same price as the higher level New Macbook.

You also get a Touchscreen and Digital Pen, MicroSD expansion, Full Size USB, and MiniDisplay Port. Higher than Retina resolution at 2160x1440p. Windows 8.1 Pro is actually fine, before someone comments bashing Windows 8.

We could go 'round and 'round with specs all day but the SP3 is not obviously better than the new MacBook.

First of all, why compare the SP3 with a 256GB drive to the more expensive new MacBook when basically the only reason to get the more expensive SKU is to get a 512GB drive? You're starting your comparison all wrong already.

The SP3's 2160x1440 resolution is not an advantage--the new MacBook is 2304x1440.

Yes, the SP3 has a faster processor, more ports, and a touchscreen. But by the time you add a keyboard to the SP3, it's also longer, wider, thicker, and heavier than the new MacBook. Plus the keyboards for the SP3 are rubbish and you still have to use the idiot kickstand to keep the laptop from falling over.

 

[Meister]

And say what you will about Windows. As this is a Mac forum. But the Surface Pro 3 actually tears the New MacBook Air to shreds with an i7 and 256GB with 8gb ram at the same price as the higher level New Macbook.

You also get a Touchscreen and Digital Pen, MicroSD expansion, Full Size USB, and MiniDisplay Port. Higher than Retina resolution at 2160x1440p. Windows 8.1 Pro is actually fine, before someone comments bashing Windows 8.

That sounds just awesome. All those specs and Windows

Enjoy your microsoft product

 

[SmOgER]

Plus the keyboards for the SP3 are rubbish and you still have to use the idiot kickstand to keep the laptop from falling over.

That's hardly even a laptop. It's a lousy tablet with a cheap keyboard cover which you can buy for your iPad.

 

[theSeb]

I am not entirely sure exactly what Apple is planning to do with the Macbook Air at this point in time. Considering the fact that it did not get the new trackpad and that it still sports a low resolution TN panel, the writing seems to be on the wall. Much like it was for the classic Macbook Pro when the retina MBP was introduced. It was refreshed once with new internals and then when the rMBP sold bloody well, it was killed off quietly a year later. The fact that Apple was able to reduce the price of the rMBP in 2013 also helped.

The MBA is the best selling laptop in the range thanks to its relatively low pricing. Once the volumes come up on the Macbook, it will become cheaper to sell and they will sell it at a lower price point, making the MBA redundant. The entry level 11" MBA is £749 right now. It will take some time for it to die because I don't think the Macbook will go down to that price level any time soon. Apple wants to keep the low price 11" MBA and they wanted this shiny, new laptop too.

The 13" MBA is most likely to die first. Once you upgrade the 13" MBA to match the RAM and storage, then you're looking at £1079, which is actually more expensive than the Macbook at £1049. This is mere speculation, but I would not be surprised if next year we see the price of the 12" Macbook go down to the 11" Macbook Air levels and a 14" Macbook will be introduced to replace the 13" MBA.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

I never said they were going to 'keep' something thicker while putting out something thinner that is lower in their product lineup, so please don't put words in my mouth.

All I am saying is that they backfilled the macbook lineup with a product that has been missing from their catalog since the MBA came out. If you recall, their lineup went something akin to:

13" Macbook - 11" MBA - 13" MBA - 13" MBP - 15" MBP - 17" MBP

They dropped the 17" and the Macbook, leaving us only with the 11" and 13" MBAs and 13 - 15" MBPs.

They brought back something that they slotted underneath (in terms of CPU and accessibility) the MBA, which is what this new Macbook is. Keep in mind that you could still BTO an MBA with the same SSD and memory as the higher end Macbook for the same price, and get a CPU boost in the process.

If anything, what this Macbook release gives us is a roadmap for how they will be putting together the next MBA, which is what people should be excited for.

So does this mean the end of the MBA? no, because they put this new Macbook underneath it, creating a need and demand for an updated MBA.

BL.

That is exactly correct. The ritual displays of grieving are really over-blown and out of place.

Sorry for the copied post, but here it is:

Going to have to disagree. Using the moniker Macbook more likely means the MBA moniker will disappear within the next year or two, and Macbook and Macbook Pro will be the two model ranges. Notice how the Macbook is priced in between the MBA and MBP, not as the introductory model. 8GB RAM and super fast 256GB SSD standard makes a clear statemet as to where Apple is putting this model, and it isn't below the MBA.

Expect the next MBP chassis facelift to make it as thin and light as the current MBA lineup, retaining one USB-A, SDXC and possibly Thunderbolt port respectively, alongside a new USB-C port (possibly a second one as well instead of TB - I personally feel that USB 3.1 and the introduction of the USB-C standard spells the beginning of the end of Apple's TB endeavors) for charging and connecting that 2nd external monitor alongside TB or the other USB-C. Expect Magsafe to be discontinued. 15" MBP may lose discreet graphics altogether to make this happen if Skylake's highest end integrated graphics are deemed "good enough." There will be no new MBA design. It is going the way of the 13" cMBP.

This is where we are heading. The goal is a unified port for everything, and USB 3.1 goes further towards that goal than TB does and has more longterm potential to fully realise it as well. That's why Apple got on board early.

Ports aren't going to be the problem for this Macbook. Before summer you will see a glut of great hub options being released giving you everything from USB-A, SDXC, Gb Ethernet, mDP, HDMI, plus passthrough to the charging brick, all in a bunch of different designs and implementations. The 3-4 Apple is offering right now are just the beginning and very basic.

Nope, the ONLY thing making me hesitate from mashing that buy button the second these are available for order is how much better the processor is going to be in the 2nd generation of this product with Skylake.

 

[maflynn]

I can't think of a reason why Apple will keep it around. You have a thinner product in the MB, it has a better processor, better screen, better battery in a thinner enclosure. The MB is one inch larger then the 11" and one inch smaller then the 13"

There's so much product overlap, its hard to justify it imo

 

[MyopicPaideia]

In the UK at least with the pricing up on the apple website, 'The New MacBook' is more expensive than the 13" Retina Pro.

No its not. base model MB is £1049. The equivalent 13" MBP with the same 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD is £1199.

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Software that only has one license (I'd want Office on my "desktop" and portable computer" and only have the university subscription.)

You can have multiple installations with the student Office 365 subscription...

 

[newellj]

I can't think of a reason why Apple will keep it around. You have a thinner product in the MB, it has a better processor, better screen, better battery in a thinner enclosure. The MB is one inch larger then the 11" and one inch smaller then the 13"

There's so much product overlap, its hard to justify it imo

Apple will need to deal with price points, though. I don't think they envision the new rMB as the entry level machine. Hard to do more than speculate, however.

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Sorry for the copied post, but here it is:

Going to have to disagree. Using the moniker Macbook more likely means the MBA moniker will disappear within the next year or two, and Macbook and Macbook Pro will be the two model ranges. Notice how the Macbook is priced in between the MBA and MBP, not as the introductory model. 8GB RAM and super fast 256GB SSD standard makes a clear statemet as to where Apple is putting this model, and it isn't below the MBA.

Expect the next MBP chassis facelift to make it as thin and light as the current MBA lineup, retaining one USB-A, SDXC and possibly Thunderbolt port respectively, alongside a new USB-C port (possibly a second one as well instead of TB - I personally feel that USB 3.1 and the introduction of the USB-C standard spells the beginning of the end of Apple's TB endeavors) for charging and connecting that 2nd external monitor alongside TB or the other USB-C. Expect Magsafe to be discontinued. 15" MBP may lose discreet graphics altogether to make this happen if Skylake's highest end integrated graphics are deemed "good enough." There will be no new MBA design. It is going the way of the 13" cMBP.

This is where we are heading. The goal is a unified port for everything, and USB 3.1 goes further towards that goal than TB does and has more longterm potential to fully realise it as well. That's why Apple got on board early.

Ports aren't going to be the problem for this Macbook. Before summer you will see a glut of great hub options being released giving you everything from USB-A, SDXC, Gb Ethernet, mDP, HDMI, plus passthrough to the charging brick, all in a bunch of different designs and implementations. The 3-4 Apple is offering right now are just the beginning and very basic.

Nope, the ONLY thing making me hesitate from mashing that buy button the second these are available for order is how much better the processor is going to be in the 2nd generation of this product with Skylake.

But to your pricing point, I think Apple needs at least one credible laptop that's under US$1000, and the rMB ain't it. Dunno, time will tell.

 

[nefan65]

And say what you will about Windows. As this is a Mac forum. But the Surface Pro 3 actually tears the New MacBook Air to shreds with an i7 and 256GB with 8gb ram at the same price as the higher level New Macbook.

You also get a Touchscreen and Digital Pen, MicroSD expansion, Full Size USB, and MiniDisplay Port. Higher than Retina resolution at 2160x1440p. Windows 8.1 Pro is actually fine, before someone comments bashing Windows 8.

That's great if you want a Windows machine. I have a lot vested in OS X, not to mention I prefer using it over Windows [yes, I've used 8.1 and tested 10; 10 is actually not bad, but still not a replacement for OS X for ME].

The same things were said when the 1st MBA came out. Too expensive, there are better/cheaper Windows alternatives, etc. etc. etc. Like everything, this too shall pass, the MB will sell well, and Apple will improve it over time, and it will continue to be successful.

 

[iSheep5S]

No its not. base model MB is £1049. The equivalent 13" MBP with the same 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD is £1199.

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Forgetting the SSD my retina MBP was £1k from Currys not the Apple store.

Edit, Its £999 on the Apple website.

 

[mtneer]

Since when do MacBook prices drop by any significant amount?

The 13" rMBP models dropped nearly $300 in February 2013. I picked up mine right after that.

 

[bradl]

I can't think of a reason why Apple will keep it around. You have a thinner product in the MB, it has a better processor, better screen, better battery in a thinner enclosure. The MB is one inch larger then the 11" and one inch smaller then the 13"

There's so much product overlap, its hard to justify it imo

1.1 - 1.2 (BTO to 1.3) GHz Intel Core M versus a Core i5 or Core i7? are you sure about that?

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4500U-vs-Intel-Core-M-5Y70

Battery life, yes, but that could be incorporated into the MBA. Screen? That would be as well. But Faster Processor? Not too sure.

If anything, they may drop the 11" MBA, but that would be it.

EDIT: scratch that. just saw the processor they were going to use. Yes, there would be some overlap, but not something they would drop the entire line for. I'd say they'd either incorporate the new gear into the MBA, but drop the 11".

BL.

 

[jdechko]

Eventually, I agree that the Air line will be dropped. But 1) the Air was just updated and 2) the technology isn't quite there yet. I'd say that within 2-3 years the MacBook will almost certainly replace the Air, but today is not that day.

 

[Mainsail]

13" MacBook Air was $1299 in late 2010 for the base model. Now they're $1099. The 13" rMBP dropped $400 between the first and second version.

Actually, the base 13in MBA is now $999, but you can find some pretty good deals for less. Last year, I bought a brand new 2014 base MBA for $750 at BB. There was a $100 sale and $150 student discount. I thought it was an amazing deal. In addition to the one I bought for home, I have an MBA at work, and it has never let me down.

I think there are plenty of people that will continue to want the base MBA for day to day use (school, home, and business). For example, I need to buy a college computer for my son, and I will probably not be willing to pay a premium for the newest Macbook, which will likely drop in price overtime (almost every component in this machine is new, so eventually there will be economies of scale).

 

[theriddler]

The MacBook polycarbonate was phased out in favour of the MBA but continued to be available to educational institutions.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/12..._apple_ceases_sales_to_education_institutions

The Air would be retained as there's nothing else available at the $ 999 price point.

 

[Beachguy]

Perhaps we'll see it disappear when the MacBook becomes available for order. Or when they run out of prebuilt parts for it.

Right. That's why they upped the specs this weeks on the MBA. They wanted to discontinue a nicer machine.

 

[NewbieCanada]

Right. That's why they upped the specs this weeks on the MBA. They wanted to discontinue a nicer machine.

Not every post in a thread is a reply to the thread title. Mine wasn't. And just to make sure everyone understood that, I actually QUOTED what I was replying to. Here it is again. Perhaps you'll manage to miss it AGAIN and reply sarcastically to me for absolutely no reason apart from you not reading the post.

What boggles my mind is why the 13" cMBP is still around. It should be dropped by now.

 

[Jynto]

The MacBook Air will likely go away, but only after its most important features have been brought to the MacBook line.

The new MacBook, in its current form, will be like the 2008 Unibody MacBook, which lacked a firewire port, or the original MacBook Air, which only had one USB. These products were thrown into the market to see if people could live without those ports. From there I presume market research then determined whether the lack of ports was driving customers away from those models. (Hard to believe people could be that hung up on firewire.) After that Apple updated them to include the desired ports. In the case of the Air, it was a few generations down the line. In the case of the Unibody, it was just one, when it was rebranded as the 13" MacBook Pro.

So I think the new MacBook will follow a similar path. It may regain the MagSafe, perhaps a thunderbolt or a second USB-C, all depending on what customers want. Right now, it is an experimental product.

 

[anthorumor]

It may regain the MagSafe, perhaps a thunderbolt or a second USB-C, all depending on what customers want. Right now, it is an experimental product.

An experimental product people are willing to shell many hundreds of dollars for! Apple tests their mobile products extensively off field; who's to think they've done the same thing with this new MacBook, though? I'm sure testers will report how much easier it would have been if there was a secondary port.

And no, a dongle doesn't count as it doesn't come in the box.

 

[jdechko]

An experimental product people are willing to shell many hundreds of dollars for! Apple tests their mobile products extensively off field; who's to think they've done the same thing with this new MacBook, though? I'm sure testers will report how much easier it would have been if there was a secondary port.

And no, a dongle doesn't count as it doesn't come in the box.

There's component testing and there's market research. Apple doesn't do the latter before releasing a product. They are very much an iterative company when it comes to refining products.

Now to be perfectly clear, there are companies like Samsung that have a shotgun approach to product design. They will gladly sell 100 half-baked products with 100 half-baked ideas. Then they spend the next year refining some of the features and maybe finish baking the top 5 ideas. The next 100 products contain the 5 fully-baked ideas and 95 half-baked ones. And so on.

Apple is much more focused when it comes to releasing products. Here we have one product with a limited feature set. They've considered the same 100 products, each with 100 features, but they've done it all in the lab. In the end, they only release 1 product with a limited, but often fully-baked, feature set.

As technology advances and/or design priorities permit, Apple will add features, change features or reverse course on existing features. I fully expect this is a typical first generation Apple product. It's a vision of where the company sees itself heading in the near future, but you can buy it today.

 

[tresmith]

I don't know what they will do with the MBA but I do know this, that Apple needs a laptop at the $999 price point.

It would be foolish not to cause they'd be pricing out a large segment of the buying public. And I believe they will keep the MBA to maintian that $899/$999 price point until they release replacement.

So with that said, who knows what their strategy will be moving forward. This new laptop is a bit of a curve ball.

 

[theusualsuspect]

My guess is there will be two lines when the dust settles - Macbook, and Macbook Pro (a la 2007 again)

Retina screens will be standard across the board, so the primary difference between the two lines will be weight, ports, and processor.

MacBooks will be based on the current design and will use the Core M series processor.

Macbook Pros will keep their current design (with ports), and use more capable processors.

Is portability and battery life your priority, or processor speed and available ports? This feels right to me.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

I don't know what they will do with the MBA but I do know this, that Apple needs a laptop at the $999 price point.

It would be foolish not to cause they'd be pricing out a large segment of the buying public. And I believe they will keep the MBA to maintian that $899/$999 price point until they release replacement.

So with that said, who knows what their strategy will be moving forward. This new laptop is a bit of a curve ball.

The 13" rMBP dropped $400 off the price between revisions. If this rMB were to do the same, it'd slot perfectly into the $999 price point. Apple is selling this first version at a higher cost to amortize R&D, then they'll be able to sell a newer version at a lower price. That's what I think anyway.