Micro Center Stores Offering $200 Off New MacBook Air Starting Today

[Mainsail]

The MBA name has become synonymous with the reliable everyday laptop that is the most popular in Apple's lineup. So, there is no way Apple is throwing that away. Originally, the MBA name was used to connote thinness and lightness. But, now it has a much different meaning to typical consumers that want a reliable portable everyday machine. Apple simply built a laptop to meet the demand for this consumer, and kept the "Air" name for the loyal customer following of this model.

The "Air" name is irrelevant with respect to the relative lightness and portability of the other laptops in Apple's lineup. This is not about precise naming conventions to align technical attributes to products. Only techo-geeks care about that stuff. This is about marketing and product positioning for a loyal customer base. Every successful company takes advantage of customer loyalty and brand association. This is the reason so many parents use Johnson's Baby Shampoo on their kids and is the reason "new" Coke was a colossal failure.

Now, as to the question, does this confuse the Apple lineup......perhaps, but let's put it into context:

• MacBook - Ultra portable
• MacBook Air - Everyday consumer laptop
• MacBook Pro - High Performance laptop

I am surprised they kept the ntbMBP around, but maybe it will be discontinued after they sell off some inventory. I agree that it does not appear to fit into the line up. I believe Apple has done this before. They kept the MBP with dvd around for a couple of years, even though Apple had clearly discarded it and moved forward to a different form factor and technology choice.

 

[Zaft]

The MBA name has become synonymous with the reliable everyday laptop that is the most popular in Apple's lineup. So, there is no way Apple is throwing that away. Originally, the MBA name was used to connote thinness and lightness. But, now it has a much different meaning to typical consumers that want a reliable portable everyday machine. Apple simply built a laptop to meet the demand for this consumer, and kept the "Air" name for the loyal customer following of this model.

The "Air" name is irrelevant with respect to the relative lightness and portability of the other laptops in Apple's lineup. This is not about precise naming conventions to align technical attributes to products. Only techo-geeks care about that stuff. This is about marketing and product positioning for a loyal customer base. Every successful company takes advantage of customer loyalty and brand association. This is the reason so many parents use Johnson's Baby Shampoo on their kids and is the reason "new" Coke was a colossal failure.

Now, as to the question, does this confuse the Apple lineup......perhaps, but let's put it into context:

• MacBook - Ultra portable
• MacBook Air - Everyday consumer laptop
• MacBook Pro - High Performance laptop

I am surprised they kept the ntbMBP around, but maybe it will be discontinued after they sell off some inventory. I agree that it does not appear to fit into the line up. I believe Apple has done this before. They kept the MBP with dvd around for a couple of years, even though Apple had clearly discarded it and moved forward to a different form factor and technology choice.

That breakdown makes a lot of sense.

 

[Detnator]

The MBA name has become synonymous with the reliable everyday laptop that is the most popular in Apple's lineup. So, there is no way Apple is throwing that away. Originally, the MBA name was used to connote thinness and lightness. But, now it has a much different meaning to typical consumers that want a reliable portable everyday machine. Apple simply built a laptop to meet the demand for this consumer, and kept the "Air" name for the loyal customer following of this model.

The "Air" name is irrelevant with respect to the relative lightness and portability of the other laptops in Apple's lineup. This is not about precise naming conventions to align technical attributes to products. Only techo-geeks care about that stuff. This is about marketing and product positioning for a loyal customer base. Every successful company takes advantage of customer loyalty and brand association. This is the reason so many parents use Johnson's Baby Shampoo on their kids and is the reason "new" Coke was a colossal failure.

Now, as to the question, does this confuse the Apple lineup......perhaps, but let's put it into context:

• MacBook - Ultra portable
• MacBook Air - Everyday consumer laptop
• MacBook Pro - High Performance laptop

I am surprised they kept the ntbMBP around, but maybe it will be discontinued after they sell off some inventory. I agree that it does not appear to fit into the line up. I believe Apple has done this before. They kept the MBP with dvd around for a couple of years, even though Apple had clearly discarded it and moved forward to a different form factor and technology choice.

I appreciate everything stated here except that if this is how it is, the MBA doesn’t seem to fit even its new description (everyday consumer laptop). Being only $100 less than the base MBP for very similar specs and size it’s not (relatively) cheap enough for “everyday consumer” and what “everyday consumer” needs Thunderbolt for that isn’t handled by USB-C?

Arguably, switching the new MBA’s thunderbolt for USB-C might put it back in everyday consumer pricing territory perhaps...?

 

[Mainsail]

I appreciate everything stated here except that if this is how it is, the MBA doesn’t seem to fit even its new description (everyday consumer laptop). Being only $100 less than the base MBP for very similar specs and size it’s not (relatively) cheap enough for “everyday consumer” and what “everyday consumer” needs Thunderbolt for that isn’t handled by USB-C?

Arguably, switching the new MBA’s thunderbolt for USB-C might put it back in everyday consumer pricing territory perhaps...?

I agree. However, Apple probably believes that there are tons of people that have iPhones and love MacOS and the Apple ecosystem, so they will pay a little bit more for an entry level MacBook Air that has top quality fit and finish. If you keep your laptop for 5-6 years, the $1,200 vs $1,000 price differential is probably not a major issue. Frankly, when Apple introduces a new product (with a familiar name....but that's just marketing), I always expect there will be a price bump for new production tooling costs. The 2010 MBA (which was the year Apple introduced the beloved wedge shaped MBA) was originally priced at $1,299. People called it a glorified overpriced netbook; storage limits, no backlit keyboard, etc... Overtime, the price dropped and features were added to improve the user experience. So, maybe that will happen with he new 2018 MBA.

 

[Detnator]

The 2010 MBA (which was the year Apple introduced the beloved wedge shaped MBA) was originally priced at $1,299. People called it a glorified overpriced netbook; storage limits, no backlit keyboard, etc... Overtime, the price dropped and features were added to improve the user experience. So, maybe that will happen with he new 2018 MBA.

That's a very good point and one I've been meaning to mention sooner or later but keep forgetting. Nearly every time some really new concept comes out it's premium priced. It's so ironic that the "old" MBA that everyone here loves so much (especially for its low price point) was so derided when it first arrived for being so over priced for its performance (kinda missing the point of the premium engineering needed to make it so thin and light at the time). Then the MB comes out with the same set of principles (really that should have been the new MBA), and its derided for the same reasons. Sadly, the MB hasn't decreased in price significantly in three years like the MBA did, and I kinda think that's where Apple's screwing up here. Hopefully that's coming soon though...?

As I've said, this MBA is a bit lame really since it's so similar to the lowest end MBP, and it's so not "Air" in the sense the original one was. Expanding on my previous points, I'll add... My personal opinion:

• The MB should have been the new MBA as soon as it was released.
• A 13" or maybe 14" version of it could have been released at the same time or shortly after the 12": much thinner and lighter than this MBA (and only marginally larger and heavier than the 12"), fanless, and everything else the MB is, just with a 13" or maybe 14" display, maybe two USB-C ports instead of one, but not Thunderbolt (who in the market for that machine needs Thunderbolt) all for maybe $100 more than a similarly specced 12" one.
• This MBA probably shouldn't even exist - doesn't make sense at all.
• Some other machine, named MacBook that compromises anything it needs to, for price, targeted at students and whoever else with limited budget and limited requirements, as with every iBook and MacBook in the past was.

But that's just my opinion. Who knows what Tim's up to with this lineup, unless it really does just come down to marketing as some have suggested here.