That depends. For the MBA, no it won't help but that's because Apple uses 15w CPU's in the base model MBPs. I still don't think its fair fault Apple because they don't use a particular type of CPU in a model when they use it in another.
Well Apple did previous use 15W in their Air, this is the first time they haven’t.
Meanwhile, the Pro’s historically didn’t have a 15W CPU, but they made that version as a cheap alternative and also highlighted it as a Air successor, comparing it to the old Air in the keynote. The nTB is an Air labelled as a Pro.
The CPU the MBP w/o touch bar is currently using is the CPU (7th gen dual core U series) the last X360 model used. The previous model MBP w/o touch bar used the same CPU (6 gen dual core U series) as the model X360 that proceeded that. (*similar but not identical CPU's).
So if Apple uses a 15w Whiskey Lake CPU its a safe bet it will be in the new MBP w/o touch bar like it has been.
I think they will kill off the nTB, hence why it makes even more sense for a 15W Air. They could have upgraded the nTB ages ago well before Whiskey Lake but didn’t - it would have also been a huge upgrade going to four cores. That alone tells me they don’t see a future in the nTB
The base model Spectre with i5 whiskey lake 8gb RAM 256gb SSD starts at 1149 and with 4k screen (for comparison) is $1349. The base model MBP without touch bar with 256gb SSD (for comparison) is 1499.
The form factor of the Spectre and Spectre X360 product lines fall between the MBA and MBP. However they favor the MBP due to the volume of the MBA with its wedge design and lighter weight. While the Spectre is wider, deeper it is a little thinner and light. I'm sure will go mostly unnoticed due to the MBP build quality and material.
The new Spectre is actually a larger than previous Spectre purposefully - they are going for performance rather than thinness.
If you look at the new Zenbook 13 or Zenbook U391FA, Lenovo S730 or XPS 9370, they are in the MBA territory in terms of volume, not nTB. I’m sure a couple of them are actually smaller than the Air which actually isn’t that small - I was hoping they would have made it distinctly smaller than the nTB rather than just wedging it. That made it even worse that they put such a lousy CPU in it. It was a lazy upgrade if you ask me, it’s practically identical to the nTB with a wedge, like WTF? This is what they want to release on the 10th anniversary of the Air?
Not sure what you mean about R&D. Apple created an alloy that is made of 100% recycled material and retains the original materials characteristics. That alone is more R&D than HP has put into any product and doesn't include how Apple aided in the mining process and help create the process used for 0% carbon free emission aluminum smelting process. I'm sure they will share the tech across their products but I can't find anything that redefines industries used in the Folio.
Too much speculation here of this new recycled aluminium vs design overhauls by the competition. I very much doubt this Air had even half the R&D. A lot of those carbon free processes already predate the Air. There is a good chance recycled metals are used across their product line, with this one merely being the first to use it for 100% of its construction.
Upgrades is where Apple cleans up. Not just Macs either but all their products. They are ok with RAM in this circumstance because 16gb of RAM is only included when you upgrade the CPU with HP.
Apples SSD's are expensive. I can't say overpriced because I don't know what is involved with their proprietary implementation of them at this point (T2 chip is SSD controller doing real time encryption and decryption while maintaining higher throughput than the competition) but it seems excessive and overkill for the average user. However speed wise they seem to lead the pack.
I not debating the MBA price seems overpriced because I feel the same. However I don't see the value in the competitions products who offer more for less. I'm just looking at the 1799 MBA vs the 1799 MBP w/ touch bar, better screen, 2 more TB3 ports, etc. Is that RAM and storage worth MBP upgrade?
In the end, I look at the new MBA around a XPS 9370, Lenovo S730, Zenbook S/13 and think, why is the MBA so far behind in form, function and still have a higher price tag?
This release was the most underwhelming release - you have to just go rewatch the 12” MacBook keynote and see how far Apple has fallen.
This machine is 90% old, the only thing new is a wedge.
It really deserves to start at $999 for a 128GB, and the SSD upgrade is too steep for 256GB at $200.
I hope this sells like hot cakes though, it will really highlight the keyboard issues when a lot more consumers are using it who seem to have a much louder voice. That should kick Apple into finally fixing it.
