If the 13" MBP is left out this refresh cycle I'll be highly disappointed. If they discontinue it I'll keep my 2010 until it dies completely. The 13" MBA is tempting but it doesn't have all the features I want.
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Refresh of 15" and 17" but not of 13" -- is it possible?
- Thread starter CopperX
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I can't speak for everyone, but they would've lost me.
I'm looking to buy my first mac and Apple is quite expensive as it is. I don't want to spend 1000 and get 11" tiny notebook with ugly design and no backlit keyboard. Same goes for the white macbook. I don't have enough money to buy 15" (and would much prefer the size of 13" anyways) so the 13" pro is excellent choice, sexy design and best price for what it offers out of all Apple laptops.
So yeah, if they were to drop 13" pro, I wouldn't buy a mac.
i dont know, wouldnt Core i3 2310M 2.1 GHz be a downgrade from a 2,4ghz c2d and nvidia 320m? unless they use a 2,5ghz i3 or i5 in the 13". tough decision tbh, i wonder what steve is thinking atm. damn intel and your IGP...!
That's the big debate. It should be very interesting to see how it turns out over the next few months (weeks?). Both the Pro and the regular MacBook are due for updates soon. In fact, the white MacBook was getting two updates per year up until last year, so it is quite overdue.
11" Air ugly? Yeah, why don't you just move along and buy a PC.
Yes, I don't like the "wedge" design and I also prefer the black border to the silver one. "Ugly" might be slightly too much, but compared to the MBP, there really is no comparison.
And how does buying a PC laptop solve anything? MBP > MBA >>>>>>> 99% of PC laptops.
I see. Personally, I love the 11" Air, wedge and all, more than any other notebook I have ever owned. That said, I do wish it's screen had a black border similar to the Pro.
The 13" Pro is the only other portable I buy, so I too would be fairly upset if they were discontinued. I cannot imagine that happening, though. As everyone keeps pointing out, it's Apple's best selling computer.
No, that is ridiculous. The 11" really doesn't fit everyone's needs who would be looking at a laptop for the reasons they need a cheaper one (it's only good for those that need a netbook like computer that is very portable).
Making the 13" Air the only 13" available makes it overpriced for anyone wanting just a cheaper computer, and makes it a not as good compromise for some one just wanting a good 13" that does a lot (but doesn't want a big size).
The 13" Air really does not replace the MB or the 13" MBP both of which are Apple's biggest sellers. That would make absolutely no sense to get rid of both of them and replace it with the 13" Air (it wouldn't replace them, and neither would the 11" Air. They'd leave a void in the category that is their biggest seller!).
If they're both still around, then they'll both have the same CPU. It's how they've done it the past two release cycles, and given that they are otherwise the same computer, there's no reason why they'd give one the slower processor.
I think your only other option is most likely, but that's just me.
Really, that's the moral of this story if ever there was one.
By the time it's time to replace your Mid 2010 13" MacBook Pro, the Pro lineup may, yet again, have a runt unit on the lower-end. It happened with the PowerBook G4 and again with the MacBook Pro line. It's definitely possible to have it happen again.
Im thinking of paying more and getting the 15 inch for the better graphics... i have intel 3100x on my old macbook and its not up to par to say the least at this point in the game.
I originally was going to get a 13" MacBook Pro of next generation until I read about the performance of Sandy Bridge's IGP and realized that the next 13" MacBook Pro will either get the new processor and the crappier graphics, keep the aging CPU and the 320M, or get thrown out altogether, and then I had your line of thought and I looked to the 15" Pro which has none of those problems and is advancing to (somewhat) keep up with modern technology and has a GPU far better than even the 320M. Needless to saym the 13" MacBook Pro isn't my target anymore and now I'm saving for a 15" model. It's not a bad idea, methinks.
why?
Why is nobody talking about the 13" MBP simply becoming the MacBook and the white plastic model being discontinued? The current MacBook is really the odd man out in Apple's design philosophy, and if the 13" continues to not have dedicated graphics, to me this is a large enough differentiator to separate it from the 15" and 17" offerings unto its own product. It becomes the value play.
Why is nobody talking about the 13" MBP simply becoming the MacBook and the white plastic model being discontinued? The current MacBook is really the odd man out in Apple's design philosophy, and if the 13" continues to not have dedicated graphics, to me this is a large enough differentiator to separate it from the 15" and 17" offerings unto its own product. It becomes the value play.
I can't speak for the rest of this forum's community, but I personally haven't ruled it out. That said, I can give you one reason why the while plastic model won't be discontinued: The education market depends on having a durable Mac laptop and the polycarbonate plastic is far more durable than the Aluminum, design philosophy or not.
Not possible it's the best selling model
http://www.ramseeker.com/news/best-selling-apple-macbook-pro-models-in-january-2011/
http://www.ramseeker.com/news/best-selling-apple-macbook-pro-models-in-january-2011/
And you think that's because it's called "Pro?" Not likely. It's the best selling model because of the combination of price, design, and performance. Calling it a MacBook doesn't change any of that.
As for the durability of the plastic model, I really find it hard to believe that this is a consideration for Apple in any capacity. I do not think durability factors in to a company that covers a phone in glass.
But let's play that game for just one minute--you and others say durability in terms of ability to drop the machine from X feet with less damage, but is that really the reason why most laptops break and can you really prevent or minimize damage within reason without going to Toughbook lengths? In my experience, laptops fail far more often because of 1) heat death, and 2) torque and flex on the case from picking it up and moving it around (yielding motherboard failures), and the unibody models do not suffer from the latter because of structural integrity.
All that combined with Apple's design philosophy and I am seeing plastic disappearing.
My MBP for one has a longer battery. I still do use my optical drive. I enjoy having 4 GB of Ram (without paying a lot extra). I also enjoy not paying *more* for less. I also really do need at least a 250 gig HD which comes with mine. So, the MBA is inferior (not by much, but is) product plus it's more expensive (especially if you decide to try to get it to be as about the same as possible to the MBP).
If I were choosing between the two, the MBA would have to be cheaper or at least same specced before I'd even consider it. So, no, the 13" MBA is not a replacement for the MBP. ANd you would lose customers that would have othrewise gone with it (Those who are looking for a smaller than a 15" computer who wouldn't spend extra money just to make it a little thinner).
Let's also add that if you are careful with your unibody and don't drop it or drop things on it the unibody won't crack. Can't say the plastic has a good history of just not cracking on its own without any abuse....
Something would easily take its place if it disappeared.
The plastic dings, the metal dents. For the education market, that's kinda huge. Apple's design philosophy has failed to kill it during the last four refreshes when it was internally up for debate; that's why it isn't going anywhere.
most people who use the 13" mbp really just use it for basic things like facebook, youtube, etc...
that being said i highly doubt apple cares if they loose customers, if they didn't want to loose customers then they would never discontinue products like the xserve.
Oh, Apple cares if they lose customers. But they also do the math on what kind of money they are putting into the product vs. how much money are they actually making from selling it vs. if it is holding them back from selling more of something else. At some point, the few customers they keep with the product does not make up for the costs of keeping it around.
And, most people aren't going to pay the prices for an MBA for doing facebook/youtube (and still want a decent sized screen for that kind of stuff).
The Xserve was discontinued because there weren't enough customers buying it. They only pissed off the small minority of the 1U Rack-Mount Server market that, beyond actually bought them, made it their IT strategy to be Xserve customers. Apple cares a great deal about their 13" MacBook Pro customer base, though as it stands, you can appease the half of that pool of customers that only buys it because it's shiny with really any substitution; the white MacBook was it before there ever was a 13" non-Air Aluminum laptop in the line. It easily could again. Or they could drop the "Pro" branding and essentially restore the Aluminum "MacBook" to merge the line. That half wouldn't care. The other half of the 13" MacBook Pro's customer base, the half that actually cares about it being a capable machine, is the half that is going to be dissuaded from either of the two options for forthcoming CPU/GPU combinations. Those are the customers Apple is probably most concerned about losing, and don't kid yourself, they are actually concerned.
The current 13" Air is speedy and thereby capable for FaceBook and YouTube. Is it a good replacement for the 13" Pro? I don't think so. And really, it'll be between Whitey and the 13" Pro, if one of the three have to leave.
Agreed. IMO the MBP 13" has highest chance of getting axed. Earliest est. would be 2012, though 2013 makes more sense. It all depends on how the Airs perform in the next 3 quarters. For this refresh all the portables stay.
Really? I'd say sooner than later as Ivy Bridge's IGP might be passable enough for the "low-end Pro users". Though they could just give us the return of the Aluminum MacBook and nix both whitey and the 13" Pro. While I'm doubting the discontinuation of a plastic MacBook, I'd be okay with such a move as long as the damn thing had a FireWire port. Otherwise, it's not a real Mac in my opinion. But what can I say? I'm just a real sucker for FireWire Target Disk Mode.
I understand Apple's decision to make proper graphics a priority in the 13" but it doesn't improve the end user experience much at this point. There is very little OpenCL support and other GPU accelerated things like Flash and HTML5 take much longer to come to the Mac. Gaming performance on both the 320m and the new Intel IGP is so bad with modern games that any difference is really only academic. The Sandy Bridge processors also decode video much better than before with built in acceleration so there isn't much the 320m did well that the Sandy Bridge IGP cannot equal at this point.