I'm not clear where it fits into the produce lineup, as in, it almost starts with "well if you have cash to burn...". It's got a lot of sacrifices compared to the Air for not that much size decrease (the reason the Air is larger is for the battery. If they chopped the sides of the Air it'd be smaller & be around 9 hrs too). Aside from that it has a retina screen albeit it a lower resolution, which the Air arguably should have got years ago. Which leads into the next point...
It seems Apple have backed themselves into a corner on this one. They have a MB which has a good chassis, is light, however more expensive (Apple had actually been selling good products at not much more than rivals in recent years) and is already quite limited in specs, let alone for 5 years or however long the product life will be. They have a MB Air which is getting long in the tooth but is still a good machine, however if they add Retina they then have 2 almost identical products, the difference being only "this is smaller, and costs a few hundred more". The only way to keep both product lines running is to limit them both - keep MB with no ports and low end specs, and keep Air with no Retina. It's weird.
Not wanting to argue with anyone, just my opinion
I wish they'd also stop changing ports, if I bought a MB I'd be on my THIRD power connector for the Thunderbolt display in just 6 years. Sort it out!
Two ports - multi-tasking isn't going the way of the dodo - and the smallest possible adapters. Some of the adaptors are quite large, if someone is willing to shell out a lot of money to get the smallest possible device, selling chunky adaptors is pretty half baked.
It seems Apple have backed themselves into a corner on this one. They have a MB which has a good chassis, is light, however more expensive (Apple had actually been selling good products at not much more than rivals in recent years) and is already quite limited in specs, let alone for 5 years or however long the product life will be. They have a MB Air which is getting long in the tooth but is still a good machine, however if they add Retina they then have 2 almost identical products, the difference being only "this is smaller, and costs a few hundred more". The only way to keep both product lines running is to limit them both - keep MB with no ports and low end specs, and keep Air with no Retina. It's weird.
Not wanting to argue with anyone, just my opinion
2 usb c ports would quell many concerns
Two ports - multi-tasking isn't going the way of the dodo - and the smallest possible adapters. Some of the adaptors are quite large, if someone is willing to shell out a lot of money to get the smallest possible device, selling chunky adaptors is pretty half baked.