They could just drop it, and make the 12" MacBook the entry level option. They wouldn't hurt Pro sales. The MacBook and Pro both cost $1299, which is absolutely ridiculous. It has a freaking M3 chip, and then the i5Y and i7Y, which are still slow as hell.
It probably would not, but chances are it could hurt Apple's bottom line.
This topic you touched on is one that in recent time I've become more interested in answering, because Apple
not killing off the Air is,
for Apple, somewhat strange. The answer of
why Apple has not already done this may be simple.
Based on my interaction with many MacBook Air Users, I'm becoming increasingly curious if Apple determined that eliminating the MacBook Air would, rather than redirect MBA users to the rMB, iPad Pro, or MBP nTB (even with a more reasonable base price), redirect them to another hardware Maker altogether. Given the mixed reaction to the changes introduced with the MBP (and what may have been a surge in 2015 rMBP sales), I am willing to bet that Apple spent a small fortune conducting cognitive interviews when considering the question of, "can we kill the MacBook Air and retain MacBook Air customers within our ecosystem?" If that is the case, this answer would fully explain why the MBA is still here.
As you have illustrated and as some other Members have pointed out, the MacBook Air really does
not align with Apple's "vision" (whether you love that vision, despise it, or just don't care.) In fact, it stands in contrast of it. For a company that loves to implement those visions in what is often perceived as being near-forcible, it is outright strange for them to make an exception to this rule. As this thread has shown, the rMB (even at a reduced price) would not necessarily meet someone's needs as well as the MBA. Apple presumably makes a huge profit on ALL of their Macs/iPads - if killing off the MBA would simply redirect their customers from one high margin item to another similarly-priced high-margin item, then this would be no biggie at all - in fact, it would be logical for a company that prefers to implement sweeping solutions across the board as all their notebook offerings would then align to a contemporary philosophy (again, how one feels about the philosophy at an individual level is irrelevant.)
By keeping the low-res dim TN panel and not updating the chipset or case, this may be sufficient to drive the MacBook Air Users who are willing to shift to the rMB, iPP, or nTB MBP to upgrade to the respectable line (and, with these customers, it presumably increases the chance that they stay within the Apple ecosystem when the time comes that Apple does end production of their Air.) Simultaneously, keeping the MBA alive and giving the MBA the most meager of updates still presents an Apple offering for customers who do not want the rMB, iPP, or nTB MBP, and would purchase something else from another Maker if those were the only Apple laptop/tablet choices they were given. The quantity of individuals in this second category could be pretty big, and this thread could be interpreted as empirical evidence that this is indeed a sizable category of current Mac Users.
(I like my rMB quite a lot - but I paid closer to $999 than I did to the high base price, and I have a primary workstation. It would not suffice if it had to be my only computer...)
