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Warming-up for the all-new redesigned retina 2014 (2015?) MacBook Air
- Thread starter skaertus
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If you compare it to a more or less Lenovo Yoga, it actually is right in the ballpark, maybe a little on the value side, amazingly.
The Lenovo Yoga is also very expensive. But I guess the new MacBook is even more expensive.
Yoga is way more powerful. It should be compared with MBA.
EDIT: Silly me, you meant Yoga 3 Pro.
Well Yoga has better camera and bigger screen, not to mention the ports. Obviously it's heavier and bigger because of that. Frankly, at this point rMB 12" is one of the kind, but I'am sure competition will follow Apple very soon. What Apple surely wouldn't want now, is for someone to make the laptop exactly as durable and as small and light as rMB, but include more ports by simply shrinking the keyboard lol. ASUS would be a perfect candidate to so with UX31 smaller successor.
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True. But there are also the unique trackpad and keyboard. Apple may have patents on these and may try to prevent other manufacturers from using them.
I agree with that. I'll still come out ahead after selling my rMBP, so the price isn't really bothering me. But even then, it's something I'd be willing to pay for. It's pretty much my dream laptop and I happen to be in the group of people whose needs/usage are a perfect fit for the new MacBook.
It's just like when the first Air came out. Prices will come down eventually. I'm just willing to pay to get the laptop I want right now.
As for me, I think it is a very nice laptop, but not my dream one. I like the trackpad and keyboard; however, I think the specs are below expectations and the lack of ports is a problem. I would prefer the retina Pro.
I almost agree but I'm going to wait till next year's version is out. That should include Skylake.
Yes, perhaps Skylake brings a decent Core M processor. Anyway, I will look at Windows laptops as well, as Apple is showing itself as a disappointment to me in so many aspects.
As for Skylake, it would be fine.
As for the second port... Well, I don't think Apple will add that. Apple's approach is to reduce the number of ports to a minimum. If there is wireless charging, I would not doubt Apple would eliminate all ports.
What are you disappointed in? I rely too much on OS X to even think about switching.
Yes there is - it could go where the headphone jack currently is.
And there are actually a few places the headphone jack could be moved to.
Having said that, having a second port probably would be less of an issue if the charger had a USB hub on it, which might be Apple's approach instead, and was a bad call to omit.
I would think of switching because I am disappointed at Apple and for some other reasons. Here I go:
1. Price. Yes, Macs are expensive. But I am in Brazil, and that makes things even more expensive. The government charges a huge amount of taxes, about 100% over the final price of a Mac. That means that, under normal circumstances, I would pay twice for a Mac than I would pay in the US. In the recent days, due to the corruption scandals everybody should have heard of at this point, the exchange rate raised about 50%. So, if I want to buy a Mac now, I would pay about 3x what I would have paid in the US under normal circumstances. And that is a lot of money. That apply to all computers, but there are cheaper alternatives. Yes, they may be inferior, but what so? Would you pay US$ 3,000 for a low-end MacBook Air? Or US$ 6,000 for a 15-inch retina MacBook Pro? Well, I won't. It's not Apple's fault, my government screwed up here.
2. Apple is paying too much attention to phones and watches and now the rumor is... cars. As a result of that, OS X may be fine and all, but that is pretty much it. Apple leaves to third parties to produce software. Guess what? Software companies will make software for Windows, which represent 90% of the computer market, and, as far as I know, has a better (or easier) programming environment. I don't want to pay more to have inferior software, and I am not talking about the operating system here, but of everything else. Apple is not spending its billion dollars in developing software for Mac, apart from the OS. If Apple is not interested in computers, why should I be interested in Apple's computers?
3. Apple's simple approach. If I pay a lot of money for my computer, I want it to do everything, and to be able to do complex stuff. Apple's approach, however, is simplicity. The new MacBook is a result of that. Very fine computer, but just one port and a slow processor. Look at Apple's software as well. iWork is a joke, and lacks so many features. I would have to rely on Microsoft to make a decent office suite for the Mac. But guess what Microsoft has its own operating system, and it has 10x the market share of OS X; it's no surprise that the office Microsoft produces is far better on its own operating system than on the operating system of its competitors. And it's fine for Apple.
So, why should I consider paying a lot of money triple what an US citizen would pay for a laptop that is beautiful but that is also underpowered and has only one port, and runs third party software that cannot hold a candle to software that runs in a laptop that costs half the price and is, in addition to that, more powerful, even though it is not as beautiful?
Well I agree with every word you said. I definitely wouldn't pay the prices you have to pay in Brazil. Some of the things you mentioned about Apple do bother me, but like I said, I'm pretty much locked into OS X and couldn't switch because I use lots of Mac-exclusive apps. On the other hand, I've never been crazy about iOS. So I really only love the Mac side of Apple, and even that seems to be slowly going away.
I am not tied to OS X. I tend to prefer Mac hardware, although Windows machines have been able to catch up lately, so I would say they are on par or nearly on par as of now. Well, at least prior to the launch of this new MacBook.
I think the keyboard and the trackpad are the main advancements, more than anything else. All other Macs already had retina displays, so the retina on this one was already expected. The weight and size... Well, that is great but still not unprecedented. The fanless design is also amazing but others have managed to do that before. The MacBook package may be better than all these separate efforts on the PC side, but the fact is that all this technology did not premiere on Apple's new laptop. What really impressed me was the keyboard and the trackpad, and I cannot wait to see them in action.
As for OS X, I like the battery life and the multi-touch gestures, and the overall interface and simplicity. But Windows has its advantages as well, and it has software that cannot be found on OS X. And, regardless of how nice the OS is, what really counts is what you can do with it and how fast you can do. The experience may be great, but it is worth little if it does not allow you to do what you want or need.
Said that, I an in a constant internal struggle between OS X and Windows. I would like to know how the new trackpad performs under BootCamp. Is that as bad as the multi-touch trackpad? Anybody?
Well that sums up why I use OS X, because it allows me to do what I need far better than Windows ever could.