Who actually is the 12" MacBook for?

[Dave245]

I think nTB 2017 is the best value for money though, it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg, plus the specs are good.

That true but Apple might discontinue it when they update the Air or MacBook. I will look at the options when Apple have announced everything this year, if the new Air doesn’t appeal I might get the 12” depending on updated specs, if. It then a 13” MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.

At the moment tho I’m leaning towards the 12” MacBook which is why if they bring in a new 13” version I will update to that. I can see the following happening:

12” MacBook price drop to $999
13” new MacBook/Air $1,200

 

[Ma2k5]

I think nTB 2017 is the best value for money though, it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg, plus the specs are good.

It has the old gen keyboard... That alone is reason enough to stay away.

 

[waquzy]

That true but Apple might discontinue it when they update the Air or MacBook. I will look at the options when Apple have announced everything this year, if the new Air doesn’t appeal I might get the 12” depending on updated specs, if. It then a 13” MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.

At the moment tho I’m leaning towards the 12” MacBook which is why if they bring in a new 13” version I will update to that. I can see the following happening:

12” MacBook price drop to $999
13” new MacBook/Air $1,200

There is no way that they will drop the 12" MacBook price to £999, I just can't see it happening.

Here's what I think will happen:

12" MacBook gets the spec update, but the price remains the same: £1249 for the base model.
13" new MacBook Air(or whatever they call it) will be released at a low budget price of £999, with Retina display.

 

[Dave245]

There is no way that they will drop the 12" MacBook price to £999, I just can't see it happening.

Here's what I think will happen:

12" MacBook gets the spec update, but the price remains the same: £1249 for the base model.
13" new MacBook Air(or whatever they call it) will be released at a low budget price of £999, with Retina display.

They can afford to drop the price of the components are cheaper and keep their profit margin. Not sure about $999 but I think it will become cheaper.

The new Air at $999 with a Retina display, thinner bezels and better specs would be out of place, I could be wrong but I would expect the Air to be more expensive.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

They can afford to drop the price of the components are cheaper and keep their profit margin. Not sure about $999 but I think it will become cheaper.

The new Air at $999 with a Retina display, thinner bezels and better specs would be out of place, I could be wrong but I would expect the Air to be more expensive.

I just can't see the words 'MacBook Air' being used for a new design/product in 2018. At the same time, I can't see Apple taking a really old laptop and plonking a Retina screen in it.
It's all very very bizarre. Three different models/products just does not add up. It reminds me of when Steve Jobs came back to Apple and axed everything in order to make way for the iMac & G3.

Does there really need to be a model in between a 12" MacBook and the pretty decent 13' MacBook Pro?

Time will tell but i'm not confident on this budget offering. Whenever Apple does 'cheap' it usually comes at a 'price'. iPhone 5C with cheap plastic and old tech anyone?

 

[Dave245]

I just can't see the words 'MacBook Air' being used for a new design/product in 2018. At the same time, I can't see Apple taking a really old laptop and plonking a Retina screen in it.
It's all very very bizarre. Three different models/products just does not add up. It reminds me of when Steve Jobs came back to Apple and axed everything in order to make way for the iMac & G3.

Does there really need to be a model in between a 12" MacBook and the pretty decent 13' MacBook Pro?

Time will tell but i'm not confident on this budget offering. Whenever Apple does 'cheap' it usually comes at a 'price'. iPhone 5C with cheap plastic and old tech anyone?

I think it’s because they need something to fill the gap between the 12” MacBook and the Pro, a laptop for students and general consumers. The new Air is rumoured to be getting Kaby lake processors which will apparently be faster than the 12” MacBook but not as fast as the MacBook Pro.

The Air is very popular amoung students as well, being able to start it at £999 is a good price point, I think it will then head into £1,200 for a faster i7 processor, more ram and SSD storage.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

I think it’s because they need something to fill the gap between the 12” MacBook and the Pro, a laptop for students and general consumers. The new Air is rumoured to be getting Kaby lake processors which will apparently be faster than the 12” MacBook but not as fast as the MacBook Pro.

The Air is very popular amoung students as well, being able to start it at £999 is a good price point, I think it will then head into £1,200 for a faster i7 processor, more ram and SSD storage.

But that doesn't make sense as what's the point of the 12" MacBook if this thing is hitting £1200. And with R&D for the newer 'Air' surely as a business decision you'd drop the price of the 12" MacBook?
I can't see the 'Air' brand reappearing as this new thing. The word 'Air' is old to Apple and of course dropped way back for the iPad.
How very very very confusing for non IT customers being faced with three laptops from Apple all at similar prices.
I'm hanging onto mine as I love the rose gold and being 100% honest, none of the other Apple colours appeal to me. The gold of the 2015 MacBook dated very fast! I had one and now when I see them I think yuk!

 

[waquzy]

I think the 12” MacBook line will stay the same with just spec update.

The new budget laptop for students will most likely be under a grand - £999. And who knows it might only come in one configuration.

The new budget laptop definitely won’t be costing more than the 12” MacBook.

I actually think the Rose Gold colour is the worst looking one, but each to their own

 

[Dave245]

But that doesn't make sense as what's the point of the 12" MacBook if this thing is hitting £1200. And with R&D for the newer 'Air' surely as a business decision you'd drop the price of the 12" MacBook?
I can't see the 'Air' brand reappearing as this new thing. The word 'Air' is old to Apple and of course dropped way back for the iPad.
How very very very confusing for non IT customers being faced with three laptops from Apple all at similar prices.
I'm hanging onto mine as I love the rose gold and being 100% honest, none of the other Apple colours appeal to me. The gold of the 2015 MacBook dated very fast! I had one and now when I see them I think yuk!

Apple originally wanted the 12” MacBook to come down in price and drop to the place of the Air but that didn’t happen. According to multiple people (Rene Richie from iMore is one) the 12” MacBook is seen as more of an executive laptop, it’s expensive and runs M processors. In order to compete with other companies such as Lanovo laptops and so on Apple has been working on the new Air, students obviously don’t have a ton of money to spend on high end laptops like the MacBook Pro or the 12” MacBook. Hence this new Air is said to aimed at them and general consumers who want something in between the 12” MacBook and the Pro.

Maybe it won’t be called the Air, maybe it will be a cheaper end version of the MacBook but I’m not sure that makes sense if what Rene Richie and Mark Gurman have been saying is true. Mark Gurman at Bloomberg have referred to it as a MacBook Air, this close to the announcement I’m sure that Gurman will gained more info.
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I think the 12” MacBook line will stay the same with just spec update.

The new budget laptop for students will most likely be under a grand - £999. And who knows it might only come in one configuration.

The new budget laptop definitely won’t be costing more than the 12” MacBook.

I actually think the Rose Gold colour is the worst looking one, but each to their own

The 12” will stay, the new Air will start at £999 but will probably have a build to order config and can go over that price. According to Mark Gurman he says it will be a new Air.

The new Air will have higher specs than the 12” MacBook according to the rumours it will be Kaby Lake, so price wise as I mentioned may start at £999 but then go up in price depending on the configuration.

 

[worlez]

Would it be a plastic body to get it below £999 without cannibalising 12" sales?

 

[Dave245]

Would it be a plastic body to get it below £999 without cannibalising 12" sales?

I doubt it, I don’t think they need to use the P3 display just a Retina one that would keep costs down for a start. Apple are never worried about cannibalising themselves, I think the Air being popular took them by surprise and that’s why they decided to update it, the perfect opportunity as well because it’s the 10th anniversary of the Air being introduced is this year.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I doubt it, I don’t think they need to use the P3 display just a Retina one that would keep costs down for a start. Apple are never worried about cannibalising themselves, I think the Air being popular took them by surprise and that’s why they decided to update it, the perfect opportunity as well because it’s the 10th anniversary of the Air being introduced is this year.

MacBook SE !
(please!!)

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

I doubt it, I don’t think they need to use the P3 display just a Retina one that would keep costs down for a start. Apple are never worried about cannibalising themselves, I think the Air being popular took them by surprise and that’s why they decided to update it, the perfect opportunity as well because it’s the 10th anniversary of the Air being introduced is this year.

In 2008, a white MacBook was £719 so why 10 years later is a 'entry level' laptop coming in at £999? Can someone explain???????????

 

[Dave245]

In 2008, a white MacBook was £719 so why 10 years later is a 'entry level' laptop coming in at £999? Can someone explain???????????

Because that was 10 years ago, inflation and so on Plus we are not talking about a white plastic MacBook, this entry level Air will probably be made from the same materials as the current Air. I think when the rumours say entry level they mean for Apple not some cheap £250 plastic PC that’s a nightmare to use, the current MacBook Air starts at £949, add a Retina display thin out the bezels and so on and bump the price to £999 for entry level and it will sell really well. Even today the Air proves to be a popular Mac among students and general consumers, people still buy it that’s what shocked Apple I think there original plan was for those people to go buy the 12” MacBook BUT that didn’t happen people still stuck with the Air, so updating the Air would be a popular move and keep it selling.

If the Air was starting at £999 with a Retina display updated specs and so on would you not buy it? The Air is a great machine and it’s design is great apart from those big bezels.

 

[oneMadRssn]

In 2008, a white MacBook was £719 so why 10 years later is a 'entry level' laptop coming in at £999? Can someone explain???????????

I think that mostly has to do with your currency or taxes. In 2008, the entry-level white MacBook was $999; which is about $1170 in 2018 dollars. Today, the entry-level MacBook Air is $999. So really, it's become cheaper.

 

[Y So Jelly]

I have the 2018 13" MBP w/ touchbar. It is overkill for me. The quad core is adding more heat than speeding up my main tasks of programming and webrowsing. The touchbar with BTT is cool but I wouldn't pay extra for it. Heavier than I'm used to as well. It is still a very nice laptop with no issues as of yet though.

Before this I had a MBA 2013 for 5 years until some alcohol got on the display cable. I think the current 12" Macbook would fit my needs better if they could a) give it the new keyboard and b) update the processors. True tone and an additional port wouldn't hurt either.

 

[Dave245]

I have the 2018 13" MBP w/ touchbar. It is overkill for me. The quad core is adding more heat than speeding up my main tasks of programming and webrowsing. The touchbar with BTT is cool but I wouldn't pay extra for it. Heavier than I'm used to as well. It is still a very nice laptop with no issues as of yet though.

Before this I had a MBA 2013 for 5 years until some alcohol got on the display cable. I think the current 12" Macbook would fit my needs better if they could a) give it the new keyboard and b) update the processors. True tone and an additional port wouldn't hurt either.

I think that's the point, for a lot of people the MacBook Pro is overkill BUT the 12" MacBook might not be enough, the Air is somewhere in-between. Also price, if this new Air starts at $999/£999 then it will appeal to more people, i think there will be more configurations for build to order, maybe 16GB Ram, 512GB storage and an i7 processor, these will probably bump up the price to around $1,200 - $1,300/£1,300.

 

[keiji11]

I would say the performance is not so great on my macbook 12 2015 base model. I have to use both macos and windows at work. Bootcamp is no so convenient as I need to restart the system to switch between so I tried to use parallels but it just dont run so smooth on macbook 12. After I open windows 10 in parallels you can almost do nothing there. I only open chrome with 5tabs and it lags so much. I tried to sell it and the reselling price is just too low comparing to macbook pros and airs. So if you are going to use vm on your macbooks dont consider macbook 12.

 

[sosumi99]

I would say the performance is not so great on my macbook 12 2015 base model. I have to use both macos and windows at work. Bootcamp is no so convenient as I need to restart the system to switch between so I tried to use parallels but it just dont run so smooth on macbook 12. After I open windows 10 in parallels you can almost do nothing there. I only open chrome with 5tabs and it lags so much. I tried to sell it and the reselling price is just too low comparing to macbook pros and airs. So if you are going to use vm on your macbooks dont consider macbook 12.

For sure. I should have known better than to try to run VMs on the 12 inch MacBook. It's basically unusable.

 

[cheezeit]

My 2015 base and 2017 i7 are different animals. I thought it wouldn’t be enough but so far it’s ran well. (I7 16gb 512 2017). Next hope is for next model to have a better webcam, and TB3/4 port instead of just USB-C.

 

[Dave245]

My 2015 base and 2017 i7 are different animals. I thought it wouldn’t be enough but so far it’s ran well. (I7 16gb 512 2017). Next hope is for next model to have a better webcam, and TB3/4 port instead of just USB-C.

Is the i7 worth it tho? Add in 16GB Ram and it’s approaching the MacBook Pro I’m price. The next update will probably be a silent one or announced as part of a slide at the September keynote. I’m not sure what the spec bump will be in terms of power (will it be 5%, 10% that type of thing). It will be interesting to see how they position the 12” MacBook with rumours of the new Air.

 

[muratura]

Is the i7 worth it tho?

If comparisson with the i5 and the the fact that it is close to the price of MBP it is not worth it definitely.

If you want it for pure portability then yes it is worth it.

 

[Dave245]

If comparisson with the i5 and the the fact that it is close to the price of MBP it is not worth it definitely.

If you want it for pure portability then yes it is worth it.

That’s true, I’m looking for something to replace my 2011 MacBook Pro later this year, the portability of the 12” MacBook would be great for around the house, using on the sofa or on the bed but I also don’t think the 13” MacBook is all that much heavier for those things.

People complain about the 12” MacBook but every time I see it I’m impressed, thinking to myself “how did they put a computer in there” it’s so thin but also looks great, nothing looks out of place, and people say Apple don’t innovate anymore.

It will be interesting to see where they take the new MacBook Air compared to the 12” MacBook. I think they may even thin it down some, that seems to be the trend lately, even the MacBook Pro is thinner and lighter than the old version.

 

[StellarVixen]

It is an Internet browsing machine.

Maybe someone out there wants to spend 1200 USD to browse the Web?

Those are the kind of people who buy MacBook, for now.

Everyone else buys MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or Mac desktops...

 

[cheezeit]

Is the i7 worth it tho? Add in 16GB Ram and it’s approaching the MacBook Pro I’m price. The next update will probably be a silent one or announced as part of a slide at the September keynote. I’m not sure what the spec bump will be in terms of power (will it be 5%, 10% that type of thing). It will be interesting to see how they position the 12” MacBook with rumours of the new Air.

Retail? No but i got a deal used and have been enjoying it. It does all I’ve needed so far. If it was retail price I’d have gone for the 13”. Only a little bit bigger but you get a lot more. Unless performance doesn’t matter too much, then the 12 will shine in portability and small foot print, else 13”.