Really??
Why on earth would they do that?
Magsafe is one of Apple's best laptop innovations.
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Why is there no Retina display?
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Why on earth would they do that?
Magsafe is one of Apple's best laptop innovations.
Sure our laptops run longer, but we're still charging them a lot. Loosing Magsafe is such a bloody step backwards.
Form over function. I tripped over my Macbook's charger yesterday twice. Glad I don't have the new Macbook as it would have been game over.
Both make great general purpose laptops. The Air isn't going to be discontinued immediately, but don't expect it to get a Retina display. Hell, they could upgrade the Air one last time and leave one model of each screen size up for 3 years or more, like they are doing with the FatBook Pro.
Apple offers very little choice with iOS devices. They offer the older generations at lower costs, but they aren't a completely separate product line. The MBA is.
What you are saying about the MBA being target towards another demo is correct, I do agree. The same thing was said, however, in 2008 when the original MacBook Air launched. The tech matured and got us to where we are today. Heck, back then a 64GB SSD was (IIRC) a more then $2000 upgrade for the machine and now a 128GB is standard. The MacBook is going to do the same thing. Back then the general purpose laptop was (ironically) the plastic MacBook. It was the cheapest at the time and was selling right up there with the 13" MBP.
I see the MacBook replacing the MacBook Air in Apple's product line within 2-3 years, just like the MacBook Air did with the MacBook. Its very ironic that the MacBook Air replaced the MacBook and the MacBook will now replace the MacBook Air.
Before they do, they will get the last gasp out of the 11 & 13" with Retina screens, profit off that for two years and kill it,( Why wouldn't they?) It's all about profits, and I tell you, if sales are through the roof, they'll milk the cow for as long as they can, maybe 5 years,as long as the $$$$ is there, so will be a Retina 11 & 13"
I think the main reason the cMBP is still there is for the business and education markets. For normal users the Retina display, thinner design, and PCIe SSD is simply the way to go.
Just because the iMac and Mac mini (sadly) still have HDDs on the lower-end models doesn't mean they won't perform comparatively poorly on Yosemite. I agree it would improve their lineup quite a bit for these machines to come with Fusion drives standard, but sadly Apple still wants to charge 2011 prices for an SSD upgrade in 2015.
Getting rid of magsafe in favor of usb-c allows for charging and data transfer, not to mention a single port that's capable of DisplayPort, HDMI, power, USB, and VGA. You can get a cheap small usb-c hub that has 7 usb ports, hdmi, dvi, etc. It's one port to rule them all. It will allow manufacturers such as Apple to make laptops even thinner and lighter, while aesthetically taking away the eyesore of all of those ports and having design uniformity. We're going to a future without wires and while we aren't currently there yet one port is the next best thing. Mark my words that is what is going to happen.
The thickness of the ports has been a limiting factor for years, and Apple finally has a way around it. I just pray that they leave the 3.5mm headphone jack alone.
Its a severe case of form over function. Thats all it is. One port is one of their worst ideas ever. As is the removal of Magsafe. As I said though, fine for the ultra portable but not for the Macbook pro.
Not everyone wants thinness. The obsessive race to thinner and thinner designs just mean compromises.
Hahaha Eyesore. The only eyesore is lugging around adaptors and then having to run an adaptor to actually achieve anything. I think ports are a beautiful symbol of usability.
Macs are for actually being used. I'd rather not have them end up as a glorified iOS device.
Wireless would be a good option if Apple could actually make it work well. Airdrop has been out for years now and the reliability is still poor. Every version of OSX has also had a .x variant that has caused huge Wifi problems. Currently on 10.10.3 my Wifi drops every 30 minutes or so.
It amuses me as Microsoft takes steps towards making the tablet a more attractive option with a USB port, Apple marches in the opposite direction bringing the worst of iOS to the Mac.
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I know about 5 normal users who bought one in the past year (despite me saying not to). Optical drives and large storage spaces are particularly appealing to windows switchers. The cMPB is a perfect laptop for many. Just as the Retina pro and air are perfect for different demographics.
The original design intent for the Air was to make a computer as thin and light as possible. Every iteration and now the MacBook is just a continuation of that.
Maybe one day the Pro will go too far. Maybe it already has (I think the biggest thing might be the removal of the ethernet port). It sounds like you're either a prime candidate for the retina Pro line, or you're an Air edge case just waiting to be pushed.
Regardless, I think that as things sort themselves out, Apple will move to 2 laptop lines: the thin-and-light MacBook and the thicker but more powerful Pro line. Each has it's uses and should be designed for the broadest appeal within their respective markets. Like it or not, the MacBook is the iOS-ification of the Mac line, and I personally don't necessarily think it's a bad thing.
And then they realised that it was a flop and actually made it into a good general purpose computer.
I would hope for Apple that they at least keep 3 lines of computers. The MB is just not a good solution for many and neither is the Pro (in terms of price).
I don't see an issue with 3/4 well defined laptop types. They did it with the iPod to great success.
What's so funny about me calling it an eyesore...it absolutely is in my personal opinion. I have unlimited cloud storage and 200GB of iCloud storage and I have used my HDMI port twice in the two years i've had it and my usb ports are used very sparingly. My Magic Mouse is bluetooth, my headphones are bluetooth, and I store things in the cloud and use spotify for music and use iCloud which pushes my content across my iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. I also have 2TB Time Capsule in which I back everything up. I don't even need to hook my mac up to my tv anymore via hdmi because of AirPlay. In the extremely rare occurrence I need to use one of those ports i'll get a third party dongle. Kickstarter has a really nice one. I'm already living in a wireless world and that's the way we're going forward. If I really rarely use usb or hdmi, or have yet to use thunderbolt i'd much rather have the one port and seamless enclosure around the product allowing it to be lighter and thinner while still having that functionality that I will barely use. I love the idea. Like it or not USB-C is here to stay.
Agreed. The first Air had many problems, but Apple kept improving it, and now it's a fantastic computer. I think that the new MacBook will follow a similar progression. It's not enough for many people. It's very much a machine of compromises. But given a few years' time, it can be the default laptop for Apple customers, much like the Air is today.
Right now, as of June 2015, I'd agree that 3 separate and (somewhat) well-defined laptops make sense. (One might argue that they're not that well defined and that there's overlap). But only a few months ago, there were 2 lines. In the next few years, though, the MacBook will get better, and Apple will run out of reasons to keep the Air around.
You make a good point. I just hope that keeping the lines separate would mean keeping the pro with enough to separate it.
You know what would satisfy a lot of people? Fit the Pro internals into the Air chassis and put a retina display in and that would be the pro, then upgrade the Non retina pro, as the pro classic for those who want ports etc and don't mind thickness. That would be differentiation then, as the New retina pro would be thin, but also far more powerful than the Macbook Retina.
I approached that point but didn't quite make it in one of my previous posts. Apple can have 2 laptops with competing priorities. The thin-and-light laptop that prioritizes thinness, lightness (and battery life) at the expense of high-performance and the high-performance laptop that prioritizes speed, performance and the latest technology at the expense of thinness and lightness.
What would have made a lot of people happy is the 2015 Air with a retina display, but that's not what we got. Instead we have 3 laptop lines with significant overlap. I really don't think things will completely shake themselves out for a few years at least, but as the MacBook is updated it will slowly take over the Air's position until one day the Air just doesn't make any sense at all (2017/2018?). Apple will kill the Air, and we will all shrug it off because we've already moved on. (I've predicted many times that the MacBook will replace the Air when Apple can sell it for $999 In the meantime, the specs will continue to improve).
Similar thing happened to the original polycarbonate MacBook. The Air progressively got better. Then around 2010, the Air was redesigned to it's current form and became the default MacBook. The MacBook just kind of went away, and we really didn't notice because the Air was so much better.
I don't see this happening and honestly, I don't care much for the wedge shape of the MBA and rMB. I would rather have the laptop just be the same thickness on both sides but still be thing and have better battery life, but this is apparently the way computers are going now. I don't see the Pro fitting in a MBA style chassis, especially the 15". Maybe if they clip the 15" and only give it dual core CPUs, maybe. Currently though, both rMBPs I think put out too much heat and require too much power to go into a wedge chassis.
FWIW, I do not see the cMBP getting any upgrades again. Someone else on here said that really its just an education model, and they are really correct. Not only that, but over the last 7 years the unibodies have been out Apple has made their money back on the R&D and really is only paying for the parts to build the thing at this point. For every cMBP sold Apple is getting a huge gravy boat of money especially since it uses older hardware. I only see one of two things this machine could do. 1) be fazed into the education market only (much like the plastic MacBook in 2011) or 2) having the price drop significantly to be a true entry level Pro (think $800).
Haha everyone has different wants I guess. I read a whole heap of people asking on here for the Pro to be stuffed inside the air.
I certainly hope the cMBP gets another update. They are a big seller for Apple. I know a heap of people who have opted for one over the past year. The rPro is missing some functionally that some people need.
Oh no I completely understand there is still a need for the cMBP! Many people still like it because they either need the optical drive, like the expandability, or want dual hard drives/SSDs in one laptop. They are great machines, but personally if I had the money I would totally drop change on the middle of the road 13" Retina.
I'm glad
I need the expandability (really a 1 TB HDD until I can afford a 1TB SSD) plus the ethernet and firewire + optical drive. I also use the IR sensor, I love the sleep sensor and I love the battery indicator sensor.
Typo alert! I meant SSDs. Apple should not be using spinners at all in 2015 - my opinion.
I would't consider the original MBA a flop, or the rMB a flop. Both are attempts to make a thinner/lighter Mac for those who don't mind sacrificing some ports and power, though it's entirely possible that Apple will add another USB-C port to the rMB in the future before it replaces the MBA (just as they added ports to the MBA before discontinuing the plastic MacBook).
Right now as has always been the case, the 13" rMBP is the best option to get for those who need more power and ports. A thinner/lighter rMBP would eliminate the need for the MBA entirely, and with USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 it's entirely possible the rMBP will be slimmed down.
They will leave the laptop with only one port. Why? it cost less to do so... And they can sell hubs/cables afterward.
Not a that bad idea... more money on their pocket. For average user, one port is fine. For me, this is not an option. I could live with a hub.
The rMB is still a really cool device IMO. A retina display that should consume more energy than a normal display, and even with that, the laptop can run for up to 9hrs.
This is the choice that was made, portability and battery life + lots of pixels display vs power.
you cannot have it all. A macbook pro 15' is still very portable and battery life pretty good, but bigger and more expensive.
If you need portability AND power AND ports, the product is there.
Not a that bad idea... more money on their pocket. For average user, one port is fine. For me, this is not an option. I could live with a hub.
The rMB is still a really cool device IMO. A retina display that should consume more energy than a normal display, and even with that, the laptop can run for up to 9hrs.
This is the choice that was made, portability and battery life + lots of pixels display vs power.
you cannot have it all. A macbook pro 15' is still very portable and battery life pretty good, but bigger and more expensive.
If you need portability AND power AND ports, the product is there.