Will the new MBA make MBP 13s obsolete?

Dont forget that that the Airs have a higher res screen

The white macbook is most at risk in its current state. Id love to see it priced under £700

 

Yeah, what HH says is true, but I'd say that sales of 13" MBPs will fall through the floor if they haven't already. For almost all in the market for a 13" portable, the MBA will be the obvious choice.

 

Yep.
It is less expensive as well. It may even perform better (we don't know what will be in air). You can have an iPod and iPhone. You can have an mb, mbp, and MBA. They target different consumers.

 

Apple wont release a new hardware few days/weeks before they release a new major MacOS upgrade. Wait and see! I bet you Apple will release the new MBA + MacMini next week... with MacOS Lion!

 

as mentioned, the cpu may well provide better performance. we just don't know what will be in the mbp. for those of us who like our screens without bezels and our keyboards with backlights, it isn't a performance, but a form factor issue.

the ability to make immediate upgrades (i put 8GB into my mbp 13) and future ones is a huge factor (i may get ssd later on down the line). the portability is not much of an issue for many of us, and the weight difference isn't so big.

100 dollars is about 10 percent of the computer's price (student discount) and that matters a lot to me. budget is a significant factor, especially if you have to upgrade the mbp to 4 GB or something like that (again, we don't know what is in it).

as for releasing the specs, no one does that, do they? they might show off the product along with the specs, but i doubt they give away the guts. that said, apple is kind of freaky. for some reason, they think the ram in the ipad2, for example, is some sort of top secret information, and they refused to talk about it even after the ipad2 came out (as i recall).

 

Because if they would release specs of their new unit, sales of current unit would drop rapidly and they would have to lower the price...

 

you realize if your comparing the 13" mbp to the 13" mba that the mba is a good amount more expensive. Price is a big deciding factor for consumers.

Also you guys are dreaming if you think apple will let the MBA be as fast as the MBP 13". Even the i5 mbp. The new MBA will def. have less ram (4 gb cap again most likely) and slower processor.

 

Some of us actually think that

- Backlit keyboard
- Better processor
- More ram
- Upgradability
- (In some ways) better screen
- Overall more sturdy in construction
- Cheaper price compared to MBA 13"

justifies the extra 700 grams.

(If you dump a computer because of a 700 gram difference, maybe you should choose the MBP and use what you save on a gym membership).

 

Backlit keyboard on MBP but no longer on MA.

 

i agree with everything up until the end. i can totally see someone deciding on the mba over the mbp because of those 700 grams. if you have a weak back (i do), then no amount of working out will help you. by all means go for the mba (if you are so inclined).

i think this thread came about because of excitement, which is totally justified (the refreshed mba line is sure to be very cool). but, i am not so excited about ANY computer that i want to see alternatives discontinued and be forced to drink only one flavor of kool aid

 

If MBA delivers more than MBP, for less money... Hey.. Viva la difference!

 

mba will deliver less than the mbp for more money. exactly the opposite. that is guaranteed, unless apple somehow manages to defy the laws of physics and fit an optical bay and hdd into that tiny body.

the question (in my mind) is how far will apple go with the refresh. i think the new air will likely be pretty much all of the computer a large number of consumers will ever need, but i wonder just how good it will be

it can't be everything, though, so as you said, viva la difference!

 

Nicely phrased and I'm with you on that. The MBA and the MBP target different groups, and each of these different groups have different needs. In essence, it boils down to power versus portability.

I bought the MBA mainly because of its weight, but I also liked the form factor, the SSD (way better and far faster than the old HDD), and the excellent resolution. I also like that my MBA has that splendid old bete noir, the backlit keyboard. Okay, yes, the battery could be a lot better, but that's life, and I'll wait and see what the future brings.

Would I like a refresh to have more RAM, backlit keyboard, greater capacity SSD, better battery? Why, yes, of course. Over time, these will filter through; for the moment, however, the key feature that distinguishes the MBA (and its smaller sibling, the 11") is the size and weight. There are those of us for whom this is the key determinant in choosing a MBA. I travel a lot, and weight is a huge issue - thus, portability matters.

Cheers

 

Just b.c the turbo is higher and has the same base clock doesn't mean it will be as fast or even close. ULV chips will always be substantially slower. Now it depends on what tasks you use your mbp for if you can or cannot tell the difference.

Also yes the MBA comes with a ssd BUT, i paid $1200 for my Macbook Pro 13" i5 with 8 gb ram, 64 gb crucial m4 + Optibay (320 gb stock hdd). A MBA would come no where near the utility of my MBP.

Also i consistently use more than 4gb ram. On the MBA i would get an immense amount of pageouts. Also i need more than the 128 gb ssd in the mba and with 256 gb ssd on the mba is way too expensive.

Regardless, the mba will not make the 13" mbp obsolete at all. I will be getting a mba 11" as my computer for all my flight travel.

 

MBP provides a great value over the MBA. Dollar for dollar the MBP wins. There is a small percentage that are very technical about CPU details. People want to spend less and get more. Until the MBA can be dollar for dollar against the MBP, the MBP line will not go anywhere.

 

resolution indeed!

to me, the 13 MBP at 1280x800 is already obsolete. not to mention the hypergloss.

we'll have to wait and see what the 13 MBA is like. i hope its in the same power class as the MBP, or close. if so, and if we are indeed comparing a high end upgraded model, the difference in price becomes substantial, so the MBP, which may still be quite a bit faster, could still make sense for many people.

the difference in weight is HUGE, gym or no.

we'll see ...

 

Precisely. That is why both the MBA and the MBP will continue to be manufactured and offered for the near future; each satisfies a different and very specific market segment. Undoubtedly, the MBP offers better value for money, greater spec and more power; whereas the MBA appeals to those who prize portability, and possibly form.

 

I haven't had a laptop without an SSD for 3.5 years. For me, HDDs in mobile devices are obsolete.

I am pretty sure that the MBA is cheaper than a MBP w/SSD. Irrespectively... you could not discount a MBP enough to make me want one over an 11" MBA simply because of the form factor. Other people would make different choices. Choice is good.

/Jim

 

They would probably be about the same price. But the MBP will have faster CPU and optical drive. But the MBA will be thinner and lighter with a high resolution screen. Now if the MBP had the same screen as the MBA, many might be selecting the MBP.

 

If it counts for anything, I just unloaded my 13" 2011 i5 in anticipation of the new Airs. I ran mine with an SSD and optical, also tried SSD and second HD.

Ultimately I realized I vary rarely use the optical drive (and I have other machines that have them). The second hard drive just felt like a sloppy option and I found I preferred to just store my data on my server. In the end... all I had was a heavy MacBook Air.

I don't think I would have made this same decision if the Air wasn't jumping a couple generations in processor ahead.