Ok I'll try to explain this to you using small words. You can't do that here. How was that?
The number of movies that are available for rent on iTunes in the UK is very small, TV shows are not available at all for rent. Even sale of shows and movies are erratic in the UK store. For example you can get grey's anatomy Seasons 1,2,3,4 & 7 in the UK but not Seasons 5 or 6. You can get Star Trek Voyager seasons 1 but no further. You can get DS9 S1-3, at $50 per season. Buffy at $30 per season.
I actually do get my media on iTunes but then I maintain a US account using a friends postal address and prepaid cards bought online, so I have access to the US store.
I also live in Europe and do the same. What's the problem? It's a much better deal than renting DVDs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary54
They aren't going to update the white MacBook. Its history, Done. Over. That handwriting has been on the wall quite a while. The recent sales success of the Air only put the last nail in the coffin.
Your argument presumes that all or nearly all MacBook Air sales are cannibalizing MacBook sales rather than additional Mac sales to people who would otherwise not have bought a MacBook. I have seen no evidence to support such a presumption. Obviously, some MacBook Air sales cannibalize MacBook sales and some do not. I don't know whether that's 20%/80%, 50%/50%,
or 80%/20%. Even if the cannibalization rate were 80% (which seems extremely unlikely), that would mean that MacBook sales are 25% of MacBook Air sales, which would be more than a million MacBooks per year. If Apple were to discontinue the MacBook, some of those million plus per year buyers would buy a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, but some would not. Apple would lose at least a quarter million sales per year (best case scenario) but probably about a million sales per year (more likely scenario) and perhaps a few million per year (worst case scenario).
Why would Apple want to reduce Mac sales by very roughly about a million per year?
I also live in Europe and do the same. What's the problem? It's a much better deal than renting DVDs.
Your argument presumes that all or nearly all MacBook Air sales are cannibalizing MacBook sales rather than additional Mac sales to people who would otherwise not have bought a MacBook. I have seen no evidence to support such a presumption. Obviously, some MacBook Air sales cannibalize MacBook sales and some do not. I don't know whether that's 20%/80%, 50%/50%,
or 80%/20%. Even if the cannibalization rate were 80% (which seems extremely unlikely), that would mean that MacBook sales are 25% of MacBook Air sales, which would be more than a million MacBooks per year. If Apple were to discontinue the MacBook, some of those million plus per year buyers would buy a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, but some would not. Apple would lose at least a quarter million sales per year (best case scenario) but probably about a million sales per year (more likely scenario) and perhaps a few million per year (worst case scenario).
Why would Apple want to reduce Mac sales by very roughly about a million per year?
There was an attempt to kill it before.
The white plastic one went away for a stripped aluminum chassis model which then became the 13" pro model at a marginal price bump, bringing the plastic model back for the price point.
Steve announced the design concept of the Air's was the direction of the future for laptops across the board. With a Sandy Bridge Air, where is there place for a MacBook? The C2D is about to become history.
The Mini is about to go Sandy Bridge, and it currently shares its logic board with the MacBook. They need the Mini or something like it to fill the demand for a headless model below the Pro tower at a lower price point and which doesn't cannibalize sales from the iMac. There is no reason to think that the Mini's upcoming board won't be shared with the Air or the Pro. The white MacBook is squeezed from top bottom and sides.
If Apple cut the XServe which had no squeezing from any side, they sure are capable of cutting the white MacBook.
The white plastic one went away for a stripped aluminum chassis model which then became the 13" pro model at a marginal price bump, bringing the plastic model back for the price point.
Like it or not many Mac Books are sold because of the plastic enclosure.
Quote:
Steve announced the design concept of the Air's was the direction of the future for laptops across the board. With a Sandy Bridge Air, where is there place for a MacBook? The C2D is about to become history.
Yep he said that and then a few months later we get the pathetic MBP update. It would e a nice direction to go in if Apple would actually follow through but that hasn't happened yet. Further making all computers more AIR like does not imply that MacBook is going away.
As to C2D Apple has more choices than ever for a decent Mac Book processor upgrade. In fact processors have little to do with selling laptops anymore, as long as the processor isn't a turkey they can stick just about anything in a Mac Book.
Quote:
The Mini is about to go Sandy Bridge, and it currently shares its logic board with the MacBook.
Where did that idea come from? Last I knew the logic boards where significantly different. Now sharing such boards wouldnt be a bad idea, I just haven't seen any evidence of such.
Quote:
They need the Mini or something like it to fill the demand for a headless model below the Pro tower at a lower price point and which doesn't cannibalize sales from the iMac.
Only a very ignorant management team would worry about cannibalization of their own product line. It is always far better to take sales from yourself than to let somebody else take those sales.
Quote:
There is no reason to think that the Mini's upcoming board won't be shared with the Air or the Pro. The white MacBook is squeezed from top bottom and sides.
Actually there are lots of reasons but number one is that you seem to be misinformed.
As for the ignorance about being squeezed Mac Book, before the new AIRs, was one of Apples best selling computers.
Quote:
If Apple cut the XServe which had no squeezing from any side, they sure are capable of cutting the white MacBook.
XServe was cut due to the lack of sales. Mac Book is a very good seller, big difference.
Apple is certainly capable of cutting the Mac Book but nothing in this post is a rational arguement for doing so.
The iPad is a potentially amazing tool for creating musical content, but then so are guitars and pianos and nobody calls them computers
So iPad is a creative tool?
Quote:
Just because something is a device doesn't mean it's not powerful, or flexible, or useful for both creation and consumption. I'm not using the word as a perjorative.
One normally sees a device as a single function element. An iPad is by definition a computer because one can simply change it's functionality simply be loading a new program. It really doesn't matter if the machine is running an app for music or spreadsheets, the fact that you load those programs from secondary store and the execute them at will makes it a computer.
The fact that iPad seems to be running an operating system that you don't like has nothing to do with the reality that the platform is a computer.
Quote:
I would go so far as to say that the reason that the iPad has succeeded where previous tablets failed is because it is a really good device and not a really bad computer.
I would go so far as to say you are making mountains out of mole hills. For many an iPad would be an ideal computer, mainly because they realize their needs and the utility of iPad. You can try to slag the iPad by calling it a device but many users simply call it their iPad. A device if you will that serves their COMPUTING needs.
Computer: Electronic device that is capable of connecting to the Internet.
Done. Entire iPad argument fixed.
This definition leaves out microwaves, ovens, speaker systems, powered NAS', cars (...except for some? I don't know much about cars...), and everything else with low to high electronic componentry.
Steve announced the design concept of the Air's was the direction of the future for laptops across the board. With a Sandy Bridge Air, where is there place for a MacBook? The C2D is about to become history.
If the MacBook will be updated, it will almost certainly get a Sandy Bridge processor, but a much less expensive Sandy Bridge processor than those which go into either model of the MacBook Air.
Because the 13" MacBook Pro kept the low resolution 1280x800 screen, there is no way an updated MacBook will get in 2011 the gorgeous high resolution 1440x900 screen that the 13" MacBook Air has. That is another differentiation between the MacBook and the 13" MacBook Air that will continue for at least another year (assuming the MacBook continues).
I'll grant you that it would make sense for an updated MacBook to drop the optical brick, which would bring it nearer to the MacBook Air in terms of weight (and possibly thickness). It would also allow a price drop from $999 to $899.
I would expect an updated MacBook to keep the HD rather go to SSD on a stick, again to keep costs down.
In short, I think there is ample differentiation between the MacBook and the MacBook Air and that neither model cannibalizes the other to anywhere close to 100%. Both are great sellers, so I don't think it makes sense to discontinue either one.
I think that's a very myopic view people take. This might be true in the US, but outside of the US the situation is completely different.
In India the white MacBook costs $1356 and the MBP 13" costs $1556. At those prices, the white MacBook is a very attractive choice considering that hardware/component wise they are almost the same minus some extra features like better casing, backlit keyboard etc. (assuming we're comparing same generation MB and MBPs).
I think the white MacBook is here to stay. I also read somewhere (sorry no citation) that the white MacBook is the highest selling mac. (I own the current model, and even prefer this design to the aluminium one). The educational discount is now only 6% here - I was lucky to get mine when it was still 12% - and it still cost me $1191. Basically I paid more for the white MB under edu discount than a person in the US would pay for the aluminum MBP. If the white MacBook is discontinued, the cheapest Apple laptop you could buy would cost $1500+ in the Indian market, and possibly a whole lot of non-Western-non-affluent markets would simply not be able to afford a mac.
MacBook Pro is much faster using a different architecture altogether, ThunderBolt, SD Card, more RAM, etc. MacBook Pro is the best selling Mac. No sense in making a point without correct information to back it up.
Call me when there's an iOS development environment that runs on iOS. Until then the iPad will remain a device rather than a true computer.
I think you're being way too specific. There's nothing that says an SDK has to run on the platform the development is being done for.
What's much more important is whether many computer users can use an iPad for what they do, and that is true. They can. Most computer users use their machines for the Internet, e-mail, IM, some games, some homework, reading, etc. All of this is doable from an iPad. I have apps that let me use it with PhotoShop. I can do video editing, 3D design work, drawing to spec, etc.
It's a work computer as well as an entertainment center. It's definitely a computer. And with all the complaints about it not being one until it can stand alone, well, that complaint will be gone soon as well. You're just being picky because you don't like the idea.
I remember the same kind of complaints when the Altair came out. But it didn't matter, even though the Altair did almost nothing at all. It was still a computer, and so is the iPad, and all other iOs devices for that matter.
No way! If the label the product MacBook without the pro moniker then it's a MacBook. You can't argue that. There is no leeway to say otherwise.
If they decide to continue to call it that, fine. But you know, people have been call g the low end MBP an MB, and not an MBP, so it could be the other way around as well.
But if it looks like an MBP, and works like an MBP, then it is an MBP.
I think Apple's economies of scale are large enough that a slightly more diverse product line makes economic sense compared to five years ago as a result of much higher overall Mac sales. Therefore, I would be a bit surprised if Apple were to discontinue the white plastic MacBook. It just had a fundamental case redesign in October 2009.
It's true that they are big enough. But Apple is also about not confusing people with too many choices.
If the Air becomes popular enough, and the price is there, then the MB is toast. It's been made very clear to everyone by Apple, and Jobs in particular, that the Air is the future of Apple laptops.
While I think that now is a good time to discontinue the MB, I'm also saying that Apple might not agree with the timing. But I would think that it may have, at most, one more year left.
Actually, I do. Parents buying their child their first laptop for school will likely look at price before anything else. The child will want a MacBook or MBP or something, but the parents will say "Yeah, but this [insert Wintel brand here] is so much cheaper!!!"
You're talking about a parent saying that about any Mac laptop, so it doesn't count. We're talking about an Air as opposed to a MB, or a MBP. And from the numbers we're reading about, a very large portion of students starting college are now buying Apple laptops. The last I read the numbers, it was something like a third of students were opting for an Apple product. And for the top colleges, it's over 50%.
A couple hundred bucks is quite a difference for many people. Especially students, those looking for the cheapest possible Mac notebook, etc. I'm not saying Apple should start making crappy machines - but the MacBook does represent a certain attainability to those used to $300 computers.
I don't think they'll discontinue it so much as differentiate further it from the crowd. Maybe that means lowering the price, or something else. But I doubt they'll discontinue it. It was their best-selling model when it first came out in 2006.
We really have to see what a new Air will be. I've noticed that, finally, after having remained pretty much stable for over a year, SSD prices have begun to come down. So a bigger SSd, would take care of much of the storage problem over the older Airs.
Then, it comes down to screen size and processor power. Screen size is a toss-up. Lots of people who want the portability and weight difference opt for the 11" screen, the new processors should be more than powerful enough.
The only real differences that may make a difference for many people would be the Cd, and FireWire. Other than that, I think that most buyers of the old MB would go for the Air, as it costs the same, if you opt for the smaller model.
And we really have no idea what Apple will be doing to these things.
I still think,, along with some others, that the Macbook will be discontinued at some point. Possibly that time is now.
The low end MacBook Pro is just a couple of hundred bucks more. So people who need those features can migrate up to that. The rest may be happier with an Air.
I have to disagree. The MacBook Pro is too expensive and the MacBook Air has no super drive, so Apple will probably continue producing the MacBook.
I have to disagree. The MacBook Pro is too expensive and the MacBook Air has no super drive, so Apple will probably continue producing the MacBook.
The MacBook currently is a stopgap product for Apple. They really want people to either buy iPads, Airs, or Pros. The MacBook will be killed off soon but the time might not be now. Maybe if the iPad gains even more desktop functionality next year with iOS 6 there may be no need for most to get an entry level laptop, like the MacBook.
Last time I looked on Apples web site the MacBook was out selling the AIR. Like it or not MacBook has been a very good seller for Apple.
Quote:
Originally Posted by melgross
We really have to see what a new Air will be. I've noticed that, finally, after having remained pretty much stable for over a year, SSD prices have begun to come down. So a bigger SSd, would take care of much of the storage problem over the older Airs.
A bigger SSD would go a long way to attracking more of the MacBook crowd. However there is a lot more about the MacBook that appeals to many.
Quote:
Then, it comes down to screen size and processor power.
don't forget battery performance.
Quote:
Screen size is a toss-up. Lots of people who want the portability and weight difference opt for the 11" screen, the new processors should be more than powerful enough.
Processor power and satisfaction depends a lot on the individual. Many have tried out the AIRs and rejected them based on processor performance. Sure the new chips will be better but we are talking anything close to MacBook Pro performance. At least not for users with software needs that demand lots of threads.
Quote:
The only real differences that may make a difference for many people would be the Cd, and FireWire. Other than that, I think that most buyers of the old MB would go for the Air, as it costs the same, if you opt for the smaller model.
That isn't the current situation. Will the new AIRs change that? Hard to say especially if Mac Book gets updated at the same time. My point is the selection process isn't as clear as you would like it to be. People see value in different ways and some just like plastic.
Quote:
And we really have no idea what Apple will be doing to these things.
Yep that is the big issue. One safe guess is TB ports all around. More custome parts to further shrink the PC board is another. A price reduction on the Mac Book is also possible. In the end two weeks of torture is assured.
I hope that Apple doesn't discontinue the MacBook because I like the design and I honestly don't want an aluminum laptop. I know that the 11.6 inch MBA is the same price, but sometimes I burn CDs and I don't want to buy an external CD/DVD drive. The other reason I hope it isn't discontinued is because I don't want to earn more money for a MBP.
But the more expensive Pro outsells the MacBook...
Exactly! AIR is a fantastic success it is not however out selling many of Apples products.
Quote:
We'll see what happens but I don't think the white MacBook is as important to Apple's Mac business as it was a few years ago.
I don't know about that. You have a products that sell well with little effort on Apples part. Mac Book makes gold for Apple with little outlay in silver.
Comments
Ok I'll try to explain this to you using small words. You can't do that here. How was that?
The number of movies that are available for rent on iTunes in the UK is very small, TV shows are not available at all for rent. Even sale of shows and movies are erratic in the UK store. For example you can get grey's anatomy Seasons 1,2,3,4 & 7 in the UK but not Seasons 5 or 6. You can get Star Trek Voyager seasons 1 but no further. You can get DS9 S1-3, at $50 per season. Buffy at $30 per season.
I actually do get my media on iTunes but then I maintain a US account using a friends postal address and prepaid cards bought online, so I have access to the US store.
I also live in Europe and do the same. What's the problem? It's a much better deal than renting DVDs.
They aren't going to update the white MacBook. Its history, Done. Over. That handwriting has been on the wall quite a while. The recent sales success of the Air only put the last nail in the coffin.
Your argument presumes that all or nearly all MacBook Air sales are cannibalizing MacBook sales rather than additional Mac sales to people who would otherwise not have bought a MacBook. I have seen no evidence to support such a presumption. Obviously, some MacBook Air sales cannibalize MacBook sales and some do not. I don't know whether that's 20%/80%, 50%/50%,
or 80%/20%. Even if the cannibalization rate were 80% (which seems extremely unlikely), that would mean that MacBook sales are 25% of MacBook Air sales, which would be more than a million MacBooks per year. If Apple were to discontinue the MacBook, some of those million plus per year buyers would buy a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, but some would not. Apple would lose at least a quarter million sales per year (best case scenario) but probably about a million sales per year (more likely scenario) and perhaps a few million per year (worst case scenario).
Why would Apple want to reduce Mac sales by very roughly about a million per year?
I also live in Europe and do the same. What's the problem? It's a much better deal than renting DVDs.
Your argument presumes that all or nearly all MacBook Air sales are cannibalizing MacBook sales rather than additional Mac sales to people who would otherwise not have bought a MacBook. I have seen no evidence to support such a presumption. Obviously, some MacBook Air sales cannibalize MacBook sales and some do not. I don't know whether that's 20%/80%, 50%/50%,
or 80%/20%. Even if the cannibalization rate were 80% (which seems extremely unlikely), that would mean that MacBook sales are 25% of MacBook Air sales, which would be more than a million MacBooks per year. If Apple were to discontinue the MacBook, some of those million plus per year buyers would buy a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, but some would not. Apple would lose at least a quarter million sales per year (best case scenario) but probably about a million sales per year (more likely scenario) and perhaps a few million per year (worst case scenario).
Why would Apple want to reduce Mac sales by very roughly about a million per year?
There was an attempt to kill it before.
The white plastic one went away for a stripped aluminum chassis model which then became the 13" pro model at a marginal price bump, bringing the plastic model back for the price point.
Steve announced the design concept of the Air's was the direction of the future for laptops across the board. With a Sandy Bridge Air, where is there place for a MacBook? The C2D is about to become history.
The Mini is about to go Sandy Bridge, and it currently shares its logic board with the MacBook. They need the Mini or something like it to fill the demand for a headless model below the Pro tower at a lower price point and which doesn't cannibalize sales from the iMac. There is no reason to think that the Mini's upcoming board won't be shared with the Air or the Pro. The white MacBook is squeezed from top bottom and sides.
If Apple cut the XServe which had no squeezing from any side, they sure are capable of cutting the white MacBook.
If Apple cut the XServe which had no squeezing from any side, they sure are capable of cutting the white MacBook.
It had no squeezing because it had no sales, the macbook does - lots.
There was an attempt to kill it before.
The white plastic one went away for a stripped aluminum chassis model which then became the 13" pro model at a marginal price bump, bringing the plastic model back for the price point.
Like it or not many Mac Books are sold because of the plastic enclosure.
Steve announced the design concept of the Air's was the direction of the future for laptops across the board. With a Sandy Bridge Air, where is there place for a MacBook? The C2D is about to become history.
Yep he said that and then a few months later we get the pathetic MBP update. It would e a nice direction to go in if Apple would actually follow through but that hasn't happened yet. Further making all computers more AIR like does not imply that MacBook is going away.
As to C2D Apple has more choices than ever for a decent Mac Book processor upgrade. In fact processors have little to do with selling laptops anymore, as long as the processor isn't a turkey they can stick just about anything in a Mac Book.
The Mini is about to go Sandy Bridge, and it currently shares its logic board with the MacBook.
Where did that idea come from? Last I knew the logic boards where significantly different. Now sharing such boards wouldnt be a bad idea, I just haven't seen any evidence of such.
They need the Mini or something like it to fill the demand for a headless model below the Pro tower at a lower price point and which doesn't cannibalize sales from the iMac.
Only a very ignorant management team would worry about cannibalization of their own product line. It is always far better to take sales from yourself than to let somebody else take those sales.
There is no reason to think that the Mini's upcoming board won't be shared with the Air or the Pro. The white MacBook is squeezed from top bottom and sides.
Actually there are lots of reasons but number one is that you seem to be misinformed.
As for the ignorance about being squeezed Mac Book, before the new AIRs, was one of Apples best selling computers.
If Apple cut the XServe which had no squeezing from any side, they sure are capable of cutting the white MacBook.
XServe was cut due to the lack of sales. Mac Book is a very good seller, big difference.
Apple is certainly capable of cutting the Mac Book but nothing in this post is a rational arguement for doing so.
The iPad is a potentially amazing tool for creating musical content, but then so are guitars and pianos and nobody calls them computers
So iPad is a creative tool?
Just because something is a device doesn't mean it's not powerful, or flexible, or useful for both creation and consumption. I'm not using the word as a perjorative.
One normally sees a device as a single function element. An iPad is by definition a computer because one can simply change it's functionality simply be loading a new program. It really doesn't matter if the machine is running an app for music or spreadsheets, the fact that you load those programs from secondary store and the execute them at will makes it a computer.
The fact that iPad seems to be running an operating system that you don't like has nothing to do with the reality that the platform is a computer.
I would go so far as to say that the reason that the iPad has succeeded where previous tablets failed is because it is a really good device and not a really bad computer.
I would go so far as to say you are making mountains out of mole hills. For many an iPad would be an ideal computer, mainly because they realize their needs and the utility of iPad. You can try to slag the iPad by calling it a device but many users simply call it their iPad. A device if you will that serves their COMPUTING needs.
Redefine it.
Computer: Electronic device that is capable of connecting to the Internet.
Done. Entire iPad argument fixed.
This definition leaves out microwaves, ovens, speaker systems, powered NAS', cars (...except for some? I don't know much about cars...), and everything else with low to high electronic componentry.
Steve announced the design concept of the Air's was the direction of the future for laptops across the board. With a Sandy Bridge Air, where is there place for a MacBook? The C2D is about to become history.
If the MacBook will be updated, it will almost certainly get a Sandy Bridge processor, but a much less expensive Sandy Bridge processor than those which go into either model of the MacBook Air.
Because the 13" MacBook Pro kept the low resolution 1280x800 screen, there is no way an updated MacBook will get in 2011 the gorgeous high resolution 1440x900 screen that the 13" MacBook Air has. That is another differentiation between the MacBook and the 13" MacBook Air that will continue for at least another year (assuming the MacBook continues).
I'll grant you that it would make sense for an updated MacBook to drop the optical brick, which would bring it nearer to the MacBook Air in terms of weight (and possibly thickness). It would also allow a price drop from $999 to $899.
I would expect an updated MacBook to keep the HD rather go to SSD on a stick, again to keep costs down.
In short, I think there is ample differentiation between the MacBook and the MacBook Air and that neither model cannibalizes the other to anywhere close to 100%. Both are great sellers, so I don't think it makes sense to discontinue either one.
I think that's a very myopic view people take. This might be true in the US, but outside of the US the situation is completely different.
In India the white MacBook costs $1356 and the MBP 13" costs $1556. At those prices, the white MacBook is a very attractive choice considering that hardware/component wise they are almost the same minus some extra features like better casing, backlit keyboard etc. (assuming we're comparing same generation MB and MBPs).
I think the white MacBook is here to stay. I also read somewhere (sorry no citation) that the white MacBook is the highest selling mac. (I own the current model, and even prefer this design to the aluminium one). The educational discount is now only 6% here - I was lucky to get mine when it was still 12% - and it still cost me $1191. Basically I paid more for the white MB under edu discount than a person in the US would pay for the aluminum MBP. If the white MacBook is discontinued, the cheapest Apple laptop you could buy would cost $1500+ in the Indian market, and possibly a whole lot of non-Western-non-affluent markets would simply not be able to afford a mac.
MacBook Pro is much faster using a different architecture altogether, ThunderBolt, SD Card, more RAM, etc. MacBook Pro is the best selling Mac. No sense in making a point without correct information to back it up.
Call me when there's an iOS development environment that runs on iOS. Until then the iPad will remain a device rather than a true computer.
I think you're being way too specific. There's nothing that says an SDK has to run on the platform the development is being done for.
What's much more important is whether many computer users can use an iPad for what they do, and that is true. They can. Most computer users use their machines for the Internet, e-mail, IM, some games, some homework, reading, etc. All of this is doable from an iPad. I have apps that let me use it with PhotoShop. I can do video editing, 3D design work, drawing to spec, etc.
It's a work computer as well as an entertainment center. It's definitely a computer. And with all the complaints about it not being one until it can stand alone, well, that complaint will be gone soon as well. You're just being picky because you don't like the idea.
I remember the same kind of complaints when the Altair came out. But it didn't matter, even though the Altair did almost nothing at all. It was still a computer, and so is the iPad, and all other iOs devices for that matter.
No way! If the label the product MacBook without the pro moniker then it's a MacBook. You can't argue that. There is no leeway to say otherwise.
If they decide to continue to call it that, fine. But you know, people have been call g the low end MBP an MB, and not an MBP, so it could be the other way around as well.
But if it looks like an MBP, and works like an MBP, then it is an MBP.
I think Apple's economies of scale are large enough that a slightly more diverse product line makes economic sense compared to five years ago as a result of much higher overall Mac sales. Therefore, I would be a bit surprised if Apple were to discontinue the white plastic MacBook. It just had a fundamental case redesign in October 2009.
It's true that they are big enough. But Apple is also about not confusing people with too many choices.
If the Air becomes popular enough, and the price is there, then the MB is toast. It's been made very clear to everyone by Apple, and Jobs in particular, that the Air is the future of Apple laptops.
While I think that now is a good time to discontinue the MB, I'm also saying that Apple might not agree with the timing. But I would think that it may have, at most, one more year left.
Slide rules are pro.
I still have my three. But they were really just good for seat of the pants calculations.
Actually, I do. Parents buying their child their first laptop for school will likely look at price before anything else. The child will want a MacBook or MBP or something, but the parents will say "Yeah, but this [insert Wintel brand here] is so much cheaper!!!"
You're talking about a parent saying that about any Mac laptop, so it doesn't count. We're talking about an Air as opposed to a MB, or a MBP. And from the numbers we're reading about, a very large portion of students starting college are now buying Apple laptops. The last I read the numbers, it was something like a third of students were opting for an Apple product. And for the top colleges, it's over 50%.
A couple hundred bucks is quite a difference for many people. Especially students, those looking for the cheapest possible Mac notebook, etc. I'm not saying Apple should start making crappy machines - but the MacBook does represent a certain attainability to those used to $300 computers.
I don't think they'll discontinue it so much as differentiate further it from the crowd. Maybe that means lowering the price, or something else. But I doubt they'll discontinue it. It was their best-selling model when it first came out in 2006.
We really have to see what a new Air will be. I've noticed that, finally, after having remained pretty much stable for over a year, SSD prices have begun to come down. So a bigger SSd, would take care of much of the storage problem over the older Airs.
Then, it comes down to screen size and processor power. Screen size is a toss-up. Lots of people who want the portability and weight difference opt for the 11" screen, the new processors should be more than powerful enough.
The only real differences that may make a difference for many people would be the Cd, and FireWire. Other than that, I think that most buyers of the old MB would go for the Air, as it costs the same, if you opt for the smaller model.
And we really have no idea what Apple will be doing to these things.
I still think,, along with some others, that the Macbook will be discontinued at some point. Possibly that time is now.
The low end MacBook Pro is just a couple of hundred bucks more. So people who need those features can migrate up to that. The rest may be happier with an Air.
I have to disagree. The MacBook Pro is too expensive and the MacBook Air has no super drive, so Apple will probably continue producing the MacBook.
I have to disagree. The MacBook Pro is too expensive and the MacBook Air has no super drive, so Apple will probably continue producing the MacBook.
The MacBook currently is a stopgap product for Apple. They really want people to either buy iPads, Airs, or Pros. The MacBook will be killed off soon but the time might not be now. Maybe if the iPad gains even more desktop functionality next year with iOS 6 there may be no need for most to get an entry level laptop, like the MacBook.
We really have to see what a new Air will be. I've noticed that, finally, after having remained pretty much stable for over a year, SSD prices have begun to come down. So a bigger SSd, would take care of much of the storage problem over the older Airs.
A bigger SSD would go a long way to attracking more of the MacBook crowd. However there is a lot more about the MacBook that appeals to many.
Then, it comes down to screen size and processor power.
don't forget battery performance.
Screen size is a toss-up. Lots of people who want the portability and weight difference opt for the 11" screen, the new processors should be more than powerful enough.
Processor power and satisfaction depends a lot on the individual. Many have tried out the AIRs and rejected them based on processor performance. Sure the new chips will be better but we are talking anything close to MacBook Pro performance. At least not for users with software needs that demand lots of threads.
The only real differences that may make a difference for many people would be the Cd, and FireWire. Other than that, I think that most buyers of the old MB would go for the Air, as it costs the same, if you opt for the smaller model.
That isn't the current situation. Will the new AIRs change that? Hard to say especially if Mac Book gets updated at the same time. My point is the selection process isn't as clear as you would like it to be. People see value in different ways and some just like plastic.
And we really have no idea what Apple will be doing to these things.
Yep that is the big issue. One safe guess is TB ports all around. More custome parts to further shrink the PC board is another. A price reduction on the Mac Book is also possible. In the end two weeks of torture is assured.
Last time I looked on Apples web site the MacBook was out selling the AIR. Like it or not MacBook has been a very good seller for Apple.
But the more expensive Pro outsells the MacBook...
We'll see what happens but I don't think the white MacBook is as important to Apple's Mac business as it was a few years ago.
But the more expensive Pro outsells the MacBook...
Exactly! AIR is a fantastic success it is not however out selling many of Apples products.
We'll see what happens but I don't think the white MacBook is as important to Apple's Mac business as it was a few years ago.
I don't know about that. You have a products that sell well with little effort on Apples part. Mac Book makes gold for Apple with little outlay in silver.