Less than 10%? Where did he pull that out of? Apple called it their best selling mac in the last video they made of it, that was very recent.
I have heard Apple say this as well, that the white MacBook is their best selling mac, but that is a vague statement. If you look at the numbers for the last 5 years, then I believe it probably is the best selling. However, I bet if you looked at the sales figures for only the last 12 months, the White MacBook is probably in severe decline. I see very few people toting these around compared to the Pros and the Airs, and I work at a large university where laptops are everywhere.
So, it can be both the best seller, and at the same time, less than 10% currently.
The 11 inch air is not an alternative to the 13 inch MacBook, primarily because of the screen size. Battery life and lack of optical drive are the other two factors getting in the way.
The 13" MacBook is a great entry level machine that people are comfortable with. It would make sense for Apple to maintain that machine at a lower price point. Hitting $899 or even $799 would be great for sales overall. It would bring over more converts that think Mac laptops are overpriced.
This is my thought exactly!
There is a huge market for High School and College students who purchase these computers. They want optical drives for watching movies, they want the durability of the white plastic, and they want the larger 13" screen. Many of them need wired ethernet for their dorm rooms - without another dongle to lose.
The white macbook rocks for this market. At $799 it would be even better!
I have heard Apple say this as well, that the white MacBook is their best selling mac, but that is a vague statement. If you look at the numbers for the last 5 years, then I believe it probably is the best selling. However, I bet if you looked at the sales figures for only the last 12 months, the White MacBook is probably in severe decline. I see very few people toting these around compared to the Pros and the Airs, and I work at a large university where laptops are everywhere.
So, it can be both the best seller, and at the same time, less than 10% currently.
Looking at the Apple website the Macbook Pro and iMac outsell the Macbook.
The White Macbook needs to adapt to survive. Whether or not it's true, to many people the iPad is the "affordable Apple computer". If the Macbook Pro Aluminum drops to $999 next year with Carbon Fiber MBP's taking the higher price points, then there is little reason for anyone to buy a Macbook.
There is a huge market for High School and College students who purchase these computers. They want optical drives for watching movies, they want the durability of the white plastic, and they want the larger 13" screen. Many of them need wired ethernet for their dorm rooms - without another dongle to lose.
The white macbook rocks for this market. At $799 it would be even better!
I see a bunch of you guys saying $799. What if Apple can't make it for $799? Has anyone thought of that? There always seems to be an assumption that prices can be lowered to whatever people want it to be.
Looking at the Apple website the Macbook Pro and iMac outsell the Macbook.
The White Macbook needs to adapt to survive. Whether or not it's true, to many people the iPad is the "affordable Apple computer". If the Macbook Pro Aluminum drops to $999 next year with Carbon Fiber MBP's taking the higher price points, then there is little reason for anyone to buy a Macbook.
I agree that the white MacBook is likely on it's way out...it just looks very out of place. But what's this about carbon fiber MBPs? I definitely do not think this is where Apple is going.
I see a bunch of you guys saying $799. What if Apple can't make it for $799? Has anyone thought of that? There always seems to be an assumption that prices can be lowered to whatever people want it to be.
Apple has the highest profit margins of any PC manufacturer. The Macbook is being profitably sold for $899 to students right now. If they wouldn't make money at $799 I'd be shocked because:
a: 1280x800 13 inch screens are not expensive to manufacture
b: Using an i3 would remove the need to also have a 320m (I could be wrong on this)
c: 250 GB harddrives are dirt cheap
d: Apple has mastered the production of touch-components for trackpads
e: It's made out of plastic
I know that simply listing component prices is idiotic for laptops as well-designed as Apple's, but I don't doubt they're collecting at least $200 per Macbook even with student discounts.
I see a bunch of you guys saying $799. What if Apple can't make it for $799? Has anyone thought of that? There always seems to be an assumption that prices can be lowered to whatever people want it to be.
Exactly~ I can't see a way that they will have a $799 MacBook, no matter what enclosure it has. But to even attempt it, they would have to stick with white plastic, which should not even be an option. If they did try this, it would totally compete in the iPad price range. In addition, I think we can all agree that white plastic is a very dated design, and Apple really needs to get rid of this once and for all.
Apple was on the right track in 2008 when the MacBooks made the jump from white plastic to aluminum unibody. But, then a year later they reverted back to white plastic? This decision never made any sense to me.
While some industry-watchers believe the white MacBook could continue to serve as a low-cost, entry-level Mac with a price reduction (similar to what Apple has done with the iPhone 3GS), it's uncertain that the Cupertino-based company remains interested in continuing to market the hefty, previous-generation design alongside its sleek new Mac OS Lion operating system.[/url][/c]
I'd really like to see a price-competitive entry-level MacBook- something to compete with the $400-$700 Windows-based laptops that are out there. When my 5 y.o. desktop PC died in April I was eager to get a mac of some sort - but frankly couldn't afford it. For my basic home needs (surfing, email, FB, photo file management) I could get a $500 laptop that was thinner and sleeker (and had a bigger screen) than the poor 13-inch MacBook. (We'll still go Apple someday, but I just couldn't justify the added expense in this case.)
Apple could introduce a lot of future customers to the Apple universe if they had something more competitive on price.
The 11 inch air is not an alternative to the 13 inch MacBook, primarily because of the screen size. Battery life and lack of optical drive are the other two factors getting in the way.
The 13" MacBook is a great entry level machine that people are comfortable with. It would make sense for Apple to maintain that machine at a lower price point. Hitting $899 or even $799 would be great for sales overall. It would bring over more converts that think Mac laptops are overpriced.
Totally agree. [In April, I purchased a 15" Windows-based laptop, built-in WiFi, DVD drive, etc, for $700 -- and that was with me walking into the Best Buy interested in buying an Apple product. (And no, a salesman didn't talk me out of it... though their Apple guy was pretty non-functional; it simply boiled down to price and features.)
Apple could get into a lot more homes (meaning: a lot more potential buyers of additional Apple products) if they had something that would compete with this sort of laptop on a price basis.
I really don't understand the posters saying Apple will trash the MacBook line. I can't think of any reason why they would remove a popular and positive brand just to settle with only the MBA and MBP brands.
Getting rid of the plastic casing and moving the current MBP casing into the MacBook arena makes a lot more sense. Apple needs to grow their brands, not reduce them!
The Mac Mini is in a special segment. The MacBook isn't. Not any longer.
You seem to be saying they 1) can't drop the price of the MacBook any farther than $999 and still make a solid profit [yet there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to support they can and should], 2) that they can't make $999 computer with aluminum [yet they do with both the 11" MBA and eve cheaper Mac mini which can be seen as "over engineered" to be milled from a solid block of aluminium], and 3) that they will willfully remove the MB line from their ranks to support only the MBA and MBP lines. Is this correct?
All segments are special cases but what is so special about the Mac mini that would make it's aluminum cheaper and more worthwhile to produce over the MB? Are you suggesting the MB sells less than Mac mini, a desktop PC?
Sometimes the iPad mangles my words so badly, I can't figure out what I wrote, and have to start again!
The worst part is the mangling of web adresses. You would think that once the spell checker sees www. it would stop spell checking right there. Maybe I should apply for a patent on that simple concept.
I have heard Apple say this as well, that the white MacBook is their best selling mac, but that is a vague statement. If you look at the numbers for the last 5 years, then I believe it probably is the best selling. However, I bet if you looked at the sales figures for only the last 12 months, the White MacBook is probably in severe decline. I see very few people toting these around compared to the Pros and the Airs, and I work at a large university where laptops are everywhere.
So, it can be both the best seller, and at the same time, less than 10% currently.
I hate to tell you this but university sales are more about status than anything. MacBook is a much better value to people that actually evaluate what they are buying.
I see a bunch of you guys saying $799. What if Apple can't make it for $799? Has anyone thought of that? There always seems to be an assumption that prices can be lowered to whatever people want it to be.
There is plenty of evidence that they can lower the price and still make a profit. The reality is this, the extra quality in a MacBook does not cost that much. One only has to look at similar HP hardware to realize Apple can move pricing downwards. The fundamental reality is that the hardware is the same, with a few extensions thrown in by Apple.
Now I don't expect Apple to meet HPs prices, but I do believe they can hit $800 without loosing margin. They would do that by trimming out the fat and going to AMD. Frankly AMD with it's Fusion line would make for a very capable MacBook. Especially if they can offer up an SSD boot drive.
Comments
"Mamestizomes"? Should that be "many times"?
That's the best spellcheck mangling I've seen in ages.
Sometimes the iPad mangles my words so badly, I can't figure out what I wrote, and have to start again!
Ha, I remember that thread
Amazing, isn't it?
Less than 10%? Where did he pull that out of? Apple called it their best selling mac in the last video they made of it, that was very recent.
I have heard Apple say this as well, that the white MacBook is their best selling mac, but that is a vague statement. If you look at the numbers for the last 5 years, then I believe it probably is the best selling. However, I bet if you looked at the sales figures for only the last 12 months, the White MacBook is probably in severe decline. I see very few people toting these around compared to the Pros and the Airs, and I work at a large university where laptops are everywhere.
So, it can be both the best seller, and at the same time, less than 10% currently.
The 11 inch air is not an alternative to the 13 inch MacBook, primarily because of the screen size. Battery life and lack of optical drive are the other two factors getting in the way.
The 13" MacBook is a great entry level machine that people are comfortable with. It would make sense for Apple to maintain that machine at a lower price point. Hitting $899 or even $799 would be great for sales overall. It would bring over more converts that think Mac laptops are overpriced.
This is my thought exactly!
There is a huge market for High School and College students who purchase these computers. They want optical drives for watching movies, they want the durability of the white plastic, and they want the larger 13" screen. Many of them need wired ethernet for their dorm rooms - without another dongle to lose.
The white macbook rocks for this market. At $799 it would be even better!
It should be redesigned to be just like the MacBook Air but made out of plastic.
Then what's the point of it?
It should have mini DisplayPort but not Thunderbolt.
This is abject nonsense and you know it.
The white MacBook's purpose is to be a MacBook Air with an ODD and longer battery life. Making it into a plastic MacBook Air is completely pointless.
I have heard Apple say this as well, that the white MacBook is their best selling mac, but that is a vague statement. If you look at the numbers for the last 5 years, then I believe it probably is the best selling. However, I bet if you looked at the sales figures for only the last 12 months, the White MacBook is probably in severe decline. I see very few people toting these around compared to the Pros and the Airs, and I work at a large university where laptops are everywhere.
So, it can be both the best seller, and at the same time, less than 10% currently.
Looking at the Apple website the Macbook Pro and iMac outsell the Macbook.
The White Macbook needs to adapt to survive. Whether or not it's true, to many people the iPad is the "affordable Apple computer". If the Macbook Pro Aluminum drops to $999 next year with Carbon Fiber MBP's taking the higher price points, then there is little reason for anyone to buy a Macbook.
This is my thought exactly!
There is a huge market for High School and College students who purchase these computers. They want optical drives for watching movies, they want the durability of the white plastic, and they want the larger 13" screen. Many of them need wired ethernet for their dorm rooms - without another dongle to lose.
The white macbook rocks for this market. At $799 it would be even better!
I see a bunch of you guys saying $799. What if Apple can't make it for $799? Has anyone thought of that? There always seems to be an assumption that prices can be lowered to whatever people want it to be.
Looking at the Apple website the Macbook Pro and iMac outsell the Macbook.
The White Macbook needs to adapt to survive. Whether or not it's true, to many people the iPad is the "affordable Apple computer". If the Macbook Pro Aluminum drops to $999 next year with Carbon Fiber MBP's taking the higher price points, then there is little reason for anyone to buy a Macbook.
I agree that the white MacBook is likely on it's way out...it just looks very out of place. But what's this about carbon fiber MBPs? I definitely do not think this is where Apple is going.
I see a bunch of you guys saying $799. What if Apple can't make it for $799? Has anyone thought of that? There always seems to be an assumption that prices can be lowered to whatever people want it to be.
Apple has the highest profit margins of any PC manufacturer. The Macbook is being profitably sold for $899 to students right now. If they wouldn't make money at $799 I'd be shocked because:
a: 1280x800 13 inch screens are not expensive to manufacture
b: Using an i3 would remove the need to also have a 320m (I could be wrong on this)
c: 250 GB harddrives are dirt cheap
d: Apple has mastered the production of touch-components for trackpads
e: It's made out of plastic
I know that simply listing component prices is idiotic for laptops as well-designed as Apple's, but I don't doubt they're collecting at least $200 per Macbook even with student discounts.
I see a bunch of you guys saying $799. What if Apple can't make it for $799? Has anyone thought of that? There always seems to be an assumption that prices can be lowered to whatever people want it to be.
Exactly~ I can't see a way that they will have a $799 MacBook, no matter what enclosure it has. But to even attempt it, they would have to stick with white plastic, which should not even be an option. If they did try this, it would totally compete in the iPad price range. In addition, I think we can all agree that white plastic is a very dated design, and Apple really needs to get rid of this once and for all.
Apple was on the right track in 2008 when the MacBooks made the jump from white plastic to aluminum unibody. But, then a year later they reverted back to white plastic? This decision never made any sense to me.
While some industry-watchers believe the white MacBook could continue to serve as a low-cost, entry-level Mac with a price reduction (similar to what Apple has done with the iPhone 3GS), it's uncertain that the Cupertino-based company remains interested in continuing to market the hefty, previous-generation design alongside its sleek new Mac OS Lion operating system.[/url][/c]
I'd really like to see a price-competitive entry-level MacBook- something to compete with the $400-$700 Windows-based laptops that are out there. When my 5 y.o. desktop PC died in April I was eager to get a mac of some sort - but frankly couldn't afford it. For my basic home needs (surfing, email, FB, photo file management) I could get a $500 laptop that was thinner and sleeker (and had a bigger screen) than the poor 13-inch MacBook. (We'll still go Apple someday, but I just couldn't justify the added expense in this case.)
Apple could introduce a lot of future customers to the Apple universe if they had something more competitive on price.
The 11 inch air is not an alternative to the 13 inch MacBook, primarily because of the screen size. Battery life and lack of optical drive are the other two factors getting in the way.
The 13" MacBook is a great entry level machine that people are comfortable with. It would make sense for Apple to maintain that machine at a lower price point. Hitting $899 or even $799 would be great for sales overall. It would bring over more converts that think Mac laptops are overpriced.
Totally agree. [In April, I purchased a 15" Windows-based laptop, built-in WiFi, DVD drive, etc, for $700 -- and that was with me walking into the Best Buy interested in buying an Apple product. (And no, a salesman didn't talk me out of it... though their Apple guy was pretty non-functional; it simply boiled down to price and features.)
Apple could get into a lot more homes (meaning: a lot more potential buyers of additional Apple products) if they had something that would compete with this sort of laptop on a price basis.
Getting rid of the plastic casing and moving the current MBP casing into the MacBook arena makes a lot more sense. Apple needs to grow their brands, not reduce them!
The Mac Mini is in a special segment. The MacBook isn't. Not any longer.
Sometimes the iPad mangles my words so badly, I can't figure out what I wrote, and have to start again!
The worst part is the mangling of web adresses. You would think that once the spell checker sees www. it would stop spell checking right there. Maybe I should apply for a patent on that simple concept.
"Mamestizomes"? Should that be "many times"?
That's the best spellcheck mangling I've seen in ages.
Gotta say, I hit cmd-ctrl-d just to make sure I wasn't missing something major .
I have heard Apple say this as well, that the white MacBook is their best selling mac, but that is a vague statement. If you look at the numbers for the last 5 years, then I believe it probably is the best selling. However, I bet if you looked at the sales figures for only the last 12 months, the White MacBook is probably in severe decline. I see very few people toting these around compared to the Pros and the Airs, and I work at a large university where laptops are everywhere.
So, it can be both the best seller, and at the same time, less than 10% currently.
I hate to tell you this but university sales are more about status than anything. MacBook is a much better value to people that actually evaluate what they are buying.
I see a bunch of you guys saying $799. What if Apple can't make it for $799? Has anyone thought of that? There always seems to be an assumption that prices can be lowered to whatever people want it to be.
There is plenty of evidence that they can lower the price and still make a profit. The reality is this, the extra quality in a MacBook does not cost that much. One only has to look at similar HP hardware to realize Apple can move pricing downwards. The fundamental reality is that the hardware is the same, with a few extensions thrown in by Apple.
Now I don't expect Apple to meet HPs prices, but I do believe they can hit $800 without loosing margin. They would do that by trimming out the fat and going to AMD. Frankly AMD with it's Fusion line would make for a very capable MacBook. Especially if they can offer up an SSD boot drive.
Ha, I remember that thread
the classic shall never die
i feel to buy one just to have
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