When it comes to size and potability, the 13 inch MacBook Air and 13 inch MacBook Pro are in DESPERATE need of a refresh.
Looking at the 13 inch sizing:
MacBook Air:
i7-5650U / HD 6000
1440 x 900
2.96 lbs
MacBook Pro:
i7-5557U / HD 6100
2560 x 1600
3.48 lbs
VAIO Z:
i7-6567U / HD 550
2560 x 1440
2.58 lbs
The VAIO Z weighs less than the MBA and is more powerful than the MBP. What purpose does the MacBook Air have at all? A much slimmer and lighter MBP can simply replace the MBA.
Why did you paste the picture of a MacBook Pro and airbrush VAIO on it?
I do hope you're joking, but I imagine you're not. The VAIO Z and the MacBook Pro are quite different. The obvious being the use of aluminum and carbon fibre on the VAIO. Love them or hate them, high end VAIO devices have always had some very unique designs, often over-engineered and in some cases, ahead of their time, such as the 2012 VAIO Z.
It would be interesting to know what the percentages by brand of laptops that are in use. I'm still using a MBP from 2009 and am quite happy with it (with RAM, SSD, and battery upgrades). At work I'm on my 3rd Dell Latitude during that period, and none of them were due to hardware failures but instead obsolescence.
Wouldn't RAM and SSD help those Dell machines just as they did help your Mac..? Or is it company policy to refresh hardware every 3 or so years?
It's more of company policy to refresh. They've learned that older machines running Windows get to be really slow and unusable after about 4 years. My previous one had sufficient RAM for my needs and an SSD yet it was fairly poky.
People have been justifying what Apple does for quite a while declaring they are high end versus low end. Apple has moved beyond the high end though. They are in the realm of boutique. I love my mid-2010 MacBook Pro and with a birthday coming up I'd love to upgrade. However I have 8 gigs of RAM in my laptop and a 1.5 TB hard drive. I enjoy putting together videos footage with the action cams I have on my bike.
iMovie at this stage has become a joke. It used to be my favorite program to use. Final Cut Pro was revised, reviled and has been dying on the vine every since.
I can't buy a new laptop from Apple with any sort of any expandability. They've locked the SSD's to the computer. They don't offer any sort of combination with large SSD and even larger HD. They don't even offer the larger sizes of SSD for the money they are charging.
It isn't just about updates of processors. The value proposition has fallen behind competitors. The software that created synergy around the Apple solution is neglected or second rate. Finally you can't even presume the computer is just a starting point. There is no RAM expansion, no means of adding a larger HD, nothing.
The MacBook is a great innovation, but a single port computer with a 12" display shouldn't start at €1,499 here. Do you think that could be one of the reasons why they are selling less of them?
Not necessarily as this was the March quarter with a year-old MacBook. If the trend continues in the June quarter that argument makes more sense. hungedu said:
The 12" Retina Macbook with no significant updates was a nail in the coffin for Mac sales this year. People have other choices now, like the new HP Spectre that sports multiple USB-C ports and is just as thin.
But the Spectre weighs more, is much larger overall, and it also has a lower quality screen. Skylake and the faster SSD actually make for a decent update. Nothing earth shattering, but then again when does Apple make radical changes to a year-old product? They didn't do so with the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, the original MacBook line (2006) or the original MacBook Air line.
The MacBook is a great innovation, but a single port computer with a 12" display shouldn't start at €1,499 here. Do you think that could be one of the reasons why they are selling less of them?
Agreed, that was a pretty big blunder that they could've fixed with the refresh.
Every single reviewer out there complains about not having a 2nd USB-C port, yet they do nothing.
Sad to see Apple neglect their PC business.
They need to also add a dang retina display to the Air series and not discontinue it.
And to avoid cannibalism of their Pro line, they should make it a true Pro by having user replaceable memory and/or dedicated graphics. If Alienware can have it in their 11" laptops, then I'm sure Apple can squeeze in a version into their Pro 13" and 15" models.
Done, fixed, watch sales soar!
The single port is by design. It seems only reviewers and online forum posters complain about it since the MacBook seems to be selling well. The slower sales are likely the result of the aging Air and Pro, both of which I think will be replaced soon with an updated Pro that is sub-3lbs.
With RAM, SSD storage capacity and CPU power stagnant for years, Apple's pathological obsession with thin devices isn't enough to drive demand.
A friend of mine has an old MBP upgraded to 4TB of SSD storage. Try that with anything recent,
I got a MBA 11" a few years old, upgraded to 1TB of SSD which seriously bogs down in daily use due to only having 8GB RAM. Still can't buy anything with higher capacity in either RAM or SSD.
So why would anyone upgrade?
Apple cripples their devices by making them into the Apple equivalent of ChromeBooks in an effort to force people into expensive tiers of iCloud service, but even there, money aside, the largest plans don't offer nearly enough storage for professional use.
OS X server should be a complete iCloud replacement platform for people who need more control, capacity, audit ability, etc. than iCloud offers, at the cost of running their own infrastructure, but OS X server doesn't do that, either.
So Apple's offerings fall short anywhere where it's not complete consumer and fashion use, or megacorp thin client use. Power users, small businesses, creative types really don't find what they need, and that's where the massive halo and "Apple is cool" effects came from. Even the MacPro is now getting old in the tooth in terms of the CPU etc. used, and it's way to pricy.
None of Apple's laptops offer ECC RAM.
Basically, there was a massive shift in Apple's strategy when they gave up on key technology such as ZFS, and became completely consumer oriented. You can do that if you're selling an industry standard gadget; you can't do that if you're selling a competing platform: if you can't grow with your needs on the same platform, the smart people will leave for a platform that allows for growth, and if the smart people leave, so does the cool factor, and eventually the sales drop.
If Apple would sell a Mac I feel is worth buying, I'd buy a couple. We last bought a 2014 mini. But I have no intention of paying full price for one or two (or three!) year old tech. I imagine that's not an uncommon thought process. And yet here we are, lame refreshes (if any) and predictably lackluster Mac sales.
12" rMB 13" MBP 14" rMB (which will add a port or two) 15" MBP
The MBAs will be going bye-bye.
I am so sorry this line-up will be disappointing to the commenters here. People buy Mac laptops to escape windows and for the seamless handoff with their iOS devices.
We could care less about specs and the lack of ports.
It is true...they are expensive. My wife and I have his/hers rMB. We love those things. Yeah we paid a shit-load for them & I would not have them be our primary conputers but the keyboard is a non-issue. I can type faster on the rMB than either of my MBPs.
The MacBook is a great innovation, but a single port computer with a 12" display shouldn't start at €1,499 here. Do you think that could be one of the reasons why they are selling less of them?
Not necessarily as this was the March quarter with a year-old MacBook. If the trend continues in the June quarter that argument makes more sense. hungedu said:
But the Spectre weighs more, is much larger overall, and it also has a lower quality screen. Skylake and the faster SSD actually make for a decent update. Nothing earth shattering, but then again when does Apple make radical changes to a year-old product? They didn't do so with the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, the original MacBook line (2006) or the original MacBook Air line.
The spectre is an MBA competitor, not a macbook competitor. It is more flexible than the rMB.
Comments
I do hope you're joking, but I imagine you're not. The VAIO Z and the MacBook Pro are quite different. The obvious being the use of aluminum and carbon fibre on the VAIO. Love them or hate them, high end VAIO devices have always had some very unique designs, often over-engineered and in some cases, ahead of their time, such as the 2012 VAIO Z.
iMovie at this stage has become a joke. It used to be my favorite program to use. Final Cut Pro was revised, reviled and has been dying on the vine every since.
I can't buy a new laptop from Apple with any sort of any expandability. They've locked the SSD's to the computer. They don't offer any sort of combination with large SSD and even larger HD. They don't even offer the larger sizes of SSD for the money they are charging.
It isn't just about updates of processors. The value proposition has fallen behind competitors. The software that created synergy around the Apple solution is neglected or second rate. Finally you can't even presume the computer is just a starting point. There is no RAM expansion, no means of adding a larger HD, nothing.
A friend of mine has an old MBP upgraded to 4TB of SSD storage. Try that with anything recent,
I got a MBA 11" a few years old, upgraded to 1TB of SSD which seriously bogs down in daily use due to only having 8GB RAM. Still can't buy anything with higher capacity in either RAM or SSD.
So why would anyone upgrade?
Apple cripples their devices by making them into the Apple equivalent of ChromeBooks in an effort to force people into expensive tiers of iCloud service, but even there, money aside, the largest plans don't offer nearly enough storage for professional use.
OS X server should be a complete iCloud replacement platform for people who need more control, capacity, audit ability, etc. than iCloud offers, at the cost of running their own infrastructure, but OS X server doesn't do that, either.
So Apple's offerings fall short anywhere where it's not complete consumer and fashion use, or megacorp thin client use. Power users, small businesses, creative types really don't find what they need, and that's where the massive halo and "Apple is cool" effects came from. Even the MacPro is now getting old in the tooth in terms of the CPU etc. used, and it's way to pricy.
None of Apple's laptops offer ECC RAM.
Basically, there was a massive shift in Apple's strategy when they gave up on key technology such as ZFS, and became completely consumer oriented. You can do that if you're selling an industry standard gadget; you can't do that if you're selling a competing platform: if you can't grow with your needs on the same platform, the smart people will leave for a platform that allows for growth, and if the smart people leave, so does the cool factor, and eventually the sales drop.
12" rMB
13" MBP
14" rMB (which will add a port or two)
15" MBP
The MBAs will be going bye-bye.
I am so sorry this line-up will be disappointing to the commenters here. People buy Mac laptops to escape windows and for the seamless handoff with their iOS devices.
We could care less about specs and the lack of ports.
It is true...they are expensive. My wife and I have his/hers rMB. We love those things. Yeah we paid a shit-load for them & I would not have them be our primary conputers but the keyboard is a non-issue. I can type faster on the rMB than either of my MBPs.