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So MacBooks and iPads the same size 🤔
If you mean the display area, that was already the case.
Turning into HP now, or Samsung. All these models that are slightly different.
Regular Macbook, Macbook Air and Macbook Pro were the 3 segments that Apple had before and that was fine. I don‘t see any problem with that lineup (besides the 13“ Macbook Pro but I think most people don‘t share that sentiment).
There’s the 13" MBP which is an M2 in a carryover chassis. Really should be removed from the lineup at this point.
There was a real distinction then in hardware. Screen size and chassis size but also storage, disk drives and ports. Real qualitative differences, not just quantitative.
Now it’s all vanilla in different containers. All this stuff now has the same ports - but different quantities - the same storage type, the same CPUs. They’re slicing very thinly now.
Can users really tell the difference between a 15" MBA and MBP? An M1 vs M2 chip? I’m skeptical.
I know it works, it’s a quasi-luxury brand, this stuff happens. I don’t have to like it.
They definitely expected more uptake from M2 and M3 not realizing how much they lost by dropping x86.
There was a real distinction then in hardware. Screen size and chassis size but also storage, disk drives and ports. Real qualitative differences, not just quantitative.
You still have all those things that differentiate an Air from a Pro? More CPU cores, more GPU power, more RAM, more storage, better pixel density, better refresh rate, better brightness, better connectivity, better audio and mics, etc. I don‘t quite understand your point.
Can users really tell the difference between a 15" MBA and MBP?
People can definitely tell the difference in price tag. Remember that it’s $1300 USD for the entry 15" MBA, and $2000 for the entry 14" MBP. (There is no 15" MBP)
People who can’t tell the difference would just get the MBA, whereas people who know the difference in hardware would get the MacBook Pro. The MBP aren’t for people who don’t need the power.
The actual confusing part is 13" MBA vs MBP since they are very similar and I do agree that Apple should fix that.
An M1 vs M2 chip?
Again, it’s really just a price thing. Apple only sells M1 for their lowest-level entry MBA. It’s probably targeting education related purposes. Otherwise Apple doesn’t really want you to get an M1 anymore.
Or are you saying people wouldn’t know the difference if they upgrade from M1 to M2? Sure, but who upgrades their computer every 1-2 years? Obviously a computer that’s just one generation ahead wouldn’t be insanely different.
The real problem is that a 8GB, 256GB config for the 15inch MBA base price is completely overpriced. So a useful MBA would come with 16GB,1TB and then you’re at the 14MBP base price already.
There is no justification to ask 300 bucks more for a 15 inch panel vs. a 13inch one either.
So a useful MBA would come with 16GB,1TB and then you’re at the 14MBP base price already.
That’s only because you picked a 1TB config for comparison with the base 512 GB 14" MBP model which is not apples-to-apples at all (I don’t think someone who actually needs a 1TB drive would be comparing laptops like this). If you picked 512 GB (the same as the base config for 14MBP), the MBA is still $300 USD cheaper, and you get a larger screen, lighter computer, and arguably better battery life. All of those factors are non-trivial and may matter more to a consumer. And some people may decide they don’t need the 512 GB SSD or 16 GB RAM anyway depending on their use case.
But Apple has always been pretty annoyingly devious in pricing like this. It’s always a couple hundred USD increase for the next thing and then there is another couple hundred USD better option but if you keep adding it up you soon end up spending $1000 more…
Yes I know how that works.
Apple seemed to think that a huge leap from Intel to M1 would pull in conquest sales and a market for annual iterations. Obviously not.
For what it’s worth, the entry level M1 is more computer than most everyone needs these days. It’s still obscenely powerful for typical usage.
A macbook “pro” that doesn’t have even a Pro chip in it. Yeah not a fucking pro. WTH apple.
Plastic body and cheap screen, it’s the classic MacBook reborn.
If anything they gotta simplify the iPad line up. Just get rid of the air or smaller pro.
how would apple downgrade mac for it to be sold at a cheaper cost?
Since 128gb of storage seems ridiculous it will probably have 256 gb so the next MacBook air will start at 512 gb and the pro at 1 TB (I didn’t take my meds)
What is the point? The MBA is already excellent value. Why offer something below that. There’s too many SKUs.
This isn’t complicated buddy. The obvious reason is that Google is selling millions of ultra-low-cast (junk plastic) Chromebooks. Apple wants a piece of the cheap pie.
Resurrecting the 2015 MacBook…? Just as long as the 2024 version doesn’t use the Butterfly keyboard.
Those were horribly slow computers too.
Target is school district Chromebook bulk purchases. Don’t worry about speed as the use case will be basic compute.
Even with a discount on the $700 USD price point, Chromebooks can start way lower price point wise, as low as like $100-200 USD with some mid-rangers in the $300-400 USD price point.
Some places could go Apple, but it’s hard to usurp Google’s foothold in the K-12 space.
I just hope they don’t follow Microsoft’s idiocy with releasing Surface Laptop Go’s without backlit keyboards for like $700.
Hadn’t thought of it but it makes sense that these would be made to be bulk purchases by schools and educations centers.
I remember when the schools I’d go to would have computer labs full of the old bulky iMacs so it certainly seems like a thing.
Only issue is I imagine it might cannabilze places that are giving iPads to their students too.
It’s possible that this low-cost MacBook is partly an admission that the iPad in school push hasn’t worked out as well as Apple expected.
What if their pro models get a titanium design and so the air and low cost version just stay aluminum?
lol. Titanium isn’t exactly cheap…
Read that comment again.
I wonder if this is going to have a scaled down chip somewhere in between A series and the M series we’ve seen so far. Maybe a 6-core CPU with 2 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores? A chip like that would also do well in something like an iPad Air.
Of course, for low cost things like SE models, Apple’s usual MO is to reuse as many existing components as possible.
Makes sense. The need for a laptop is less in 2023, but the big screen and real keyboard is a nice convenience. Could see a MacBook SE selling a lot, especially now that the chips make sense for a small device.
I am eager to see the price of these things. I think they can actually do well against the rest of mid-range laptops.
Since when does “lowcost” mean “mid-range”?
“Low cost” implies something more like Chromebook level doesn’t it? That’s the pie piece that Apple wants, I assume. They already sell tons of Macbook Airs which are way more expensive than Chromebooks.
I still don’t believe it. M1 Air is $750 when it goes on sale. They already built it and I’m sure it sells a lot. If anything, I can see the M2 taking its place with M3 coming out since it is a newer design.
And base 14in MacBook pro can be down to $1700 in sale. Still insanely good.
Yes and if refurbished it will be around $1500
Right? Apple has never been this cheap before. I got my M2 mac Mini + upgraded ram and 3-year apple-care for $1,300 Canadian which is like $1,000USD? My Sister and I are going to grab the AIR for our Mom. When i was young you couldn’t buy 1 apple laptop for what I’m going to spend on the mini + Air. Also I know in America they had some insane student deal for the Minis. I really don’t see how they could make it cheaper and who would not just cope for the AIR?
You could buy a Windows laptop that has similar speeds, more ram, more storage, and is cheaper than the M1 Air.
There isn’t much value in the M1 Air outside of it being cheaper than the M2 model for people. Plus, who wants to buy a 3 year old machine when you could buy a newer windows laptop for cheaper??
There’s this thing called battery life that 99% of people will prefer for a portable device.
Who? People who want to buy an Apple laptop versus windows.
M1 Air will almost definitely be better than any similarly priced Windows laptop in terms of performance, build quality, trackpad and keyboard, and screen quality/resoution.
Yeah I’m intrigued… I’ll be in the market to replace my very old MBP but I am a basic user. Have my eye on the air so it will be interesting to see how it compares
Where have you seen an M1 for $750?
I see sub-700 on Amazon but it’s all Renewed. Best Buy is also $799 for renewed.
Best Buy, Costco, Amazon. Goes on sale all the time.
Sometimes the sale never ends and open box can bring it down to 700 dollars. But for 50 more it’s new
If you get it through the education store and were already planning on getting AirPods or something, it’s essentially $750 direct from Apple.
$900 base price + $150 apple gift card.
I got mine on sale for that exact price in 2021, black friday
M2 is currently only $929 at B&H.
I don’t see the M2 ever getting to $750
Why not? They do this with the A series and the cheapest iPhones. Previous gens get knocked down and the one before is discontinued. I think it’s much more likely than not that the M series gets the same treatment with Airs.
The reason the iPhone 14 will get knocked down to the 13, which gets knocked down to the 12, etc. is because the base price at release has been the same.
The M1 released for $999. The M2 released for $1199. Sure the M2 details for 1099 today, but again that’s still higher than the M1 has ever cost. So that’s why I don’t see the M2 ever selling (new) for $750.
I used to be a HAM - Hardware Asset Manager - for a large company. 30K+. Lemme tell you something - for those that we provisioned Apple products to, it was amazing what could be done with a near base model Air. Now, I know a lot of you “pro-consumers” act like I’m telling lies, but yea, big work was completed on…base or near base model Airs. The spec’d out MacBook Pros were for actual serious developers who were working on specific products and not the person who thinks they’re a serious developer.
A lot of folks would likely benefit greatly from a Chromebook competitor where the MB has “just enough” to do whatever it needs to do. Again, YOU may think you’re above a base model M1/M2 MBA…but you’re really not, especially if most of what you’re doing is web-based applications in the first place.
I could easily see myself getting one of these if the form factor is one of a MBA and using these for trips and travel. I could see myself shitposting on one of these. I could see myself streaming VPN content to my TV with one of these (can’t wait for my VPN provider to work within the latest Apple TV update). A lot of my life could be done in one of these.
Likely your lives, too. Especially those like me who are still rocking the 2014 MBP and acting like technology hasn’t advanced ten fold since 2014…this will likely be better than what I’m typing on.
Hard agree. M1, even downclocked or eg. with 6 cores instead of 8, for 12" chassis, is plenty enough for 80% of people.
I also agree with your points. People ares till stuck with the mindset that 8GB/256GB isn’t enough for normal people, but it actually is if all they do is browse the web, do some Word or Excel stuff, stream videos, etc.
I was just thinking about how people with a 2015 MBP could probably still be fine in this day for normal use.
I still use a 2013 MacBook Air. Thing is great still although gets a bit heated after time. I will admit though that I tend to use my iPad mini more now though.
People ares till stuck with the mindset that 8GB/256GB isn’t enough for normal people, but it actually is if all they do is browse the web, do some Word or Excel stuff, stream videos, etc.
It’s funny because I was downvoted to oblivion for saying the same thing. Apple knows their customers. I know most of my clients never need more than 8GB of RAM. Most opt for 512GB or more at my recommendation, but the RAM isn’t an issue.
I’m still rocking my 2014 rMBP in base spec. 16GB Ram, 256 SSD, and intel iris pro graphics (no dedicated GPU). It just keeps doing what it needs to.
I love that machine. The UI is surprisingly fast for it being only integrated graphics. Four cores and 16 GB still get the job done great.
Mine’s running Ventura via OCLP and if it were my only computer due to budgetary constraints, I would be 100% perfectly happy with it.
I’m typing this on a 2012 Macbook Pro that still runs like a dream (with SSD and more RAM of course).
Actually I’m so used to typing that statement that I accidentally lied, I forgot that I’m actually typing this on the windows PC that I didn’t want to buy because Windows blows but I need it for a few games I wanted to play. But my 2012 Macbook Pro is right nearby and I would be typing this comment on that if I wasn’t about to play Elden Ring right now.
People also look at just pure numbers and see how “number small, small number bad!!”
When in reality 256GB of local storage is PLENTY for workplace machines connected to networks where local storage is largely irrelevant, and all users have their own network drive anyways.
Same here with a 2014 MBP. The battery is starting to bulge and I can’t fully close the screen anymore, but I can’t justify buying a new MBP or even a MBA due to price.
MacBook Pros are for nerds like me who want to have something faster than we actually need. I have an M1 MacBook Air that does everything I need except I wish the SSD was bigger since I only sprung for 512.
I’ll probably buy an M3 MacBook Pro not because I need it but because I waaaaaant it. And I’m still rocking an iPhone X and Apple Watch Series 4 so I’m not even a consooooomer
Why? they already did that with the Macbook 12 and it was a disaster - slow as molasses. Perhaps they should just price the MBP 14 and 16 in a way that they’re still affordable.
The what question, they can use their homegrown M chips to run it fast and without overheating. Traditional keyboard mechanism so no butterfly controversy. Less ports is more accepted now than 7 years ago.
Why, that’s the better question. 2015 12” was a premium laptop that sold for almost $2000 in some config. If Apple is releasing this as a low cost option, it would need a new business case, might not make sense to do this vs selling MacBook Air 13 for $750
Zero hopes on this seeeing how their current “entry” computers are still stuck on 8GB/256GB hell like we’re in 2016 just to have an attractive “starting from” moniker, but getting usable RAM and storage multiplies the price by two.
I honestly think 8GB RAM and 256GB storage is perfect for this lineup, and they can fully cater to just browsing the web, using web applications, and doing light tasks. I think Apple’s probably going to have 4GB or 6GB of RAM for this…
8GB are 8GB, it doesn’t matter how fast they are. It should be illegal selling a computer that’s impossible to upgrade with so little RAM that it won’t be able to hold more than half a dozen browser tabs in 3 years time, seeing how fast web apps are ballooning in requirements and how more and more desktop apps are turning into websites inside a wrapper that take 4x the resources of a native app. The actual price of these things is twice the “starting from” if you don’t want to end up stuck with literal e-waste in a record time.
Absolutely. I work with clients all the time who don’t need more than 8GB. People forget that 8GB of unified RAM on the new SoC is much better-performing than 8GB of soldered RAM. People need to stop pretending that 8GB of stick RAM or soldered RAM from 2016 has the same performance profile as 8GB of unified SoC RAM.
8gb of unified memory ≠ 8gb of RAM of yesteryear