Specs are interesting - 8gb ram,256 gb flash drive,1.1/2.4 turbo ghz, but 1300$ ? way too expensive,as it cost as much as the mb pro.A price under 1000$ would have made way more sense for a macbook. But I guess they have the data that show people are ready to pay that price for that item. Still , the pricing strategy between mb,mb air and mb pro is a bit confusing.
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True, but you had a radically improved form factor that was actually light and had a nice battery, while the performance was fine for the type of users it marketed to.
Meanwhile this thing takes away ports from your 13 inch MBA, takes away 1 inch of screen, takes away 3 hours of battery, takes away CPU performance, and it gives back? It's not like the MBA is heavy, thick or noisy. The retina screen is really nice but to me it doesn't really look like a good deal.
Not saying it won't be popular, I think it'll be very. Just don't see it being so interesting right now myself even if I had $100m to spend, there's some big tradeoffs with this new MB.
Strangest thing to me wasn't really the pricing fit, I think I would've done the same. But that we ended up with an 'Air' line that's heavier, bigger, thicker and noisier, and hell better performing, than the regular MB line. At least it's still got better battery life, well the 13' that is!
I think the naming points to the future. In a couple of years, the changes that seem daring and unforgivable in this version will seem bland and expected and there will be no reason to hold on to the current MBA line with its fans and obsolete connectors. Then it quietly disappears and we are back to two lines, the MB and MBP.
Definite possibility but it feels like the 'air' name is like 'Pro'. Something that's building up a lot of brand value, awareness, understanding, culture, a segment is forming around it etc. They've adopted it now for the ipad lineup, too, I think it's here to stay. The air has been a massive success at capturing teenagers and college age adults who also have an iPhone, literally a new generation of Apple users. For them the Air is a big brand.
Don't forget Regular vs Pro might not be as powerful as Air vs Pro, as Air doesn't just differentiate it from Apple's Pro, but also from competitors 'normal' laptops. i.e. a consumer might reason: even if I don't get Apple's pro product, I still want to get their Air, as that's better than the competitor's 'regular', as air means lighter, more battery, more portable.
That sounds really simplistic and silly, but I think these processes are a genuine part of people's buying decisions in the non-professional sector that the regular/air line caters to.
Which is why it surprised me a bit that they didn't go for naming it the 12' Air, especially it being the lighest and most portable and quiet. Of course that would've been a very tricky lineup as some Airs are on the Intel M chip and fanless and expensive and retina, while others are not, and with just 1 inch difference between them it'd have been too busy.
But yeah I agree, definite possibility. Had kind of expected the Air not to get a refresh, and for the Air 12' to be the Macbook Air Retina, and that in 2 years the 11 and 13 would be discontinued while the 12 kept getting updated, reduced in price and with 10h battery and decent performance for anything not professional. Would make a very simple lineup. 12' air, 13'/15' Pro, and iMac/Pro/Mini for any bigger form factors.
I'm also looking forward to 2016's. I wonder if they might be able to make the trackpad thinner, so they have space to fit batteries under it (and thus improve the battery life).
