Old MacBook Air body with iPhone internals. That’s how it’s going to be done. Low development cost and sharing internals with iPhone means it can keep cost low.
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Apple to Sell Low-Cost 12-Inch and 13-inch MacBooks for $700 or Less
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some PC makers install crappy parts like:
Dell XPS is not up to par with as far as laptops, so they can charge less for their crap parts.
that NVMe SSD drive in my now defunct Dell XPS 3780
died after I carefully replaced that with a WD drive.
Why? To secure new users at a young age and adopt them into the Apple ecosystem in a broader way
Plenty of opportunity to capture that market when they’re in high school/college with the $700 MacBook instead, without sacrificing margins.
$300 MacBook is never ever going to happen
A few well considered and pitched products is infinitely preferable to a proliferation of lower quality noise.
Apple’s naming and branding is so confused these days, and many consumers really don’t know the difference between their mode options.
The advantage of Apple was always the simplicity, the broad appeal - being the default.
In the days I was inspired to start an Apple journey Steve didn’t ask customers what they wanted - he showed them what it was.
Apple’s naming and branding is so confused these days, and many consumers really don’t know the difference between their mode options.
The advantage of Apple was always the simplicity, the broad appeal - being the default.
In the days I was inspired to start an Apple journey Steve didn’t ask customers what they wanted - he showed them what it was.
Google is sensibly pursuing a strategy of engaging their users young. When many people make a buying decision as teenagers or adults, they feel more comfortable buying and using what they already know. Google aren’t really interested in money they can make from selling hardware and services to schools - these are probably even a loss leader; instead they want to continue to make money selling hardware and services (as well as harvesting and selling the data) on the adults those children will become.
Problem for Apple is where to save on costs to keep the margins decent and not cannibalize the air.
The mini doesn't require a screen, a keyboard, a trackpad or a battery, so the margins can be quite good.
A $700 Macbook could start at 128GB with 8GB RAM (there is no way the go back to 4GB), although the air by then my start at 12GB as some rumors have suggested. The keyboard will be a MK, not butterfly, for sure.
I could see however them giving it only one UBS C (non thunderbolt port) and magsafe (I think a proprietary port + 1 UBS is more likely than 2 USB C). Probably speakers would be weaker too. Maybe their can source some cheaper screen, but I don't see them saving a ton, so margins would go down, but at least the would separate it clearly from the air.
I’d like the highest spec’d 12” MacBook Pro possible please.
This would be an instant buy for me, almost regardless of specs. My laptop is a 2017 12" with maxed out RAM & processor. Nothing since has been as compact & convenient. I know I'll have to upgrade at some point, but I keep holding out hope for a new 12".
I use the same laptop everyday. The only way to find something as light and compact is going with Windows (with more power and ports, but also worse speakers and probably also screen).
I’d suggest starting with the iPad sold for £499 and adding a keyboard and trackpad.
In my ideal lineup nothing currently branded Air would continue to exist.
In my ideal lineup nothing currently branded Air would continue to exist.
the iPad already exists and it's not working well enough, there is a need for a desktop OS, not a mobile device, and larger screen than the 10.x",
You’re not wrong but I’m talking about where the puck might be going. Apple is pushing really hard into services. Thin clients don’t require high specs. Maybe Apple can do it without sacrificing quality and their reputation. I really hope they do.
Perhaps I should rephrase that as “competing”. Clearly inspired by. I’m just saying it’s a good thing Apple set the example of a good computer at a reasonable yet not cheap price that isn’t a total piece of junk. I never actually bought one but I hear the Lenovo Carbon and Dell XPS thrown around as examples. Have used an XPS and can see the clear inspiration.
And let’s not forget that it was vastly improved by the M1 because it was still a little slow. Which again, points for Apple.
I think you might be missing the forest of my post for this particular tree. I just don’t want to see Apple chasing the low end of the market at the cost of quality like I saw happen in the 2000s with Windows PCs. I see what happened after Jobs the first time and it’s been a good 10 years but I’m starting to see some cracks in the core philosophy.
But different services. Apple is mostly about entertainment, plus the iCloud Drive. Don't confuse thin clients and thick clients, this machine would be a thick client, and still would need local resources, mostly ram. I develop remotely, but still need local ram, just one tab of AWS console can eat up to 2 GB ram.
I have to disagree, I had thinkpads for more than 10 years, and only switched because of the OS. M1 Air is the peak notebook design, but over the new one, I'd go with an X13, only if it could run MacOS..
There’s a lot of people in here that seem to be confused why Apple still makes the 13’ MBP, and the answer is people like me and many others. While in the future I probably will opt for a bigger and more powerful MBP, I quite like the strip at the top, especially because it’s actually still a new thing to me. I’d be willing to bet that they sell more 13’ MBP than any other MBP.
A $700 MB would be awesome, especially because probably the majority of people that buy a MBA or 13’ MBP wouldn’t miss any of the power. I could see Apple making it with limited ports, LCD screen, and last years processor, such as the M2 if this came out in summer of ‘24.
Apple’s overall market share is actually pretty significant nowadays. They’re fourth overall worldwide according to Statista, 20.5% overall OS share according to Statcounter and that increases each year. That’s pretty insane and that will just continue to climb if they did this. Not sure if that would be a good thing or a bad thing overall for the end user in the long run, but hopefully it equates to more compatibility with things such as games in the long run.
A $700 MB would be awesome, especially because probably the majority of people that buy a MBA or 13’ MBP wouldn’t miss any of the power. I could see Apple making it with limited ports, LCD screen, and last years processor, such as the M2 if this came out in summer of ‘24.
Apple’s overall market share is actually pretty significant nowadays. They’re fourth overall worldwide according to Statista, 20.5% overall OS share according to Statcounter and that increases each year. That’s pretty insane and that will just continue to climb if they did this. Not sure if that would be a good thing or a bad thing overall for the end user in the long run, but hopefully it equates to more compatibility with things such as games in the long run.
They can't succeed with a really crap product. 128GB, one USB port and weedy speakers is a non starter. If they go cheap it still must be respectable, and those measures you describe save maybe $5-10 tops.
The M1 MacBook Air could profitably sell at $700, and it's still a good laptop (even despite the lack of MagSafe and the need for dongles)