The 12” was nice. I personally moved to a bigger screen after my 1st Gen 12” after 5 solid years of use, BUT, that machine serves a purpose and was fantastic.
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Apple to Sell Low-Cost 12-Inch and 13-inch MacBooks for $700 or Less
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I'm probably the only one who thinks it's crazy to have a 12" device with a keyboard and a decent desktop OS for the same price as a 6" device without a keyboard and desktop OS.
I had the Intel version and it showed its underpowered processor heavily over 5 years of use. But with M2 or M3, the opposite would be true. A 12 inch MacBook would be a powerhouse and get outstanding battery life. Would be an excellent machine.
People in here just don't understand how awesome the 12" Macbook was.
Imagine a laptop that when closed is the same thickness and size as an iPad except you can fold it open and now you have a real laptop with a full sized keyboard and trackpad built in.
Being able to easily slip it in your day bag like you would an ipad and it weighs half of what a regular macbook does. Imagine how nice that is to carry around in your bag? Perfect for a kids school bag as well. And with the aluminium case it'll actually be able to take some damage unlike the plastic chromebook junk.
Considering that not so many years ago people were paying $2k for one of these with a crappy hot little intel chip in it with a keyboard made from potato chip switches and raving about them - being able to pay $700 in todays inflated dollars for one with an M chip and a proper keyboard is an amazing value.
I think Apples biggest concern is they might cut into iPad sales but it seems the markets forcing their hand
Game changer
Imagine a laptop that when closed is the same thickness and size as an iPad except you can fold it open and now you have a real laptop with a full sized keyboard and trackpad built in.
Being able to easily slip it in your day bag like you would an ipad and it weighs half of what a regular macbook does. Imagine how nice that is to carry around in your bag? Perfect for a kids school bag as well. And with the aluminium case it'll actually be able to take some damage unlike the plastic chromebook junk.
Considering that not so many years ago people were paying $2k for one of these with a crappy hot little intel chip in it with a keyboard made from potato chip switches and raving about them - being able to pay $700 in todays inflated dollars for one with an M chip and a proper keyboard is an amazing value.
I think Apples biggest concern is they might cut into iPad sales but it seems the markets forcing their hand
Game changer
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I have a 14” Pro now, but the 12” for portability was the best. Not even the current Air can compare. I still have it and still love it, just can’t use it as much as it aged badly, but if they put even just an M1 in it, it would be fantastic.
They're currently still selling the 3-year-old M1 MacBook Air as their "economy" laptop - wouldn't be entirely surprised if that was gone by this time next week - they're going to want to stop producing M1s before long. That could bear being replaced by a proper, up-to-date "economy" line (plain old "MacBook"?) - I've never liked the "iPhone" technique of using last year's model as the entry-level model.
As others have said, competing with low-end Chromebooks isn't going to work, but $700 is hardly "the bottom" when PC/Chromebook prices start at a few hundred bucks.
Absolutely. 8GB RAM and/or 256GB HD (especially a half-bandwidth one) would be OK for a sub-$1000 laptop or maybe at a stretch on the $1099 M2 Air but its really not acceptable beyond that (and while all PC Makers gouge for BTO upgrades, Apple are still at the more expensive end).
THIS I could see and would not conflict with current MacBook line-up…(wouldn’t be a fan of this, but could see the possibility).
But…the iPad with a keyboard does THIS already.
Just had a college student friend break their MacBook Air and was using an iPad instead. She went two months and ordered another replacement MacBook Air M1 with a student discount. She said she prefers a MacBook over an iPad for college work….
Preach!
It is a travesty that the $600 base M1 iPad Air and the $1300 base 15" MacBook Air are outfitted with the exact same 8GB RAM.
If Apple kept their greed in check, their Mac sales figures will be so much better.
Spectacular base prices. Absolutely bonkers option pricing. $400 to go from the 8/256 to 16/512 configuration?! Unjustifiable!
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Remember…he came from Compaq…
But but, it's a NEW PRODUCT LINE! It's a net, err , Mac...book?I think they’ve more than likely nailed all the contacts Kuo has access to and are taking them down bit by bit.
Because this and the watch thing makes no sense. Due to the rapid fall in the one thing (iPad) that has historically had unit sales twice of the other thing (Mac), they’re going to focus on… the OTHER thing(Mac)? Rather than the thing that already outsells the Mac?
I'm all for the possibility of a 12" MacBook to return. I doubt it would happen, but if ever they were equipped to deliver one that wasn't completely hobbled in performance, now is the time thanks to the M series chips. Even if they completely cheap out and stick M1 chips in these things, they'd still make wonderful little workhorses for most tasks for most low end users.
Personally, I'm for it just for the size of the machine alone. Tiny laptops are adorable, if kinda impractical. As someone who uses a MBP 16" for work, I can get stuff done on the screen, but it's no where near as comfortable as being hooked up to a 32" monitor. But I also require having two or more windows open simultaneously to get stuff done.
But sure Apple, release a 12" powered by M1 or later. As long as the price isn't $1000, but $900 or less, I'd be tempted to bite.
Personally, I'm for it just for the size of the machine alone. Tiny laptops are adorable, if kinda impractical. As someone who uses a MBP 16" for work, I can get stuff done on the screen, but it's no where near as comfortable as being hooked up to a 32" monitor. But I also require having two or more windows open simultaneously to get stuff done.
But sure Apple, release a 12" powered by M1 or later. As long as the price isn't $1000, but $900 or less, I'd be tempted to bite.
I’d buy this.
I have an m1 iPad Pro and I literally only use it to build Lego. I don’t even travel with it. I don’t like using it for surfing or anything like that.
I have a 14” mbp but I’d travel with a 12” m chip happily.
I have an m1 iPad Pro and I literally only use it to build Lego. I don’t even travel with it. I don’t like using it for surfing or anything like that.
I have a 14” mbp but I’d travel with a 12” m chip happily.
Just what I DON'T want is another new MacBook with 1 inch bezels around it. Get rid of the bezels altogether and make it a super small 12" Macbook.
At the school I went to years ago they had a fleet of 11.6” chromebooks. The size was miniature, they were slow, and the trackpads were horrendous.
MacBooks are clearly in a class of their own. My 4th one (M1 Air) is so much nicer than a Chromebook. Since Steve Jobs said “We can’t ship junk”, these less expensive MacBooks still may not be able to compete in the education market. But, it could be successful outside that market. For example,, people who want a travel-size computer or something that they can afford.
The only way that Apple can have any significant worldwide market share is by offering a low-cost Mac. The high price is the main reason why Macs do not sell as much as Windows PCs.
A more rugged cheaper MacBook would be an instant buy. The kid's Chromebook is falling apart (has thankfully lasted five years) and I would rather buy a Mac than another Chromebook.
As long as there are plenty of places to put stickers, it'll do well in the edu market...
As long as there are plenty of places to put stickers, it'll do well in the edu market...
To those saying 12” is too small, most Chromebooks being used in the education sector are 10-11” anyways so Apple would already have a leg up offering 12-13” laptops. The issue is the price, because if Apple wants to really take away market share from Google—strictly speaking in the classroom—these will have to be priced way below $700. Educational institutions won’t be buying a $700 MacBook, when competing Chromebooks that get the job done.
And are we all forgetting about Google Classroom? That’s why Google owns this market, they sell cheap hardware and have the Google Classroom package to sell to the school systems.
Now—for university students and younger kids, sure a cheaper 12-13” MacBook makes sense especially if all they want to do is take notes, research, and chat with friends.
If Apple wants to compete with Google in the schools, they need to build a product they can sell in bulk, maybe use cheaper materials, and have a software system in place like “Google Classroom” they can offer the school. Do this and when the kids go home they’ll ask their parents for a MacBook for home as well, plus Apple can get these kids into their ecosystem from an early age.
And are we all forgetting about Google Classroom? That’s why Google owns this market, they sell cheap hardware and have the Google Classroom package to sell to the school systems.
Now—for university students and younger kids, sure a cheaper 12-13” MacBook makes sense especially if all they want to do is take notes, research, and chat with friends.
If Apple wants to compete with Google in the schools, they need to build a product they can sell in bulk, maybe use cheaper materials, and have a software system in place like “Google Classroom” they can offer the school. Do this and when the kids go home they’ll ask their parents for a MacBook for home as well, plus Apple can get these kids into their ecosystem from an early age.
I cringe at the thought of these stripped down price point models...unless they provide a decent spec and go for volume over worry of cannibalizing sales
I could see a 12" MacBook doing well for something slated between the iPad Pro and the 13" M2 Air but a 13", even at around $700 seems questionable.
I liked mine, until the pathetic keyboard failed, then the display, and then the battery. It was ahead of its time, but it would be done much better now. I suspect Apple is not jut concerned about iPad sales but also plenty of MacBook Air users realising that this new, less expensive mini version is a winner both on price and portability and absolutely ideal for so many casual users. I doubt they want a winner at $700 that cuts into the sales of more expensive offerings.
Great, let’s dilute the already minimal architectural performance difference between M1 and M2 even further. How many cores Apple gonna disable to lower the cost?
Money talks, and talks loudest always in today’s profit-only business world.
Unfortunately, Apple is not run by visionary leaders, or even someone like Steve Jobs. Apple is run by MBA, and someone who is obsessed with maximising shareholder value to the detriment of literally everything else.
Trust me, they won’t and they can’t. Why? The moment they try to tilt the balance to favor customer, every single shareholder gonna vote out whoever leading the charge for the change in an attempt to maintain status quo and let everyone else suffer, including all customers, employees and contractors working for Apple.
Money talks, and talks loudest always in today’s profit-only business world.
Or more likely, macOS gonna be massively dumbed down to fit, and high end customers will suffer. Same thing happened in 1977 till 1990. It will happen again today.