Makes for a fantastic travel laptop. Fits on an airplane or train tray table better than the 13.3" models. Used my rMB12 lots on an Alaska trip, Maine, Yellowstone, etc. I also carried it a lot for work travel as I avoid any personal data / activities on my work laptop.
If the Air line's current raison d'être is to be the consumer machines, I think the 13" as a main home computer is a bit small (where a theoretical 15" would come in). But that leaves the 13" to fill the secondary purpose of the Air line, as go-anywhere computers, and the 12" MacBook is by all accounts by those that have them in a completely different league to the the current 13" machines. By trimming it to 12.8-13.0" (from 13.3" now) and fitting it into the smaller chassis you don't lose a meaningful amount of screen space (again, the 15" would be there for those who need to do more) and significantly increase its utility for train or plane travel, and make it smaller and lighter for carrying in a backpack.
Apple lacks a true ultraportable notebook. Even if they made the 12” a little thicker to accommodate the new keyboard, it would still be much lighter than the MacBook Air, and at a 5W or 7W TDP would still outperform the Intel MacBook Air. I think it could potentially return, perhaps with a 12.5” or 13” screen, once Apple has completed the transition of the rest of the Mac lineup. However, there would be some overlap between it and the 12.9” iPad Pro, which may be why it hasn’t returned yet.
So you think that the M1 Pro may just be a stopgap measure for people who need continuous high load usage until the M1X releases? Then it'll be discontinued in favor of a more-pro pro machine?
I'd argue that the Air is ultraportable. Pretty much anything that's a candidate for a Y-series Intel chip (in terms of thermal envelope) is ultraportable. The Air and 13" Pro, these days, are pretty damn portable compared to the rest of the market. Like, most PC ultraportables are comparable in size (and usually a bit heavier) than the 2-port 13" MacBook Pro is and has been.
It's definitely possible. Apple transitioning the 2-port 13" Pro over and not the 4-port 13" Pro raises an entirely different set of questions and possibilities than if they had merely done it the other way around. I'm sure that RAM capacity and Thunderbolt port limits were a sizable factor here. But, given that the chassis and cooling differences between the two models aren't THAT different, especially when factoring something like M1, there really doesn't seem to be a need for two variants of 13" MacBook Pro. Even if price-points is the argument, you can just have four different stock configurations of a 4-port or a 2-port model. No need to have two distinctly different Macs (which is how the 13" MacBook Pro has been since the 2-port 13" MacBook Pro became the 2010-2017 MacBook Air's effective successor product in 2016).
Wasn't ever an issue for me. Same seemed to be the case for plenty of other rMB12 owners. Maybe it might be an issue for you and your needs, and sure there were lots of folks who posted about it on MR (most never seemed to actual own one though
)IMHO the rMB12 was pretty clearly positioned towards either very light needs users or as a secondary Mac for those wishing something with high portability while retaining macOS. I would envision any replacement as being similarly positioned.
Wasn't ever an issue for me. Same seemed to be the case for plenty of other rMB12 owners. Maybe it might be an issue for you and your needs, and sure there were lots of folks who posted about it on MR (most never seemed to actual own one though
It just seems needlessly complicated and likely to cause consumers not paying enough attention to steer the wrong way. Like we were discussing in the other thread about purchasing between a 2020 Intel 2-port 13" Pro versus the 4-port model. WE know that difference; but the average non-computer-savvy Mac person headed in that direction will look at the price first and not realize that the higher-two end models are different Macs.I don't know that anything has to happen to it.
Apple's been quite happy to have a lower-tier two-port MBP13 sitting alongside a higher-tier four-port MBP. I'd anticipate a higher level ARM CPU (M1X as some speculate) along side higher base RAM and ability to expand to 32GB RAM).
Yes there'd be overlap. Hasn't seemed to bother Apple previously.
Except it isn‘t. It weighs 2.8lbs and is over 1.5” wider than the 12” MacBook. Microsoft has the Surface Laptop Go that weighs 2.4 lbs with a 15W TDP processor. The Dell XPS 13 has a smaller footprint than the Air or 13” Pro. Apple certainly could build a smaller model that runs circles around both the Surface Laptop Go and XPS 13.
I didn't realize fanboy was a 4-letter word around these parts, nor that people here are actually apt to get offended by it. I use that word to describe myself often (and I don't believe I'm putting myself down in doing so); i.e. I'm a Windows 10 fanboy, was at one point a big iPod touch fanboy (back when they were more similar to contemporary iPhones), I AM an iPad mini fanboy, etc.
Again, I would think the longer/larger dimensions would be more ergonomically comfortable for most people. I have the 2017 12" MacBook (am probably going to sell it soon as my main purpose for it was to beta test Big Sur) and it is cramped. Like, I do not enjoy using it for more than 15 minutes at a time because I'm that cramped when using it. I had a similar issue with the 11" MacBook Air when it existed. Both machines seem great for single-purpose tasks that eat up the whole screen, but if I have to have multiple things going on it just doesn't work for me. Again, not saying it doesn't work for EVERYONE. But I think the vast majority agreed with me which is why Apple nixed it in favor of a return to a 13" MacBook Air.
Have you carried around 2 laptops at a time? I have (work and personal), and the extra 0.8 lb is noticeable. Also, as others have pointed out, the 12” was far easier to use on an airplane tray table.
I could see that working. I wouldn't call $800 "priced to move", but it's certainly an improvement in the right direction. Starting the 12" Retina MacBook at $1300 was a huge mistake.
I usually carry around at least two laptops at a time, plus a full-sized iPad. I'd easily sacrifice making that a little easier for the short duration of my having to carry all that around so that when I actually sat down to use the machine, I wasn't adjusting to a smaller screen and less room between the end of the keyboard and the edges of the laptop. That's where I find it cramped and not fun to use. I had a similar mileage with the 11" Air the few times I had to use one at various jobs. Again, all of this is subjective and I'm not about to argue your opinion and experience (which is no less valid than mine) versus mine. Only to say that Apple killed the machine and seems very unlikely to want to bring it back. I won't argue about tray tables, save for the fact that I've seen people with 15" laptops manage. The experience is not great, but I struggle to recall a time when using anything larger than a 9.7" iPad on a flight wasn't a pain.
I'm not sure where you get that idea. They're similar in that they have 2 ports on one side, but that's pretty much where the similarities end. They're far more similar with M1 than they were with 10th Gen Y-series Intel and lower-TDP 8th Gen U-series, but no. The 12" MacBook and the 2018-2020 Intel 13" Air both use Intel Y-series processors, have heatsinks instead of fans connected to heatpipes connected to heatsinks. The 2018-2020 13" Air does have a fan that connects to nothing, but that's the only real difference internally. Otherwise, it bears very little similarity to the 2-port 13" Pro.
Much more similar than the Air and 12" MB for sure. The battery and PCB are both attached to the keyboard deck, two ports, similar hinge, same trackpad mounting system. Compare that to the MB, which is constructed in a radically different manner, despite resembling the Air. Granted the Pro and Air are still fairly different.
The 2018-early 2020 Air was the anomaly in that from 2010-2015, both the Air and the base 13” Pro used 15W processors and had similar performance. In 2016, Phil Schiller even claimed that the 2-port MacBook Pro (then without a Touch Bar) was essentially a “Retina MacBook Air” back when they were still pushing the 12” MacBook as a premium ultraportable.
Consider that the iPad Air with Magic Keyboard is $898, so I doubt Apple would release a $799 MacBook.
I don't think I can prove you wrong. I think the lowest pricepoint Apple has ever sold a notebook for is $900, but even that doesn't sound right to me, the more I think about it.
I think that Apple Silicon changes the rules here substantially. It also makes it so that the Air and the 2-port 13" MacBook Pro don't have to be as different from each other as Y-series Airs and low-tdp U-series 2-port 13" Pros had to be.
I think Apple realizes that iPadOS is the better experience for 7.9-12.9" screens, while macOS is the better experience for 13.3-32+" screens. But certainly a MacBook Go priced as such would probably sell well.
The other thing is when say a M2 comes out they can use the M1 for the 12” if it makes sense.
That's exactly what will happen IMO. It's been rumored that's what will happen and my money is on those rumors.
