If 13" mbp killed, is it probable the 13" mba gets sandy bridge?

[Funkymonk]

I don't think the 13" mbp will get killed but alot of people do. Many speculate the future line will look like:

13" white macbook for the students that need bare essentials

11" air
13" air
15" pro
17" pro

Looks very simple and apple has always been about simplifying the choices got the customer so I think it's possile but unlikely.

But if it does happen do you think the 13" mba will get sandy bridge with the pro models soon? I know it just got released in october but a 13" mba with c2d seems so wrong and I think they will want to further differentiate it from the 11" because there isn't a 13" pro anymore.

 

[SuperCachetes]

If the iPhone gets killed, is it probable the iPod touch gets 3G?

I speculate the future line with iOS will look like:

iPod touch Wi-Fi
iPod touch 3G
iPad Wi-Fi
iPad 3G

How simple is that?

 

[DudeMartin]

I think Ivy Bridge is more likely to go into MBA. Or maybe an even later shrink.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

The consumerbook and consumerbook premium aren't going anywhere. Why axe hotcakes, even if there is some overlap.

The consumerbook low fat will get updated components when the thermal envelop, battery life and consumed space is comparable or exceeds (appropriately) that of the C2D.

 

[bobobenobi]

If the Mac Pro gets killed, is it probable the Apple ][GS?

 

[KPOM]

I don't see the 13" MacBook Pro going anywhere. It is one of Apple's best selling notebooks (if not the best). What might happen is the polycarb MacBook goes away (perhaps replaced by a cheaper 13" "Pro" model).

Whether the 13" Pro loses an optical drive and becomes essentially a larger, more powerful MacBook Air is a different story, though. The new Air is a hit, and I see both the 11" and 13" models having a long-term place in Apple's lineup. At the same time, it is pricier than the 13" Pro and not as powerful, so there is definitely some room in the lineup for a continued Pro as a mainstream device.

 

[Undo Redo]

I don't see the 13" MacBook Pro going anywhere. It is one of Apple's best selling notebooks (if not the best). What might happen is the polycarb MacBook goes away (perhaps replaced by a cheaper 13" "Pro" model).

If the Amazon.com best seller list can be used as evidence, it seems both the Pro and the polycarb are hot sellers. So what does Apple do next?

Whether the 13" Pro loses an optical drive and becomes essentially a larger, more powerful MacBook Air is a different story, though. The new Air is a hit, and I see both the 11" and 13" models having a long-term place in Apple's lineup. At the same time, it is pricier than the 13" Pro and not as powerful, so there is definitely some room in the lineup for a continued Pro as a mainstream device.

It seems unlikely Apple would keep three 13" notebooks in their lineup but if they're all selling well, why not? It will be interesting to see what happens in coming months. To the original question, I doubt the Air will be updated before summer; and probably not until fall.

 

[Demosthenes X]

It seems unlikely Apple would keep three 13" notebooks in their lineup but if they're all selling well, why not? It will be interesting to see what happens in coming months. To the original question, I doubt the Air will be updated before summer; and probably not until fall.

Apple has had 3 13" notebooks in their lineup since the MacBook Air came out...

IMO it would make the most sense if the Pro ditched the optical drive and became a more vastly more powerful machine. That would also differentiate the 3 models significantly:

MacBook: consumer machine. Optical drive, normal hard drive, C2D/i3 processor. Keep dropping the price.
MacBook Air: ultralight, similar specs to the MacBook but lighter (and faster thanks to the SSD).
MacBook Pro: without an optical drive, it could finally have discrete graphics and a faster CPU. Thus, way more powerful than the other two.

 

[DudeMartin]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

All of the notebooks will turn into MBAs. CPUs are only going to shrink more. Eventually, top of the line CPUs will fit in the MBAs chassis, probably by like 2014.

 

[Undo Redo]

Apple has had 3 13" notebooks in their lineup since the MacBook Air came out...

IMO it would make the most sense if the Pro ditched the optical drive and became a more vastly more powerful machine. That would also differentiate the 3 models significantly:

MacBook: consumer machine. Optical drive, normal hard drive, C2D/i3 processor. Keep dropping the price.
MacBook Air: ultralight, similar specs to the MacBook but lighter (and faster thanks to the SSD).
MacBook Pro: without an optical drive, it could finally have discrete graphics and a faster CPU. Thus, way more powerful than the other two.

Makes sense to me! I doubt that any MacBook will drop below $999 though.

 

[Psilocybin]

Makes sense to me! I doubt that any MacBook will drop below $999 though.

if they want to make any income off of the MBA this is a bad idea

 

[Kachadurian]

We have no idea

Or we'd be in line to replace SJ.

But here's my take. I think the age of the huge laptop is winding down. If anything exits it might be the 15" MBP. The 13MBA has the same screen resolution as the 15MBP. I think the answer is a 13MBP with a screen of the air and the horsepower the 15" had traditionally.

Line up would go

11 MBA
13 MBA
13 MB - entry level with optical drive $900
13 MBP - HR Screen, optical drive, 512mb to 1gb graphics ram - various configurations
17 MBP - The beast

It seems like the current 15" is the odd man out.

Tom

 

[Funkymonk]

Or we'd be in line to replace SJ.

But here's my take. I think the age of the huge laptop is winding down. If anything exits it might be the 15" MBP. The 13MBA has the same screen resolution as the 15MBP. I think the answer is a 13MBP with a screen of the air and the horsepower the 15" had traditionally.

Line up would go

11 MBA
13 MBA
13 MB - entry level with optical drive $900
13 MBP - HR Screen, optical drive, 512mb to 1gb graphics ram - various configurations
17 MBP - The beast

It seems like the current 15" is the odd man out.

Tom

What?! The 15" is incredibly popular. Doesn't out sell the 13" machines but if any machine is safe I think it's the 15". I think theres a .0001% chance of them killing the 15%.

 

[NT1440]

The 13" MBP is the best selling in that lineup, it isn't going anywhere.

 

[alust2013]

Apple has had 3 13" notebooks in their lineup since the MacBook Air came out...

IMO it would make the most sense if the Pro ditched the optical drive and became a more vastly more powerful machine. That would also differentiate the 3 models significantly:

MacBook: consumer machine. Optical drive, normal hard drive, C2D/i3 processor. Keep dropping the price.
MacBook Air: ultralight, similar specs to the MacBook but lighter (and faster thanks to the SSD).
MacBook Pro: without an optical drive, it could finally have discrete graphics and a faster CPU. Thus, way more powerful than the other two.

This, very much this. That's exactly what I think would be the perfect plan for the 13"s, because right now, there's very little difference between the 13" white and pro.

 

[Wang Foolio]

I don't see any reason why they would get rid of any configuration since they all sell. 13" has become a pretty standard size for laptops, so having 3 versions of the 13" isn't a big deal.

The Macbook / MBA / MBP split still makes sense and they all have their own little niche to fill. One is cheap, one is tiny, and the last one is overpriced

The PC/laptop market is still diverse as you could possibly imagine. Everyone has their own set of priorities and you don't want to leave anyone out by eliminating an option that works for them.

Case Study: I have a friend who just bought a 9-pound Asus i7 laptop with SSD and 2 hours of battery life. It's a beast of a machine that I would never in a million years buy, but he has different needs than me. He wants a zippy machine to run Linux and he streams almost everything so the small SSD isn't a problem. It's also a "portable desktop" for him in that it will rarely leave the house.

He knows just as much about tech as I do, and did just as much research as I would, and our very different usage habits and preferences led to very different purchases. Apple doesn't have to worry about fragmenting the market or cannibalizing sales, as the iPad's numbers have shown. Every time Apple makes a new product these days, a new market emerges to support it. Plenty of room for the three laptop lines to all coexist and occasionally overlap a little bit.

 

[iExpensive]

Plenty of room for the three laptop lines to all coexist and occasionally overlap a little bit.

But you have to agree that the 13" MBP has been getting eaten alive for the past year. Although it's Apple's best seller that is widely due to it's aesthetics.
I believe one of these laptops HAS to be getting the axe. I would put my money on the Macbook. The 11" air is perfect for that niche market and at a great price point too.

 

[alust2013]

But you have to agree that the 13" MBP has been getting eaten alive for the past year.

I believe one of these portables HAS to be getting the axe. I would put my money on the Macbook. The 11" air is perfect for that niche market and at a great price point too.

How has it been getting eaten alive? It's their most popular portable, if that's what you meant. I really don't think any of them will get the axe. Apple is selling all three in increasingly large quantities and making more money of of them, so it would be quite counterproductive to cut one. If they cut the MacBook, that would force people to buy above the $1000 mark, so possibly turn away customers. Cutting the 13" Pro would be a bad business decision, as you typically don't cut your best selling product. And everyone agrees the MBA won't be cut.

I do agree, however, that if one were to go, it would be the white. Then I think we might see the pro turn back into the aluminum macbook.

 

[Demosthenes X]

Or we'd be in line to replace SJ.

But here's my take. I think the age of the huge laptop is winding down. If anything exits it might be the 15" MBP. The 13MBA has the same screen resolution as the 15MBP. I think the answer is a 13MBP with a screen of the air and the horsepower the 15" had traditionally.

Line up would go

11 MBA
13 MBA
13 MB - entry level with optical drive $900
13 MBP - HR Screen, optical drive, 512mb to 1gb graphics ram - various configurations
17 MBP - The beast

It seems like the current 15" is the odd man out.

Tom

And how is Apple expected to fit an ODD and 1GB discrete graphics card into the 13" Pro? There's just not space for that kind of setup (if there was, they'd have done it already).

 

[old-wiz]

The 13" MBP is the best selling in that lineup, it isn't going anywhere.

They are certainly not going to get rid of their top selling laptop!
I have a 13" MBP and it's more than enough for what I use it for. It's "only" a 2.26 C2D with 4gb ram and I've used less than 50GB of the HD.

 

[iExpensive]

darn double posts...

 

[iExpensive]

They are certainly not going to get rid of their top selling laptop!
I have a 13" MBP and it's more than enough for what I use it for. It's "only" a 2.26 C2D with 4gb ram and I've used less than 50GB of the HD.

If it's clearly more than you need why didn't you opt for the Macbook? Was it the aesthetics?

How has it been getting eaten alive? It's their most popular portable, if that's what you meant. I really don't think any of them will get the axe. Apple is selling all three in increasingly large quantities and making more money of of them, so it would be quite counterproductive to cut one. If they cut the MacBook, that would force people to buy above the $1000 mark, so possibly turn away customers. Cutting the 13" Pro would be a bad business decision, as you typically don't cut your best selling product. And everyone agrees the MBA won't be cut.

I do agree, however, that if one were to go, it would be the white. Then I think we might see the pro turn back into the aluminum macbook.

OK my last statement was a little hyperbole. My point is there really is no need for a 13" MBP or MB right now. Unless there are some major performance upgrades to either, I am sure none of us will miss them. The Polycarbonate and MBP are so close in spec that if one is upgraded there's no choice but to cut the other (either entirely or by price). I want to see an i3-i5 - 8gb RAM - 256GB SSD to even consider a new 13" MBP. I just don't see why Apple shouldn't cut down production cost by discontinuing the polycarbonate or both.

 

[Demosthenes X]

OK my last statement was a little hyperbole. My point is there really is no need for a 13" MBP or MB right now. Unless there are some major performance upgrades to either, I am sure none of us will miss them. The Polycarbonate and MBP are so close in spec that if one is upgraded there's no choice but to cut the other (either entirely or by price). I want to see an i3-i5 - 8gb RAM - 256GB SSD to even consider a new 13" MBP. I just don't see why Apple shouldn't cut down production cost by discontinuing the polycarbonate or both.

I am not Apple, but I did study economics for a long time, and my answer would be: price discrimination.

In an ideal world, sellers would be able to set the price of their goods individually for every consumer. Everyone has a slightly different willingness to pay, and if they could somehow charge everyone their exact price, they'd make the most profit.

But that's obviously not possible, so they set prices. In doing so, they lose some potential revenue: people with a higher willingness to pay get a deal, and people with a lower willingness to pay don't buy at all. So there's money left on the table.

By selling two (three, if we count both standard trims of the Pro) versions of what is essentially the same product, but at different prices, Apple can't extract some of that money left on the table. People with a low willingness to pay buy the MB. People with a slightly higher willingness to pay, who would otherwise leave money on the table, buy one of the "Pro" models.

This is just an educated guess, but I'd say Apple figures the benefits of extracting that extra money from consumers trumps the costs of keeping two production lines going.

 

[old-wiz]

If it's clearly more than you need why didn't you opt for the Macbook? Was it the aesthetics?.

I tested both in the store and loved the MBP trackpad.

 

[gonnabuyamacbsh]

I wonder if theres any chance the 13" mba gets i7