3 ms·

> they are charging an extra $300 for it. The MacBook comes with a base configuration of 256GB SSD and 8GiB of RAM. The MacBook Air comes with a 128GB SSD and

> they are charging an extra $300 for it. The MacBook comes with a base configuration of 256GB SSD and 8GiB of RAM. The MacBook Air comes with a 128GB SSD and 4GiB of RAM (Edit: came with. Apparently this year they finally upped them to 8GiB RAM, so the price difference may have widened.). For the MacBook Air 13" and MacBook Pro 13" upgraded to 256GB SSD and 8GiB of RAM, the price is closer IIRC. (I'd check, but Apple's website is amusingly broken right now.)

ghshephard 11y ago
Thanks - I've been trying to click on the "Buy" button for the last 45 minutes for the MacBook and 13" MacBook Air to get some pricing details. No Luck. So - pricing may not be that far off then, but, of course, it means that if you want a $999 Mac laptop, you'll need to go with an outdated processor.
masklinn 11y ago
FWIW the 13" Air was updated to 8GB RAM standard (non-upgradable). The 11" remains at 4 (upgradable to 8)
TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago
The website works again now, so I can finally look up the current prices: MacBook with 8GiB RAM, 256GB SSD: $1,299 (base model) MacBook Air 13" with 8GiB RAM, 256GB SSD: $1,199 (upgrade from 8GiB RAM, 128GB SSD $999 model) MacBook Pro 13" with 8GiB RAM, 256GB SSD: $1,499 (upgrade from 8GiB RAM, 128GB SSD $1,299 model) So the MacBook is somewhere between MacBook Air and MacBook Pro pricing, $100 pricier than a comparable Air in terms of RAM and SSD, $200 cheaper than the Pro. Interesting. In their default configurations, the MacBook has an m3, the Air a low-clockrate i5, the Pro a high-clockrate i5. On the other hand, the Air does not have Retina, while the Pro and MacBook do.
- ghshephard 11y ago
  Thanks - I've been doing the same thing. Here was my ask back in 2012 when I was waiting for a new laptop from Apple (this is my "Now I will Upgrade" point): 500+ Gigabyte SSD, 16 Gigabyte Memory, 7 Hour Battery, 2880x1800 13" Air w/802.11ac (500 megabit WiFi) - $1200 Back then, I thought that system would land in Spring/Summer 2014. Things have certainly slowed down - at least they got the Battery life in a good place. So, here is what we are looking at with the MacBook 2304 x 1440 pixels. (12" IPS Retina) 10 Hours Battery 8 GiB Memory 512 GB SSD 802.11 ac 1.3GHz dual-core Intel Core m7, Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz $1749 You can save a bit of money ($150) by going with the 1.2GHz dual-core Intel Core m5, Turbo Boost up to 2.7GHz - so, base price $1599. (You could save another $300 by dropping down to a 1.1GHZ, and only 256 GB SSD @ $1299, but I drive my system pretty hard on the CPU, and it seems like the Turbo to 2.7 GHz + 512 GB SSD is worth $300) I'm trying to figure out if I can hold out another year. I kinda want the 13" display. I use this screen for everything, and real-estate is precious, but I don't know if it's a deal killer - particularly as it supports the same scaled resolution as my MBair (1440x900) - and my close up eyesight is awesome. Might have to see what the Terminal looks like in scaled resolution. I'm not a big fan of the mobile processors on this box, but everyone says it's ok. Be interesting to see how VMware holds up with Windows/OpenBSD. 8 GiB/memory, turns out to be fine. Apple isn't increasing it because you really don't need more with OS X on a non pro system - so I'm dropping 16 GiB from my wishlist. It looks like this may be the end of the line for the MacBook Air (other than a memory bump for the 13" up to 8 GB for the same $999 price) - Given that Retina probably isn't that big a deal, I'm almost considering the 2015 Broadwell MacBook Air just as a holder for my older Laptop. I can go light on the CPU and probably still come out ahead of the MacBook, even with the pre-skylake architecture. Take good care of it for three years (it won't be my daily driver) - and there will still be probably 50% of it's value when I finally upgrade to my "final" system (or at least something I hold onto for six or so years). $1199 MBAir gets me 1.6GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 2.7GHz, 8GiB, 256 GB PCI-e SSD, 12 Hours Battery. I may just wait for Anandtech/GeekBench to review this gear to see how the Skylake m5 1.2 GHz compares with the Core i5 1.6 GHz before making a decision...
  - toyg 11y ago
    > Given that Retina probably isn't that big a deal, It is. Trust me. Once you get used to smooth print-like text, nothing else compares.

ghshephard 11y ago

Thanks - I've been trying to click on the "Buy" button for the last 45 minutes for the MacBook and 13" MacBook Air to get some pricing details. No Luck. So - pricing may not be that far off then, but, of course, it means that if you want a $999 Mac laptop, you'll need to go with an outdated processor.

masklinn 11y ago

FWIW the 13" Air was updated to 8GB RAM standard (non-upgradable). The 11" remains at 4 (upgradable to 8)

TazeTSchnitzel 11y ago

The website works again now, so I can finally look up the current prices: MacBook with 8GiB RAM, 256GB SSD: $1,299 (base model) MacBook Air 13" with 8GiB RAM, 256GB SSD: $1,199 (upgrade from 8GiB RAM, 128GB SSD $999 model) MacBook Pro 13" with 8GiB RAM, 256GB SSD: $1,499 (upgrade from 8GiB RAM, 128GB SSD $1,299 model) So the MacBook is somewhere between MacBook Air and MacBook Pro pricing, $100 pricier than a comparable Air in terms of RAM and SSD, $200 cheaper than the Pro. Interesting. In their default configurations, the MacBook has an m3, the Air a low-clockrate i5, the Pro a high-clockrate i5. On the other hand, the Air does not have Retina, while the Pro and MacBook do.

ghshephard 11y ago
Thanks - I've been doing the same thing. Here was my ask back in 2012 when I was waiting for a new laptop from Apple (this is my "Now I will Upgrade" point): 500+ Gigabyte SSD, 16 Gigabyte Memory, 7 Hour Battery, 2880x1800 13" Air w/802.11ac (500 megabit WiFi) - $1200 Back then, I thought that system would land in Spring/Summer 2014. Things have certainly slowed down - at least they got the Battery life in a good place. So, here is what we are looking at with the MacBook 2304 x 1440 pixels. (12" IPS Retina) 10 Hours Battery 8 GiB Memory 512 GB SSD 802.11 ac 1.3GHz dual-core Intel Core m7, Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz $1749 You can save a bit of money ($150) by going with the 1.2GHz dual-core Intel Core m5, Turbo Boost up to 2.7GHz - so, base price $1599. (You could save another $300 by dropping down to a 1.1GHZ, and only 256 GB SSD @ $1299, but I drive my system pretty hard on the CPU, and it seems like the Turbo to 2.7 GHz + 512 GB SSD is worth $300) I'm trying to figure out if I can hold out another year. I kinda want the 13" display. I use this screen for everything, and real-estate is precious, but I don't know if it's a deal killer - particularly as it supports the same scaled resolution as my MBair (1440x900) - and my close up eyesight is awesome. Might have to see what the Terminal looks like in scaled resolution. I'm not a big fan of the mobile processors on this box, but everyone says it's ok. Be interesting to see how VMware holds up with Windows/OpenBSD. 8 GiB/memory, turns out to be fine. Apple isn't increasing it because you really don't need more with OS X on a non pro system - so I'm dropping 16 GiB from my wishlist. It looks like this may be the end of the line for the MacBook Air (other than a memory bump for the 13" up to 8 GB for the same $999 price) - Given that Retina probably isn't that big a deal, I'm almost considering the 2015 Broadwell MacBook Air just as a holder for my older Laptop. I can go light on the CPU and probably still come out ahead of the MacBook, even with the pre-skylake architecture. Take good care of it for three years (it won't be my daily driver) - and there will still be probably 50% of it's value when I finally upgrade to my "final" system (or at least something I hold onto for six or so years). $1199 MBAir gets me 1.6GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 2.7GHz, 8GiB, 256 GB PCI-e SSD, 12 Hours Battery. I may just wait for Anandtech/GeekBench to review this gear to see how the Skylake m5 1.2 GHz compares with the Core i5 1.6 GHz before making a decision...
- toyg 11y ago
  > Given that Retina probably isn't that big a deal, It is. Trust me. Once you get used to smooth print-like text, nothing else compares.