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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,

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 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.