4 ms·

Apple Just Gutted Its Laptop Lineup

26 points by khartig 7y ago

Redoubts 7y ago
Sad to see the 12” go. It’s the portable that makes sense to me, saving a lot of weight and shaving almost too much power for that goal. Meanwhile the air just seems like a 13” not-pro.
giancarlostoro 7y ago
I never liked the Macbook. I think if they rename the Macbook Air as Macbook and keep that similar form factor I wont have complaints about that. The Macbook Air was their smallest laptop, this became the opposite when they brought those smaller Macbook Laptops since otherwise they would of just had a rename. I dunno why they didnt just rename the line up. Then they coulda called those smaller Macbooks the new Macbook Airs.
stcredzero 7y ago
Does Apple really need to cater to developers anymore? I don't think they think they need to.
- gumby 7y ago
  Sure. People still write code you know. And all their Macs work for development. I wrote about 100K lines of C++ on one of those tiny MacBooks, both at my office desk and all around the world. MacBook Air is OK, but that tiny MacBook was so light I couldn't even tell if it was in my bag without checking.
  - stcredzero 7y ago
    Sure. People still write code you know. And all their Macs work for development. Yes they work, of course, but at this point Apple is powerful and dominant. Apple doesn't need to court developers like us anymore. At this point, many of us are stuck with them.
- m_mueller 7y ago
  Meanwhile Ms is doing a lot to cater to developers needs with WSL2 and a new terminal coming out. That will close most of the usability gap it had to MacOS.
  - stcredzero 7y ago
    They're number 2, so they try harder, to steal an old phrase.
    - qes 7y ago
      Focusing on developers has been MS's MO since the beginning, and they're only #2 because Apple is still riding the long tail of the iPhone surge.
      - walrus01 7y ago
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM-2OVNt-eQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM-2OVNt-eQ
      - stcredzero 7y ago
        Doesn't matter if you fall to #2 because the competitor is faster for awhile. One still tries harder.
surfsvammel 7y ago
I feel the Touch Bar is the only fault with the MacBooks at this point. Get the F1-F12 buttons back and it's all good.
dangus 7y ago
I'm actually rather surprised that so many of these reactions are so negative. I guess it's another case of outrage being a more profitable form of journalism. In reality, Apple just price cut all its most popular laptops in a pretty major way. Want a quad core laptop? It's $1300 instead of $1800 now, and adds the Touch Bar.* Want a basic MacBook for school or light browsing? The MacBook Air is $100 cheaper now and has a better screen. These are big, big price cuts, and I think Apple's going to sell more laptops in Q4 than they ever have before. The 12" MacBook was discontinued, but we can only assume it was never really selling all that well. I think the Air's extra 3/4 pound of weight is somewhat unfortunate but I'd imagine that the extra horsepower is probably needed for most people over the anemic performance of the 12" MacBook. * Love it or hate it, you still get more tech for the money with the addition of the Touch Bar to the lowest MacBook Pro model. Why exactly do we assume that most people dislike the Touch Bar again? Just because some people are vocal about it online? Apple does collect plenty of telemetry and I assume they wouldn't add it to more models if they figured out that nobody used it.
- perl4ever 7y ago
  "I think the Air's extra 3/4 pound of weight is somewhat unfortunate but I'd imagine that the extra horsepower is probably needed for most people over the anemic performance of the 12" MacBook." Not having paid attention to Mac laptops in a while, that just seems ridiculous. Maybe they're doing great things now, but they must have really been out to lunch if they ended up with a product line where the "Air" model was the heavy and high powered choice.
  - dangus 7y ago
    When it comes to the "Air" name it's more of a brand recognition thing than anything else. The 12" MacBook was launched after the Air but did not replace it. I'm not sure why the MacBook was just named "MacBook" but it is what it is, people just didn't really make the extra dollar tradeoff and the Air was a best seller. Especially at launch, the MacBook was quite a bit more expensive than the Air. I suspect the Air's slightly larger size and cost-optimized design won out over the more expensive, slower MacBook. Perhaps Apple intended to eventually replace the Air with the MacBook but for whatever reason it just didn't happen.
khartig 7y ago
Likely Apple is reducing the laptop lineup because they aren't selling enough. Although they have been great machines (I still use a Pro every day) they are not competitively priced. Especially for a student, a laptop at roughly half the price for enough comparative capabilities is a much better selection. For hardcore software development and graphics work, a Dell XPS is also roughly half the price. The display performance may not quite compare to the Pro but the price difference is huge. Reducing the line up indicates to me that Apple recognizes they are not competitive in this market and they are pulling out. Apple's business focus has been and continues to go in other directions.

26 points by khartig 7y ago

Sad to see the 12” go. It’s the portable that makes sense to me, saving a lot of weight and shaving almost too much power for that goal. Meanwhile the air just seems like a 13” not-pro.

giancarlostoro 7y ago

I never liked the Macbook. I think if they rename the Macbook Air as Macbook and keep that similar form factor I wont have complaints about that. The Macbook Air was their smallest laptop, this became the opposite when they brought those smaller Macbook Laptops since otherwise they would of just had a rename. I dunno why they didnt just rename the line up. Then they coulda called those smaller Macbooks the new Macbook Airs.

stcredzero 7y ago

Does Apple really need to cater to developers anymore? I don't think they think they need to.

gumby 7y ago
Sure. People still write code you know. And all their Macs work for development. I wrote about 100K lines of C++ on one of those tiny MacBooks, both at my office desk and all around the world. MacBook Air is OK, but that tiny MacBook was so light I couldn't even tell if it was in my bag without checking.
- stcredzero 7y ago
  Sure. People still write code you know. And all their Macs work for development. Yes they work, of course, but at this point Apple is powerful and dominant. Apple doesn't need to court developers like us anymore. At this point, many of us are stuck with them.
m_mueller 7y ago
Meanwhile Ms is doing a lot to cater to developers needs with WSL2 and a new terminal coming out. That will close most of the usability gap it had to MacOS.
- stcredzero 7y ago
  They're number 2, so they try harder, to steal an old phrase.
  - qes 7y ago
    Focusing on developers has been MS's MO since the beginning, and they're only #2 because Apple is still riding the long tail of the iPhone surge.
    - walrus01 7y ago
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM-2OVNt-eQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM-2OVNt-eQ
    - stcredzero 7y ago
      Doesn't matter if you fall to #2 because the competitor is faster for awhile. One still tries harder.

surfsvammel 7y ago

I feel the Touch Bar is the only fault with the MacBooks at this point. Get the F1-F12 buttons back and it's all good.

dangus 7y ago

I'm actually rather surprised that so many of these reactions are so negative. I guess it's another case of outrage being a more profitable form of journalism. In reality, Apple just price cut all its most popular laptops in a pretty major way. Want a quad core laptop? It's $1300 instead of $1800 now, and adds the Touch Bar.* Want a basic MacBook for school or light browsing? The MacBook Air is $100 cheaper now and has a better screen. These are big, big price cuts, and I think Apple's going to sell more laptops in Q4 than they ever have before. The 12" MacBook was discontinued, but we can only assume it was never really selling all that well. I think the Air's extra 3/4 pound of weight is somewhat unfortunate but I'd imagine that the extra horsepower is probably needed for most people over the anemic performance of the 12" MacBook. * Love it or hate it, you still get more tech for the money with the addition of the Touch Bar to the lowest MacBook Pro model. Why exactly do we assume that most people dislike the Touch Bar again? Just because some people are vocal about it online? Apple does collect plenty of telemetry and I assume they wouldn't add it to more models if they figured out that nobody used it.

perl4ever 7y ago
"I think the Air's extra 3/4 pound of weight is somewhat unfortunate but I'd imagine that the extra horsepower is probably needed for most people over the anemic performance of the 12" MacBook." Not having paid attention to Mac laptops in a while, that just seems ridiculous. Maybe they're doing great things now, but they must have really been out to lunch if they ended up with a product line where the "Air" model was the heavy and high powered choice.
- dangus 7y ago
  When it comes to the "Air" name it's more of a brand recognition thing than anything else. The 12" MacBook was launched after the Air but did not replace it. I'm not sure why the MacBook was just named "MacBook" but it is what it is, people just didn't really make the extra dollar tradeoff and the Air was a best seller. Especially at launch, the MacBook was quite a bit more expensive than the Air. I suspect the Air's slightly larger size and cost-optimized design won out over the more expensive, slower MacBook. Perhaps Apple intended to eventually replace the Air with the MacBook but for whatever reason it just didn't happen.

khartig 7y ago

Likely Apple is reducing the laptop lineup because they aren't selling enough. Although they have been great machines (I still use a Pro every day) they are not competitively priced. Especially for a student, a laptop at roughly half the price for enough comparative capabilities is a much better selection. For hardcore software development and graphics work, a Dell XPS is also roughly half the price. The display performance may not quite compare to the Pro but the price difference is huge. Reducing the line up indicates to me that Apple recognizes they are not competitive in this market and they are pulling out. Apple's business focus has been and continues to go in other directions.