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I'm sure reviewers' "advertising partners" are none too happy to have another machine outperform their x86 machines so badly as to tacitly imply that no one sh

I'm sure reviewers' "advertising partners" are none too happy to have another machine outperform their x86 machines so badly as to tacitly imply that no one should buy them. The reviewers need to pay their bills. It's no surprise they are going to take the Macbooks out of the comparison sheets even though, for all intents and purposes, they so the same thing as Windows laptops. There are way more of them than there are ARM laptops. And yeah, I get it that in this crowd, there are many people that that need x86. But for the vast majority of consumers, all they need is a machine that can surf the web and open up spreadsheets.

smoldesu 4y ago
> But for the vast majority of consumers, all they need is a machine that can surf the web and open up spreadsheets. Okay, so why should they buy a $1,200 base model Macbook Air instead of a $200 Lenovo Chromebook? Better yet, why didn't Apple just let the iPad replace the Air if "all they need" is web browsing and office clients?
- haswell 4y ago
  > why didn't Apple just let the iPad replace the Air if "all they need" is web browsing and office clients? 1. Take out the “vast majority of consumers”, and there’s still a large enough market for both devices. 2. “All they need” and “all they want” are two different things. 3. Apple is in a business to make money, and people are willing to pay.
- gumby 4y ago
  > Better yet, why didn't Apple just let the iPad replace the Air if "all they need" is web browsing and office clients? Well, they are. Remember apple's "what's a computer?" ads last year? And the higher end ipads cost more than the lowest priced macs. They make different products for different use cases. Personally I do development on an macbook air, which is already so light I sometimes have to check my bag to make sure I haven't forgotten it.
- Spivak 4y ago
  Because have you every actually used one of those cheap ass computers. They're absolute trash, the keyboard is wiggly, the trackpad feels awful, the screen is low res and can't handle sunlight, the wifi chip is cheap and unreliable, the speakers sound awful, the battery life is abysmal, you get no support, and it's frustratingly slow. I wouldn't wish anything you can buy at Bestbuy on my worst enemy. If anything someone who is going to be using a laptop a lot but has modest actual computing needs is the perfect candidate for a laptop that prioritizes build quality. Look, Apple isn't the only game in town when it comes to nice laptops, the Surface Book is really nice, but when you're comparing "computers I actually want to use for any extended period of time" $1200 isn't all that expensive.
  - arvinsim 4y ago
    > Look, Apple isn't the only game in town when it comes to nice laptops, the Surface Book is really nice, but when you're comparing "computers I actually want to use for any extended period of time" $1200 isn't all that expensive. And that's the point. $1200 IS expensive to some people who are only using it for basic computing tasks. Some people do know what they are getting. They don't care about all the QoL improvements in more expensive laptops as long as they can afford it.
    - charlie0 4y ago
      True, but this has nothing to do with removing Macbooks from the comparisons.

smoldesu 4y ago

> But for the vast majority of consumers, all they need is a machine that can surf the web and open up spreadsheets. Okay, so why should they buy a $1,200 base model Macbook Air instead of a $200 Lenovo Chromebook? Better yet, why didn't Apple just let the iPad replace the Air if "all they need" is web browsing and office clients?

haswell 4y ago
> why didn't Apple just let the iPad replace the Air if "all they need" is web browsing and office clients? 1. Take out the “vast majority of consumers”, and there’s still a large enough market for both devices. 2. “All they need” and “all they want” are two different things. 3. Apple is in a business to make money, and people are willing to pay.
gumby 4y ago
> Better yet, why didn't Apple just let the iPad replace the Air if "all they need" is web browsing and office clients? Well, they are. Remember apple's "what's a computer?" ads last year? And the higher end ipads cost more than the lowest priced macs. They make different products for different use cases. Personally I do development on an macbook air, which is already so light I sometimes have to check my bag to make sure I haven't forgotten it.
Spivak 4y ago
Because have you every actually used one of those cheap ass computers. They're absolute trash, the keyboard is wiggly, the trackpad feels awful, the screen is low res and can't handle sunlight, the wifi chip is cheap and unreliable, the speakers sound awful, the battery life is abysmal, you get no support, and it's frustratingly slow. I wouldn't wish anything you can buy at Bestbuy on my worst enemy. If anything someone who is going to be using a laptop a lot but has modest actual computing needs is the perfect candidate for a laptop that prioritizes build quality. Look, Apple isn't the only game in town when it comes to nice laptops, the Surface Book is really nice, but when you're comparing "computers I actually want to use for any extended period of time" $1200 isn't all that expensive.
- arvinsim 4y ago
  > Look, Apple isn't the only game in town when it comes to nice laptops, the Surface Book is really nice, but when you're comparing "computers I actually want to use for any extended period of time" $1200 isn't all that expensive. And that's the point. $1200 IS expensive to some people who are only using it for basic computing tasks. Some people do know what they are getting. They don't care about all the QoL improvements in more expensive laptops as long as they can afford it.
  - charlie0 4y ago
    True, but this has nothing to do with removing Macbooks from the comparisons.