Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#161

Post by Xixi » Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 5:27 PM UTC

IkmoIkmo wrote: post #150

Love the device but I can't get over how expensive it has gotten. A 20% price bump... Sure, there's still the old Macbook Air around, but it wasn't updated and is based on a decade old model with a CPU/GPU that's a 3 years old (5th gen i5 from 2015), and a 128 PPI screen, that's a bit ridiculous. If you want a modern machine you're looking at $1200 for the cheapest model. That isn't even too bad but when you go abroa…

You are comparing prices without VAT to prices with VAT. In France VAT is 20%, quite typical in the EU, so the comparison is not fair at all.

There's VAT in many states and cities in the United States, although typically at rates much lower than in the EU. Buying a MacBook Air in New York City for instance will be at least $1,300 (combined VAT rate of 8.875%).

[EDIT] Granted, the exchange rate is not great, but it's definitely not as bad as you make it sounds. In the EU sticker price is the final price, in the US the sticker price is a baseline on top of which any ridiculous fee and unexpected tax can (and will) be added. Unlike in the EU you really don't know how much you will pay until you get the final bill...

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#162

Post by hartator » Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 5:27 PM UTC

FBISurveillance wrote: post #27

SlowRobotAhead wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dont know if that works, but a difficulty of USB-C has been the power profiles and who charges what and when. It’s weird, and I would think the potential would have to be way different between the two laptops but according to the spec it can work.

You can charge MacBooks from each other. * First laptop you plug one end of USB C cable in will the the charger; * Second laptop will be the one getting charged.

Infinite energy.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#163

Post by Joeri » Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 5:27 PM UTC

IkmoIkmo wrote: post #150

Love the device but I can't get over how expensive it has gotten. A 20% price bump... Sure, there's still the old Macbook Air around, but it wasn't updated and is based on a decade old model with a CPU/GPU that's a 3 years old (5th gen i5 from 2015), and a 128 PPI screen, that's a bit ridiculous. If you want a modern machine you're looking at $1200 for the cheapest model. That isn't even too bad but when you go abroa…

The EU has higher warranty coverage (2 years instead of one), and that is priced in. The second year of keyboard replacements surely drives up the price.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#164

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 5:28 PM UTC

wilsonnb3 wrote: post #119

I’m a bit confused as to where the base model MacBook Pro without the TouchBar fits into the lineup now. It was always pretty clear to me that the 12 inch MacBook replaced the 11 inch air, and the 13 inch MacBook Pro without TouchBar replaced the 13 inch air. There’s barely any difference between the Pro without TouchBar and the new Air. The extra hundred dollars for the Pro gets you a slightly older but faster proce…

[deleted]

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#165

Post by starbugs » Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 5:29 PM UTC

ksec wrote: post #152

I wonder if a lot of people are leaving the Mac ecosystem. Apple has been selling roughly ~19M Mac per year since 2012, and its new user to Mac has also been steady at ~50%. Apple has had 60M Mac user in 2012 announced in WWDC, and they has been nearing 100M since early 2017. I assume that actual number is larger than 90M at the time, so after nearly 20 Months, ~20M New Mac Users on board, it manage to add a total ~1…

I bought my first 15" MBP in 2006 after Apple switched to Intel. I was a student back then and I got it for about 1800 EUR. It was a beautiful machine, I could replace the battery myself without unscrewing anything, and if I wanted to upgrade the memory or HDD I could do that easily.

Now here we are 12 years and a couple of Macs later. The current MBP is a bit more beautiful than the first one I got, it's noticeably thinner, the trackpad is bigger, but that's pretty much it. The rest is just technological advancements that have happened to the whole industry line-up of laptops (faster CPU, more RAM, SSDs, USB3, USB-C, Thunderbolt). And for that I now have to pay nearly double the price of my first MBP.

I think the sales people have taken control over Apple again. It just feels natural to look for an alternative at this point.

The really sad part is that Apple software, which is vastly superior to all competitors from my perspective, is no longer accessible for certain people due to the price hikes. I had hoped that Apple would take another path this time. They seem to have forgotten their decline during the 90s.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#166

Post by hartator » Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 5:30 PM UTC

The current line is a bit weird. MacBook 12” vs MacBook Air 13” vs MacBook Pro 13” without Touch Bar.

I just wish they release a 14” MacBook. That would have made more sense.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#167

Post by YetAnotherNick » Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 5:32 PM UTC

Joeri wrote: post #163

IkmoIkmo wrote: post #150

Love the device but I can't get over how expensive it has gotten. A 20% price bump... Sure, there's still the old Macbook Air around, but it wasn't updated and is based on a decade old model with a CPU/GPU that's a 3 years old (5th gen i5 from 2015), and a 128 PPI screen, that's a bit ridiculous. If you want a modern machine you're looking at $1200 for the cheapest model. That isn't even too bad but when you go abroa…

The EU has higher warranty coverage (2 years instead of one), and that is priced in. The second year of keyboard replacements surely drives up the price.

> The second year of keyboard replacements surely drives up the price.

Isn't keyboard replacement free worldwide for 4 years?

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#168

Post by a13n » Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 5:33 PM UTC

Looks like the same shitty keyboard as the MacBook Pro. At least there's an escape key...

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#169

Post by YetAnotherNick » Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 5:33 PM UTC

IkmoIkmo wrote: post #150

Love the device but I can't get over how expensive it has gotten. A 20% price bump... Sure, there's still the old Macbook Air around, but it wasn't updated and is based on a decade old model with a CPU/GPU that's a 3 years old (5th gen i5 from 2015), and a 128 PPI screen, that's a bit ridiculous. If you want a modern machine you're looking at $1200 for the cheapest model. That isn't even too bad but when you go abroa…

I think the entry level macbook pro is better buy than this. For $100, the CPU is much better, and very likely the build quality too. And everything else including weight, keyboard, ports, battery life etc. mostly the same.

Re: Apple Finally Updates MacBook Air with Retina Display, Touch ID

#170

Post by ratfaced-guy » Tue, Oct 30, 2018, 5:33 PM UTC

Wildgoose wrote: post #159

Too late. I was an Apple user for years but I recently purchased an AMD Ryzen based development box which I am extremely happy with. My iPhone SE will be my last iPhone as well - I won't purchase an expensive mobile 'phone that lacks something as basic as a headphone jack.

Nobody cares about headphone jacks.