I don't love it, but between this and the mac mini update, I think Apple is back on a more reasonable path.
The overall laptop lineup makes actual sense now if you pretend that the macbook and macbook pro without touchbar models don't exist. And I suspect that they won't exist much longer.
The only thing you get for an extra hundred dollars for the macbook Pro escape is a higher base speed processor with the same turbo boost on an older generation chip and Iris Graphics vs UHD. Worse battery life. Heavier. No touchID. Same thunderbolt 3 ports.
The macbook is even more of an anemic joke now. I guess if you really have to have the thinnest and lightest mac laptop possible, this one's for you.
But pretend for a moment that those confusing models aren't in the lineup, and the whole thing starts to make sense after they get EOL'd. The new MBA handles the low end competently. There's some gray area when you upgrade it to 16GB rams and 512GB SSD. That's the same price as the entry level 13" macbook pro with touchbar. But now you get real differentiation between the Air and Pro line. 4 thunderbolt 3 ports, 2 core vs 4 core. Higher base and boost clock speed; same generation chip. True-tone display. Option to upgrade the processor.
What sticks out to me the most here is how completely hamstrung Apple is by Intel right now. There should be a 32gig RAM option for the 13". But it's a different architecture than what they have on the 15" models that do support it, and they couldn't cram into the 13" form factor.
It's not ideal. USB-C is still a shitshow, and I wish you could opt for at least one step up in processor. But it's actually better than I expected. They also didn't completely ruin the mac mini. They gave us pretty much what we wanted out of that. So overall, I'm pretty pleased with the direction. I just can't decide if I should wait another couple years to see more of that direction until the macbook pros get a redesign with these ideas or if I can live with this MBA as an upgrade from my older stuff for now.
My biggest concern was that every new design and product matrix since the trashcan mac pro has been a massive, "WTF are you thinking, Apple?" This makes me feel like they've figured some things out about what people want out of their Macs. Or made the leadership decision to listen to what they already knew people wanted. The next gen pro should be very exciting.