My first reaction to the new MacBook Airs was, gee I could use that to replace my 15” 2015 MBP. I’ve been wanting a machine with TouchID, but I don’t like the touch bar and like a physical escape key. With cloud work becoming more prevalent, maybe 2 cores and 16 GB is enough.
The 2018 MacBook Air is the iPhone X’s ASP strategy all over again
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Re: The 2018 MacBook Air is the iPhone X’s ASP strategy all over again
#72> the 12-inch MacBook is still there in the line-up, price unchanged. It makes no sense: it’s an inferior machine at a higher price. But it will find a market with those who know nothing about technology and simply want the sleekest possible device.
Meh, what a load of BS. I know a lot about technology and prefer the 12-inch. Form factor matters, both to professionals like myself and to "people who know nothing about technology".
Re: The 2018 MacBook Air is the iPhone X’s ASP strategy all over again
#73The Macbook and iPhone lines are really mature. They've both been around for a decade now, Apple is doing a good job of continuing to squeeze the juice out of these fruits and these sort of strategies are textbook when it comes to executing on a mature product line.
I think Apple's biggest question is what's next? The Apple Watch is really starting to hit's its groove and I think within the next few years will become a really fantastic product (even moreso than now) but what's next?
Re: The 2018 MacBook Air is the iPhone X’s ASP strategy all over again
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seriously. I just bought one for travel and loaded it with ram and I couldn’t be happier.
>and I couldn’t be happier. Even with the keyboard? May I ask how fast you type (roughly) and whether you use it much for text input (such as emails) or programming?
Not even with the keyboard, but especially with the keyboard. It's the best keyboard I have ever used. I love it.
Re: The 2018 MacBook Air is the iPhone X’s ASP strategy all over again
#75Apple have created a mess by providing multiple options between Airs and Pros. If you upgrade the RAM to 16GB on Air it surpasses the base model of Pro and similarly other storage options. At that point you should rather buy a Pro over Air because the only major difference is size. Lot of this is totally confusing for non-technical folks and they might just end-up making a wrong purchase.
I have no idea why they don't abandon either the non-Pro Macbook or the Air and consolidate. Have an Air and a Pro only, because the overlap between the Air and the non-Pro Macbook seems to serve only to confuse.
This seems to be the same issue that the (seemingly) ever-increasing lineup of iPhones and iPads have.
Re: The 2018 MacBook Air is the iPhone X’s ASP strategy all over again
#76still not sure why we have both a "macbook" and "macbook air". they seem to occupy the same market segment. i thought apple was all about minimizing choices.
They are a lot more similar than they were when the MacBook came out a few years ago. However, the MacBook is fanless (which also means much slower) and smaller/thinner/lighter than the Air. Will the MacBook stay around? I suspect Apple is quite disillusioned with the performance that Intel offers in this TDP range, and the MacBook will either get dropped or go ARM.
The MB uses a 5W CPU, the Air uses a 7W CPU, still miles behind the performance of real laptop CPUs like those found in the Pro line.
If you need to decide between MB and MB Air, performance should't enter into it, it's almost the same.
Re: The 2018 MacBook Air is the iPhone X’s ASP strategy all over again
#77Not sure I agree that the Macbook is "an inferior machine at a higher price". At 12", it is the only <13" offering currently.
Mmm, I think the only case for it is that the screen is smaller and that it weighs less. Otherwise it is exactly that, an inferior machine for more money.
Re: The 2018 MacBook Air is the iPhone X’s ASP strategy all over again
#78The Macbook and iPhone lines are really mature. They've both been around for a decade now, Apple is doing a good job of continuing to squeeze the juice out of these fruits and these sort of strategies are textbook when it comes to executing on a mature product line. I think Apple's biggest question is what's next? The Apple Watch is really starting to hit's its groove and I think within the next few years will become…
I think with apples push of AR on iOS its clear that they are thinking about a future in AR glasses. They'll have a huge advantage over others if they can make existing ARKit apps work on a pair of spectacles. Glasses also fit with Apples "fashion" branding.
People on HN seem to downplay how amazing a good AR glasses product can be. Any information in the world (from restaurant menus to road signs) can now become interactive, animated, personalised, and 3D. The killer feature I believe will be having face-to-face meeting using AR glasses. Oculus put it well in their recent keynote: cities are build such that people can be close in close proximity for meeting face to face. People are willing to spend thousand of dollars to fly across the globe for a face to face meeting. With video and voice call you can only go so far. AR glasses (maybe even VR) can get you pretty close to what you would find in real life, and even some added features like being able to write in the air and pull out virtual 3D models. But, the tech is still a long way off.
Re: The 2018 MacBook Air is the iPhone X’s ASP strategy all over again
#79My first reaction to the new MacBook Airs was, gee I could use that to replace my 15” 2015 MBP. I’ve been wanting a machine with TouchID, but I don’t like the touch bar and like a physical escape key. With cloud work becoming more prevalent, maybe 2 cores and 16 GB is enough.
Just ordered one for dev work. Hopefully it’s enough.
Re: The 2018 MacBook Air is the iPhone X’s ASP strategy all over again
#80Is ASP rising faster than the cost of goods sold?