Apple Kills Off White MacBook as Educational Institution Distribution Halted

Wednesday February 8, 2012 12:16 pm PST by Eric Slivka

Last July, Apple discontinued the white MacBook from its consumer lineup, pushing consumers toward the company's popular MacBook Air line or the 13-inch MacBook Pro. The company didn't kill off the MacBook entirely though, as it continued to offer it to educational institutions.

Apple has now notified resellers that it has ended that distribution channel as well, classifying the MacBook as "End of Life". It is unclear at what point Apple ceased production on the MacBook, as it is likely that the company's manufacturing partners wound down their work on the machine some time ago, with the company continuing to sell through its final batch to its limited educational institution market since that time.

Top Rated Comments

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ouimetnick

32 months ago

They have 13,000 left. I heard this last month from the IT guy. Supposedly, they will axe the MBP next, but I call BS. The Apple Sales rep said that. But what does he know? So now we are deciding on either the 13" MBP, or the 11" MBA. I'm not liking the Air. To expensive, and limited.

Rating: 19 Votes

interrobang

32 months ago

Apple would much rather institutions needing a low-end machine buy iPads instead.

(*assorted grumbling about how an iPad doesn't fit your needs follows*)

Yeah, but Apple would rather you buy iPads.

Rating: 17 Votes

electrovir

32 months ago

Yay, no more plastic shells!

Rating: 14 Votes

miniroll32

32 months ago

Pretty sad, as the white MacBook was an iconic design that looked lovely on anyone's desk. They were always plagued with design flaws, but fun none the less.

The MBAs are nice, but the all aluminium finish doesn't have the same cleanliness, to me anyway.

Rating: 13 Votes

theironheath

32 months ago

not much of a surprise really , it wasn't likely they would keep manufacturing them for long, as there spec was rather outdated

Rating: 8 Votes

talmy

32 months ago

Seems like Apple is pushing the iPad for the K-12 market now, rather than any MacBook Pro/Air. And for cash-strapped schools, if an iPad will do it is far less expensive and probably more reliable as well.

Rating: 8 Votes

nagromme

32 months ago

The Air is the computer that makes the most sense for most users on the planet, after all.

Optical drive? Needed occasionally if at all, and so better to make it optional/external and not have to lug it all the time. And the Airs are durable and FAST with the SSD (even the smallest of which meets the needs of most average users). Great machines at a great price; recent Airs made the white MacBook seem like a bad deal anyway.

Rating: 7 Votes

Yebubbleman

32 months ago

The white unibody models had no flaws that I'm aware of.

Yay, no more plastic shells!

Right because the MacBook Air, while not being made of plastic, does so much more as a computer. :rolleyes:

That's kinda what I'm thinking.

Introduce 15" MBA

drop the 13" and 15" MBP

Rename MBA to MacBook

Reduce the prices a bit.

Maintain the 17" MBP

I'll agree that the 13" Pro is endangered, but the 15" model (at least the higher-end model) isn't going anywhere from Apple's line-up.

plagued with flaws, and possibly not really that popular.

Makes sense they would kill it.

The white Unibody models had no design/manufacturing flaws.

Gee, 11.6" screen and 64 GB of storage with a limit of 2GB of RAM versus 13" screen and 250 GB of storage (upgradable to anything, including a 256 GB SSD, or a 750 GB drive) with an Apple-imposed limit of 4GB of RAM (and a theoretical limit of 8GB of RAM) both originally out for the same price, I wonder which is the worse deal. This is why I fail to understand the MacBook Air fanbase; they are so in love with the MacBook Air that they lose all sight of practicality.

Rating: 5 Votes

chrf097

32 months ago

I'm gonna have to try to get one. There's something about the polycarbonate models, especially this one that just's so...appealing....and attractive...

Rating: 5 Votes