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.
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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.
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(View all)(*assorted grumbling about how an iPad doesn't fit your needs follows*)
Yeah, but Apple would rather you buy iPads.
The MBAs are nice, but the all aluminium finish doesn't have the same cleanliness, to me anyway.
How about this: make a MacBook Air-like machine that comes with a range of specifications, from current MacBook Air specifications to current MacBook Pro specifications. Price would range accordingly, from MBA price to MBP price.
Then you could plug in external graphics cards and I/O into the Thunderbolt port. Too bad this will be expensive, but it would be great if you could get it for a decent price
But I'm sure that one day, soon, technology will permit the MacBook Pro to fit into a MacBook Air. Then it will be all unified, and very Apple-like!
What is the point of designing a machine to be ultra-lightweight and portable, but taking so much out of it that you have to plug external accessories into it? Then it's no longer so portable.
There is also no point in Apple turning the MBP into the Air. They need to maintain both lines. The Air is for executives who want something light and easy to carry when they travel and who mainly only check email and access the web. Those people can switch to a Pad, although typing is obviously much easier on the Air. The MBP is designed for people who still do real work (and not just consume content) using intensive applications like Office, Photoshop, video editing, databases, etc. It also has a higher specification than the Air so why would anyone want to take steps backwards?
And while most people on this site agree that it's time to remove the optical drive from the MBP, I would strenuously disagree. I use that drive for all kinds of things, like copying CDs to iTunes or transporting files from a standalone CD-R drive where I do audio editing and mastering.
Besides, good marketing says you have products for every market at a variety of price points. If you look at Apple's current lineup, they hit all of those price points: the computers are all spread about $200-$300 apart.