[Robo]

Originally Posted by chucker On the one hand, I think the notion of the Air as a boutique/aspirational product is gone. It found much better success in its 2010 rethink as the new low-end MacBook.

You might be right, but I don't think the Air makes sense as the low-end MacBook. If you're going to have a model where you really push the limits of miniaturization and thinness and lightness — and to me that's what the "Air" name still implies — I think that can't be the low-end MacBook, because all that limit-pushing has a real cost to it. The 2010 13-inch MacBook Air was able to be the new low-end MacBook (eventually) because it wasn't a model that pushed the limits of thinness and lightness. It wasn't really a step forward from the 2008 model in terms of size or weight. It was more about adjusting that form factor to the mainstream, actually removing costly features like the elegant port door and (for a time) the illuminated keyboard to get the price down. (Which is why I think it should have just been the new MacBook, at that point, but that's neither here nor there.)

To me, it doesn't make sense to do the wedge shape if you're not going to also have the expensive contoured batteries, because otherwise you're just shipping air inside the computer. It doesn't make sense to do the wedge shape if you're not going to go all the way with it and make it as svelte as possible. I think it does make sense to make a product that takes the next steps forward in miniaturization and thinness and lightness, because Apple needs to stay ahead of its competition and keep innovating. But that doesn't have to be The Mainstream MacBook For Everybody. It actually probably shouldn't be, because thinness and lightness are good upsells.

Now, you could say that my proposed $999 aluminum/three-pound/14-inch-ish MacBook and $1299 two-pound-ish/12-inch MacBook Air scenario is a lot like the 2015-2018 MacBook Air/12-inch MacBook scenario, and the 12-inch MacBook was just discontinued. But I think the difference is one of expectation: in my plan, the 12-inch $1299 model wouldn't be expected to be the new mainstream notebook for all people, like the 12-inch MacBook was. It'd be fine for it to be a slightly niche ultraportable with the goal of tempting MacBook buyers to move up in the line. (Also, I think the 12-inch being discontinued maybe has less to do with Apple deciding there isn't a market for it and more to do with Intel problems and maybe the keyboard problems, too. I think we'll see a return of that form factor.)

Discontinuing the 12-inch model was an odd regression on the portability front for Apple; their lightest notebook got 35% heavier overnight. They introduced the 2018 Air as sort of a cheapified replacement for the 12-inch MacBook, because they were sure the Air name and the "iconic wedge" was what people wanted, but I think they cheapified the wrong computer. They sell the base MacBook Pro for only $200 more with a quad core with the fancy eDRAM graphics and a Touch Bar! Swap in a regular dual core and take out the Touch Bar and I think it would probably be easier to hit $999 with that product than with the MacBook Air, and with higher performance than the odd 7W Air to boot.

I just...I just can't make sense of the new Air, chuck. It's ~90% the weight of a MacBook with a 28W processor, and it has a 7W processor and a fan that is just sort of hanging out off to the side. It just doesn't seem ideal, for like anyone. And Apple's acting like it's the return of the king. I have to hope it's a stopgap and will be a relatively short-lived design.

Originally Posted by chucker We'll see what they do with the low-end iPad. If you're right, it'll only be a spec bump revision. If so, for consistency's sake, I think your proposed line-up makes sense.

Well, I never said I thought I was right. I'm wishcasting, a little.

The current rumor is that the low-end iPad is going to get a slightly larger screen, but still smaller than the Air? I can't make sense of it.