Signs That The There Will Be No MacBook Pro Smaller Than The 15″
1. Meet The Family. Now Complete.
This slogan found at www.apple.com/macbook is a pretty good sign that as of now, Apple has launched its whole line up of portables. So it’s really going to be the 13.3″ MacBooks for the consumers and the 15″ and 17″ MacBook Pros for well.. Pro users.
I personally find the current line up ideal. I honestly don’t think a smaller MacBook Pro would fit the line. Why? because the current line-up puts a good spread between the models. The MacBooks address specific consumer needs that I think owners of 12″ Powerbooks would feel quite comfortable upgrading to.
2. Apple is benchmarking MacBooks against 12″ Powerbooks
This is a good indication that Apple has replaced the 12″ Powerbooks with the MacBooks. Why else would they compare the two?
As it is the MacBooks meet if not surpass the 12″ Powerbook in all aspects. Plus most users of the 12″ Powerbooks are really using it for “Office” type work such as word processing, surfing, email, etc. I’ve personally had experience with the 12″ and I wouldn’t recommend it to Pro users for the simple fact that it’s just two small and too hard to do adequate work on without straining yourself.
By positioning MacBooks to cater to the 12″ Powerbook market, Apple is subtly telling pro users that the MacBook Pros are better for them. I agree with this. If you’re a serious photographer, designer or video editor, get yourself the MacBook Pros. Suck up the extra weight.. You need the exercise anyway..
3. The Price Point
The MacBooks price point falls near the price of the 12″ Powerbooks. Especially the Black model. I just don’t see Apple adding another pro model that will cannibalize the sales of MacBooks.
Right now Apple has a good spread on model specs, price points and their current line up fits squarely into demographics of mobile users. If you’re a consumer or even if you use the laptop for office work but not graphics or such, get the MacBooks. They’re the best value for money. Sure you don’t get the aluminum casing but hey, the plastic is nice too. If you’re a pro, get the MacBook Pro. You’ll appreciate the bigger and brighter screen and the much more powerful graphics card.
To sum it all up, I think the current line up is complete, at least for the next six months or so. I don’t expect to see anymore new portables except for incremental speed bumps/upgrades.
So there ya go.. Agree? Disagree? Leave me a note. I’d love to hear from you.
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POSTED IN: Commentaries, Juan's Posts, MacBook
3 opinions for Signs That The There Will Be No MacBook Pro Smaller Than The 15″
Jason
May 17, 2006 at 8:21 pm
This is nitpicking, I know, but:
- The PowerBooks have dedicated video memory, not shared
- They are smaller, and lighter (4.6 lb vs 5.2 lb)
- They have a modem (much needed in the Philippines, I think, since in many provinces the only way to go online is via a prepaid dial-up card)
Still, I’ll probably get myself a MacBook before the year is out. The size and mobility are the most important considerations for me, and the MB Pro specs are really overkill for my needs.
fids
Jun 4, 2006 at 8:03 pm
Sounds perfect for me, i’m not a gamer anyway. Quick question though. The tests show that the MacBook is definitely faster than the Powerbook; does this mean that one does not need to add RAM yet since both use the default 512mb anyway?
Juan
Jun 6, 2006 at 8:16 am
hey fids,
i think you still need to upgrade the RAM. just booting up os x and the shared video takes up about 270MB of RAM. You’ll need more than that to run multiple applications without slowing down. Here’s what I can say though, the stock 512MB is usable. but if you want to maximize your experience i suggest upgrading it to at least 1GB.
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