“The MacBook Air has been such a hit for Apple the past few years that even Microsoft is making one,” Jason Snell writes for Macworld. “Starting at $999, the Surface Laptop sure looks good – it’s got a MacBook Air price, a wedge shape, weighs 2.76 pounds, the latest Intel core i5 processor, and a high-resolution display.”
“Given that Apple hasn’t updated the MacBook Air in ages, the Surface Laptop attacks Apple at a vulnerable spot right in the midst of a product transition,” Snell writes. “Well played by Microsoft, but if you look a bit closer it sure looks like Apple’s got the Surface Laptop surrounded.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We agree with Snell that “the MacBook’s positioned quite nicely… it just needs an update.”
The fact that Apple’s offerings can run macOS and also slum it with Windows if need be – giving users two (or, with Linux, etc., more than two) computers for the price of one – is something Microsoft cannot match, especially with the Surface Laptop shipping with the restricted “Windows S,” requiring an extra expenditure of $50 just to be stuck with standard-issue Windows and all of its inherent issues.
Only Apple Macs can run all of the world’s software. Windows PCs can only run a subset.
SEE ALSO:
Apple will find it hard to ignore Microsoft’s new $999 Surface Laptop – May 2, 2017
I just got my new MacBook 12 inch, two days ago. This is ultra mobile, extremely fast considering the size and the weight of less than 1 kilogram. And, if I compare the specs, so much cheaper than the Surface laptop. Keep in mind that the $999 Surface just has 4 GB of RAM, barely usable with Windows. I paid 1799 Euro in Germany for the 1,2 GHz m5, 8 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD model. What a fantastic machine! What a brilliant display! What an incredible keyboard! And what a gorgeous trackpad. The only one I have to blame is myself, why I did not buy it last year.
1800 Euro for a netbook is highway robbery, even if it does run macOS.
also, the keyboard on the Macbook is pathetic.
It’s not a netbook, dude. The 2nd generation keyboard is fantastic. And it even runs Indesign and Photoshop. It is a fantastic machine and extremely fair cost. I will use it probably 3 years or so every day. It is just 1,50 Euro per day. My daily coffee costs more.
Just wait until the glue fails from heat damage… oh wait, the CPU will never get hot because the logic board throttles it down to super slow speeds if it start working to hard because there is no cooling in the device.
the 12 inch macbook is an expensive scam, should have went with the 13 inch non-touch pro one.
“Should have gone…,” you illiterate, supercilious asshole. People who think they know which Mac someone else should buy are the worst kind of assholes. FOAD.
!
When your pathetic excuse for a brain can’t come up with anything intelligent, this is the outcome. Congratulations doofus.
I also have the 15 inch late 2016 MacBook Pro with 2 TB SSD and the i7 processor. This is my office machine, plugged into the 5k LG display. So I can compare them in my daily business. Both are great machines, perfect for different uses. Love them both.
It’s a 12″ netbook.
Geekbench multicore scores::
MacBook Pro 2015, 4 core: 14112
MacBook Pro 2016, 4 core: 13630
MacBook Air 2015, 2 core: 6734
MacBook 2016, 2 core: 6464
Notice how the new models underperform the old models they are supposed to replace. This is Tim Cook’s Apple now.
The newer models are not an improvement in function, ergonomics, portability, or anything else to offset the loss in performance and/or the increase in price.
My new MBP 2.7GHz quad, 1TB ssd, r460 pro scores 14300 on multicore in geekbench 4.0, on macOS 10.12.5 beta 5…. not sure where you’re getting your numbers.
https://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks
There is probably some variation in each individual machine, but it looks like Mikes numbers are in line with the geekbench mac page.
And I agree with Mike, Apple is charging too much for what amounts to no tangible performance increases gereration to generation.
Thanks Observer. Yes, see the GeekBench website.
MacBook Air: $999, low resolution display, obsolete processor, zero options for expansion, obsolete connectors, 8GB RAM. Embarrassingly old.
MS Surface Laptop: $999, high resolution display, two generations newer processors, limited expansion, inadequate connector array, 4GB RAM. Windows 10S operating system is a non-starter.
MacBook: $1299, smaller screen, wimpy m5 processor, wimpy GPU, 256GB storage, 8GB RAM, only one measly port. It’s a netbook in all but name. Apple’s attempted replacement for the Air gives up too much capability in order to be a few hundred grams lighter that the already very portable Air is.
13″ Apple MBP sans Gimmick Bar: $1499, is a consumer grade laptop that finally offers competitive features with Dell, HP, and Lenovo hardware. But it costs ~ $200 more than the equivalent Linux/Win10 machines with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. So bad value for hardware. While the download is free, Apple is charging you a $200 premium for macOS, which unfortunately no longer feels $200 better than Windows 10. iLife and iWork freebieware are also outclassed now, so the Apple Tax isn’t something to ignore.
Snell’s conclusion: “At some point it seems like Apple will need to bite the bullet and make a MacBook available for $999 or $1099.” He is absolutely correct. Apple charges too much for what it offers.
Worst of all, Apple actually thinks these are premium machines. They are not. The Pro label has been tarnished by fashionista idiots at Apple. Microsoft and Apple conspicuously have no actual pro level 15″ or 17″ workstation laptops for field work. You need to go to HP or Dell for the best processing hardware there. It should not be this way, but this is Cook’s Apple.
I also never thought, one port would be enough. Now I see: it is absolutely fine. It’s a portable machine, not made for office as desktop replacement. I do my business on it when I am traveling like I did all two days I have the MacBook now. I never had a better mobile device. However, I wish apple would have put into the machine two USB-C ports just to avoid those negative comments.
I’ve seen the new Macbook Pro without Touchbar for $100-200 off. If and when Apple discounts it permanently I think it’ll end up as their top selling laptop (unless the 12″ Macbook gets the deeper price cut). I don’t think Apple wants to reveal the fact that people don’t want/need the Touchbar.
Update the MacBook to a slightly faster processor (continue to use the m5 processor if it makes sense to do so)
Add another USB-C port. Definitely a design oversight there.
Drop $200 off the price to $1099. Make choosing the Surface a difficult choice. If you pay $999 you get a Surface Laptop with 4GB RAM. Pay $100 more and you get a thinner sexier MacBook with 8GB RAM.
It doesn’t have to hit $999. It can keep the price at $1099 because people will pay a premium for it.
Windows is not an option- on Any hardware. Ugh.
I’d have a tough time giving up Google and Amazon, but Microsoft is totally disposable for me. Yes, Apple needs better and newer Macs- but even a decent Surface costs about as much or more, who needs it? Not me.
Guys,
Sometimes it’s not the hardware u pay only for.
It’s the software also…
Buy windows and then buy everything else. Especially the anti-virus.
Bang your head over drivers.
Try your expertise in connecting MiraCast, etc…
The experience.
Enjoy the slowdowns, the update cycles… most of the times making U wait before shutting or booting the device.
For Macs… it’s just peace of mind.
For Macs … its just peace of mind knowing you have no options whatsoever. Totally disposable.
No choice of RAM, no way to replace it when RAM fails.
No way to upgrade CPU or GPU after sale.
No way to replace battery or stuff in a more capable battery in 3 years when the new exciting solid lithium battery is available.
What do you pay for with a Mac:
– Several hundred bucks for the Apple Tax up front.
– If you work with anyone who is not on iCloud (which is >90% of professionals), you need to buy a professional software suite.
– you need to buy adapter cables to use your legacy peripherals
– you need to buy a dock or breakout box to use more than one or two peripherals at once
– all the time you think you are saving with slowdowns and upgrade cycles (or lack thereof on a Mac) are swallowed up by incompatibilities, like when GoToMeeting crashes repeatedly, when Safari can’t properly display a web page, and when high definition, high frame rate video cannot be displayed because Apple uses cheap builtin Intel consumer GPUs.
This is coming from a person who uses a Mac every day. Sorry, but my other computers these days are proving themselves just as solid, just as reliable, just as secure, and a hell of a lot faster for many tasks. Apple has coasted on the Mac way too long.
Right. For $100 or more, you can plug in warts to the side of your Mac laptop to add all the ports that Apple removed. That’s peace of mind for you but a big pain in the ass for everyone else.
An excellent illustration of Mac laptop frustration.
Apple no longer has an entry level laptop for $1000
Apple has not updated the 12.9″ iPad Pro since Nov 2015
Tim Cook wants the iPad to be a consumer laptop replacement.
So, I expect Apple to introduce a new iPad Pro that will run both iOS and MacOS to fill the void.
iOS doesn’t fill any voids.
Just because Microsoft is willing to attempt another Windows RT with a locked down OS that cannot run any existing Windows software doesn’t mean that Apple should double down and force Mac users to adopt a similarly constrained iOS wannabe laptop.
Apple can and should have affordable Macs from 13″, $1k plastic fantastic models all the way up to 17″, $4k portable workstations. With distinctly different consumer and pro machines in 13″ and 15″ sizes. The market exists, it’s Apple’s idiot managers who keep whiffing.
iTunes will be available on the new W10s app store.
Don’t spread false info MDN – anyone who buys a Surface Laptop can upgrade the OS to Windows 10 Pro for free.
Microsoft’s decision to ship Surface Laptop with the limited 10s OS is perplexing given that it was intended for the education market. 10s will be a good fit if MS ever updates the Surface non-pro tablet.
Watching the highlights from MS’s conference yesterday, especially their new video editor, made me think that Microsoft and Apple have changed places. One is innovative and directed to professionals and artists. The other is frozen in place, outdated and greedy. Apple needs new blood.
Apple laptops have the most annoying key clicks. GAWD!
Do Please Try To Keep Up Apple.
You’re Looking HOBBLED Lately.
And That’s Rather Pathetic.
Meanwhile, Security Wonders In Windows World:
Security Experts Scramble to Contain Fallout From Cyberattacks
Intel chip vulnerability lets hackers easily hijack fleets of PCs
Security researchers say exploiting the vulnerability requires little technical expertise, and can result in a hacker taking full control of an affected PC.
Oh and:
HP laptops covertly log user keystrokes, researchers warn
Audio driver supplied by Conexant may put PCs from other makers at risk, too.
HP is selling more than two dozen models of laptops and tablets that covertly monitor every keystroke a user makes, security researchers warned Thursday. The devices then store the key presses in an unencrypted file on the hard drive….