“Analysts were impressed with the new $1,299, roughly two-pound, 12-inch Retina display MacBook that goes on sale April 10,” Angela Swartz reports for The Silicon Valley Business Journal. “They noted, however, that the MacBook Air — a separate product, also [updated] at the same event this week — only came out with an updated processor and hard drive. Some wonder how long the Air will stick around, since it’s such a similar product to the new MacBook.”
“The fact the MacBook Air is sold for a lower price — the 11-inch starts at $899 — will probably keep it around for a little longer, at least as a utility product, said Gene Munster, managing director and senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, an investment bank and asset management firm,” Swartz reports. “‘The Air is probably becoming largely irrelevant with the new MacBook,’ Munster said. ‘The real substance of the excitement in new portables is the MacBook — $200 to $300 is a lot of money for a lot of people. But you get an awful lot — a much better computer — for the incremental price difference.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: For users like us, who have iMacs on our desks, but want the lightest possible notebook for working on the road, the new MacBook, with its Retina display, is too tempting. For years, the only port we’ve ever used on the MacBook Airs is the charging port. We’ll be upgrading our portable Macs from 11-inch MacBook Airs to MacBooks this summer, barring any decision-altering MacBook Pro/Air developments in the meantime.