“Why, it seems like only yesterday that Steve Jobs first pulled the MacBook Air from a manila envelope for the world to see,” Brian Heater writes for techCrunch. “It wasn’t, of course — that was 10 years ago this January. In that past decade, the ultraportable laptop has become a massive hit for the company, helping to redefine the notebook space.”
“But no Apple product deserved a makeover more than the MacBook,” Heater writes. “The big change to the product is the most obvious — and far and away the most requested. Apple FINALLY brought a retina display to the device. That puts the new 13-inch screen at 2560 x 1600 — and it looks great. The bump up will be like night and day for longtime Air users who are finally ready to upgrade.”
“The keyboards are new, which is kind of a mixed bag. Apple has certainly improved upon things on that front over three generations, including the most recent version, which are quieter, courtesy of a kind of rubber bladder that also doubles as protection against spills,” Heater writes. “All in all, a solid and long-awaited update to Apple’s best-loved laptop.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We love it! We’d love it a bit more at $999, but, hey, these Retina displays cost money and are well worth the extra cost. Apple has kept the older MacBook Air (1.8GHz dual-core 5th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of 1600MHz LPDDR3 memory, 128GB of SSD storage, Intel HD Graphics 6000) around at the $999 price point, but the $200 difference is well worth what you get with the new model.
SEE ALSO:
Apple reveals all-new MacBook Air with a gorgeous 13-inch Retina display – October 30, 2018
No news on the Mac Pro. Nice job Pipeline, nice job.
They need to drop the $999 one to $749 for schools (or a version with less storage for students) — and maybe they will offer some K-12 institutional 5-packs or something. But if they don’t that market is lost. And if you don’t have a decent Apple laptop option for 1:1 initiatives at schools you won’t get iPad sales done either. Managing multiple platforms is a pain in the ass and hard to argue for . . . the seamless mating of iOS and MacOS was a bridge easy to cross with many of the same management tools. Google has a mediocre web-based OS with a pretty good management back end and multiple vendors with a wide range of cheap ass hardware all appearing to be “variety” to uninformed peanut-counting boards of education . . . . uninspiring crap would be another word for it but it’s going to continue to kick Apple’s ass in the one market I just don’t think Steve Jobs would’ve have lacked the vision to concede.
Sorry, but Apple lost the education market years ago. It’s ALL Chromebooks now. Disgusting but true. Both my kids schools are 100% Chromebooks now and they recommend parents get their kids only Chromebooks.
Apple had the chance to get the next generation but failed to act. That’s the story of Pipeline’s legacy.
Another view might be that the students will grow up and:
– Think “thank you jeesus, that I don’t have to use that cheap-ass crap any longer”
and
– Find themselves in workplaces where that cheap-ass hardware has no presence.
I.e. a non-problem.
I don’t know… combine google chrome books with Google Sheets and kids are learning on GOogle GOOgle gooGLE… I had a recent high school graduate say they don’t know how to use eXcel, but knew GOogle Sheets.
high school graduate should be fine if they can solve problems with pen and paper. in that case they will be able to use spreadsheets of any vendor, and will not be scared of power outages:-)
Kids aren’t going to keep using cheap crappy Chromebooks just because they used them in high school and learned to use Google Sheets. I use Google Drive/Docs/Sheets etc everyday… on my Mac. That’s the thing about web-based stuff, it works on any device.
Did you keep driving the cheap piece of junk car you had when you were a teenager? No, you grew up, got some money, and got something better when you could afford it.
I’m going to check out the keyboard at the Apple store. If the keyboard is okay, I’m going to purchase one. I honestly thought my current MBA was my last Apple computer. Nice job Apple!!
Next thing is an updated iPhone that fits the SE form so I can use it in the field as an EMT.
it’s a pity there’s no quad core option even though intel has it in the 15W power range, so I’ll buy a MB Pro, even though I like the wedge shape better.
For $100 more, just get a 13″ MacBook Pro sans touchbar. Heater even offers a side by side pic for comparison:
Touch ID alone. No thanks. $100 less and Touch ID.
And a Quater pound lighter. And yes that matters