There was a real distinction then in hardware. Screen size and chassis size but also storage, disk drives and ports. Real qualitative differences, not just quantitative.
Now it’s all vanilla in different containers. All this stuff now has the same ports - but different quantities - the same storage type, the same CPUs. They’re slicing very thinly now.
Can users really tell the difference between a 15" MBA and MBP? An M1 vs M2 chip? I’m skeptical.
I know it works, it’s a quasi-luxury brand, this stuff happens. I don’t have to like it.
They definitely expected more uptake from M2 and M3 not realizing how much they lost by dropping x86.
There was a real distinction then in hardware. Screen size and chassis size but also storage, disk drives and ports. Real qualitative differences, not just quantitative.
You still have all those things that differentiate an Air from a Pro? More CPU cores, more GPU power, more RAM, more storage, better pixel density, better refresh rate, better brightness, better connectivity, better audio and mics, etc. I don‘t quite understand your point.
Can users really tell the difference between a 15" MBA and MBP?
People can definitely tell the difference in price tag. Remember that it’s $1300 USD for the entry 15" MBA, and $2000 for the entry 14" MBP. (There is no 15" MBP)
People who can’t tell the difference would just get the MBA, whereas people who know the difference in hardware would get the MacBook Pro. The MBP aren’t for people who don’t need the power.
The actual confusing part is 13" MBA vs MBP since they are very similar and I do agree that Apple should fix that.
An M1 vs M2 chip?
Again, it’s really just a price thing. Apple only sells M1 for their lowest-level entry MBA. It’s probably targeting education related purposes. Otherwise Apple doesn’t really want you to get an M1 anymore.
Or are you saying people wouldn’t know the difference if they upgrade from M1 to M2? Sure, but who upgrades their computer every 1-2 years? Obviously a computer that’s just one generation ahead wouldn’t be insanely different.
The real problem is that a 8GB, 256GB config for the 15inch MBA base price is completely overpriced. So a useful MBA would come with 16GB,1TB and then you’re at the 14MBP base price already.
There is no justification to ask 300 bucks more for a 15 inch panel vs. a 13inch one either.
So a useful MBA would come with 16GB,1TB and then you’re at the 14MBP base price already.
That’s only because you picked a 1TB config for comparison with the base 512 GB 14" MBP model which is not apples-to-apples at all (I don’t think someone who actually needs a 1TB drive would be comparing laptops like this). If you picked 512 GB (the same as the base config for 14MBP), the MBA is still $300 USD cheaper, and you get a larger screen, lighter computer, and arguably better battery life. All of those factors are non-trivial and may matter more to a consumer. And some people may decide they don’t need the 512 GB SSD or 16 GB RAM anyway depending on their use case.
But Apple has always been pretty annoyingly devious in pricing like this. It’s always a couple hundred USD increase for the next thing and then there is another couple hundred USD better option but if you keep adding it up you soon end up spending $1000 more…
There was a real distinction then in hardware. Screen size and chassis size but also storage, disk drives and ports. Real qualitative differences, not just quantitative.
Now it’s all vanilla in different containers. All this stuff now has the same ports - but different quantities - the same storage type, the same CPUs. They’re slicing very thinly now.
Can users really tell the difference between a 15" MBA and MBP? An M1 vs M2 chip? I’m skeptical.
I know it works, it’s a quasi-luxury brand, this stuff happens. I don’t have to like it.
They definitely expected more uptake from M2 and M3 not realizing how much they lost by dropping x86.
You still have all those things that differentiate an Air from a Pro? More CPU cores, more GPU power, more RAM, more storage, better pixel density, better refresh rate, better brightness, better connectivity, better audio and mics, etc. I don‘t quite understand your point.
People can definitely tell the difference in price tag. Remember that it’s $1300 USD for the entry 15" MBA, and $2000 for the entry 14" MBP. (There is no 15" MBP)
People who can’t tell the difference would just get the MBA, whereas people who know the difference in hardware would get the MacBook Pro. The MBP aren’t for people who don’t need the power.
The actual confusing part is 13" MBA vs MBP since they are very similar and I do agree that Apple should fix that.
Again, it’s really just a price thing. Apple only sells M1 for their lowest-level entry MBA. It’s probably targeting education related purposes. Otherwise Apple doesn’t really want you to get an M1 anymore.
Or are you saying people wouldn’t know the difference if they upgrade from M1 to M2? Sure, but who upgrades their computer every 1-2 years? Obviously a computer that’s just one generation ahead wouldn’t be insanely different.
The real problem is that a 8GB, 256GB config for the 15inch MBA base price is completely overpriced. So a useful MBA would come with 16GB,1TB and then you’re at the 14MBP base price already.
There is no justification to ask 300 bucks more for a 15 inch panel vs. a 13inch one either.
That’s only because you picked a 1TB config for comparison with the base 512 GB 14" MBP model which is not apples-to-apples at all (I don’t think someone who actually needs a 1TB drive would be comparing laptops like this). If you picked 512 GB (the same as the base config for 14MBP), the MBA is still $300 USD cheaper, and you get a larger screen, lighter computer, and arguably better battery life. All of those factors are non-trivial and may matter more to a consumer. And some people may decide they don’t need the 512 GB SSD or 16 GB RAM anyway depending on their use case.
But Apple has always been pretty annoyingly devious in pricing like this. It’s always a couple hundred USD increase for the next thing and then there is another couple hundred USD better option but if you keep adding it up you soon end up spending $1000 more…
Yes I know how that works.
Apple seemed to think that a huge leap from Intel to M1 would pull in conquest sales and a market for annual iterations. Obviously not.
For what it’s worth, the entry level M1 is more computer than most everyone needs these days. It’s still obscenely powerful for typical usage.