Apple introduced the MacBook Air in 2010, 8 years ago; it hasn’t received a major update since. At $999, it’s Apple’s cheapest portable Mac, but, like Apple’s other <$1,000 Mac, the Mac Mini, it has languished. Mac sales have been declining, and iPad sales aren’t making up for the difference. The iPhone X hasn’t sold as well as Apple expected, and Apple could be ready to try some new strategies. The key one would be to listen to feedback from consumers, who have seen Macs increase in price, but drop features and capabilities. The MacBook Pro is more expensive than every, but less capable than ever as well. It’s to the point where actual professionals avoid it. Consumers want Macs they can afford, and professionals want powerful Macs. That’s why these have always been separate categories at Apple.
Apple’s education presentation on Tuesday would be the perfect time to reveal a low cost Mac for the classroom, but Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple’s new low cost MacBook isn’t ready yet. KGI’s Ming Chi Kuo, on the other hand, says we may not have to wait long.
Low Cost MacBook Rumor
Kuo believes that the new MacBook Air could cost less than the current model, though he doesn’t say by how much. WitsView researcher Yubin Qiu, however, believes the new MacBook could cost between $799 and $899. This would be a $100-$200 discount for the laptop, but would make it a more viable option for those with less disposable income. Apple also has another problem, a lack of focus seen before Steve Jobs returned to the company. The MacBook Air and MacBook are fighting each other for the same spot: portable consumer-level Macs. These sales are cannibalizing each other at their current price point. This means that Apple is over complicating their production to sell two products when consumers would likely be willing to buy one of them, if only given a single choice.
Personally, I think Apple’s current MacBook isn’t worth the price they’re charging for it. Apple could add a USB-C port to it, bringing the number of ports on it up to a whopping 2 (yes, that was sarcasm). They could then simplify their product lineup, down to one low cost MacBook. MacBook and iPad Pro sales are unlikely to directly compete with enough of the potential market to affect Apple’s sales. Therefore, they’re still likely safe to offer products in both the notebook and tablet categories around the same price. Schools, especially high schools who are teaching students more programming skills than Apple’s iPad can teach, would flock to a low-cost Mac capable of building iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux, and any other apps natively.
Students Need a Low Cost MacBook
The $2006 MacBook vs the 2017 MacBook. Students can’t afford this.
I went off to college with a plastic 2006 MacBook. At the time, it was the best computer I had ever owned. It was powerful, had great battery life, and got me through a full day of classes. I couldn’t have afforded anything more expensive at the time, and I certainly would have struggled to get a MacBook and all the dongles necessary to use it now. Apple is failing people, like students, who can’t afford a chance to succeed due to high costs. Apple needs to cater to the lower end of the market now, because, one day, students graduate, get high paying jobs, and when they go to buy a computer for work, they’ll buy an upgrade of whatever they had in school.
Increasingly, that’s not going to be one of Apple’s overpriced and dongle-laden laptops.
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