It’s Time To Say Goodbye To Apple’s MacBook

Apple’s Mac notebook line is something of a cluttered mess at the entry-level range. How so? The new MacBook Air is priced $100 less than the smaller, older, less capable MacBook.

Worse, MacBook Air is $100 less expensive than the utterly anemic entry-level MacBook Pro model. Clearly, something is going on with Apple’s plans for affordable Mac notebooks. Since the MacBook Pro isn’t going anywhere, and MacBook Air is new, what’s next?

Goodbye, Little Mac

Why Apple has a relatively inexpensive– and somewhat anemic– MacBook Pro is either, 1) a tribute to courage, or, 2) a mistake that needs to be fixed, or, 3) Apple knows entry-level Mac notebook buyers are easy to confuse at the point of purchase. Earlier today I stopped at the downtown Chicago Apple Store and asked a few questions to an associate.

First, where can I buy Apple t-shirts? Second, what’s the difference between the new MacBook Air, the MacBook, and a MacBook Pro? They’re $100 apart. My second question fell on deaf ears as the associate ran off to get someone with better product differentiation skills.

Here’s what it came down to.

• MacBook Air is the latest and greatest value
• MacBook Pro line has more options (not at entry-level)
• MacBook is smaller and lighter (and weaker)

That’s it, folks. Move along. Nothing to see here. The MacBook is either, 1) doomed, or, 2) due for a refresh of some kind (I’m thinking Apple’s own A12X Bionic-like CPU instead of Intel Inside).

Even the entry-level MacBook Pro muddies the waters of differentiation. Yes, you can add more build-to-order options for MacBook Pro, including a 15-inch display– that’s kinda sorta mostly what professional means when you call it a Pro– but why have an anemic model priced only $100 more than a better entry-level MacBook Air?

Let me call it as I see it. Say goodbye to the MacBook. Either something new is on the way, or a price drop is on the way, or the entry-level MacBook Pro is on the way out.

Or, all three.

There is too much clutter at the entry-level for all three models and Apple’s own in-store associates cannot clearly differentiate the differences and why someone would prefer or be better off with one over the other two, and it ain’t just the price tag.