19 comments

i was thinking about this since your article about the blurring line that used to separate apple’s pro laptops and the regular ones. i was thinking, that apple should probably just meld the 2 together, but i couldn’t believe they would because the pro vs normal was such a great product strategy, apple would probably not abandon it. unless… unless… unless they are planning a new, slightly cheaper and lower level ‘device’ to replace the macbooks.

for the most part, macbooks are used for simple things. email, word processing, surf, etc. some would argue that people use them for gaming as well, but if you divide the habits up into %. gaming would probably be a small % of regular use of a macbook.

wouldn’t it then be wise for apple to come out with a subnotebook that specializes in the things that people use macbooks for?

email. word processing. IM. surf. etc.

a tablet, running a iphone osx’ish software would suit most people perfect. 12″, 15″ tablet that you can check emails on, view movies, play songs, remote your apple tv etc. all the wonderful things my iphone can do and some things that require a bit more power. word processing, spreadsheets, keynotes. apps, games that i can buy via the app store.

yes… if i was steve, i would merge the macbook and macbook pro line. price is near or slightly above the current macbook prices and then hit the world with my mac tablet for lower end users. price it slightly below current mac books.

if apple was to release a tablet. the first sign of it would be the streamlining its laptop range.

but what do i know.

peruchito, on September 15th, 2008 at 6:26 pm

[...] HOUSE. Well, Macbook updates are alright, but stay away from MBP and MBAS They could all be one-in-the-same soon [...]

Apple preps Macbook upgrades and a mysterious "Brick" - MacTalk Forums, on September 15th, 2008 at 9:53 pm

[...] un al doilea display multi-touch vor fi standard pentru noile laptop-uri. ok. stiu ca sunt doar zvonuri dar abia astept sa treaca cele 29 zile… September 16th, 2008 at 12:54 am | [...]

MacBook si atit | boio.ro, on September 15th, 2008 at 9:54 pm

[...] Grannell hace una interesante reflexión en Cult of Mac sobre el significado de la misteriosa transición de producto anunciada por Apple. Para Grannell [...]

¿Desaparecen los MacBook Pro? : Planeta Mac, noticias sobre Mac, on September 15th, 2008 at 10:11 pm

The thing that primarily got me thinking about this is that Apple used to have a much simpler product line: home/pro for laptops/desktops. For me, it’s the Air that’s skewed this, and with laptop sales growing rapidly, perhaps it’s time to bring everything under one banner.

However, like you said, we could always end up with a MacBook mini, although one might argue that the iPod touch and iPhone are roughly in that area, minus the ability to do word processing.

Craig Grannell, on September 16th, 2008 at 1:51 am

[...] 07:16 Me gust� mucho esto que le� ayer: Cult of Mac Blog Archive MacBook ‘no-Pro’. Is Apple streamlining its laptop range? Alberto PowerMac G5 D1.8 // PB G4 15" 1.67 Panasonic DVX-100 // Canon PS [...]

Rumor: la nueva generaci�n de MacBook podria estar fabricada - MacAdicto Foro, on September 16th, 2008 at 2:16 am

you wrote:
>the Air for people who happily set fire to $50 dollar bills? (Clearly, they would once have lit their cigars with said bills, but you’re not allowed to smoke anywhere in the free world these days).

I think you meant: you’re not allowed to smoke anywhere in the non-free world these days

TeddyTheBear, on September 16th, 2008 at 2:18 am

While Apple has a reputation for success with counterintuitive decisions, this one seems far beyond that. Unless sales of the Pro has dropped off the chart, why would you reduce your best-selling choices? The MBP is gravy for Apple. It probably costs an extra 100 bucks to manufacture, but they make another 600 on top of that.

If anything, I’d like to see them drop the black MacBook and reskin it in Aluminum as another Pro (with a graphics card). That brings them back to the original iBook/PowerBook scheme. The iBooks were for most people who wanted portability. The 15″ PowerBook was for serious-minded data crunchers who needed portability. The 17″ was for people who needed graphics (or an ego massage). The 12″ PB was a big hit with people who wanted a small form factor, people who wanted the power of the Pro without breaking the bank, and with egocentric suits who “needed” a bad-ass powerful desktop AND a flashy notebook to write all those emails.

They can always collapse the whole line under a single name, but that would just make differentiating models/features more difficult.

joebob, on September 16th, 2008 at 9:24 am

[...] Posted by Bart Smastard They could all be one-in-the-same soon It’d be a solid idea for varying reasons but I can think of several why it isn’t. You’ve [...]

Apple preps Macbook upgrades and a mysterious "Brick" - Page 2 - MacTalk Forums, on September 16th, 2008 at 3:41 pm

[...] Craig Grannell wonders if the new aluminum-cased, backlit-keyword MacBooks are going to cause Apple to ditch the “Pro” moniker and streamline their laptop offerings. [...]

Worlds Colliding Violently » Sorry John, on September 16th, 2008 at 4:39 pm

I think Gruber is right to point out that product transition has to be something that was done earlier, but it doesn’t mean that it is not for notebooks. Expenses connected with iPods have been at least 1 or 2 months earlier (it takes some time to prepare and make couple millions iPods). So expenses for notebooks are already in books now is Apple just waiting to cash up.

Radek, on September 16th, 2008 at 4:44 pm

[...] Apple’s product transition - MacBook Pro to cease and Apple will sell just MacBooks [...]

MacTalk Podcast - Episode 43 - The One Where We Agree On Something - MacTalk Forums, on September 16th, 2008 at 9:42 pm

[...] is expected to release new MacBooks next month. Could this finally be the start of a single MacBook [...]

WebbAlert - September 17, 2008 | TechTV Update, on September 17th, 2008 at 11:20 pm

The iPhone is a computer in a phone form factor. The Mac is a telecommunications device performing as an music media recorder player. The iTouch is an iPhone without the telephony. Where’s this leading us?

Here’s my proposition for what’s next …

—–
Lookout for the iTouch Air tablet.

13inch :: touchscreen with gesture:: Airport-n :: Bluetooth2s :: 3G-HSPDA :: 64Gb_SSD :: USB :: FW400 :: Ethernet :: proximitysensors etc :: no_hw_keyboard

OSX User Interface?
iPhone or Mac?

—–

iv_drip, on September 19th, 2008 at 7:42 am

[...] Apple drop the “Pro” from their notebook range? Some speculate that soon there will only be MacBooks and no MacBook Pros. And as the rumored release-date of [...]

Apple Dropping the Pro For Notebooks? : Shufflegazine - Apple Lifestyle Magazine, on September 22nd, 2008 at 10:24 am

[...] Wired’s Apple blog, Cult of Mac, suggested that Apple may turn its MacBook and MacBook Pro computers into one line with different price points. This new report of the similarities between the two suggests that may [...]

More rumors of a convergence of the MacBook family » VentureBeat, on September 25th, 2008 at 10:15 am

[...] true, these emerging details would indicate Cult of Mac’s Craig Grannell was not so wide of the mark in his recent piece on Apple’s notebook [...]

Cult of Mac » Blog Archive » Details on New Apple Notebooks Begin to Emerge, on September 25th, 2008 at 10:23 am

[...] Apple’s announcements still ringing in the ears of the Mac faithful, it looks like I wasn’t far off the mark a month ago when I asked “Is Apple going to ditch the ‘Pro’ from MacBook Pro and [...]

Cult of Mac » Blog Archive » Apple MacBook Laptop transitions, on October 14th, 2008 at 10:44 am

[...] Apple to streamline Macbook range, no more Pro marker? [...]

IMP Live 019 - Podcaster Not Welcome | International Mac Podcast, on January 26th, 2009 at 10:44 am