And Now for Something...
…only a little different.
I’ve been waiting for something to post for a while because I felt it redundant and unnecessary to write even a word about the Palm Pre or iPhone 3G S, since the blogs are ablaze with pics & specs, rants & raves of these two devices. That being said, if you want to know about these phones and haven’t heard about them yet, I’m happy you’ve come out of your coma.
I kept a close watch on Apple’s keynote at WWDC on Monday, and was pleased to see the 13” MacBook get bumped to the “Pro” status. It hasn’t been since the 12” PowerBook G4 that the Pro line has dropped below 15”. I am a fan of small and powerful, and hope the 13” MBP will be as wildly successful and loved as the 12” PBG4.
So what happened to the regular ol’ Macbook? You know, that white one? It’s still alive and kicking at $999, and was just (quietly) handed a spec bump a couple weeks before WWDC. But why is Apple removing products from the MacBook line and not replacing them? Matt Buchanan over at Gizmodo pointed out today that this could mean a complete overhaul of what we currently know as the MacBook.
My take: Apple has never had a notebook as cheap as the current white MacBook. The 13” MacBook Pro now starts at $1199, reasonable for an Apple laptop (hush, you PC fanboys, I said for an Apple laptop). This means that whatever Apple does release, it’s going to have to start under that price point, because they won’t have a “Pro” model be the cheapest thing on the block. I can see one of two things happening. Number 1: A small external redesign of the white MacBook, and an introduction of something like this, priced somewhere in the MacBook Pro line (as much as everyone wants a Mac tablet, you know it won’t be cheap). Number 2 (dreaming a little here): A wipeout of the MacBook line as we know it, replaced with a cheap (sub-$1000) tablet-like device (MacBook Touch?).
Let’s get real: no one really knows what the boys in Cupertino have up their sleeves, but if they are going to release something major, it will be done right before the school year, or right before the holidays, so keep your ears peeled, or whatever.
