Ask HN: Is Apple nuts for discontinuing 11“ MBA? - mark_l_watson
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itnAAnti
I previously used the 11" MBA as my dedicated "running around to meetings"
machine, and basically just used Evernote and MS Office on it. When the new
MacBook came out, I switched to it.

The keyboard on the MB takes some serious getting used to (actually, in the ~8
months that I used that computer, I never became fully used to the keyboard),
but the screen and physical size of the MB was better than the MBA. (Of
course, the processor was noticeably slower... so YMMV.)

So IMO, they did the right thing, there was too much overlap between models.
The MB still needs to get faster and come down in price, but I do think it
will be just as ubiquitous as the MBA within a few years.

I agree with others that the current line up is sorely lacking an affordable
laptop, but that will likely change (slowly; hopefully) as manufacturing &
component costs come down.

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mark_l_watson
I bought my wife a 11" MBA this year, cost was $900. She didn't want me to buy
it for her but I insisted.

Apple should have a mid priced laptop for casual users.

~~~
slackstation
A $900 11" Macbook Air is really hard pressed to a better option than a $250
13" Chromebook for the types of low-end user that these appeal to.

Yes, there are those dedicated few who would prefer an 11" over a 13" model
but, still do advanced computing on it but, those people aren't enough for a
market.

Apple is letting the low end of the market get gobbled up by Google like they
have everywhere else. Chromebooks now dominate in schools where Apple used to
shine.

That isn't even to mention the effect of advanced mobile apps have had on our
need for low end computing. Even the differences between 2012 and now is
pretty stark. There is basically an app for everything that a casual user
would do on their computer in a mobile device and that syncs up to the web.
Google Docs, photo editing, light video editing and now what people mostly do
is browse the web and consume various kinds of content online and games.

There simply isn't the market for a small laptop like there used to be.

Lastly, with a 20% reduction in volume with the 13" MBP, the distinction is
more or less gone. The only thing is the price-point. There is nothing to fill
that void.

~~~
stephenr
> really hard pressed to a better option than a $250 13" Chromebook

Right because no one who wants a cheap laptop also values their privacy or
wants to have control over their documents.

~~~
Esau
IMO, ChromeOS shares way too much information with Google by default. (And
saying that this is okay because you can turn it off is complete bullshit. It
is evil for Google to set a sharing default to favor themselves over the
user).

Even worse, the last time I used a Chromebook two years ago, I couldn't even
create a local user account without Google's consent. On a machine I
supposedly owned.

I like ChromeOS itself, but as configured, it is a user hostile operating
system.

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MeryTerin456
The keyboard on the MB takes some serious getting used to (actually, in the 8
months that I used that computer, I never became fully used to the keyboard),
but the screen and physical size of the MB was better than the MBA.visit here:
[http://www.bestessaywritingservice.co/](http://www.bestessaywritingservice.co/)

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wmf
No, there was too much overlap between the 12", the Air, and the Pro. I guess
the iPad Pro is now Apple's sub-$1,000 laptop.

~~~
mark_l_watson
I love my iPad Pro and keyboard, use it all the time, but not a laptop
replacement for strenuous programming.

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DrNuke
Waiting eagerly for shit on a stick at $999!

