Tuesday: new Apple notebooks
Word is all over the place today that next Tuesday, October 14 Apple will be holding a press event with the focus being on notebooks. The MacBook line is getting very long in the tooth and a refresh has been expected for some time and it looks like it’s going to happen soon. Apple is obviously trying to head into the holiday buying season with new notebooks to capture consumer’s hard-earned cash in this tight economic climate.
Kevin has been calling for that $800 netbook and that may very well be one of the new products but I don’t think so. I’m leaning toward a 13-inch MacBook for $800 (starting price, of course) that is aluminum like current MacBook Pros. I don’t think we’ll see any surprising features for that money, the big thing will be the metal casing and low pricing for MacBooks. I hope I’m wrong and Kevin’s netbook prediction comes true though.
There will probably be some high-end models announced too as that’s Apple’s SOP. I can’t foresee what those might be though. Maybe integrated 3G?
I’ll believe the 800 dollar Mac story when I see it.
These seems like wishful thinking, to me.
and the apple hype machine goes into high gear…
My unlikely theory is that the $800 Mac netbook will come with Linux and Apple will say that it violates their EULA to install OSX on it. This will insure that everyone will buy it, plus spend another $129 to buy OSX, and have hours of fun installing it themselves. To make it even more interesting the $800 netbook will come with a 4GB SSD but you can upgrade to the 64GB SSD for $600. I may be joking or I may be onto something. Oct 14 will tell.
What would be better about an $800 Apple Netbook than an $800 Apple MacBook? Not trying to be a troll, but doesn’t a “full Mac” for $800 seem better than a more limited “netbook?”
Maybe my confusion is over the floating definition of what makes a netbook…
Apple will never offer anything less expensive than a premium priced computer. It’s an essential part of their brand identity. When did GM ever offer a bargain priced Cadillac?
BTW, I own a MacBook Pro and a four-year-old Fujitsu Lifebook P2120, before anyone starts saying I’m an anti-Apple fanatic or some such label.
Okay give me right click or don’t bother. It’s just plain stupid. They could afford to drop MacBooks down a ways their overpriced for the specs.
Peter Winkler said:
“When did GM ever offer a bargain priced Cadillac?”
Back in the ’80’s, Cadillac attempted some badge engineering with the Cimarron, a gussied up Cavalier. And when I say gussied up, I’m being charitable. It was a complete disaster.
It’s a fair point. A perceived “premium” brand has a hard time selling “inexpensive” cars. BMW failed with the 316ti. And while BMW has started selling the 1-series here in the US, they only offer the highest priced versions. And the bar doesn’t even have to be that low. You can’t buy a $50K Porsche Boxter without getting some grief for owning the “poor man’s” Porsche.
What they did, then was buy the rights to the Mini name, and sell their cheap (that being relative) BMW’s as a different brand.
That being said, a computer is hardly a car, and it’s a different sort of status symbol to have a Mac (or iPhone). It doesn’t necessarily say I have money, so a cheap one doesn’t come with a stigma. A cheap high-class car looks like reaching, an attempt to appear as something you aren’t.