Watch: 2017 12" MacBook with Intel Kaby Lake vs. 2015 version

As part of last week's MacBook refresh, Apple released an upgraded version of the 12-inch MacBook with Retina display, incorporating Intel's latest Kaby Lake processors, faster SSDs and minor aesthetic improvements. AppleInsider pits the new version against its 2015 predecessor in this video.

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13 Comments

curtis hannah

said about 6 years ago

Since the macbook pro now has the same price as the macbook, what's the point, I understand it has double the storage(which raises the question why can't they make a $300 less 128gb macbook), is there really that many people buying the macbook instead of the air/pro?

appex

said about 6 years ago

And why Apple did not update the great MacBook Air to Kaby Lake as well, besides Thunderbolt 3 with USB 3.1 Type-C (reversible) Generation 2 (10 Gbps)?

spheric

said about 6 years ago

appex said:

And why Apple did not update the great MacBook Air to Kaby Lake as well, besides Thunderbolt 3 with USB 3.1 Type-C (reversible) Generation 2 (10 Gbps)?

Because the only reason the MacBook Air still exists is because Apple are yet unable to sell the MacBook below the $1000 entry-level threshold.

They are not going to redesign the board just before killing the line.

williamlondon

said about 6 years ago

curtis hannah said:

(which raises the question why can't they make a $300 less 128gb macbook)

It's called product pricing, one aspect of the much larger product and brand strategy discipline.

I took a class in product pricing once and what I can say is that I've barely scratched the surface of this subject, it's complex and the people who do it for a living (and do it well) know their stuff and are amazing.

As an example one model we studied (nothing to do with Apple and greatly oversimplified for illustration) showed that if you assemble features in your product offering that is a higher price than a different product offering you could price lower, even though fewer people will buy the higher priced offering than the lower priced offering, the company makes more profit overall with the fewer units at a higher price. All companies make decisions like these, they're not simple and most get them very wrong.

redgeminipa

said about 6 years ago

curtis hannah said:

Since the macbook pro now has the same price as the macbook, what's the point, I understand it has double the storage(which raises the question why can't they make a $300 less 128gb macbook), is there really that many people buying the macbook instead of the air/pro?

When it was time for me to buy a new MacBook back in December, I originally bought an Air for $1,199. Coming from a 2010 15" Pro, I was very disappointed in the overall quality - from the display to the keyboard and trackpad - it just felt like a budget model. After a week, I just couldn't adjust to the subpar quality, especially the lousy display. I boxed it up and took it back to exchange it for a base 12" MacBook. Other than adjusting to the keyboard, which took a while, it was a nice improvement. Keyboard aside, the 12" is a very nice little notebook. I almost wish I would've held off for this model, but the '16 version works fine for my needs.

As for a 13" Pro at the same price, I'd never buy one with 128GB, meaning it would put me back to $1,499, minimum. For ME, it wasn't worth the extra money. My needs don't demand a lot of CPU or GPU performance. The 12" MacBook is quite snappy compared to my '10 15" Pro, even with an SSHD hybrid drive. Again, I haven't done much of anything requiring GPU performance, but my former 15" Pro wasn't exactly a screamer, even with dual graphics.