With online reports detailing limited stock of Apple's white MacBook -- and new Sandy Bridge MacBook Airs expected to hit this month -- could this be the end for the white MacBook?
This month's widely expected (though unconfirmed, of course) MacBook Air update will see Apple's successful ultraportable range upgrade sizably in the CPU stakes. The Air, which currently features positively ancient Intel Core 2 Duo processors (even though updated late last year), is anticipated to leapfrog Intel's first-generation Core CPUs and ship with second-generation Core Sandy Bridge processors.
Alongside the device's SSD storage, this is expected to deliver a significant performance boost to what's already considered an altogether zippy little notebook. The new Airs, which are expected to be the first Macs shipping with
Mac OS X 10.7 Lion could bring with them an unforeseen casualty, however: the end of Apple's entry-level white MacBook line.
Why? Well, for a few reasons. But first a bit of background as to how we came up this (admittedly highly speculative) conspiracy theory. AppleInsider last week
reported on "severely constrained" retail supplies of the white MacBook in the leadup to this month's expected new releases (Air/Lion).
AppleInsider's Neil Hughes speculated that a potential refresh for the polycarbonate model could be on the cards (thus explaining the stock shortages), citing that "the timing makes sense, as the polycarbonate MacBook was last updated more than a year ago, in May of 2010. The entry-level hardware was given GeForce 320M graphics and an Intel 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor."
Of course, another explanation for the shortages is also theoretically possible: that Apple is phasing out the white MacBook altogether. How come? Well, because of the runaway success of the second-generation MacBook Airs, which has come to re-define the Apple notebook entry level for this decade.
The cheapest current MacBook Air retails for $1,199; the exact same price as the current white model MacBook. Put another way, when shoppers front up at an Apple Store, reseller or Apple online looking for the cheapest low-spec Mac notebook they can buy, they're somewhat confusingly presented with two chalk-and-cheese options: a heavy, low-spec white MacBook dinosaur (although it has
actual storage space on its side); or a super-light, cutting-edge ultraportable Air (admittedly, only 64GB, and low spec in some of its own ways). One of these products screams Apple
2011; the other more recalls Apple
circa 2005.
Given Apple's whole spin on iCloud and 'Post PC' products -- and the associated "demotion" of the PC in the
digital pecking order -- maintaining life support for a clunky, conventional entry-level notebook with a mechanical hard drive when you've got a more sleekly designed and iCloud-happy product at the same price point seems like a strange policy for Apple to pursue.
And we haven't even discussed the MacBook Pro. Ever since mid-2009, when Apple redrew the line between the MacBook and the MacBook Pro, there hasn't been as strong a distinction (price- or specs-wise) between the two lines. Today, the entry-level MacBook Pro costs only $200 more than the MacBook, with a significantly better feature set. With the Air going great guns in the entry-level $1,199 space and the MBP offering a much stronger notebook deal for just a couple hundred more, does it make sense to update the iconic white MacBook, or just... let it go?
