Apple to Turn Up Heat with $799 MacBook Air

[btarunr]

In a bid to turn up the heat in the crucial $500-$1000 market segment, Apple is on the verge of launching a new $799 MacBook Air variant. The new variant's introduction is strategically timed to dampen Intel's Ultrabook platform launch. Despite high material costs, Intel is aggressively pushing for its Ultrabook ecosystem partners to come up with products as low as $799-$699. OEM majors believe that Ultrabook's success could be limited till the launch of Windows 8 operating system. Intel set aside close to $400 million to construct the Ultrabook ecosystem, including $100 million in setting up an application store. With MacBook Air being an already established brand, Apple is looking to capture the $799 price-point.



Source: DigiTimes

[Frick]

And they will capture it if they make it good.

[sanadanosa]

It will be Intel Atom powered Macbook

[alterecho]

Hope they go with Brazos or Trinity this time

[Mussels]

if they have a decent integrated GPU this will be a hit, if its just intel onboard again... well, only mac fanboys will bother.

[NinkobEi]

$800 for a Mac NETBOOK? What a crock. $200 Acer one probably has the same performance

[Shihabyooo]

Originally Posted by NinkobEi

$200 Acer one probably has the same performance

It lacks the Logo...

[Octavean]

Originally Posted by sanadanosa

It will be Intel Atom powered Macbook

I’m sure your joking but Apple has deliberately blocked / dropped support for Intel Atom processors in OS X (since 10.5 or something like that). This was done to prevent cheap Hack-intosh systems (read as Netbook).

Originally Posted by alterecho

Hope they go with Brazos or Trinity this time

AMD solutions other then GPU would be a surprise since most other AMD solutions are basically considered cheaper alternatives.

Originally Posted by Mussels

if they have a decent integrated GPU this will be a hit, if its just intel onboard again... well, only mac fanboys will bother.

Intel graphics is very likely for the Apple Mac Book Air line especially if there is a perceived budget of ~$799 down from an entry level ~$1000 (1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 2GB memory 64GB SSD, Intel HD Graphics 3000). Also note that all MBA models currently use Intel graphics.

Apple would likely simply cut down some of the specs for the entry level MBA for something like educational institutions and drop the price slightly. Or Apple might just introduces a higher end model and drop the price of the entire line under the new model.

There has also been rumors that Apple will introduce an ARM based iOS device in a Mac Book Air form factor.

[lZKoce]

I don't know. I don't understand what is wrong with the laptop being with Intel on-board VGA. I mean the Ultrabook is just a few millimeters on the touch pad side. It's not like it is an Alienware. The chip will be enough for watching HD movies, browsing and the amazing PowerPoint effects. It seems to me it's sufficient. But yet, I have never owned one, so I could be totally wrong.

[Fourstaff]

HD3000 is actually quite competent in your usual day to day activities, especially at 1366x768. Not everyone needs superawesomegraphicsBF3maxsettings, but quite a few will appreciate the lower weight and polished looks.

[Frick]

Originally Posted by NinkobEi

$800 for a Mac NETBOOK? What a crock. $200 Acer one probably has the same performance

Where does it say anything about netbooks?

[sanadanosa]

Originally Posted by lZKoce

I don't know. I don't understand what is wrong with the laptop being with Intel on-board VGA. I mean the Ultrabook is just a few millimeters on the touch pad side. It's not like it is an Alienware. The chip will be enough for watching HD movies, browsing and the amazing PowerPoint effects. It seems to me it's sufficient. But yet, I have never owned one, so I could be totally wrong.

I have compared gaming performance of overclocked hd3000 againts gt520m. I got similar performance, but I notice that intelhd have poor detail compared to the gt520m even in exactly same video settings

[MeanBruce]

This is just the first move in the new “Baked Apple” Pi strategy we will see coming from Cupertino, CA.

[entropy13]

Hopefully the masses will welcome this new source of enlightenment.

[Completely Bonkers]

I'm interested in that pricepoint. I will be watching this. I'd happily run Windows on Apple hardware. And yes, I own 3 pairs of designer jeans that cost more than the Walmart denim label. Oh, and a couple of T-shirts that cost $20 each, 4x the price of ill-fitting copies from Chinatown. And running shoes that cost a fortune yet I hardly wear.

When will people stop it with the "you can get the same spec for $10 cheaper in plastic" nonsense. Is their ability to argue limited to THAT!?

[Fourstaff]

Originally Posted by Completely Bonkers

I'm interested in that pricepoint. I will be watching this. I'd happily run Windows on Apple hardware. And yes, I own 3 pairs of designer jeans that cost more than the Walmart denim label. Oh, and a couple of T-shirts that cost $20 each, 4x the price of ill-fitting copies from Chinatown. And running shoes that cost a fortune yet I hardly wear.

When will people stop it with the "you can get the same spec for $10 cheaper in plastic" nonsense. Is their ability to argue limited to THAT!?

People want to look cool by bashing Apple, but others get Apple because they want to look cool. Try to get your head around that!

[theoneandonlymrk]

Originally Posted by Completely Bonkers

I'm interested in that pricepoint. I will be watching this. I'd happily run Windows on Apple hardware. And yes, I own 3 pairs of designer jeans that cost more than the Walmart denim label. Oh, and a couple of T-shirts that cost $20 each, 4x the price of ill-fitting copies from Chinatown. And running shoes that cost a fortune yet I hardly wear.

others are less disposed to the opinions of others and find the importance of actuality to be more relivant, your avatar name says a lot then eh

Im not expecting an 800$ macbook to be capable of anything an ipad cant do and the same as most cheap netbooks, but if you enjoy spending lots of money for the same actual shit + your fellow mans (well some peeps) nod of confirmation the well done to sheep ahem you

Originally Posted by Fourstaff

People want to look cool by bashing Apple, but others get Apple because they want to look cool. Try to get your head around that!

others get it but disagree about whats cool

[Frick]

Originally Posted by theoneandonlymrk

Im not expecting an 800$ macbook to be capable of anything an ipad cant do and the same as most cheap netbooks, but if you enjoy spending lots of money for the same actual shit + your fellow mans (well some peeps) nod of confirmation the well done to sheep ahem you

But we don't know that yet do we? Why do people think this will be a netbook? We have no idea of anything yet expect that there will be an $800 Macbook. At least wait until some specs are out darnit. Yes it can be bad but it can be bloddy awesome as well.

[Octavean]

I’m not sure why people insist on comparing a Mac Book Air to a Netbook. Internally they are very different since the MBA comes with a dual core Intel Core i5 whereas I have never seen a Netbook with anything more then an Intel Atom. Intel also limits Netbooks to only 1GB of system RAM whereas the minimum for the Air is 2GB. The Air typically has a higher resolution screen then Netbooks and always has an SSD whereas Netbooks often (not always) have HDDs. To say nothing of the differences in OS,....

Also anyone who is looking for a gaming solution should really be looking at gaming laptops or desktops so the Intel graphics of the Air (and upcoming Ultra-books) is more then enough.

I have an ASUS Eee Pad (Eee Slate) EP121-1A010M Windows 7 Tablet PC. It has an Intel Core i5 470UM (1.33GHz Turbo Boost up to 1.86GHz) CPU, a 12.1" widescreen 16:9 SVGA touch screen, 4GB DDR3 1333 with a 64GB mSATA SSD and Intel HD Graphics. Most other tablets of this class are essentially Intel Atom based as well and are comparatively underpowered. A notable exceptions to this would be the new Samsung 7 series Windows 7 tablet PC line.

A lot of people not taking the time to look or understand would probably assume all such tablets are ARM based or maybe Atom based,...

[ERazer]

I dont think nobody comparing the current air book to a net book, ppl assuming for the price apple might use atom to make money

[Octavean]

Originally Posted by ERazer

I dont think nobody comparing the current air book to a net book, ppl assuming for the price apple might use atom to make money

As I have stated before, the most recent versions of OS X (10.6 and 10.7) have no support for Intel Atom processors. In fact support was deliberately and pointedly removed. It doesn’t make much sense that Apple would add support for Atom processors now.

Also its cheaper and easier to simply lower the specs (slower Core i5 or start using Core i3 and slightly smaller entry level SSD) of the existing baseline Mac Book Air in order to lower the price rather then to redesign a cheaper one. Or release a newer higher-end (Ivy Bridge) model and drop the price of the existing line of Mac Book Air products.

Also, the Intel Atom is often considered to be a low-end or budget chip and since Apple doesn’t market their products as such it is unlikely they would base a product it.

OS X Mountain Lion 10.8 is available to some for testing and if it had support for Intel Atom we would likely know it already.

[Easy Rhino]

i understand the business strategy of entering into your competitors market to lower their sales, but are people really looking forward to windows 8? i mean seriously...

[Completely Bonkers]

Originally Posted by theoneandonlymrk

others are less disposed to the opinions of others and find the importance of actuality to be more relivant, your avatar name says a lot then eh

Some people think it is cool to come from Up-Norf and like to slander others because they think it is evar-so-clevar to do so. Others just come from different parts of the country and don't think they are particularly cool or privileged because they are from Manchester, Salford, Mersey, Warrington, etc. and all those other cool and rainy places on the wrong side of the pennines

Spoiler

to our European and American friends the above probably makes no sense at all - it is something only local brits would understand as a Riposte to a young whippersnapper - so apologies in advance to our foreign readers

[Frick]

Originally Posted by Completely Bonkers

Some people think it is cool to come from Up-Norf and like to slander others because they think it is evar-so-clevar to do so. Others just come from different parts of the country and don't think they are particularly cool or privileged because they are from Manchester, Salford, Mersey, Warrington, etc. and all those other cool and rainy places on the wrong side of the pennines

Spoiler

to our European and American friends the above probably makes no sense at all - it is something only local brits would understand as a Riposte to a young whippersnapper - so apologies in advance to our foreign readers

I totally understand, because it IS a lot cooler to be from the north of any country.

Originally Posted by ERazer

I dont think nobody comparing the current air book to a net book, ppl assuming for the price apple might use atom to make money

At least one person in this thread has done it so far.

[NC37]

Originally Posted by Octavean

AMD solutions other then GPU would be a surprise since most other AMD solutions are basically considered cheaper alternatives.

Not really. Apple and AMD have been buddies on a lot of things recently. Intel has not supplied the performance on the GPU front to Apple's liking either. Plus there has been some friction as Intel behaves like...Intel.

Last year it was posted that Apple was indeed looking into APUs but wasn't satisfied with Llano. Trinity would be a likely choice. Apple sure isn't going to do a $700 laptop with Intel without really delivering poor performance. Competitors would have a big edge since they already have i7s in the same price bracket.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Trinity make a big debut in Apple machines with a lot of deals between Apple and AMD. If Apple wants it enough, they'll push for it and I don't see AMD saying "no" to Apple right now. A deal like that would also help AMD gain a lot of attention. Both sides would come out winner with a Trinitybook. Heck I'd buy one.