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The End of the White MacBook?
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DawnTreader
- [ Ignore ]
Are we nearing the end of the white MacBook? Could this be the last education buying season in which it’s available?
Is there a need for it any longer in the product line with the drop in price on the MacBook Air and the positioning of the Apple iPad as a K-12 product solution?
What do you think?
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Yes I agree.
When the original macbook air was released, I couldn’t help but feel like apple had made a prototype of what the entry level macbook would be like 3 years in the future, and liked the prototype so much that they decided to release it as a premium product - until the time comes that they can afford to make it the entry level model.
That time has arrived.
I think in the volume that the MBA is selling, its cost to build is probably less than the white macbook, and probably has less warranty costs (no optical drive, no hard drive, no self service ram upgrades).
Dropping the White macbook would probably increase Gross Margin across the Mac line.
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Drop the white Macbook, it sucks for the price
And it’s FUGLY!It was great for its time though. I still have one signed by Simon Pegg, Nick Frost & Edgar Wright.
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sleepygeek
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Great post DT. How far things have come.
The White MacBook was Apple’s version of the commodity laptop. Apple had to bid feature for feature against Dell for education contracts. Apple was in the PC market.
When the White MacBook is no more, Apple will have completed its exit from the PC market. PC hardware and software is now irrelevant to Apple. And though they haven’t realised it yet, to the mainstream.
I think this may be the year of the tipping point, as seen by the majority (AFB’ers have been seeing the tipping point for years). Doesn’t this video from the BBC show that the message is finally getting through? The BBC is saying the unsayable.
The future of mobile technology
[ Edited: 26 April 2011 04:05 AM by sleepygeek ] -
Apple could end the MacBook, but the unibody polycarbonate enclosure is only about a year old. It would seem a little odd for Apple to update the MacBook so “radically” and only keep it around for a year.
The MacBook still has some “advantages” for the price. Even if you discount the optical drive, the “archaic” HD still has much higher standard storage, and the MacBook should get considerably better battery life than the Air.
I’ll wait until the end of May. If we don’t see a new MacBook by then (and with Thunderbolt to boot), looks like MacBook Air (which hopefully will inherit Thunderbolt very soon) picks up the banner of entry-level laptop.
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Thanks, Steve. -
I am a high school educator. Almost every faculty member and administrator has a 13” MacBook as the “district standard” computer. Our classrooms are set up with projectors, we are completely wireless, and have a number of classes using iPad’s as part of the instructional process. Teachers files are automatically backed up, and we have a great deal of shared access on our servers. We are a heavy Apple district.
While the iPad may become a greater factor in the classroom for student work, I find it hard to dismiss the MacBook due to the pricepoint and its additional features needed by a teacher/administrator. Unless the MacBook Pro is reduced in price, the $150 price difference between the two, multiplied by the number of faculty using a computer in any institution, becomes a hefty price tag for any school district in our current economic environment. While the MB Air may function for many, the price point (as stated) for the 13” Air is also too great for the mass education market.
My two cents, anyone’s guess as to what will happen to the MacBook!
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KnightATC
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DT
Great question. My response is, ‘It depends’. There are education environments that are ready to support the iPad, but there are other K-12 environments that are not (like my son’s school).
He still has assignments, for example, where he has to use ppt, photoshop, Word, not to mention gaming for which he requires an optical drive, and often has to do some considerable multitasking. He has also been selected to go to Russia this summer, and for that, he needs to port a laptop (something not too attractive, but rugged). The white MB fills the bill for all of the above in spades, whereas the MBA is an attractive nuisance for a travelling school kid and easy to steal, and requires peripherals that add to the cost; while the iPad is remains limited as a productivity device - and still requires a computer for complete functionality. Bear in mind, the $949 MBA (with student discount) only has a 64GB SSD whereas the $949 MB has 250 GB drive (students tend to have large iTunes libraries in my neck of the woods), and the superdrive costs an additional $79, and has a smaller screen than the similarly priced MB (something important to game-playing students on a budget).
Around the university, the white MB is still a hot item, and not yet replaced by the iPad as a complete solution, insofar as I can see. I am seeing more students with both, or who carry an iPad but have a standard computer (Mac or PC) elsewhere. In short, my anecdotal read of this is that the MB is a complete solution as a stand alone only computer, whereas neither the iPad nor the 11” MBA were necessarily, if ever, intended to be, at least in their current configurations and supportive service environment.
While I will not be surprised if Apple cancel the line, and I further concede that it will not hurt busy professionals and even the avid home user, I think it will substantially inconvenience students at every level, unless Apple substantially add to the supportive services for the iPad and untether it from the Mac, further drop the price on the MBA so that one can fully trick it to match the capability of the MB at the same price, or all of the above.
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wab95
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I should add, more than one university student has said that, if the MB line disappears, a worthy replacement is the 13” MBP.
The entry level machine is only $1099 with student discount, gives you an i5 processor and 320 GB hard drive and gives you an optical drive standard. I see this as a more likely replacement for students than a MBA, but stand by my earlier comment that I think the disappearance of the white MB would be a loss felt by students.
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wab95
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Very interesting comments from KnightATC and web95.
It’s easy to forget that there are price-sensitive customers such as institutions (government, schools, corporations) and students for whom a 20% difference in price between a 13” MacBook and a 13” MacBook Pro (33% for an Air) makes a difference. Apple can’t afford to lose these customers.
I am a little surprised at the apparent interest of students in generous internal storage and optical drives. I would have thought, apparently erroneously, that they would be in the vanguard of leaving these behind in favour of solid state storage and reduced weight/bulk.
Not erroneous; there is some heterogeneity here. Some do as you describe above; however some do use the optical drive for games (my son and his mates, for instance) and the odd DVD. Might be an issue for younger students. Not sure how common that is among the university students, but internal storage does appear to be an issue, particularly for large audio and video libraries.I also find backup etiquette lacking among a surprisingly large swathe of students, which might explain the desire for larger drives. Perhaps their parents, like me, have simply set up their backup strategies for them without taking time to explain its importance; which this discussion thread has now made a to-do on my list.
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wab95
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My 2c
We had a couple of white Macbooks/iBooks and they’ve always been good solid little performers.In late 2008 I got a new white MacBook for my wife and it’s nowhere near the quality of the earlier units. The hardware is fine but the case is terrible. It chronically cracks, we’ve had the whole thing replaced under warranty and it looks like we might need to have it replaced again. Google ‘white Macbook case cracking’ and you’ll see how many people are having this issue.
So if they drop the white MB I won’t mourn. The case may be new but it’s awful. The MBA is already in the same price range and the 13” MBP is not that much higher so replacements would not be that hard for Apple to produce. I do think the $999 price point is important though.
Of course for me, I’m starting to drop hints about is getting a 15” MBP and giving my wife my Silver ‘08 MB. This will take a lot of salesmanship.
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My 2c
The hardware is fine but the case is terrible. It chronically cracks, we’ve had the whole thing replaced under warranty and it looks like we might need to have it replaced again. Google ‘white Macbook case cracking’ and you’ll see how many people are having this issue.So if they drop the white MB I won’t mourn. The case may be new but it’s awful.
My son makes the same point, suggested that I google it. This is his main gripe. His is a refurb, pre-unibody. I told him I would upgrade his with a new one in the Fall. My assumption was/is that the unibody would do better with case-cracking. If you’re describing the unibody model, then that is a disappointment.Still doesn’t change my basic feeling, however, that this is a students’ machine, and if it is to be replaced, it should be done at the same price/spec/functionality point.
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wab95
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My assumption was/is that the unibody would do better with case-cracking. If you?re describing the unibody model, then that is a disappointment.
Actually I bought two macs in Nov of ‘08, my wife’s white one and my unibody. My MacBook has been completely bulletproof. Case hasn’t even gotten a scratch except for the bottom where you’d expect it. I’ve lugged it on road trips and to my various offices and such and it’s never missed a beat. It’s also plenty powerful. I’ve had up to three different virtual machines going (W7, XP, and Ubuntu) while playing music and never noticed a skip or hesitation. I bumped mine up to 4Gb RAM and put in a 500Gb Drive and now I’m editing YouTube videos. There’s only a couple of reasons I want to give it to my wife and buy a new one. I really miss the 15” screen and I think a quad core would perform even better for some functions, like converting AVI to MP4 video and such. Not that this one is a slouch. Also I tend to keep a computer for about three years and then start looking around, but don’t be surprised if I’m still using this one in ‘13.
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geoduck, the white MacBook did get a case redesign to unibody polycarbonate last year so the cracking issue may be done with. I know it exists though, as a one-time owner of the iBook G3 Dual USB.
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Thanks, Steve. -
Actually I bought two macs in Nov of ‘08, my wife’s white one and my unibody. My MacBook has been completely bulletproof. Case hasn’t even gotten a scratch except for the bottom where you’d expect it.
That’s good to know. Looks like I’ll be getting my son that unibody MB afterall. Like you, I’ll probably spec his out to 4GB RAM and a 500 GB hard drive.Many thanks for the feedback, geoduck.
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wab95
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The strength of a cast aluminum laptop gives considerable piece of mind.
Also, for laptops, I recommend Applecare.
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the white MacBook did get a case redesign to unibody polycarbonate last year
I did not know that. My Unibody is Aluminum.
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Millions if not billions of people use computers and the Internet.
I build computers and fix the internet.
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