Filling The Void

Glenn Wolsey offered some interesting thoughts on the direction that Apple seems to be taking the MacBooks:

The direction we’re heading in makes it quite clear that the merging of the MacBook and the Air lines would make sense, and is certainly possible. The Air becoming the MacBook whilst the Pro line remains as is in three excellent size choices.

I find it very hard to imagine the MacBook Air becoming just ‘MacBook’. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense. The MacBook is a consumer notebook, and the Air isn’t. Imagine the uproar if a consumer marketed notebook lacked a superdrive and for most, the lack of USB ports is an immediate turn off.

The only folks who would buy the new MacBooks, in this scenario, are those who would have bought the Air in the first place. Apple just wouldn’t get anywhere with their product line.

Instead, I see Apple filling the void left by the MacBook with the much rumored tablet or perhaps even a netbook aimed primarily at the consumer market that the original MacBooks left. Relatively cheap and portable – but at the same time offering a great everyday computing experience. Be it browsing the web or checking email.

The Air, would be left in its current position. With no price change. I don’t think Apple would, even if they could, lower the MacBook Air prices any further. Though the Air is cheaper, it’s still a premium product, and Apple want to keep it that way.