Why Apple Discontinued The MacBook

Apple's recent decision to discontinue the twelve-inch MacBook follows on the heels of previous decisions to stop manufacturing one of Apple's most popular products. The company announced that production of its MacBook would end in July 2019, leaving the MacBook Air the only option for customers looking for a lightweight, entry-level Apple laptop. In this video we will explore Apple's behavioral patterns and find out why they

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their 12-inch MacBook. I'm Greg with Apple Explained and I want to thank MacPaw for sponsoring this video. If you'd like to help decide which video topics I cover, make sure you're subscribed and these voting polls will appear in your mobile activity feed.

So when the twelve-inch MacBook was released in 2015, it was a relatively affordable option for Apple fans looking for a portable, compact computer. Now it is not even available for purchase on Apple's official website and they have confirmed that it will not be replaced by a new version. There has been quite a bit of speculation as to why Apple has gone this direction, so let's dig a little deeper and make sense of their decision. At the same time that Apple eliminated its most compact laptop, it also reduced the price of the thirteen-inch MacBook Air, bringing the cost down to $1,000.

And this was really important, as it eliminated the cost difference between the MacBook Air and the basic MacBook. With no signs of any new update for the MacBook, this made the Air Apple's new entry-level laptop. For quite some time, many people speculated about when Apple would release an updated version of the MacBook. But it became clear that they chose to reduce the price of their base model MacBook Air, rather than update the MacBook itself. That meant that if you wanted access to Apple's latest laptop technology, you'd have to go with the MacBook Pro. Which, at the time, was the only model with features like the Touch Bar, Touch ID, and a true-tone display.

Now it's important to note that this isn't the first time Apple has ended its MacBook line. In 2011, Apple

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the polycarbonate unibody MacBook and didn't release a new model until 2015. Instead of updating the MacBook, Apple decided to offer an alternative, which turned out to be the 11.6-inch MacBook Air. It was offered at the same $1000 price as the discontinued MacBook and offered an even lighter and more portable form factor. And this may sound a little familiar, since the exact same thing happened in July. The MacBook was discontinued and essentially replaced by the new MacBook Air, except this time the Air undercut the price of the MacBook by $100.

So in 2011, Apple's decision to discontinue the polycarbonate MacBook gave the entry-level customer an instant technology upgrade for the same cost, as the Air gave them things like a fast solid-state drive and an Intel i5 processor. By discontinuing the MacBook and offering a faster, more feature-rich experience at the same cost, Apple set a pattern that manifested itself again this year. At Apple's June event, the company introduced new hardware like the Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR. But they didn't mention anything about their notebooks. And considering the MacBook hardware was already four years old, some people saw the writing on the wall and anticipated the MacBook's demise.

The laptop was eventually discontinued just a month later, but that wasn't the only change Apple made to its laptop lineup. They also abandoned the non-Retina MacBook Air that came without Touch ID. In this way, Apple was able to simplify its laptop offering to just three models; MacBook Air, 13” MacBook Pro and 15” MacBook Pro. Putting aside the concerns many people had about Apple's laptop lineup being too confusing. And I have to say that they were right. Historically, Apple has always had brief periods where its laptop lineup was a bit unintuitive. When the company relaunched the MacBook in 2015, as the thinnest and lightest of its laptops, some argued that the name itself was confusing.

This is because the MacBook Air was no longer the lightest model, despite what its name indicated. As we know, branding is something Apple has always prioritized, and the July announcement allowed the Air to once again live up to its name as the lightest Apple laptop available. Now I should mention that although the MacBook only existed for a few years, its influence on the entire MacBook line is unmistakable. It was the first Mac laptop to feature an all-metal design, a USB-C port, terraced batteries, and a butterfly keyboard. All of which have been incorporated into the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

Profitability has also influenced Apple's decision to discontinue the MacBook. Launch sales of the MacBook Pro generated more than seven times the revenue earned by the 12-inch MacBook when it initially went on sale in 2015. It's also important to note that after the MacBook Air adopted many of the MacBook's features , it became something like that. We have made the model obsolete. And considering how popular and profitable the MacBook Air is, it's no surprise that Apple wanted to funnel all of its entry-level laptop customers toward the Air. But this was a good thing for most users, because just think about the technology of each model.

The 12-inch MacBook featured three-year-old hardware, with a seventh-generation Intel processor, a first-generation butterfly keyboard, and no newer features like Touch ID. Compare this to the latest 13” MacBook Air which features an 8th-generation Intel processor, a 3rd-generation butterfly keyboard, Touch ID, and a larger display with True Tone technology. And with the elimination of the non-Retina MacBook and MacBook Air, Apple no longer sells a MacBook with USB-A ports. The company's entire range of laptops now only has USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. Something that the MacBook was responsible for introducing. So, it's clear that the updated MacBook Air offers a more feature-rich experience compared to the MacBook.

And with more storage now available in the Air for the same price as the MacBook, the company also finally removed the hurdle that always made the more expensive Air a harder sell. Now the 128GB model is $100 less, as is the 256GB model. Although it had its fans, the 12” MacBook was not without its complaints. From keyboard interference to speaker quality and lack of ports and processing power, the model was always plagued with criticism. And it's not hard to imagine why. With only one USB-C port, users faced a problem if they wanted to charge their laptop while connecting an external device.

And trying to do any kind of photo or video editing on the MacBook became a test of user patience, thanks to the underpowered Intel Core M processor. It should also be taken into account that the MacBook was not only competing with the MacBook Air, but also with the iPad. While not a traditional laptop, the iPad Pro offers a Retina display, an extremely portable form factor, all-day battery life, a powerful chipset, a USB C port, and a screen size comparable to the MacBook. Not to mention that the iPad is significantly cheaper. So for most casual tech users who don't create much content, it probably made more sense to buy an iPad than a 12-inch MacBook.

So is there a future for the MacBook? Well, that depends on whether Apple decides to release a new model, as it did in 2015, after a year in which if you wanted the latest Apple laptop, your only option was a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro. It could be that Apple follow the same pattern for the third time and let's see the return of the iconic MacBook. But I don't think this is likely. With Apple's focus on the iPad and pushing the industry as quickly as possible into the post-PC era, I don't think they're looking to add models to their laptop lineup.

Instead, Apple may rename the MacBook Air to simply MacBook, to more closely match the naming scheme of the iPad and iPhone. And while Apple is always filing new patents and developing new features, it's hard to say whether these are an entirely new laptop model or simply updates to existing models. For example, when Apple was developing the 2015 MacBook, rumors were circulating that the next generation of MacBook Air would be even more compact and thinner. Well, it turns out that the rumors were about the next MacBook model, not the Air. At the moment, Apple has made its position pretty clear: there are no immediate plans to release a new MacBook.

And I think this is the right move. Today, Apple's laptop lineup is leaner and makes more sense than ever. And that's because of its decision to discontinue not only the MacBook, but also the non-Retina MacBook Air. It's impossible to predict the future now, but if history really repeats itself, there's still a chance we could see a new MacBook released at some point in the distant future, but I still think it's unlikely. Although I wish Apple would change the name from MacBook Air to MacBook, especially since the iPad already dropped the “air” suffix. So after three previous incarnations, it wouldn't be wise to completely write off the MacBook.

We'll have to wait and see what Apple does next. Now, one of the biggest complaints about MacBooks or Apple laptops in general is the small SSDs that fill up quickly and can cause system-wide slowdowns. And if this sounds too familiar, you need CleanMyMac It starts by scanning your drive and removing gigabytes of junk, identifying and removing malware threats, and speeding up your system by closing hung applications and running maintenance scripts so you're always working at top speed. You can try CleanMyMac X yourself with a free trial by clicking the link in the description. Alright guys, thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.