And Now For Some Other Apple Store News...

[Jeff Campbell]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.macworld.com/article/161199/2011/07/apple_discontinues_macbook.html#lsrc.rss_main' target='_blank'>http://www.macworld.com/article/161...l#lsrc.rss_main</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"On Wednesday Apple marked the demise of the MacBook. No, not its entire line of laptops, which made up 70 percent of the Macs sold in the company's just-completed third quarter. Getting the chop is the $999 white plastic MacBook, which has held down the low-cost end of Apple's laptop line for years."</em></p><p><img height="160" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1311178827.usr105634.jpg" width="600" /></p><p>Well this one was kind of a no brainer wasn't it? But you can still get it in the <a href="http://9to5mac.com/2011/07/20/apple-drops-the-white-macbook-still-in-refurbished-if-you-need-one/" target="_blank">refurbished store</a> if you really want one. But no reason for it (unless you are really nostalgic for that clunky style) is there? That isn't all that changed in the Apple Store. They also debuted a <a href="http://www.tuaw.com/2011/07/20/apple-introduces-new-mac-mini-with-faster-processors-thunderbol/" target="_blank">new Mac Mini</a>, with the obligatory Thunderbolt connection, as well as a new <a href="http://9to5mac.com/2011/07/20/apple-upgrades-its-cinema-display-to-new-apple-thunderbolt-display/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed:+9To5Mac-MacAllDay+(9+to+5+Mac+-+Apple+Intelligence)" target="_blank">Cinema Display</a>. This Thunderbolt display really is slick, with <a href="http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC914?mco=MjMzOTQwMTY" target="_blank">all the connectors</a> you need. I'm thinking this may be my next purchase as it would go really well with my MacBook Air.&nbsp;</p>

[Jason Dunn]

I don't think it's fair to say there's "no reason" for the Macbook Air. $999 gets you 250 GB of storage vs. 64 GB of storage. For some people, it might be their only computer and 64 GB doesn't last long if you need to store everything on there...

[Dyvim]

I think customers have just been speaking with their pocketbooks- since the previous MacBook Air refresh, the Air was been greatly outselling the white MacBook to the point where it must not have made sense to keep it around any longer.

64 GB is pretty tight though! (Although it wasn't all that many years ago that my primary work (development) computer had a 40 GB hard drive.)

[Jason Dunn]

I think customers have just been speaking with their pocketbooks- since the previous MacBook Air refresh, the Air was been greatly outselling the white MacBook to the point where it must not have made sense to keep it around any longer

Yeah, I hear you. The Air is really designed as a secondary computer though - I can't imagine most people using it as a primary, at least not the base model. It feels like there's a gap in Apple's product line up: a $999 computer that has enough storage and CPU power to be someone's only computer.

[Deslock]

Yeah, I hear you. The Air is really designed as a secondary computer though - I can't imagine most people using it as a primary, at least not the base model. It feels like there's a gap in Apple's product line up: a $999 computer that has enough storage and CPU power to be someone's only computer.

I think you may be over-estimating what the average user needs in a computer. The MBA is obviously not a good choice for serious gaming, heavy video editing, 3D modeling, number crunching, etc. But even a base 11" MBA can be a primary computer for the typical user, especially if connected to an external monitor. The CPU is plenty fast for most applications (even the Core2Duo was fast enough for most needs) and large amounts of internal storage will become less important to most users as cloud computing takes off.

Then again, I am of the opinion that some netbooks can be a primary computer for most users. The MBA's combination of a quality screen, large trackpad, full size keyboard, and fast CPU keep it in the ultra-portable sub-notebook (rather than netbook) class, but those features aren't necessary for most uses (and the lines have certainly blurred a bit in the last year).

[Dyvim]

Mac mini question for hardware geeks:

Which would be better for a machine to be used as an iTunes server and Xcode development machine (plus the usual web browsing and PIM functions)? No gaming and no HD video viewing.

A. 2.7 GHz dual-core Core i7 with AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics
B. 2.0 GHz quad-core Core i7 with Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics

Obviously graphics in A are better and clock speed for single or double-threaded type operations is also superior.

On the other hand B is quad-core so in theory could be better for operations that support it (such as compiling in Xcode perhaps?).

All opinions welcome.

Thanks!

[Jason Dunn]

A. 2.7 GHz dual-core Core i7 with AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics
B. 2.0 GHz quad-core Core i7 with Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics

What are the respective turbo boost speeds? That should weigh in heavily. My gut instinct says go for the Quad Core.

[Jeff Campbell]

Yeah, I hear you. The Air is really designed as a secondary computer though - I can't imagine most people using it as a primary, at least not the base model. It feels like there's a gap in Apple's product line up: a $999 computer that has enough storage and CPU power to be someone's only computer.

I'm finding my 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 11 inch MBA to be plenty fast and useful as my primary. I do have 4 GB of ram, and have used it do to video and photo editing with iMovie and iPhoto with nary a glitch. I did have to modify how I use the storage capacity, but that hasn't been that big of a deal. I have the 128 and I have over 50 GB of storage available. Photos I keep on here as well, backed up to the cloud and my drobo also. Videos I keep external mainly unless working on some editing. The one thing I would like is larger screen for editing so I may get one of the Thunderbolt screens but other than that I'm pretty happy and love the form factor.

[Jason Dunn]

I'm finding my 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 11 inch MBA to be plenty fast and useful as my primary.

Right, but I said the base model - the 2 GB, 64 GB SSD version. That's not much computer for most, though I get that for some people that might be enough. 128 GB SSD, 4 GB....that's more of a "real" computer IMO. :)