As Tim Cook closed the latest presentation from Apple's Cupertino Campus this week, the latest MacBook Pro models were available on pre-order through Apple's website. The function-key replacing touch bar was the standout feature, with note also being made of the dedicated Siri key, larger trackpads all round, and the new Radeon Pro 400 Series GPU in the fifteen-inch MacBook Pro.
What you didn't see was a requiem for two of Apple's stalwart laptops. As the presentation closed, so did the retail life of the eleven-inch MacBook Air and the non-Retina thirteen-inch MacBook Pro. The smaller MacBook Air is unlikely to be missed, but the loss of the beloved MacBook Pro was necessary. It was just too good a deal for anyone wanting a value for money MacBook.
With the expected update of last year's twelve-inch MacBook to thirteen inches turning out to be a lower spec MacBook Pro, it's easy to see why the smaller MacBook Air was squeezed out of the portfolio - both at the top of the window by the MacBook, but also at the lower end of the performance window by the iPad Pro and Smart Keyboard combination.
The thirteen-inch MacBook Air is now the cheapest portable MacBook at $999. No doubt it will remain attractive in the education market and for those looking for a cheap Mac.
The removal of the non-retina thirteen inch MacBook Pro certainly rationalizes the production line. Even though it remained on sale for over four years, the popularity of the hardware must have upset the geekerati who want the latest shiny laptop. But this MacBook Pro was the MacBook for everyone else. It continued to offer comparatively great value for money, it was easy to repair, and I would argue it offered a MacBook that would be suitable for most users.
This was the last Apple laptop to ship with a DVD drive. It continued to use standard hard disks so you could pop in a replacement hard disc or SSD with ease. The DRAM memory was accessible for upgrades. There was an SD card reader for data transfers. you had USB-3, firewire, thunderbolt, and ethernet connectivity ports. You even had a magnetically attached charger that would be pulled out of the machine if someone tripped on the cable, rather than see the laptop crash to the floor.
Take a screwdriver to the back of this machine and you could easily get yourself a MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM and 2 terabytes of storage for under $1500. The lowest priced MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM and a one terabyte SSD currently available on Apple's website comes in at $2299.
Yes, you would get a retina screen, the latest I/O ports, the magical touch bar, a larger trackpad, and the new butterfly keyboard. But you'd be giving up so much more in flexibility, repairability and value for money.
Is it any wonder Apple quietly killed the best MacBook Pro it was selling?
Old faithful MD101LL/A was a reminder of a time that the modern Apple would rather forget. Tim Cook and his team are driving Apple forward to a brave new world of standardized USB-C ports, larger retina-level screens, and sealed hardware. It is lifting prices across the board and creating more exclusivity around the MacBook Pro. That is Apple's choice to make.
But it's a choice that resulted in a four-year old laptop looking more competitive than the newest shiny toy out of Cupertino. And now that four-year old laptop has mysteriously vanished.
Well played, Cook. Well played.
Now read Forbes' Larry Magid as he goes hands-on with the new MacBook Pro...
