Apple today updated MacBook with the latest Intel processors, improved graphics performance, faster flash storage and an additional hour of battery life, making the thinnest and lightest Mac better. F... Apple MacBook Update Offers New CPUs, Longer Battery Life, and Rose Gold Color
It looks pretty nice. It's interesting to see how they design their mainstream laptops, when low-end CPUs are good enough. Raw power is not enough to attract buyers.
Their fans buy it and love it I guess. The one thing I can say it that the overall build quality is definitely very nice (even though I can't justify the price). The track pad on the Lenovo I bought last year definitely leaves a lot to be desired, however the hardware is much more powerful and it was half the price.
I wasn't saying that to criticize them - if a weaker, more power-efficient CPU is enough, why would they put a hungry behemoth inside? My mother and a friend of mine both have Acer Nitros with 4k screen - these laptops are powerful, with great screens, GPUs, keyboards, they're pretty sturdy, light, thin, have good materials etc, at some silly price (less than entry-level MacBook from this article), but... the battery life is weak and the touchpad isn't appealing. In my opinion, laptop vendors should work on making laptops usable without mouse (good touchpad) and lasting a day on battery. I don't say that all the laptops should be like that, just some and they shouldn't cost $2000+
Problem is vendors cut corners all the time. I have the first generation of the new Macbook with the USB Type C, paid $1000 for it but it is very awesome. Awesome quality, love the touch pad, love everything about it. It's awesome. Now there are some that have recently come out that are actually surprisingly good, like the new Inspiron 5000 series from Dell that is cheaper and about the same performance and battery. It's going to be an interesting year for laptops I think.
People pay extra for stuff they like. I know I pay much more than the manufacturing costs for several things - phones, computer parts, audio. We all pay, but it amazes me how Apple made paying extra mainstream. People hesitate so much when getting light expensive laptops, and all the questions vanish when there's a fruit on it. Of course there are light laptops more expensive than Macs, but few people buy them, and that's because they're expensive and such purchase should be followed by thought out decisions. Perhaps one doesn't need to go so extreme, and just buy something cheaper, heavier or older. For example ThinkPad Carbon, new Dell XPS, Surface Pro, Surface Book are incredible devices, but with their price, I'll think a few times before getting one, and I'll probably stay with my ThinkPad W520, which is still good after almost 5 years. Is it really worth paying these money to get 10% more battery life or 2mm thinner laptop? Maybe my view is skewed because I live in Poland, where people don't earn as much as in US or Western Europe, or maybe Apple just made their consumers insane?
