C’mon Apple, Where are Your 12″ MacBook Pros?
August 22, 2008 by Rico Mossesgeld
Filed under Laptops
No no, this isn’t about the MacBook Air. Ultra-portability but no dedicated graphics? What’s that? A betrayal of the PowerBook pedigree? Remember, the 12″ PowerBook had a relatively high-end video card, courtesy of ATI.
Sure, there are no significant problems with the current MacBook Pros (except that the 17″ model is a wee too big). There’s a need for small yet powerful notebooks, which are filled by competitors like the Dell XPS M1330. Has Apple lost interest in this niche? It’s clear that, at least two years ago, people were hungry for a small-form-factor MacBook Pro.
And the MacBook Air? Does it fill the shoes of the old PowerBook G4 12″? Of course not! Any laptop that carries Intel graphics is decidedly not a performance product.
Again, the question: where are your 12″ MacBook Pros Apple? You’ve got the engineering expertise and the mainstream computing platforms on your side; what’s keeping you guys from cramming everything into a truly portable laptop? It’s been relative eternity ever since you came out with the original MacBook Pro, and its smallest variant is long overdue.
I have to agree. I absolutely LOVE my 12″ PowerBook G4. It is almost 3 years old now and I dread having to replace it. Apple does not currently make a desktop or a laptop that excites me. I am hoping for some great announcements soon.
I agree, my boss and his son both have MacBook Pro 17″ – and there is no way I’d be haulling one of those massive beasts around. My (13.3″) MacBook is big enough to get itself left at home before. I even got an Asus Eee PC just to have something actually portable to use. A 12″ or 13.3″ MBP would rock. I hope the rumored new MacBooks in September will include a smaller MBP.