The $399 MacBook Mini

by Hadley Stern Oct 14, 2008

Ever since the development of the Mac Plus there has always been a tension at Apple between the desire to innovate and be the computer of the everyman. This desire to innovate almost always means that we Apple users have to accept higher costs. But we often do it willingly, understanding that the technologies that Apple choses deserve the higher cost.

On the eve of an Apple announcement no ones knows anything for certain accept one thing. We don't know whether the new macbooks will have BluRay or firewire. Whether there will be a 17 inch model still or, maybe a 12 inch model will appear in the line up once again. However we will know one thing.

There won't be an affordable Apple laptop.

Let's parse out affordable. I mean a sub-$500 laptop. One would think that with the advent of the Mac mini years ago that Apple's stronghold on over-priced hardware was a thing of the past. But not so with the Apple laptop line. Even with products that use commodity processors and technologies (no ssci, no PCI, and, heck, probably no firewire) Apple still insists that it cannot make a laptop for under $1000.

Lets look at the competition. There is the ASUS EEE Pc that starts at $255. Dell is making an Inspiron it calls Mini 9 that can be have for $349. And you know others are going to follow suit.

And so should Apple. I'm excited as anyone to hear the new specs of the high-end MacBooks and MacBook Pros tomorrow. But what would excite me most would be the following.

MacBook mini $399

Specs:

10 Inch high resolution screen
Full Keyboard
8 GB solid state drive
OS X Leopard
1 GB ram
One USB Port
Wireless

This machine would be the Mac laptop for everyone. Sure there could be higher specced versions with bigger hard drives for those who really care. But this machine would be perfect as a secondary machine for me, without the Porsche-Like ridiculous premium of the MacBook Air. Like the Mac mini it would have a large market and would answer the indefensible position of the elitist price-point of Apple technologies.

I really want it, but I'm not holding my breath.

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Comments

  • Totally agree here. Journalist and bloggers who write about Apple products should consistently call for Apple to produce this type of products.

    Bakari had this to say on Oct 14, 2008 Posts: 37

  • Agreed. The iPhone helps (and I love it) but there’s times you need a full screen and keyboard, but don’t exactly need the power to edit video.

    And I mourn for the forgotten Mac Mini. Basically, if you’ve got under a grand to spend, all Apple has is year-old leftovers. That might be a bad fit for the market with the economy tanking.

    Goodman Holiday had this to say on Oct 14, 2008 Posts: 1

  • Well, again today we get another variation of the MacBook and the MacBook Pro. Great, but I’m not impressed. I still want a real notebook. Lightweight and affordable.

    Bakari had this to say on Oct 14, 2008 Posts: 37

  • With the exception of OSX, sounds like you’re in the market for an OLPC v.2 (and you can ship me the other - I will take care of the shipping part wink I hear OLPC 2 will go XP/Intel so it is possible to retrofit Leopard in there, I suppose.

    Anyhoo, Apple’s lifeblood or more than half of its revenue comes from the portable line. Do we really expect Apple to lower MacBook prices, as bloggers have assumed to death lately? Not until we stop buying them like hotcakes.

    Robomac had this to say on Oct 15, 2008 Posts: 846

  • I guess it should be pretty clear by now that Apple sees the iPhone/iPod touch as the portable notebook, and the MacBook as both a notebook and desktop computer. So forget about anything between the MacBook and the iPhone. It’s kinda weird that Apple would limit itself like that.

    Bakari had this to say on Oct 15, 2008 Posts: 37
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