This is a bit confusing to me. Why does having an OLED screen really matter? Is the current screen technology inhibiting users of the MacBook Air or MacBook Pro from getting their jobs done? Is the lack of OLED hurting sales or keeping Apple from encroaching deeper into non-Apple personal computing market share? Is there a fear that Apple’s current customers will abandon the Apple ecosystem and everything it entails to obtain an OLED screen on a PC in a less compelling ecosystem?
Finally, why would Apple want to keep pushing to make the MacBook Air even more like the MacBook Pro? If the differences become indistinguishable it may make more sense to drop the MacBook Air line entirely. It’s not like the MacBook Pros are that much chubbier thatn the MacBook Airs anymore. If it’s all about hitting a different price point it seems reasonable that they could serve that need by offering additional MacBook Pro configurations to go after “lower needs” customers.
As a general note, I’m still surprised that Apple has increased the number of different offerings in their product lines. One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about going into an Apple Store is the simplicity of selecting a particular product. Apple had fewer variations but there was a sense that what they did offer was always “best of breed”or nearly so n the product category. Choice is good, but only up to a certain point.
When I walk into a MicroCenter my brain wants to explode because there are too many choices. Quite a few are crap, many are mediocre, but there are also a few jewels hidden amongst the mediocrity and crapola. The only way I can survive in that environment is to do all of my discovery and research before walking into the store. It used to be that walking into an Apple Store was the polar opposite. Apple only had jewels on display, and yeah, some were shinier than others, but there was not a cloud of chaff to sort through. It’s no longer as easy as it once was because the performance of even the base models has shot up so far. There are now more areas of close overlap between product lines, with the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro being a prime example. Why make it even worse? Why not just settle on one product line that can satisfy a broader range of customers and hopefully eliminate some of the confusion and needless fuzziness around what constitutes a “pro” model over a “non-pro” model?
