Apple has refreshed its laptop lineup, adding the Touch Bar control strip to its entry-level MacBook Pro, and killing off the popular 12-inch MacBook in favor of the redesigned MacBook Air.
The sad news reaching us from Apple is that the tech giant has discontinued selling its 12-inch MacBook and the last-gen MacBook Air after 4 years of introducing the slimmest laptop in their catalogue.
The laptop ushered in a new era of MacBook design from Apple and had much controversy with its performances and designs. First with the problematic butterfly keyboard which the company is most likely to discard, had a single USB-C port, and came in a flashy rose gold colorway. It was innovative and gorgeous, as far as laptops go, but it was never quite clear who it was for
The two notebooks,12-inch MacBook and the last-gen MacBook Air vanished from Apple’s website earlier on Tuesday morning as the company announced its Back to School promotion and the refreshed lineup now consists of the Retina 13-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. The Touch Bar, which was first introduced in 2016, had already subsumed most of the MacBook Pro line. But until now, the entry-level, 13-inch MBP retained physical function keys.
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While the old MacBook Air being discontinued doesn’t come as much of a surprise because Apple dropped the entry price of the Retina MacBook Air by $100 earlier. The 12-inch MacBook’s future became questionable when the 13-inch Retina MacBook Air launched last year at the beginning of 3rd quarter with a lower price, more ports, Touch ID, and longer battery life while being just a bit heavier than the two-pound MacBook.
If there’s any major takeaway from these relatively minor announcements, it’s that Apple’s computer lineup finally makes some sort of sense. MacBook Pro means more power and a Touch Bar. Thin and light means MacBook Air. And if you find yourself feeling the loss of the 12-inch MacBook so much, there is a refurbished version on Apple’s official website.
