New Budget MacBook Pro Sidelines MacBook Air

While much of the focus is of course going to the Touch Bar enabled MacBook Pros, Apple is also releasing a more budget friendly model. Shipping today, the new budget MacBook Pro looks to be slotting in the gap between the MacBook and the traditional MacBook Pro. This is the area that is somewhat occupied by the MacBook Air which is surprisingly not getting a refresh at all right now.

Even though Apple is not discontinuing the MacBookAir lineup just yet, the company made a point of comparing the budget 13inch Pro with the Air. Due to a variety of advances, the device is thinner and sports more performance. Battery life is also respectable at 10 hours. While it might not be the perfect MacBook Air replacement, the new laptop does offer a very compelling alternative to the MacBook.

Sharing the same design aesthetic as the new full-fledged MacBook Pros, the budget model hits the lower price point by cutting out Touch ID and the Touch Bar. Other than that the other major difference is that the CPU and GPU are clocked somewhat lower and there are only two USB Type-C ports.  At the base model with an Intel i5, 8GB

At the base model with an Intel i5, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD, the price is a relatively reasonable $1499, $300 less than the touch-enabled 13 inch. It will be interesting to see how the MacBook Air does at it is $500 right now at $999. Perhaps we may see an update next year once Kaby Lake comes out in full force.