The $899 model weighs only 1000 grams, has an 11.6 Inch display and features 4GB of RAM with a 1.4Ghz Intel Dual Core i5 processor and 128GB of flash storage. It also has a 9 hour battery and runs the latest Mac OS Mavericks. The Macbook Air that has not seen a major redesign since 2010 continues to be one of the premium ultrabooks on the market despite competition from rising brands like Lenovo, Acer, Samsung among others. The rising brands have mostly competed on price giving the same value for less and a couple of times at the expense of design. What seems like a simple price slash actually has a couple of implications on the industry that may go unnoticed to the ordinary eye:

  1. Apple has always been the company that thinks differently making premium products for the upmarket segment which is a couple of people who can spend thousands of dollars on a laptop. The other was companies that have huge budgets to buy only Macs for their staff. Unfortunately this isn’t the largest market. Competition has thrived on the lower income segment that can afford $300 – $700 for a laptop which forms the bigger majority of computer consumers. Apple may want to entice the lower segment too with the current price cuts just like it did with the iPhone 5c that turned out not to be so cheap anyway. What is happening is that Apple is acknowledging that they also need to tap into the lower income segment to keep their competition in check.
  2. Since majority of computer users have basic needs compared to those that use computers commercially, ultrabooks are fast becoming popular for their size and mobility so at $799, a couple of consumers are going to consider owning a Macbook which is considered more of a status symbol. This is not only in the US but in Asian and African markets  too. Considering the competition and the developments in the Tech sphere,  I personally believe that these prices are going to keep going down.
  3. with the iPhone 5C, the iPad mini and rumours of iPhablet or bigger iPhone, Apple has been placed in a position where it has to listen to the people. gone are the days when people didn’t  know what they want. Apparently, people want affordable Mac devices and that doesn’t seem so far from reach now With the new price cuts, would you buy the new macbook Air? you can share your thoughts with us in the comments Image: Apple.com