Apple is a multi-billion dollar company—one of the worlds largest. You don’t get that big without a strong understanding of pricing. It’s easy to pass the confusion off as silly and an oversight on Apple’s part, but it is likely part of a very deliberate pricing strategy.
Confusing pricing structures often benefit companies, not consumers. I’d encourage you to give this 9to5Mac article a read.
https://9to5mac.com/2018/10/31/asp/
The article talks a good bit about the iPhone X pricing, but this section, in particular, addresses your comments about the Macbook vs Macbook Air pricing.
Apple actually kicked-off its strategy to boost the ASP of the MacBook line-up back in 2015 with the 12-inch MacBook.
Before then, if you wanted the smallest and lightest Mac laptop, and didn’t need to do anything demanding with it, you bought the $999 MacBook Air. That machine always had a split market. There were those who bought it because it was the most portable Mac, and there were those who bought it because it was the cheapest Mac laptop. Techies, with more demanding use cases, might upgrade the machine, but the vast majority of users would be happy with the $999 base model.
By introducing the 12-inch MacBook at a significantly higher price, but keeping a $999 MacBook Air in the line-up, Apple was able to take advantage of that split demographic. Those buying on price would continue to buy the MacBook Air. But those who wanted the smallest and lightest Mac would now be paying $1299.
You see Apple is trying to maximize revenue by forcing customers to make a choice. The same thing is happening with the Macbook Pro lineup right now.
This is a good post and your other comments are spot on! Just consider that most consumers do not evaluate products as thoroughly as you or the other members of this forum.