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Is there a place for a low spec 16" MacBook Pro?

Is there a place in the MacBook Pro lineup for a "low end" SoC, with a big screen?

  • Yes

    Votes: 4 19.0%

  • Maybe

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • No

    Votes: 16 76.2%

  • I have other thoughts that I'll write below...

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • Total voters
    21
A

AppleFan22

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 3, 2014
282
31
I own 2 13" MacBooks, an Air and a Pro, and I am constantly wishing I had more real-estate on my MBP screen. Be it watching Netflix, editing in Final Cut, or just doing some other work.

The problem is, a base model 14" MBP is £1,699. A base model 16" is £2,599. I don't need or want an M3 Pro. I spent so much on dongles and USB hubs years ago that I don't care for the extra I/O. All I want is a big screen, and a fan for those times I go a little too crazy in FCP or playing games.

How does the rest of the community feel about that? Is there a place in the MacBook Pro lineup for a "low end" SoC, with a big screen?
 
A

AppleFan22

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 3, 2014
282
31
redheeler said:
Apple already has the 15" MacBook Air.
Click to expand...
Right, but I'm concerned that that's not going to do too well when I'm editing hours of 4K 200mbps video, or trying to play games. The Air doesn't have a fan, and I don't want any thermal throttling...
 
Yebubbleman

Yebubbleman

macrumors 603
May 20, 2010
6,023
2,615
Los Angeles, CA
AppleFan22 said:
I own 2 13" MacBooks, an Air and a Pro, and I am constantly wishing I had more real-estate on my MBP screen. Be it watching Netflix, editing in Final Cut, or just doing some other work.

The problem is, a base model 14" MBP is £1,699. A base model 16" is £2,599. I don't need or want an M3 Pro. I spent so much on dongles and USB hubs years ago that I don't care for the extra I/O. All I want is a big screen, and a fan for those times I go a little too crazy in FCP or playing games.

How does the rest of the community feel about that? Is there a place in the MacBook Pro lineup for a "low end" SoC, with a big screen?
Click to expand...

If you don't need or want an M3 Pro, then a 15-inch MacBook Air would totally do it for you.

AppleFan22 said:
Right, but I'm concerned that that's not going to do too well when I'm editing hours of 4K 200mbps video, or trying to play games. The Air doesn't have a fan, and I don't want any thermal throttling...
Click to expand...

The lack of a fan really won't make that big of a difference. A throttled M3 will probably still be faster than an M1 unthrottled.

AppleFan22 said:
No I don't, because it's far too expensive. I get by perfectly well with my M1s, I don't need an M3 Pro, I just need more screen space.
Click to expand...
A 16-inch MacBook Pro with just an M3 and not an M3 Pro is entirely unnecessary. There being a 13-inch MacBook Air, 14-inch MacBook Pro, and a 15-inch MacBook Air ALL with the base M3 is redundant. And yeah, a base model M1 Pro, M2 Pro, or M3 Pro 16-inch MacBook Pro solves the whole "what if an M3 in a MacBook Air isn't fast enough fear" as M3 with a fan is unlikely to make any meaningful difference.
 
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L

leifp

macrumors 6502a
Feb 8, 2008
516
494
Canada
In the 14” chassis, the base M3 ($2099) represents a $600 CAD (+taxes, but those vary) savings over the base M3Pro ($2699). Not negligeable! But it includes 3 CPU cores, 4 GPU cores, and 10GB RAM more than the base M3. This is Apple’s MO. I’ll try not to get distracted… ;)

The base 16” M3Pro retails for $3299 CAD. A $600 savings would price that at $2699, assuming Apple retains that delta, however the M3Pro in the 16” base has an additional CPU core and 4 more GPU cores than the base 14” MBPro (with M3Pro) so there might be additional savings… I imagine Apple has run the numbers on whether a base M3 16” MBPro would sell in sufficient numbers and we will see the results of that when the M4 models are released.

That’s a really long-winded way of saying: how many people would purchase a base M series 16” MBPro that don’t already pony up for the present chip lineup? If you buy the 16” already but hope they make a cheaper one… that’s not in Apple’s interest and they know it.
 
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Elusi

Elusi

macrumors regular
Oct 26, 2023
241
488
AppleFan22 said:
Right, but I'm concerned that that's not going to do too well when I'm editing hours of 4K 200mbps video, or trying to play games. The Air doesn't have a fan, and I don't want any thermal throttling...
Click to expand...
Have you tried your heavy workload and had this effect on your 13" Air?

I'd say thermal throttling on M-series is a different thing compared how it used to be on Intel Macbooks, and that productivity at least in my case can just proceed without much of an effective impact.

Though YMMV, especially if you live in a hot country and clamshell the device, I'm sure you can hit sub 5W thermal throttle.
 
C

chmania

macrumors 65816
Dec 2, 2023
1,039
1,516
AppleFan22 said:
I own 2 13" MacBooks, an Air and a Pro, and I am constantly wishing I had more real-estate on my MBP screen. Be it watching Netflix, editing in Final Cut, or just doing some other work.

The problem is, a base model 14" MBP is £1,699. A base model 16" is £2,599. I don't need or want an M3 Pro. I spent so much on dongles and USB hubs years ago that I don't care for the extra I/O. All I want is a big screen, and a fan for those times I go a little too crazy in FCP or playing games.
Click to expand...
If you are doing all that heavy work, such as "editing in Final Cut" at home, why not get a monitor?
 
Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,175
13,225
"Is there a place for a low spec 16" MacBook Pro?"

Not really.

A 15" well-equipped MacBook Air "fills that slot" in the product lineup.

Anyone who's going to buy a MBP 16", is almost certainly going to want at least "the base model" as it comes now.

If there are exceptions, they are so few as to make little difference to Apple.
 
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