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M1 Mac prices will drop by $100-200 when M2 Macs comes out by Nov 2021
- Thread starter Hexley
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It really doesn't. There's no precedence for Apple releasing a significantly better product and dropping the price at the same time.
However, there's clearly precedence for Apple reusing an old body but with a new SoC a few years later.
Yes you did. I underlined it in red so everyone would understand your misdirection.
Your link points to a 3rd party Apple authorized reseller website.
As such their pricing does not reflect Apple.com's MSRP for general customers or their educational customers.
When I talk about Apple lowering pricing I am referring to Apple.com's pricing policy only.
Apple generally does not give a damn how wonky 3rd party Apple authorized reseller prices their products so long as Apple get's their cut and the customer does not have a bad purchasing experience.
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Well the M1 Mac Mini did come with a lower price compared to the i3 Mac Mini while being a lot better, so there is certainly precedence.
The "SE" brand name only covers iPhones, Watches and not Macs in the past decade.
Why? Because Macs are not sold with a version number after it like "iMac 8", "Macbook 4s" or "Mac Pro 3G".
The "SE" is a brand work around to use old body designs with updated/cheaper internals.
So say it's difficult to communicate a new product to identify it as an "iPhone 8 with iPhone 11 logicboard/chips" thus the "iPhone SE (2nd gen)" is an simpler sell.
A $100-200 cheaper MBA M1 is easier to communicate when a $999 MBA M2 comes out. Why a price cut by $100-200? Because it's a M1 which was superseded by the M2.
I admire your tenacity with the Macbook SE product line but unless there's a number at the end then there probably wont be a Mac SE any time soon.
Though back in 2000 there was a iMac DV Special Edition to identify it by its unique colors.
I know this as my first Mac was that model.
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During the November Mac event Tim or one of the product managers explicitly stated the $100 price cut of the Mac mini.
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I could see it. It wouldn't be the first time they've left a product behind at a lower price when a new one shows up. However, for Macs specifically, they've tended to leave the older product at the same price while a newer one at a higher price slots in, so who's to say?
It is, however, an ASi world now where Apple doesn't have to pay as much to manufacture their chips as they have to buy from Intel (at least according to estimates I've seen), so maybe things will be more like the other ASi-containing devices than their older Intel Macs.
A -$100 M1 MBA for 2022 followed by a -$200 M1 (or possibly latest chip even) MBSE with the current MBA design while a redesigned MBA comes in 2022 doesn't seem too far fetched to me.
It is, however, an ASi world now where Apple doesn't have to pay as much to manufacture their chips as they have to buy from Intel (at least according to estimates I've seen), so maybe things will be more like the other ASi-containing devices than their older Intel Macs.
A -$100 M1 MBA for 2022 followed by a -$200 M1 (or possibly latest chip even) MBSE with the current MBA design while a redesigned MBA comes in 2022 doesn't seem too far fetched to me.
No way will Apple discount the M1 Macs that they just released $200... Not going to happen. If they release a new version of the M1 it will replace it.
As to some stores having sales or lower prices there is a reason for that. You can often buy Macs cheaper at B&H or other stores due to the return policy. People are fickle and will buy a Mac from Apple and will return it for a stupid reason. Because of that Apple has to tack on $$$ to the price to cover it. If you buy a MacBook from B&H and feel the silver looks too silvery well too bad because there is no returning it.
As to some stores having sales or lower prices there is a reason for that. You can often buy Macs cheaper at B&H or other stores due to the return policy. People are fickle and will buy a Mac from Apple and will return it for a stupid reason. Because of that Apple has to tack on $$$ to the price to cover it. If you buy a MacBook from B&H and feel the silver looks too silvery well too bad because there is no returning it.
I’ll be sad if it takes till nov 2021 to get a new chip. I want a mid range Apple Silicon chip by summer to upgrade my setup!
Old model clearance will require dropping the price.
But do you really want to own an M1 when M2 is out with likely 4 TB ports, larger memory capacity, faster GPUs, better graphics, more AI/ML capability, and at the same price points of today's M1s?
To answer, ask yourself if you would TODAY you would buy an MBP or Air with Intel processor for $200-300 off. I would not.
But do you really want to own an M1 when M2 is out with likely 4 TB ports, larger memory capacity, faster GPUs, better graphics, more AI/ML capability, and at the same price points of today's M1s?
To answer, ask yourself if you would TODAY you would buy an MBP or Air with Intel processor for $200-300 off. I would not.
Late next year we are likely to see 14" and 16" MBPs with a new SOC. The M1xx or M2. This will trickle down to the 13" MBP and Airs in late 2012 or 2022.
If I needed a laptop, sure, I'd consider a discounted M1 Mac. The reason I bought M1 over Intel is because of battery life, thermals and silence. That's why I wouldn't buy Intel even at $200-300 off. While I would appreciate having more ports, the speed isn't a big driving factor as the M1 is more than fast enough for my use.
Anyway, M1 is a big jump from Intel but year over year Apple Silicon improvements have actually slowed down to around 20-30% in single-core.
Why would Apple drop the prices? The price points for the Air and the low-end Mac Pro were presumably working for the Intel machines, which had comparable (I use that word advisedly) specs, performance and prices to direct competitors like MS surface, Dell XPS etc. The M1 versions leave both the previous Macs and their PC competitors high and dry performance wise, and this forum shows that have a lot of higher-end Mac users thinking about downsizing. Yes, the Mini got a price cut, but unlike the MB Air and MB Pro that came with a significant cut in ports, max RAM, display support etc.
If Apple could sustain those prices when the Mac was just a premium PC clone with a MacOS license And so-so performance, then they don’t need to cut them now they’ve got a few-year dramatic lead over Wintel in power/performance.
Not in the UK. It is the same price now as it wa on November 11th. 3rd parties will sometimes discount, but I have never see a price drop and I have been using Macs for 30 years!
I'd doubt they'd do the iPhone and iPad trick of hanging onto the prior year models to increase price points. When you buy a computer you generally have it 5-6 years and the difference between an M1 and M2 isn't going to be as alarming as the difference between an Intel Mac and an M1 Mac.
Early 2021 Mac to be announced on a Tuesday on March will have 4 TB ports, larger memory capacity, faster GPUs, better graphics & more AI/ML capability.
But at the same price point at M1 Macs? Doubtful as they are higher-end Macs.
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MBP 16" will be out with a higher-end M1 chip on a Tuesday for an early 2021 Mac event.
I am unsure a 14" will be out before 2022.
When a MBP 14" comes out then the MBP 13" will likely be phased out.
When the entry model M1 Mac mini came out did it not drop in price relative to the previous entry model Intel Mac mini?
I am replying to this from a business point of view for educational purposes.
So any hurt feelings that may generate is not intentional.
If anyone, as in other than theluggage, is confused to what English words I am saying then please speak up and ask what it means so I may expand further.
To drop prices is meant to expand market share and increase volume of sales.
This is done so long as Apple's supply chain has improved efficiency to such an extent that profit margins can be maintained.
The price points of Intel Macs before M1 was in light of the bill of material cost of the Intel parts. The price points of the Intel Macs after M1 is also in consideration of the bill of material cost of the Intel parts, highlight how "cheap" M1 Macs relative to Intel Macs that now occupy the "high-end" price points and induce people buying a Mac to buy a M1 Mac unless they really need an Intel Mac for specific Intel-only use cases.
The M1 Macs had limited number of ports and configuration to simplify and make more cost efficient the M1 supply chain in building M1 Macs. There will be higher-end M1 chip variant to address higher-end Mac mini and MBP 13" during an early 2021 Mac event on a Tuesday likely by March.
As highlighted in the title of this thread the price cuts will only occur by November 2021 when the M2 Macs will come out. This was done on the iPhone, iPad, Watch and possibly AirPods to expand market share by lowering entry price by $100-200.
Currently the Mac occupies the price points of the top 20% of the PC market. Lowering prices by $100-200 will expand their price point to occupy the top 30% of the PC market.
Will this mean Apple will own 100% of the top 30% of the PC market? Unlikely as there are Windows & x86 specific use cases that Apple cannot or is uninterested to address.
If the MBA started at $699 then it would be priced for the top 50% of the market. That would not be aligned with the Pareto Principle and profit margins would suffer.
Will Apple try to occupy the top 50% of the PC market? They may so long as the profit margins are maintained through a more efficient supply chain.
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Yes, but that does not equate to a drop in the M1 when the M2 (or whatever) comes out. New models might be set at different price points, but Apple does not drop the price of previous computer models.
Moving the goal post from A to B to XYZ.
When Apple decides to expand their market from top 20% to 30% then they will position the M1 Macs $100-200 below what it is today to make room for M2.
Apple rarely had to do this before because they outsourced their Mac chips to Intel. A they're doing it in-house now they have incentive to leverage economies of scales for that chip by making more of them.
Ok, we've written 2 pages worth of posts with this.
It's highly unlikely that Apple would continue producing M1 chips after the M2 chips come out. Why?
It's really simple. M2 chips will still be on 5nm as 3nm isn't ready until 2022. And M2 chips are unlikely to be physically bigger than M1 chips because that would increase heat and power, given that they're on the same 5nm node.Thus, it will cost Apple literally the same amount of money to produce the M2 chip as the M1 chip.
Now ask yourself. Why would Apple allocate precious 5nm TSMC wafers to continue to produce the less advanced M1 chips when they can produce the M2 chips at the same cost?
Makes no sense to continue producing M1 Airs right?
Hence, Apple will produce a Macbook SE with an M2 SoC instead of dropping the price of the M1 Air.