MacBook Pro 13in. w/ an M1 pro chip...why didn't Apple release one?

[tresmith]

Granted we're already onto the M2s but it seemed like putting an M1 pro (at least the lower variant) in the 13in. MacBook Pro would have made sense. It's a "Pro" laptop and it has cooling. I think there would have been a good amount of demand for such a laptop.

Thoughts?

 

[ScholarsInk]

It would make no sense whatsoever, unless for some reason you were really really fixated on the Touch Bar.

Once you’ve upped the MBP 13” RAM to 16 and storage to 512GB, you’re $300 from the price of the 14”. I would imagine the chip upgrade would be about $300.

So you’d be paying the price of the 14” for a machine that is worse in just about every respect except that it has a Touch Bar (which for many/most of us was a negative).

 

[sennomulo]

Yeah, unless you really love the Touch Bar or really hate the notch, I’m not sure what the advantage of that would be over the 14″ MBP. It seems to be a machine for people who need a little more power than the Air but not a crazy amount. I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t been phased out already, but I guess Apple wants to keep pretending that the Touch Bar is somewhat relevant and not a complete failure.

 

[ScholarsInk]

Yeah, unless you really love the Touch Bar or really hate the notch, I’m not sure what the advantage of that would be over the 14″ MBP. It seems to be a machine for people who need a little more power than the Air but not a crazy amount. I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t been phased out already, but I guess Apple wants to keep pretending that the Touch Bar is somewhat relevant and not a complete failure.

I think the main customer base for it is enterprise buyers who were already buying 13” MBPs. I have one from work myself.

But for a more enthusiast/power user targeted device it makes no sense to double down on that design.

 

[maflynn]

Personally, I think Apple's line is to complex/confusing as it stands. I think the 13" MBP model ought not exist at all, never mind M2 or M1. Regarding the M2 13" vs. the 14" MBP, you get so much more in the 14" for just a few hundred more. The only compelling reason imo, to buy the 13" is if you love or want the touchbar. How much less would a M1 equipped be? I mean it would have to be priced lower then the M2 MBP, and I suspect it would be priced too close the MBA at that point.

 

[Queen6]

Personally, I think Apple's line is to complex/confusing as it stands. I think the 13" MBP model ought not exist at all, never mind M2 or M1. Regarding the M2 13" vs. the 14" MBP, you get so much more in the 14" for just a few hundred more. The only compelling reason imo, to buy the 13" is if you love or want the touchbar. How much less would a M1 equipped be? I mean it would have to be priced lower then the M2 MBP, and I suspect it would be priced too close the MBA at that point.

$700 more unless you opt to upgrade the M2 13" then the 14" starts to pick up on value. Overall, I tend agree Apple should depreciate the 13" MBP and offer a lesser spec'd 14" to fill that gap say at around $1500.

M2 Air is a little overpriced and I can see a spec bump on the base model or a price reduction over time. M1 Air should remain as is a great deal for those on a budget, especially education. Most of all M1 Air offers an entry level to the Mac and all it offers...

Q-6

 

[Technerd108]

The 13" M series MBP models are basically a way to use an older design and shell that they still manufacture to maximize profits.

That being said they are not bad laptops for those that like them. However with the new M1 MBP 14" and 16" being the real "Pro" laptops while the M1/2 13" Pro and Air are essentially the same now and are more consumer laptops. The difference is a small fan and the shell. The 13" Pro is basically an air with a fan and old design.

I wish they would use the new M2 MBA chassis but make it a little thicker and put a fan in there and call it a 13" MBP. This would then replace the 13" MBP with Touch Bar.

I would probably buy a re-designed 13" MBP because it would serve my needs. It would just have better cooling but offer the same design as the air and essentially be a mid point between air and 14/16 MBP.

However I don't think this will happen. Apple will probably keep the 13" MBP chassis for another gen or two and retire it.

I think as the M series chips improve and thermal performance improves the need for a fan might be almost completely unnecessary as we get closer to 1nm so the need for a 13" Pro with an 8 core chip will not be needed at all and it will simply be air with 8 core or Pro models with 10 or more cores.

Apple is just keeping the older Pro 13" until they can get there with the thermals. Even with the new M2 MBA the thermals are so good you really have to push the machine into Pro workloads to get it to thermally throttle and at that point it just makes sense to get the 14/16" MBP line.

So as others have said the 13" Pro is in an odd spot where it is almost completely redundant and I think it will be removed from the laptop line in a generation or so. They are squeezing as much profit from the older design as possible.

Also to answer your basic question the M1/2 Pro would thermally throttle like crazy in the 13" Pro chassis as it only has one fan and it's design is simply not made for the more powerful decacore chip with 8 performance cores and only 2 efficiency cores. The M1 Pro is designed to have a lot of thermal headroom and while it runs very cool for a high performance chip it still gets hot under load and the 14/16" MBP have two fans and a larger size to help dissipate the heat. The M1 14/16 MBP also have heat pipes and an air flow channel not present in the 13" chassis. The 13" was simply never designed for this and would have to be completely redesigned from the ground up to use a M1/2 Pro chip and Apple would never do such a thing. They would rather you just but the 14".

 

[Queen6]

uest

The 13" M series MBP models are basically a way to use an older design and shell that they still manufacture to maximize profits.

That being said they are not bad laptops for those that like them. However with the new M1 MBP 14" and 16" being the real "Pro" laptops while the M1/2 13" Pro and Air are essentially the same now and are more consumer laptops. The difference is a small fan and the shell. The 13" Pro is basically an air with a fan and old design.

I wish they would use the new M2 MBA chassis but make it a little thicker and put a fan in there and call it a 13" MBP. This would then replace the 13" MBP with Touch Bar.

I would probably buy a re-designed 13" MBP because it would serve my needs. It would just have better cooling but offer the same design as the air and essentially be a mid point between air and 14/16 MBP.

However I don't think this will happen. Apple will probably keep the 13" MBP chassis for another gen or two and retire it.

I think as the M series chips improve and thermal performance improves the need for a fan might be almost completely unnecessary as we get closer to 1nm so the need for a 13" Pro with an 8 core chip will not be needed at all and it will simply be air with 8 core or Pro models with 10 or more cores.

Apple is just keeping the older Pro 13" until they can get there with the thermals. Even with the new M2 MBA the thermals are so good you really have to push the machine into Pro workloads to get it to thermally throttle and at that point it just makes sense to get the 14/16" MBP line.

So as others have said the 13" Pro is in an odd spot where it is almost completely redundant and I think it will be removed from the laptop line in a generation or so. They are squeezing as much profit from the older design as possible.

Also to answer your basic question the M1/2 Pro would thermally throttle like crazy in the 13" Pro chassis as it only has one fan and it's design is simply not made for the more powerful decacore chip with 8 performance cores and only 2 efficiency cores. The M1 Pro is designed to have a lot of thermal headroom and while it runs very cool for a high performance chip it still gets hot under load and the 14/16" MBP have two fans and a larger size to help dissipate the heat. The M1 14/16 MBP also have heat pipes and an air flow channel not present in the 13" chassis. The 13" was simply never designed for this and would have to be completely redesigned from the ground up to use a M1/2 Pro chip and Apple would never do such a thing. They would rather you just but the 14".

Question is what is "Pro" To me it's the best device for the job, not the highest spec. If anything, the 13"MBP is over engineered as its designed around an Intel CPU and it takes a lot of pressure to spool up the fan.

I get what you're saying, equally don't fall into the trap of thinking a professional tool is dictated by spec. It's not it's dictated by the users need and demand, be it an iPad or a fully loaded MBP...

Q-6

 

[Technerd108]

The 13” MBP is perfectly mated with the appropriate cpu. M1 Pro would not work in that chassis.

However an M2 13” MBP is a pretty sweet combination and plenty of power. I just wish they gave it a proper re-design and it would be the perfect in-between an air and M1/2 Pro 14”/16”.

I think Apple would rather upsell you into a 14/16” rather than give the 13” the proper respect it deserves.

I would rather have a 13.6” MBP with a similar design to the M2 MBA than the 14” for me and keep the regular M2 and just add a fan for heavy sustained intermediate loads.

But if you like the older chassis they could just fit a larger screen and thin the bezels and give it MagSafe and it would still be better.

I just don’t see an M1/2 Pro/Max chip in anything smaller than a 14” because of thermals?

 

[Queen6]

The 13" M series MBP models are basically a way to use an older design and shell that they still manufacture to maximize profits.

That being said they are not bad laptops for those that like them. However with the new M1 MBP 14" and 16" being the real "Pro" laptops while the M1/2 13" Pro and Air are essentially the same now and are more consumer laptops. The difference is a small fan and the shell. The 13" Pro is basically an air with a fan and old design.

I wish they would use the new M2 MBA chassis but make it a little thicker and put a fan in there and call it a 13" MBP. This would then replace the 13" MBP with Touch Bar.

I would probably buy a re-designed 13" MBP because it would serve my needs. It would just have better cooling but offer the same design as the air and essentially be a mid point between air and 14/16 MBP.

However I don't think this will happen. Apple will probably keep the 13" MBP chassis for another gen or two and retire it.

I think as the M series chips improve and thermal performance improves the need for a fan might be almost completely unnecessary as we get closer to 1nm so the need for a 13" Pro with an 8 core chip will not be needed at all and it will simply be air with 8 core or Pro models with 10 or more cores.

Apple is just keeping the older Pro 13" until they can get there with the thermals. Even with the new M2 MBA the thermals are so good you really have to push the machine into Pro workloads to get it to thermally throttle and at that point it just makes sense to get the 14/16" MBP line.

So as others have said the 13" Pro is in an odd spot where it is almost completely redundant and I think it will be removed from the laptop line in a generation or so. They are squeezing as much profit from the older design as possible.

Also to answer your basic question the M1/2 Pro would thermally throttle like crazy in the 13" Pro chassis as it only has one fan and it's design is simply not made for the more powerful decacore chip with 8 performance cores and only 2 efficiency cores. The M1 Pro is designed to have a lot of thermal headroom and while it runs very cool for a high performance chip it still gets hot under load and the 14/16" MBP have two fans and a larger size to help dissipate the heat. The M1 14/16 MBP also have heat pipes and an air flow channel not present in the 13" chassis. The 13" was simply never designed for this and would have to be completely redesigned from the ground up to use a M1/2 Pro chip and Apple would never do such a thing. They would rather you just but the 14".

Personally, I think the 13" MBP chassis could easily handle a Pro or Max CPU as it was designed around the far hotter, far more power demanding Intel platform. Yes, it may throttle, but hazarding a guess no more than the current M2 Air does. Yet to see my own M1 13" fan pass 5k, so there's plenty of thermal headroom.

Correct "They would rather you just buy the 14" just how Apple rolls. TBH, I don't have any real issue with that, but the 14" MBP just tips the limit as an ultra-portable for me. That said if on an engineering project that required a lot of performance the 14" MBP would be my weapon of choice as long as the SW aligned.

Q-6

 

[Fishrrman]

Question:
"MacBook Pro 13in. w/ an M1 pro chip...why didn't Apple release one?"

Answer:
Because they want you to buy the MBP 14" instead (for more $$$).
(that is all, nothing follows)

 

[ScholarsInk]

Frankly, as I put it above, the 14” isn’t even more expensive than the 13” when you compare like for like.

Once you’ve upgraded the RAM and storage of the 13” to match the base 14”, you’re the price of one upgrade away from it. The processor upgrade is that upgrade.

 

[Technerd108]

Frankly, as I put it above, the 14” isn’t even more expensive than the 13” when you compare like for like.

Once you’ve upgraded the RAM and storage of the 13” to match the base 14”, you’re the price of one upgrade away from it. The processor upgrade is that upgrade.

The OP never even mentioned cost.

They simply said they wanted a pro processor in the 13”.

Some people want the smallest size and the most power it is just that simple.

Whether they cost the same is irrelevant in the original question.

I bet the OP would even pay more for a pro processor in a 13” than the 14”.

Everyone prioritizes things differently.

 

[Queen6]

The OP never even mentioned cost.

They simply said they wanted a pro processor in the 13”.

Some people want the smallest size and the most power it is just that simple.

Whether they cost the same is irrelevant in the original question.

I bet the OP would even pay more for a pro processor in a 13” than the 14”.

Everyone prioritizes things differently.

13" MBP offers the most performance, longest runtime off mains supply in the smallest form factor at the lowest cost. That's why individuals, corporations and Apple see's the value of the 13" MBP....

I've got one myself and while I have issue with it, the killer performance across the board is what counts...

Q-6

 

[ctjack]

Just going to bestbuy website and checking out reviews for MBP 13 would tell you that Apple knows everything well enough: people buying this, mention in reviews that they went for the Pro because pro means better laptops. It was the case before when Pro > Air, but not anymore.
Pro 13 m1 priced good enough to fill the gap - a lot of casual buyers don’t know anything and just do price shopping closer to their ceilings.
They think that 1000 laptop is not good enough, so they will go for 1300, while mbp 14/16 is unjustifiably expensive for them.

 

[jav6454]

Granted we're already onto the M2s but it seemed like putting an M1 pro (at least the lower variant) in the 13in. MacBook Pro would have made sense. It's a "Pro" laptop and it has cooling. I think there would have been a good amount of demand for such a laptop.

Thoughts?

Market segmentation.

 

[tresmith]

I'm reviving this thread cause I'm even more disappointed now that the mac mini is getting an M2 Pro chip and the 13in. MBP still does not. Apple should have at least made the lower-end M2 pro chip an option on the 13 mbp.

 

[kiranmk2]

I think I agree with this. As it is, the M2 MBP doesn't make any sense. It is more expensive that the M2 Air but is worse in just about every way except sustained performance (smaller screen, no magsafe, heavier, worse webcam). I would have thought one of the following would have happened

• Drop the touchbar (regular keyboard) and lower the price to $999 as the entry price (i.e. M2 performance, but old design and features)
• Add the lowest M2 Pro chip to allow (among other things) dual monitor output but keep the RAM/storage at 8/256 and perhaps bump the price to $1499

As we know, Apple did neither.

 

[ScholarsInk]

I don't understand this at all. The 14" model has external dimensions almost identical to the last good 13" MBP (pre-touch bar Retina generation).

Do you guys actively dislike the added screen space? I'm sure you could use some kind of Terminal command to disable to the top row of pixels.

 

[xraydoc]

I'm reviving this thread cause I'm even more disappointed now that the mac mini is getting an M2 Pro chip and the 13in. MBP still does not. Apple should have at least made the lower-end M2 pro chip an option on the 13 mbp.

I'm very amazed Apple hasn't discontinued the 13" MBP completely. I can only imagine they're holding on to it so they can have a "pro" machine at that specific price point. Putting in the 10-core M2 Pro would push it right out of that price point.

But there's really nothing "pro" left about it, and the entire chassis is out of date.

 

[Nugget]

I'm very amazed Apple hasn't discontinued the 13" MBP completely. I can only imagine they're holding on to it so they can have a "pro" machine at that specific price point. Putting in the 10-core M2 Pro would push it right out of that price point.

But there's really nothing "pro" left about it, and the entire chassis is out of date.

I think that either Apple have a warehouse full of 13" MBP shells that they don't want to just throw away, or there's a huge enterprise/academic buyer who is buying enough of them to keep the design on life support. Otherwise I agree with you -- it's a dead product that makes no sense to still exist.

 

[DHagan4755]

I think that either Apple have a warehouse full of 13" MBP shells that they don't want to just throw away, or there's a huge enterprise/academic buyer who is buying enough of them to keep the design on life support. Otherwise I agree with you -- it's a dead product that makes no sense to still exist.

It's a dead product as soon as the 15.5" MacBook lands this year (maybe this spring). It will slot-in at the 13" MacBook Pro's price point.

It's my belief that the 13" MacBook Pro with M2 is there to fill a gap in the line-up while the 15" MacBook was actively developed; a place holder if you will. It wasn't much effort to upgrade the SoC to an M2 in the 13" MacBook Pro for those who need active cooling. And Apple engineers explicitly stated it's in the line-up because it has active cooling.

Now rumors of the 15" MacBook having an optional M2 Pro upgrade means it's probably designed with active cooling for the enclosure. If you've got the room with the larger screen why not, right? So the "active cooling" M2 MacBook model in Apple's line-up will be replaced with a model that has the new design language along with a 15.5" screen.

Edit: Interview clip (starts at the right spot)

 

[ctjack]

I think everyone is overcomplicating things here. This is a forum of people in the know, while the mass people in the outside world are just that - regular people.
My coworkers all have iphones, but only 2 people out of 10 know the differences between iphones.
When you shop in bestbuy, you can hear people saying "i will buy a pro and my budget is $1300 tops, pro must be better than any of the Airs".

The truth is that regular M1 or whatever M2 MBP 13 is a holy grail of apple sales - regular people will buy it and won't blink, cause they don't know or care about the big differences.

My colleague is also driving a nissan rogue - like everyone should know that nissan transmission and especially CVT are dying since 2008, but no, colleague bought new Nissan and its' transmission went out 500 miles after warranty miles end.

People can not know and will not be willing to know more than they need. And most people don't need or want to distinguish the differences between iphones or macbooks - they shop the budget - like the best laptop that $1300 can buy.