The M2 MBP makes absolutely no sense

[rm5]

Here's my take on this whole M2 MBP situation (I apologize if this has already been posted about)

The M2 MacBook Pro (and 13 inch MacBook Pros in general) is one of the weirdest and most worthless products that Apple sells. It still has the old design from 2016, while EVERY OTHER MACBOOK has had a redesign.

I think they are not paying any attention to the 13-inch MacBook Pro (the announcement lasted like 2 minutes). They will probably just discontinue it altogether in a few years.

You are paying at least $1300 for a 6-year-old design that still has the touch bar. Now, there is basically no gap whatsoever from the M2 MBA to the 13-inch MBP.

Here's my question/thought - What is the point of the 13-inch MacBook Pro anymore? All you get is 1 or 2 extra GPU cores and a fan. This didn't matter very much in the M1, so I don't think this will matter in the M2 either.

What do you think about this?

 

[VivienM]

Here's my question/thought - What is the point of the 13-inch MacBook Pro anymore? All you get is 1 or 2 extra GPU cores and a fan. This didn't matter very much in the M1, so I don't think this will matter in the M2 either.

What do you think about this?

My cynical guess - Apple has commitments to suppliers of various parts (touchbar, screen, maybe that particular enclosure, etc) and they would rather use up those parts with this strange product rather than pay whatever penalties they would have to pay otherwise...

... or we could flip it the other way around, maybe shortages of some components unique to the 14/16" M1 Pro/Max models are restricting production of those models and the 13" model doesn't use those components so Apple can sell more units if they offer both.

In the Intel days, they always had a lower and higher-end (more TB3 ports, touch bar, etc) 13" MBP configuration. For whatever reason, they don't want to do the same thing with the new model, at least not yet, so instead they have this weird thing in the low-end-13" price segment instead.

 

[jav6454]

Here's my take on this whole M2 MBP situation (I apologize if this has already been posted about)

[...]

Here's my question/thought - What is the point of the 13-inch MacBook Pro anymore? All you get is 1 or 2 extra GPU cores and a fan. This didn't matter very much in the M1, so I don't think this will matter in the M2 either.

What do you think about this?

Several wrongs in that post:

• First and foremost: it's Apple's #2 best selling notebook. Repeat it various times until it sinks in
  • Did I mention it sells?
• The old design looks just as good and has the robustness of 6+ years of problems worked out.
  • Many people find it better than the new boxy design.
• There are people who like the touch bar.
• It provides a middle ground between the MBA and the 14" MBP. The gap that the MacBook used to fill.
  • In other words a true general purpose laptop without the hang of throttling.

 

[barkomatic]

Very few if any posters here would buy that 13 inch MBP. However, there are fans of the Touch Bar and people who actually prefer that older design.

 

[xxray]

The MacBook Pro branding is strong. Totally anecdotal, but on the day of the event, one of my friends retweeted the news about the new 13” MacBook Pro, but didn’t tweet anything about the new MacBook Air. The general public has little real knowledge about the differences between the different MacBook models. They don’t care about a 6 year old design and poor value compared to the MacBook Air, they just see that a new MacBook Pro model was released and are automatically interested in that model from the branding they’ve learned in the past.

I imagine it’s good for Apple to have a lower-priced MacBook Pro in the lineup for these users who are loyal to the Pro branding but can’t justify jumping up to the $2000 14” and don’t care to learn the differences of the models to know that the Air is practically the same device but cheaper and arguably better.

 

[jav6454]

The MacBook Pro branding is strong. Totally anecdotal, but on the day of the event, one of my friends retweeted the news about the new 13” MacBook Pro, but didn’t tweet anything about the new MacBook Air. The general public has little real knowledge about the differences between the different MacBook models. They don’t care about a 6 year old design and poor value compared to the MacBook Air, they just see that a new MacBook Pro model was released and are automatically interested in that model from the branding they’ve learned in the past.

I imagine it’s good for Apple to have a lower-priced MacBook Pro in the lineup for these users who are loyal to the Pro branding but can’t justify jumping up to the $2000 14” and don’t care to learn the differences of the models to know that the Air is practically the same device but cheaper and arguably better.

The Air isn't better in terms of thermals and sustained performance. You might want to amend that both have weaknesses and strengths. As per the familiarity, I agree.

 

[VivienM]

Very few if any posters here would buy that 13 inch MBP. However, there are fans of the Touch Bar and people who actually prefer that older design.

But the Touch Bar is on life support at this point. Whether you are a fan of it or not, with only one model offering it (and that model having a bizarre place in the lineup), there is very little chance of any continuing developer interest in the Touch Bar.

(And I say this as someone who certainly liked the idea of the Touch Bar, but never had the chance to own a Mac with one...)

 

[jav6454]

But the Touch Bar is on life support at this point. Whether you are a fan of it or not, with only one model offering it (and that model having a bizarre place in the lineup), there is very little chance of any continuing developer interest in the Touch Bar.

(And I say this as someone who certainly liked the idea of the Touch Bar, but never had the chance to own a Mac with one...)

Same thing was said of TouchID and here we see a resurgence of it in almost all Apple products. Don't dismiss the TouchBar, specially more so if you have never tried using it.

 

[VivienM]

Same thing was said of TouchID and here we see a resurgence of it in almost all Apple products. Don't dismiss the TouchBar, specially more so if you have never tried using it.

I'm not dismissing the Touch Bar, I'm dismissing its future based on where it is in the lineup.

I would have happily taken a Touch Bar on my 16" M1 Max MBP, but they don't offer it anymore. The only model they offer it on is this weird dated low-end 13" MBP model. I just don't see how developers are going to offer useful things to do with the Touch Bar when that model, the M1 13" MBP, and the shrinking base of higher-end USB-C Intel MBPs are the only systems with touch bars. Unless you think they're going to stand at the next event and say "you know what, we were wrong when we said our pro customers prefer an old-fashioned function key row, we're bringing the Touch Bar back to the M2 Pro models", the Touch Bar is yesterday's news.

As I said, I would have loved to have one. It certainly seemed cool when I saw it in the apple stores. But by the time I was in the market for a new MBP, it was gone from all except one model.

 

[Cape Dave]

The last gasp for the touchbar. They had extras they had to get rid of so they made the MacBook Pro.

 

[theluggage]

Here's my question/thought - What is the point of the 13-inch MacBook Pro anymore?

Most likely reason why Apple would go to the effort of keeping the low-end MBP going: they're still selling a metric shedload of them, for some reason known only to the people buying them.

They've said that this and the Air are their biggest sellers (probably by a large margin) - so they can probably afford a bit more overlap between the M1 Air, the M2 Air and the 13" Pro than they can with their lower-selling "real" MBPs and desktops.

AFAIK we're still waiting for unbiassed hands-on reviews to see how much better the sustained performance of the M2 13"MBP is vs. the M2 Air.

 

[gpat]

Actually it is the touch bar that ruins the M2 MBP for me.
Because, considering every other aspect, it costs the same as the M2 MBA (considering the 512GB spec), but has a bigger battery and stronger sustained performance.
Also I suspect that the M2 MBP will be the most heavily discounted, because of having a less exciting design.
But I'd rather give up those advantages and get rid of that demonic OLED finger trap.
So there you have it.

 

[leman]

The fact that this model still exists is an indication that Apple supply is significantly constrained in the availability of crucial components. That's also why we got no new M2 iMac or Mini and why the M1 Air is still around (the M2 chip yields must be so low that they won't suffice to feed all the demand). I am sure the 13" MBP will be replaced by something "new" soon enough, probably next year, but the supply situation must improve first.

 

[flapflapflap]

They have an enormous inventory of 13" MBP shells that they couldn't sell.

 

[Neverless]

If a normal customer that doesn't know that this design had been around, would go now in the store to pick a new laptop will find the 13pro the most modern, appealing and cutting edge with that Touch Bar. Besides this, you have a longer battery, better speaker, better mics and a fan for that 10 core GPU that probably throttles a bit.
So you win some and loose some compared to the new MBA.

 

[Falhófnir]

The MacBook Pro branding is strong. Totally anecdotal, but on the day of the event, one of my friends retweeted the news about the new 13” MacBook Pro, but didn’t tweet anything about the new MacBook Air. The general public has little real knowledge about the differences between the different MacBook models. They don’t care about a 6 year old design and poor value compared to the MacBook Air, they just see that a new MacBook Pro model was released and are automatically interested in that model from the branding they’ve learned in the past.

I imagine it’s good for Apple to have a lower-priced MacBook Pro in the lineup for these users who are loyal to the Pro branding but can’t justify jumping up to the $2000 14” and don’t care to learn the differences of the models to know that the Air is practically the same device but cheaper and arguably better.

I'd pretty much agree this. Some people don't really look past/ understand more than 'MacBook Pro' so being able to offer a MBP for the longstanding $1,299 is probably deemed important by marketing.

 

[jav6454]

They have an enormous inventory of 13" MBP shells that they couldn't sell.

Didn't you see the keynote? They stated it sells 2nd best of all their Mac line-up.

 

[nastysailboat]

Here's my take on this whole M2 MBP situation (I apologize if this has already been posted about)

The M2 MacBook Pro (and 13 inch MacBook Pros in general) is one of the weirdest and most worthless products that Apple sells. It still has the old design from 2016, while EVERY OTHER MACBOOK has had a redesign.

I think they are not paying any attention to the 13-inch MacBook Pro (the announcement lasted like 2 minutes). They will probably just discontinue it altogether in a few years.

You are paying at least $1300 for a 6-year-old design that still has the touch bar. Now, there is basically no gap whatsoever from the M2 MBA to the 13-inch MBP.

Here's my question/thought - What is the point of the 13-inch MacBook Pro anymore? All you get is 1 or 2 extra GPU cores and a fan. This didn't matter very much in the M1, so I don't think this will matter in the M2 either.

What do you think about this?

In fairness the iPhone 13 is basically a 12 year old design. As far as the short announcement nothing changed other than the chip which they went over so it seems fair. People doing video editing that want a smaller laptop will more than likely go for the 13 inch MBP adding a fan adds sustained performance. I think apple made the right move they probably have the parts to make that machine and I think the price is more than fair. Just cause its not for you doesn't mean its for no one.

 

[yitwail]

In fairness the iPhone 13 is basically a 12 year old design.

iPhone SE is an even older design, and it still sells. Also, some people don't care much about case design. I always put my phone in a case for example, so the prettiness of the color doesn't matter too much, but I do care about performance, and an M2 MBP significantly outperforms every other 13 MBP or MBA, including my M1 MBA, if equipped with the same RAM and storage.

 

[flapflapflap]

Didn't you see the keynote? They stated it sells 2nd best of all their Mac line-up.

Factual intercourse.

 

[Arctic Moose]

What is the point of the 13-inch MacBook Pro anymore?

My guess is that there are three reasons:

1. Apple cannot procure enough parts to keep up with demand of the high-end laptops, so they’re not going to “waste” them on a cheaper laptop.
2. Apple still has a warehouse full of enclosures and TouchBars they want to get paid for.
3. There is no other computer to sell at that price point. Once the 14” is a few years old, and there is a shiny M3 14” with new features (and perhaps a redesign) the M1 14” will fill that slot.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Apple is probably just ridding of surplus components.

 

[Mat.Rynio]

"Apple knows exactly what they are doing. The M2 13" MBP exists only to make the Air seem like a great value, they want to build and sell a ton of Airs at higher margin, at the small expense of selling a few MBP."

Found it in the comment section on the Mkbhd YouTube wideo about new MacBook Air and I couldn't agree more.

 

[TracerAnalog]

Several wrongs in that post:

• First and foremost: it's Apple's #2 best selling notebook. Repeat it various times until it sinks in
  • Did I mention it sells?
• The old design looks just as good and has the robustness of 6+ years of problems worked out.
  • Many people find it better than the new boxy design.
• There are people who like the touch bar.
• It provides a middle ground between the MBA and the 14" MBP. The gap that the MacBook used to fill.
  • In other words a true general purpose laptop without the hang of throttling.

Yup. Apple would not continue to sell it if it didn’t sell! There is a market out there for touch bar featured Macbooks. Lots of forum posters might hate on it, but people voting with their wallets sure love it!

I don’t by the way 😂

 

[jav6454]

Apple is probably just ridding of surplus components.

People just don't get it...