I think it’s only going to be Apple silicon going forward, the only mac I have heard getting one more intel chip is the Mac Pro… but that is just rumoured.
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Waiting for 2021 MBP
- Thread starter littlepud
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There won't be any price drops. Apple made it very clear with their M1 lineup so far. They love their price levels and I have no doubt that they will stay the same as they have always been: you'd just get "more computer" for the money.
Yeah, the 16" MBP will be more then twice as expensive than the Air, but then again it will probably be 2-3 times faster. There are plenty of users for whom M1 is not enough. And if it is sufficient for 90% of users — well, that's great for everyone, including Apple. They charge very healthy margins on those entry-level machines and needing to sell less high-end means that they won't have supply issues with those cutting edge components. M1 hardware is dirt cheap compared to what will go into the higher-end Macs.
That is very unlikely as it's a bit too early to start mass production, unless the yields are utterly horrible (which they won't be as neither Apple or TSMC are that dumb). Also, other things don't add up.
Also, it's also not clear whether the "M2" is actually M2. That's a name given to this chip by the reporting journalists. The leak simply speaks of "next-gen Apple Silicon", which can be anything.
Even for Apple, it would be audacious to remove the Touch Bar — which Apple priced at, what, $300 to $500 initially? — and use its own silicon while keeping the price the same. We’ll soon see.
My thoughts exactly, at one time they charged $500 for that Touch Bar… if that is removed they have to reduce the price down, let alone saving $$$ on their own silicon, if they don’t reduce the price they will have to refresh the base MacBook Pro too but have a higher entry level price ($1399 maybe).
The entry price of the 15/16” jumped by $400 between the 2015 and 2016 generations, and that seems to be largely if not entirely down to all models moving to dGPUs, which is an expensive discrete component which will be subsumed into the SoC for an Apple Silicon model. Maybe they won’t pass that on, but that’s a huge saving to just be pocketing. Particularly if they maintain pricing on the 14” at around $1,800, then it becomes a bit baffling as to what exactly you’re paying $600 more for spec-for-spec while they will move much closer in capability than is the case with the existing models.
I wouldn’t 100% rule out entry versions of these machines using the vanilla M1 (and just 2x USB 4 ports and a couple of other ‘gimped’ features) from around $1,500 with the ‘proper’ M1X models starting at around $2,000. That fits with how they already have two versions of 13”, which has recently expanded to the iMac, and it seems to the Mac mini soon too.
I would put it as price reversing to what it was before there was an 15” model without a dGPU (after all, it was a fairly short period of time), but you are right of course. I’d just want to point out that while there is obviously some savings associated with the move to Apple Silicon, some of this gets eaten up by the increase in R&D and the use of more expensive technology. After all, we didn’t see any price reduction with the M1 machines…
It’s definitely not impossible, but it would signify a huge strategy shift for Apple. I think the chance of that is fairly low.
You’re ignoring the Touch Bar angle, though. Removing that but keeping the price the same would be way worse than removing the charger from the iPhone box but keeping the price the same.
This is based on the price difference between the 13" low-end and high-end MBPs (pre-M1) right? (eg. $1299 to $1799)? Don't forget though, that price difference included 8th gen vs 10th gen Intel chips, the 2 vs 4 TB3 ports, and IIRC a 8gb/256gb vs 16gb/512gb configs as well, all made up in the $500 difference of the base prices for the 2 13" MBP models.
While there's definitely some amount of value that was ascribed to the touchbar, I think it would be quite a bit less than the $500 difference there. That being said, I hear your point, there was "some" $ amount of value/cost ascribed to the touchbar, that if they do remove, feels like extra cost that's turning into margin for Apple. That in addition to the cost savings of going to in-house chips.
If there is mini-led included in these new models 14/16", maybe they keep the price point as-is at $1799/$2399, and we think of the cost savings (inc. no more touchbar) as a way of keeping price the same. If mini-led isn't included and price points remain, well... realistically comes down to pricing power, and Apple realizing there's likely going to be huge demand for these laptops.
First, I don’t believe that Apple will remove the Touch Bar. Second, the Touch Bar did not affect the price of the 15” MacBook Pro when it was introduced. In fact, the 2015 model with a dGPU started at $2499 where the 2016 Touch Bar model with a dGPU started at $2399… (there were some shenanigans with the SSD size though)
What do you think will happen to the pro line up come WWDC…
A: Entry level model discontinued
B: Entry level design refreshed
C: Entry level remaining as it is with the rest of the MBP line up getting refreshed
D: None of the line up getting a refreshed design and just the high end machines getting a new chip
Personally I am expecting either B or D, as I feel A would leave too much of a price gap between the Air and Pro lines, and C would make the MBP look strange especially if they remove the Touch Bar in the high end models.
I think C, and Touch Bar stays. I do expect the entry-level Pro to be discontinued eventually, maybe this fall, when the M2 refresh for the Air hits.
Interesting. The rumor mill treats it as a given that the Touch Bar is a goner.
I don’t recall the pricing that way. I recall a Touch Bar premium in 2016 (followed by lower prices in 2017), and a quick Google search of late-2016 reviews seems to back that up.
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I think that's due to the hacked schematics corroborating what the pundits had been saying.
Re the M1 13 Pro getting EOLed... Here is the recent rumor from Mark Gurman.
"Redesigned MacBook Pros are expected to debut as soon as early this summer, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss an internal matter, followed by a revamped MacBook Air, a new low-end MacBook Pro and an all-new Mac Pro workstation."
Does the low-end MBP mean an M2 13inch? Or does it mean a low-end 14inch? And if it's the 14, why not just release it with the high ends? Maybe the want to create different release schedules for high-end and low-end computers. Seems to be happening that way with iMac and Mac Mini.
Something like this:
- $1299: 13” MacBook Pro W/ M1 (8GPU cores / 8gb Ram base upgradable to 16) *current design
- $1799: 14” MacBook Pro W/ M1X (16 GPU cores / 16gb Ram base upgradable to 32) *new design
- $2399: 16” MacBook Pro W/ M1X (32 GPU cores / 16gb Ram or possibly 32 base upgradable to 64) *new design
Now come fall (or whenever the new MacBook Air comes out) the $1299 option will look like this:
- $1299: 14” MacBook Pro W/ M2 (10 GPU cores / 8gb Ram base upgradable to 16) *new design but with only 2 USB4 and maybe no HDMI.
At that point the current 13” would be discontinued which means the Touch Bar is no longer in an odd position and all of the new MacBook Pros are using the new design. Only differences being the base model $1299 uses the less capable M2 chip while the higher end Pro models get the beefier M1X.
That being said, there could also be a chance that Apple does not wait until the fall and introduces a new $1299 model based on the new 14” design and throw in the same M1 and replace it with an M2 refresh later on.
Should be very interesting… I’m just hoping for more Ram on the base model 16”.
I really hope they refresh the baseline MacBook Pro… I want that model but the Touch Bar really puts me off… especially knowing it probably won’t be supported in 6 months… I would be happy just for a refreshed design and a 1080p camera and same number of ports.
That’s the price he has put for the 13” m, 14” he has priced at $1799
Mark Gurman said that the low-end MBP will be updated with the same SoC as the MBA refresh
I think the new screen and added ports is going to bump the price up. Apple likes to keep their margins fat.
I’m guessing no new screen but I hope I’m wrong! I think the total redesign is a chance for Apple to price 100 above what everyone hopes. And if there are multiple colours then it will get eaten up. I doubt various colours though. A computer in the iPad Air green would be wicked.
I wonder if the Touch Bar will be reimagined as something more like what it is in on an iPad with Sidecar? eg: positioned under the main display instead of on the keyboard?
Personally, I hated the Touch Bar - for the first couple of months, then I found myself using it quite a lot - especially for autosuggest words whilst typing - something that is incredibly useful on iOS. I use it all the time now when taking notes for quick access to formatting controls.
I think what I disliked about the Touch Bar was not what it added (dynamic buttons) but what it took away; hardware buttons, especially the Esc key! I run full screen split screen windows in workspaces and accidentally touching it completely breaks my window layouts which is really frustrating as recreating them is a huge interruption to my flow.
If they moved the Touch Bar to be under the main display, then we could have both
There are ergonomic considerations with using a touch screen at that angle, but I think it might be okay for an occasional use interface like the Touch Bar.
Personally, I hated the Touch Bar - for the first couple of months, then I found myself using it quite a lot - especially for autosuggest words whilst typing - something that is incredibly useful on iOS. I use it all the time now when taking notes for quick access to formatting controls.
I think what I disliked about the Touch Bar was not what it added (dynamic buttons) but what it took away; hardware buttons, especially the Esc key! I run full screen split screen windows in workspaces and accidentally touching it completely breaks my window layouts which is really frustrating as recreating them is a huge interruption to my flow.
If they moved the Touch Bar to be under the main display, then we could have both
There are ergonomic considerations with using a touch screen at that angle, but I think it might be okay for an occasional use interface like the Touch Bar.