Waiting for 2021 MBP

[terminator-jq]

So we are all just in another holding pattern until another bogus rumor gets trotted out on Twitter.
I guess a few of the predictors did say summer or 2nd half of the year, but I think at this point something has happened and things aren't going according to plan.

That’s what it seems like… Now that WWDC has come and gone and with rumors pointing to the iPhone coming in September rather than October like last year, that would leave us with 2 possibilities for a MacBook event this year:

July / August event or an October / November event. The October / November event is looking more and more likely unless Apple springs something on us by surprise.

This transition has definitely been confusing. We know the transition will be finished in 2 years which means Apple still has some pretty major releases coming next year. I’m curious where the M1X fits into all that. A November launch would put it a full year after the introduction of the A14 based M1 and we are already getting M2 rumors from reliable leakers like Mark Gurman. Are we really to expect the M1X to be outdated so soon after release? As far as I understand we are also still expecting some even higher chip variants for the larger iMac and the Mac Pro. Will these be M1X extensions or will they get to jump to M2?

It’s a very odd situation and hopefully the M1X does have the A15 core improvements making it more of an M2X. Then again, maybe the M1X name really is inaccurate (just like when all the leakers called the M1 the A14X) and maybe the “Pro” devices will have their own chip family.

 

[erich.j.k]

I remember when the long wait was for the new 16 inch with ESC key + new magic keyboard, that was the next big thing!

I remember „Waiting for the Skylake MacBook Pro“. That was the 2016 15“ model with the bad processor and that friggin crappy keyboard which I still have to use today

 

[erich.j.k]

... maybe the “Pro” devices will have their own chip family.

No.
at WWDC 2020 Apple clearly stated it would be „a“ family of chips. Not more.

 

[erich.j.k]

I actually disagree with the posters above. I think they may update the 16 inches with Intel chips 11th gen H class chips and keep that version around for a while. I have not seen those chips widely available yet- I'd guess in the next month.

But my guess is they'd put these in the current form factor- keep that model around. Then the new form factor would have Mac chips.

And not be able to fully support Monterey?
That I can‘t believe...

 

[09872738]

We know the transition will be finished in 2 years

Two years starting WWDC 2020, so the transition was scheduled to be completed in coarsely a year from now

 

[cool11]

So, almost 2 years since the latest 16' mbp model,
still, we are not completely sure if we will have a new 16' model till the end of 2021?

 

[PeterJP]

No.
at WWDC 2020 Apple clearly stated it would be „a“ family of chips. Not more.

It could be a family with more than one line, like x86 has i5, i7, ... Obviously, the 'M' series stands for Mobile processors and the pro and mini pro will get a 'D' series processor (Desktop). Just because 'I' (immobile) makes it too close to iphone/ipad.

 

[jk73]

So we are all just in another holding pattern until another bogus rumor gets trotted out on Twitter.
I guess a few of the predictors did say summer or 2nd half of the year, but I think at this point something has happened and things aren't going according to plan.

I don’t believe the lack of recent rumors means much. If Apple had MBPs ready for June or early July, they would have been announced at WWDC. If the rumor about Apple starting to receive the (rumored) new MBP screens in July is true, it seems Apple could announce in July and start shipping in August. (That’s still my hope, anyway, as I sit here typing on my iPad while looking at a recently deceased late-2016 MBP.)

I have no idea how many MBPs Apple would want to manufacture and stockpile pre-release, but it’s hard to imagine they would start making them in July but not start shipping them until after the iPhone in September.

 

[09872738]

It could be a family with more than one line, like x86 has i5, i7, ... Obviously, the 'M' series stands for Mobile processors and the pro and mini pro will get a 'D' series processor (Desktop). Just because 'I' (immobile) makes it too close to iphone/ipad.

Actually, according to Apple (WWDC 2020) the M stands for „Mac“

 

[nickf1]

Actually, according to Apple (WWDC 2020) the M stands for „Mac“

I think it was until they implemented it in the iPad Pro, very confusing now…

 

[The Clark]

I have no idea when the 14" & 16" MBP's will be released but all of this speculation keeps me VERY entertained

 

[smoking monkey]

I'm now glad I picked up a MacBook Air M1 last year as an interim machine. My 15 2013 MBP was becoming unreliable and would sometimes go black for 20 seconds or so. I checked it it seems to indicate Ram was going bad. It would also almost crawl to a stop if I pushed it or if it was hot. I couldn't use the computer in Summer without aircon! haha. I don't find the MacBook Air awesome to be honest. It's fast enough, but I prefer the trackpad on my old 2013 MBP and I find the screen too small. I do like the weight though. Makes a massive difference to my backpack as I carry it every day. Plus no aircraft take off sound is great. can't wait to get a 16 and get back the real estate and then some.

 

[SomeMacGuy]

I'm now glad I picked up a MacBook Air M1 last year as an interim machine. My 15 2013 MBP was becoming unreliable and would sometimes go black for 20 seconds or so. I checked it it seems to indicate Ram was going bad. It would also almost crawl to a stop if I pushed it or if it was hot. I couldn't use the computer in Summer without aircon! haha. I don't find the MacBook Air awesome to be honest. It's fast enough, but I prefer the trackpad on my old 2013 MBP and I find the screen too small. I do like the weight though. Makes a massive difference to my backpack as I carry it every day. Plus no aircraft take off sound is great. can't wait to get a 16 and get back the real estate and then some.

Same here, I picked up an M1 Air after WWDC and while I was quite enamoured with it initially I find having only 2 USB-C ports to be rather irritating and the screen is small. On the flip side I find it a joy to use on the road as I travel for work a lot, I just wish it could grow a couple inches once I set up at home. Oh well!

 

[TennesseeWhiskey]

Same here, I picked up an M1 Air after WWDC and while I was quite enamoured with it initially I find having only 2 USB-C ports to be rather irritating and the screen is small. On the flip side I find it a joy to use on the road as I travel for work a lot, I just wish it could grow a couple inches once I set up at home. Oh well!

I also had m1 air and I find the screen tad too small. I hope mbp 14 will be enough screen space, because mbp 16 footprint is just too big (and also the price).

 

[PeterJP]

I also had m1 air and I find the screen tad too small. I hope mbp 14 will be enough screen space, because mbp 16 footprint is just too big (and also the price).

It's a tough line to walk. I had a 13" late 2013 MBP and it came with me everywhere, at the expense of pain in my neck after a few hours. Now I have a 16" that doesn't hurt my neck even after a full day, but it's unwieldy and too heavy to lug around. Pick either, but I can't get both. The 14" will be almost exactly as the 13". It's really 13.3" and 14.1", so 2cm difference in screen size but the same chassis, so the same posture at a table.

 

[satchmo]

I also had m1 air and I find the screen tad too small. I hope mbp 14 will be enough screen space, because mbp 16 footprint is just too big (and also the price).

It's a tough line to walk. I had a 13" late 2013 MBP and it came with me everywhere, at the expense of pain in my neck after a few hours. Now I have a 16" that doesn't hurt my neck even after a full day, but it's unwieldy and too heavy to lug around. Pick either, but I can't get both. The 14" will be almost exactly as the 13". It's really 13.3" and 14.1", so 2cm difference in screen size but the same chassis, so the same posture at a table.

Don’t you dock your MacBooks to a larger display at home? Perhaps not as necessary for a 16”, but it’s kind of in that in between size. That’s why I prefer the smaller 13 (and 14” when it arrives) sizes.

I’m tempted at picking up a refurb Mac mini given it’s low entry price point. But naturally lose in terms of portability. Which is why I’m also holding out for that 14” MBP.

 

[Falhófnir]

I also had m1 air and I find the screen tad too small. I hope mbp 14 will be enough screen space, because mbp 16 footprint is just too big (and also the price).

I’ve always thought of it this way; with a 13” it’s a one app at a time device. You can multitask, but really you need to have different apps open on different desktops and flick back and forward between them. With a 15” (and now 16”) it makes splitscreening apps or juggling a couple of windows on one desktop possible (and even then only just and only when using the 1680x1050 resolution). I don’t expect the 14” to change this rule of thumb, for me at least.

 

[PeterJP]

Don’t you dock your MacBooks to a larger display at home? Perhaps not as necessary for a 16”, but it’s kind of in that in between size. That’s why I prefer the smaller 13 (and 14” when it arrives) sizes.

I’m tempted at picking up a refurb Mac mini given it’s low entry price point. But naturally lose in terms of portability. Which is why I’m also holding out for that 14” MBP.

I did with my 13” but I had to stop doing it with the 16” for two reasons. First, the 16” immediately overheats with two screens even under very low loads, due to a bad implementation of the AMD drivers. Second, with COVID, me and my wife are at home at the same time and she takes the actual home office 🤣 I will be buying another one or two screens later, but I found the 16” to be a great laptop for use without an external screen.

I’ve always thought of it this way; with a 13” it’s a one app at a time device. You can multitask, but really you need to have different apps open on different desktops and flick back and forward between them. With a 15” (and now 16”) it makes splitscreening apps or juggling a couple of windows on one desktop possible (and even then only just and only when using the 1680x1050 resolution). I don’t expect the 14” to change this rule of thumb, for me at least.

Yes, that's very true. Having gone back to a 12” now, I'm confronted again with the multiple desktops for good multitasking paradigm. I won't be using it much, so I don't care. But for my main machine, if it were a laptop, I have to admit it'd have to be another 16”.

 

[Fomalhaut]

It's a tough line to walk. I had a 13" late 2013 MBP and it came with me everywhere, at the expense of pain in my neck after a few hours. Now I have a 16" that doesn't hurt my neck even after a full day, but it's unwieldy and too heavy to lug around. Pick either, but I can't get both. The 14" will be almost exactly as the 13". It's really 13.3" and 14.1", so 2cm difference in screen size but the same chassis, so the same posture at a table.

I would strongly recommend using an external screen, or a laptop stand + external keyboard if you are using a laptop for an extended period. Laptops are very poor ergonomically and you put a lot of stress on your neck if you have to look down and support your head with your neck and shoulder muscles.

It amazes me when I go into an office and see people at desks with two external monitors (often on fully height- adjustable mountings), but turned off, and doing all their work hunched over a 13" laptop...it's so much more tiring, and they may well regret their poor posture habits in later life.

 

[AgentMcGeek]

The latest Gurman newsletter says:

« For Apple, all attention is on the fall, so the next several weeks are destined to be light on product news. We’re about three months away from the next iPhone and Apple Watch models going on sale—along with the releases of iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and watchOS 8, so stay tuned for plenty of news on those after the summer doldrums. And don’t forget about the iPad and Mac: Apple has a new entry-level iPad for students and revamped MacBook Pros and iPad minis coming later this year, too. »

 

[JosepPont]

The latest Gurman newsletter says:

« For Apple, all attention is on the fall, so the next several weeks are destined to be light on product news. We’re about three months away from the next iPhone and Apple Watch models going on sale—along with the releases of iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and watchOS 8, so stay tuned for plenty of news on those after the summer doldrums. And don’t forget about the iPad and Mac: Apple has a new entry-level iPad for students and revamped MacBook Pros and iPad minis coming later this year, too. »

So we can't expect new Mac models till later this year, is it?

 

[mdgm]

Probably. Monterey isn't due to be released for at least about 3 months anyway. If they release the new 16" MBP alongside it they could announce the new 16" MBPs on the day Monterey goes public with availability sometime in the following month. So I think through it could become available as late as October if they aren't facing supply issues to push things out further.

Releasing the new 16" MBP after Monterey would force those getting the machine to use that (or a later OS, not Big Sur) including a number of developers getting new laptops. I'm sure Apple would like devs to write apps for Monterey once that's released. So it could work very well for Apple.

 

[jk73]

Probably. Monterey isn't due to be released for at least about 3 months anyway. If they release the new 16" MBP alongside it they could announce the new 16" MBPs on the day Monterey goes public with availability sometime in the following month. So I think through it could become available as late as October if they aren't facing supply issues to push things out further.

Releasing the new 16" MBP after Monterey would force those getting the machine to use that (or a later OS, not Big Sur) including a number of developers getting new laptops. I'm sure Apple would like devs to write apps for Monterey once that's released. So it could work very well for Apple.

Is there any recent history of Apple releasing a new OS and new hardware together, or of Apple forcing hardware buyers to use the first release of an OS? I sure as hell don’t want to be forced to use the initial version of Monterey on my work machine(s).

 

[mdgm]

The very first Apple Silicon products such as the Mac mini, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro M1 shipped with Big Sur around when Big Sur became public. Big Sur was the first macOS to run on Apple Silicon, but still Apple decided to release products with it around when Big Sur launched.

It has happened at other times in the past as well.

In any case if the new MBP is released shortly before Monterey, but early enough to come with Big Sur, as soon as Monterey is released or even a bit before they will likely switch production in the factories from using Big Sur to using Monterey to encourage users to use the new OS on the machines.

 

[jk73]

they will likely switch production in the factories from using Big Sur to using Monterey to encourage users to use the new OS on the machines.

If Apple did this, they’d be requiring Monterey use, not merely “encouraging” it.