If you look at the Tech Spec on the product page, you will see that it can be charged from the thunderbolt ports and the magsafe.
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Apple Announces 13-Inch MacBook Pro With M2 Chip Available to Order Worldwide Starting June 17
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Desperation. Hope some fanboys who can't wait for their M2 Air will get this one instead
Thanks for the detailed, albeit patronizing analysis, but my post was more rhetorical in nature pointing out the irony of Apple going back to the old form factor after finally moving to the new one. Sorry I didn't make the nature of reply more obvious but I have a job to go to in the morning and save more detailed reading for when I get home after work.
My point was: in several other threads we talked about how confusing and soupy the Apple product line is for customers. Bringing back a 13" MBP with Touch Bar is exactly that. Not to mention the rumours of a 12" MBP which I don't personally believe is true. I didn't think even Apple would muddy the waters with a 12", but after seeing them load the latest M2 in an old form factor, this seems more possible than before.
This is so ridiculous. The Air is not for performance. Especially at it's current prices. If 15% here or there actually MATTER to you get the 14" M1 Pro and get 50-70% more performance. Boom. There you go.
They did not really "bring it back" since it is identical to the M1 version on sale for almost the past two years and it is very similar to the four-port Intel model they sold for years before that.
Apple noted the form factor was their second most popular notebook and with Apple selling some 30 million Macs a year and laptops making up some 80% of that, that means they are moving many many millions of them each year. Why give up that market? Especially since the margins are likely pretty high based on economies of scale and production maturity.
Rather than forcing customers into arbitrary silos based on offering only a handful of models in each product category, Apple has been expanding their product lines to better meet the expectations (and price points) of customers and the results have been stronger sales, overall.
And customers are not confused because Apple offers comprehensive comparison tools on their website, there are shedloads of YouTube videos and web sites that compare the various models and the Apple Store is staffed with sales associates who can assist customers with matching their needs to the best model of product.
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As you know, I wasn't the one to whom you are responding. But just two points:
1) They're not bringing the old form factor back. They're simply continuing to retain it. That's more than just semantics. "Bringing it back" would be discontinuing it, and then reintroducing it, which isn't what happened. Jason Snell suggested Apple retained it because it's a popular form factor among their corporate clients.
It's also possible it's only being kept around temporarily while Apple gets its supply chain back into shape. It's possible that if they discontinued it, they couldn't quickly make up the lost volume with Airs
2) You found the other poster's reply patronizing, but then you write "...how confusing and soupy the Apple product line is for customers", the message being we understand it, but their regular customers will be "confused". Seriously, isn't that patronizing to Apple's average custom to assume they will somehow be unable to process one extra model? Apple's laptop product line is incredibly simple—3 consumer models, and 2 prosumer models. People will be able to handle that. Or do you think "regular folks" won't be able to understand the following:
There's two Airs. One has the M1 chip, and one has the new M2 chip and costs an extra $200. Both don't have fans, which is OK for most uses. If you think you need a fan (say for exporting videos, where you have to max the machine out for several minutes continuously), or you like the old Touch Bar, or you don't like the notch, Apple also has an M2 model with the older MacBook Pro case design for the same price as the M2 Air.
Sorry for the patronizing tone. After page and pages of similar questions, it is hard to see the subtlety or distinction when it pops up.
You are objecting to Apple bringing back an old form factor when they had moved on to a new one, but the 13” MBP has not, yet moved on. And it they didn’t bring it back.
The case design is largely unchanged from the Intel version. When they put the M1 in that case, they wanted to focus on the chip changes and not distract everyone with including a new case design at the same time. They did the same thing with the Air. Even in that M1 generation there were questions about the purpose of the 13” MBP but it was different than the Air in at least some ways. Now they have had time to do the design work for the Air and they timed that with the transition to the M2 chips. For whatever reason, they kept the MBP in the lineup though they did give it the M2 so that it wouldn’t be completely left behind. Adding a new chip is a pretty low cost way to keep it fresh.
I think that they are working on a new design that will replace that MBP and since they put so little effort into its update, I think that that replacement will happen relatively soon. Certainly by next year, if not sooner. Perhaps that replacement is a new small MBP or maybe it is a new larger Air/MacBook. We’ll see before too long.
As to why they didn’t get rid of it now, I think those reasons I listed indicate that there are values to that model to enough people that they didn’t want to just make it go away.
TIL the M2 13" Pro design was discontinued and has now been brought back.
Do you think people are that retarded? Christ don't ever let them consider a Windows machine, their heads would explode at the shear quantity of them.
Who's the fan and where is he? <sorry, couldn't resist!>
You stole my thunder. Or maybe that was just indigestion.
The notch is really a non-issue on the big MBP. The top border of my screen is black. The notch is black. And the drop-downs on the left end before the notch, while the status icons on the right also end before the notch. The only annoying thing about the notch is that sometimes my cursor disappears behind it. But really, that's so minor compared to my superpowers as a human. You see, I can sit in a chair that could take me clear across the world, by air if I want!
Isn’t the new keyboard being applied to new 13” MacBook Pro as well? To me they are very good to type on. Granted they might not be As good as those 14” or 16”, but they are still decent.
Don't buy this machine! Don"t forget that according to Apple it's impossible to use even some basic operation like Stage Manager on iPads without 16 GB of RAM. And this machine has only 8 GB. 😀
Or just get the 13” MacBook Pro, which is now the same price as the MacBook Air.
They've not gone 'back to the old form factor', they have stayed with the existing form factor (MBP 13") and last year added a new form factor.
For some, including me, aesthetically the 13" MBP form factor is much nicer on the eye than the new design. It's also a small win for me that this laptop will give me access to the faster processor (M2), more RAM (24GB) and I get to continue to use my totally awesome Henge Dock at home.
Please go and look at the Dell website and see how many various styles and models of laptops they offer. Even then, this is not confusing, its giving consumers choice, which is what most people want!
Depending on how chip shortages will effect things, this updated MBA seems poised to take the top spot. It seems like THE ideal laptop for the vast majority of those needing an Apple laptop. I think Apple knows this and the availability delay is an effort to have as many on-hand as is possible because the preorder rush is going to be significant.
The MBA has the top spot already, there is no denying that. Apple themselves said so. But the fact still remains that the 13" has sold enough units that it is the 2nd best selling out there.
Will never buy a touchbar Macbook again. I detest that thing. The rest of the 2020 M1 Macbook Pro, aside from only one external monitor without a breakout box, is fine.
This may be very subjective...personally...I love the 13" MacBook Pro form factor...no idea why...I think the that the touch bar is useful...instead of the static function keys. My personal observation with a certain MacBook Air model...is that they suffered from a strange syndrome of sudden death...several people I knew had similar issues...and needed battery replacement or something else. I wasn't impressed with the old MacBook airs quality of screen and speaker...I will admit the form factor of the wedge shape was interesting...but those machines were bigger in comparison to the MacBook Pro's 13" Retina. It's nice to see all the love and fandom towards the MacBook Air...however people should choose the form factor that they are most comfortable with, and its really good that apple is offering us options with same or similar capacity (M1) in different form factors.