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Apple Apparently Cancels Plans for Two New MacBooks

Too bad. I really enjoyed the 17" MacBooks I had through the 00s, though they were heavy beasts. I imagine Apple could make a large laptop much lighter today.
 
Daniel Alvarez Arribas said:
I am just getting increasingly frustrated that screen tech that was, essentially, already standard on the PS Vita in 2011, for absolutely obtainable money, fifteen years later still seems to require several scientific break-throughs on the part of Apple to include even on their most high-end laptops. Perfected, bla bla bla - plenty of others are doing it since ages, Apple had more a DECADE to get it done, and has it on their iPad Pro line since the M4. BOM matters nothing anyway if they could just offer it as a selectable option for extra money like they do with the nano-texture option. "Nano-texture Tandem OLED", selectable option for $300 more, done. Nope, the Chief Customer Frustration Manager sends their regards.
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They kind of were waiting for a scientific breakthrough though. The tandem RGB OLED panels used in the iPad Pro line didn't come to market until 2019 and were restricted to smaller sizes until very recently. The first full size laptop with a tandem RGB OLED panel came out last year.

Yes, OLED displays and TVs existed for years, but they were largely inferior WOLED panels that were dimmer and more prone to burn-in. Despite both being branded OLED the screen tech in the iPad Pros is not the same as the PS Vita from 2011. Mini LED offered a reasonable stopgap while RGB OLED technology improved.
 
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bradman83 said:
They kind of were waiting for a scientific breakthrough though. The tandem RGB OLED panels used in the iPad Pro line didn't come to market until 2019 and were restricted to smaller sizes until very recently. The first full size laptop with a tandem RGB OLED panel came out last year.

Yes, OLED displays and TVs existed for years, but they were largely inferior WOLED panels that were dimmer and more prone to burn-in. Despite both being branded OLED the screen tech in the iPad Pros is not the same as the PS Vita from 2011. Mini LED offered a reasonable stopgap while RGB OLED technology improved.
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True. I am not saying that Apple could have been reasonably expected to *release* high-end laptops with OLED displays pre-2020 either.

But 2019 will soon be 8 years back. That is an eternity in terms of tech, and Apple had all those years to *prepare*.

You also have to consider the research capacity and procurement leverage of a company the size of Apple. If they were hellbent on releasing OLED laptops, say in 2021/2022, to qualitatively beat Mini-LED panels, chances are they could have done it, with moderate BOM implications and great quality. Tandem OLED on the M4 iPad Pro's was already late, and it significantly improved on the prior Mini LED tech – although, in all fairness, visually, we are approaching diminishing returns. Yet it is hard to deny that from the perspective of giving customers the best, commercially viable tech at the high-end price point, and especially considering thinness and energy efficiency, OLED is now at a minimum 2-3 years overdue.

In all likelihood, Apple was and still is not as keen on bringing OLED to laptops and desktops. Profit-harvesting mode lacks urgency, and their SoC and ecosystem benefits let them get away with scooting on 60/120 Hz and IPS/Mini LED just a few sweet extra years longer. And it makes total business sense from their point of view. So, as the rumors predict, Apple will probably trickle in OLED to additional products over the next years, with no real sense of urgency, possibly starting with the iPad mini and MacBook Ultra, and then continue to take their dear time. I'd be happily surprised otherwise.

But you never know. Maybe we get lucky. 🙂
 
71Games said:
If prices go up and up - on iphone, macs, macbooks, then surely less people will buy those devices.
So profit might be ok for Apple, but share of the market no so much I guess... Surely some cheaper alternatives will gain momentum. Apple should lower their margins if they want to keep their share of the market?
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Apple is following the car size model. Increase the size and cost of the lowest tier to allow for another product to fill the gap. Happened with iPhone (SE) and then the MacBook (neo). Sound like they are now trying to do that with the MBP.
 
Apple needs to be able to cannibilize itself, as it did in the Job's days.
If the iPhone would have come out on Tim Cook's time, we'd still need an iPod to play music.
I really hope Ternus is up for it.
 
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