Apple Developing Thinner MacBook Pro, Apple Watch, and iPhone

[MacRumors]

Apple intends to slim down the MacBook Pro, Apple Watch, and iPhone, with the new ultra-thin M4 iPad Pro a sign of the company's new design trajectory, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

When the M4 iPad Pro was unveiled last month, Apple touted it as the company's thinnest product ever, and even compared it to the 2012 iPod nano to emphasize its slim dimensions.

Writing in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Gurman says that like the iPad Pro, Apple is now focused on delivering the thinnest possible devices across its lineups without compromising on battery life or major new features.

Gurman writes that the new iPad Pro is the "beginning of a new class of Apple devices," and that Apple's aim is to offer "the thinnest and lightest products in their categories across the whole tech industry."

Apple now reportedly has its sights on making thinner versions of iPhone, Apple Watch, and MacBook Pro over the next couple of years.

Gurman's sources tell him Apple is now focused on developing a significantly skinnier iPhone in time for the iPhone 17 line in 2025, corroborating a May report by The Information. According to the latter report, Apple is planning to launch an all-new thinner iPhone 17 model next year that will allegedly feature a "major redesign" akin to the iPhone X.

Gurman previously reported that Apple is planning a complete revamp of the Apple Watch for the device's tenth anniversary, dubbed "Apple Watch X."

Since the original Apple Watch was unveiled in 2014 and launched in 2015, Gurman is unsure whether the ‌Apple Watch X‌ will be released in 2024 or 2025. However, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today claimed that this year's upcoming Apple Watch will have a larger screen and thinner design, which sounds like the sort of major overhaul and design signature that Gurman has suggested.

In 2021, Apple significantly redesigned the MacBook Pro, making it thicker and heavier. A major highlight of the redesign was the reintroduction of several ports that were removed in previous iterations in favor of chassis thinness. MacBook Pro models now include an HDMI port, an SD card slot, MagSafe 3 charging port, three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, and a headphone jack.

Article Link: Apple Developing Thinner MacBook Pro, Apple Watch, and iPhone

 

[pksv]

Jony Ive's dream finally comes true.

 

[MrENGLISH]

They are thin enough. Give us more battery life.

I swear, when they run out of ideas they resort to "make it thinner".

 

[MathersMahmood]

Who wants this though? Just make it more power efficient and keep the same thickness so we can get more battery life.

 

[Unami]

Could be a wild guess, but the higher prices may have started a trend of lower growth which in the end will eat into profits. Back in the Ive aera, growth was still massive, so back to slimmer devices we go.

I have to admit that the ultraslim iPad pro looks nice. Otoh, I don't think, that the value justifies the price. I'd rather wish, they would put more love into their software, into repairability amd modularity. Wondering how "thinner devices" works with the EUs "every new device must have user-swappable batteries by 2027/28.

 

[G5isAlive]

Thin is in, again.

I do like the new iPad Pro

 

[DHagan4755]

It seemed obvious to me that the MacBook Pro would be thinned out. The current design is good. But when the iPad Pro M4 was announced the only question that crossed my mind was if it was happening this year or in 2025.

As far as the watch goes, it would be nice if Apple made a round watch. It would entice me to buy one because right now square watches don’t do it for me.

 

[miric]

Oh, Apple, please don't 🤦‍♂️

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

On the MacBook Pro:

I guess they can shave one or two mm of the lid if they go OLED.

And I also guess they can shave some mm of the base with the M4.

So, they can make it a bit thinner (and thus lighter), but I don't expect anything revolutionary for the next couple of iterations...

 

[justperry]

Next up, people claim their MacBook Pros blew away by the wind, class action.😬

 

[MrENGLISH]

It seemed obvious to me that the MacBook Pro would be thinned out. The current design is good. But when the iPad Pro M4 was announced the only question that crossed my mind was if it was happening this year or in 2025.

As far as the watch goes, it would be nice if Apple made a round watch. It would entice me to buy one because right now square watches don’t do it for me.

The reason they are square instead of round is because round design cuts off things like reading and scrolling through text bubbles and such.

 

[pksv]

Who wants this though? Just make it more power efficient and keep the same thickness so we can get more battery life.

I want it. Battery life has already reached the point where it no longer matters. How many days does a laptop have to run on battery for you and why? The all-day battery is enough, there is no need to carry a larger battery inside at all times especially since we have fast charging and devices consume so little power. Now is the time to lighten those devices.

 

[steve09090]

It will be even more portable and even more a pleasure to use.

 

[boak]

How much can then shave from the lower part of the MBP if the HDMI port is still there?

I guess they could make the rounding sharper?

 

[Anywhere Offline Player]

I really want thinner Watch, for now it's still feels too heavy device on my hand.

 

[chrisone]

So we squeeze a few mm off the iPhone but then add a terrible case because the iPhone alone is not designed for actual real life usage. A design flaw in my view.

 

[Pezimak]

Gurman again, I'll believe it when I see it then. I really want that new iPad Pro though lol. But need a new Mac first.

 

[foobarbaz]

Who wants this though? Just make it more power efficient and keep the same thickness so we can get more battery life.

I’d definitely go for a thinner MBP. It has excessive battery life for my uses, but it has gotten quite heavy.

And in the watch I don’t care for better battery life, either. If it lasts 3 days, I’d still put it in the charger every night.

The iPhone is the only one where I occasionally make use of the battery life. But I’m still limiting charge to 80% almost every day, because I don’t need it.

So give me thinner.

 

[steve09090]

So we squeeze a few mm off the iPhone but then add a terrible case because the iPhone alone is not designed for actual real life usage. A design flaw in my view.

When you say ‘not designed for actual use’. Do you mean it has glass in it, like every single other phone currently made?

 

[aroom]

let's hope they drop the HDMI port on MacBook Pro. HDMI is anything but pro.

if you're ready to concede a thunderbolt 4 port for an useless HDMI one, this shouldn't be a product made for you.


edit: after interacting with a few users, I wonder how you managed to live without HDMI port on your iPhone Pro

 

[MrENGLISH]

How much can then shave from the lower part of the MBP if the HDMI port is still there?

Isn't that why we lost it the last time around? In pursuit of form over function.

 

[reklex]

this makes no sense, why is this company self sabotaging themselves when they just perfected the workstation laptop experience in 2021?

 

[Nik]

Bring back the 12" MacBook!

 

[Rogifan]

But…I thought it was only Jony Ive who was obsessed with thinness and thank goodness he’s no longer at Apple…

 

[pksv]

this makes no sense, why is this company self sabotaging themselves when they just perfected the workstation laptop experience in 2021?

Lol, not really. 14" and 16" are heavy, no way around it.