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Apple Discontinues 13-Inch MacBook Pro With Touch Bar

Bettertouchtool really made that bar useful imo. Gonna miss it. Though I'm still on a 16" Intel for a while longer so guess I don't have to just yet!
 
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Mr. Dee said:
When I bought my M1 13 inch MBP back in November 2020, I was giddy to get on Apple Silicon and part of too was I never owned a touch bar model, so I jumped on it. It's been working well since and I can't justify upgrading since because it does all I need. Apple makes really great computers that last long, even in the Intel era. If you noticed throughout the presentation a lot of the comparison was against Intel Macs. Even they know it's a hard sell to get many to upgrade from Apple silicon models. But apparently there is still a lot of Intel models out there.

I would not be surprised if macOS 15 drops support for all Intel models to nudge everyone still on the fence.
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So true! I think it will be 16 not 15
 
Mr. Dee said:
When I bought my M1 13 inch MBP back in November 2020, I was giddy to get on Apple Silicon and part of too was I never owned a touch bar model, so I jumped on it. It's been working well since and I can't justify upgrading since because it does all I need. Apple makes really great computers that last long, even in the Intel era. If you noticed throughout the presentation a lot of the comparison was against Intel Macs. Even they know it's a hard sell to get many to upgrade from Apple silicon models. But apparently there is still a lot of Intel models out there.

I would not be surprised if macOS 15 drops support for all Intel models to nudge everyone still on the fence.
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I think one more year of support( ie next years release will be the last to support Intel). They might announce this is the case too… cutting Intel off on Sonoma does not do their environmental credit any good at all, there is some decent Intel mac hardware out there. So I think one more version to support and maybe two years of security updates and that’s it.
 
The one message I got loud and clear from this event is that Sonoma is likely the last version to support Intel. If not Sonoma, definitely the next version.

”If you’re still on an Intel Mac (you ****ing pleb)” [he said condescendingly, referring to the computer they called the best in the world 4 years ago (which if you consider the potential GPU and RAM power of the Mac Pro it probably still is).]
 
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Fuzzball84 said:
I think one more year of support( ie next years release will be the last to support Intel). They might announce this is the case too… cutting Intel off on Sonoma does not do their environmental credit any good at all, there is some decent Intel mac hardware out there. So I think one more version to support and maybe two years of security updates and that’s it.
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Yeah, considering the 2019 Intel Mac Pro is the still super powerful. Let's not forget the 16 inch 2019 MacBook Pro still a decent laptop. Apple even introduced Early 2020 MacBook Pro's with Intel. So, it would just be weird to drop support on still capable computers. But I think its the resources to support two different architectures might be irritating them.
 
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Mr. Dee said:
Yeah, considering the 2019 Intel Mac Pro is the still super powerful. Let's not forget the 16 inch 2019 MacBook Pro still a decent laptop. Apple even introduced Early 2020 MacBook Pro's with Intel. So, it would just be weird to drop support on still capable computers. But I think its the resources to support two different architectures might be irritating them.
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For sure.. they will have had meetings about this. About the resources required (and the associated costs) of continuing support for Intel macs. But I’d have to guess the costs are not probably that much… it will be mostly spare parts and software development time.

I still have an Intel Mac mini from the 2020 refresh and it would be criminal if it didn’t receive OS updates until 2024 at least. It does everything I need… I also use an M2 MacBook Air and actually when swapping between them I barely notice the difference for what I’m doing 😆
 
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Mr. Dee said:
When I bought my M1 13 inch MBP back in November 2020, I was giddy to get on Apple Silicon and part of too was I never owned a touch bar model, so I jumped on it. It's been working well since and I can't justify upgrading since because it does all I need. Apple makes really great computers that last long, even in the Intel era. If you noticed throughout the presentation a lot of the comparison was against Intel Macs. Even they know it's a hard sell to get many to upgrade from Apple silicon models. But apparently there is still a lot of Intel models out there.

I would not be surprised if macOS 15 drops support for all Intel models to nudge everyone still on the fence.
Click to expand...
The 2017 model is now cut off from future OS upgrades. So it they'll drop support for the 2018 next year and the 2019 the year after that. Then it's all Apple silicon.

I've got the 2017 and I'd like to upgrade because it's a bit sluggish for things like FCP/DVR rendering, and Photoshop tends to turn it into a toaster, especially when doing any Firefly work.

The cost of upgrading is just obscene though. The memory and storage is grossly overpriced. $11,000 Australian dollars for a max spec MBP is ridiculous.
 
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Makes sense! Now the MacBook product line makes some sense:
  • Entry level
    • 13-inch or 15-inch MacBook Air
  • Prosumer or Pro level
    • 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro
Now, the next step? Freakin fix that iPad + Apple Pencil + Keyboard for iPad debacle! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!
 
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chucker23n1 said:
Well, the average lifespan of a laptop is 4-5 years. Thus, it stands to reason that few will be upgrading from M1.
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I think during M4 will be when they start to see a lot more people moving on from Intel… there are some people that aim to keep their hardware a certain number of years before upgrading and 4 to 5 years is a typical lifespan for a laptop.

I’m half way… one mac on Intel and one on apple silicon. Happy with both and plan to run the Intel machine a fair few years yet.
 
Mr. Dee said:
Yeah, considering the 2019 Intel Mac Pro is the still super powerful. Let's not forget the 16 inch 2019 MacBook Pro still a decent laptop. Apple even introduced Early 2020 MacBook Pro's with Intel. So, it would just be weird to drop support on still capable computers. But I think its the resources to support two different architectures might be irritating them.
Click to expand...
I would be surprised if Intel Macs get more than one macOS update at this point. Version of macOS that will be released next year might be the final one for Intel Macs.
 
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CarAnalogy said:
It deserved a better steward. Can’t blame the users for something developers couldn’t reliably target, and that Apple forgot about the moment they released it.
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Yes, but also, that just wasn't practical.

For the Touch Bar to be on all Macs would mean that their external keyboards include it, so that people on a desktop (at the time: iMac, iMac Pro, Mac mini) would get to use it. That instantly raises those already-expensive keyboards to, what, $349?

Similarly, what about non-Pro laptops? Should it have been added to the MacBook Air, raising its price by $200?

Contrast the Dynamic Island: it doesn't add that much to the cost, so one generation later, the non-Pro iPhone gets it as well. Eventually, it'll trickle down to the SE.
 
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In spite of the tragic minority who were tricked into liking the touchbar, the slim horizontal second screen did more harm than good, sucking up space and resources from the keyboard and encouraging poor interaction models (don’t learn keyboard shortcuts; instead, stop everything, squint away from the screen and slide your finger around like a circus monkey). Along with the killing of the card reader, confounding butterfly keyboard, and razor-sharp unbeveled aluminum edges, the elimination of the 13” seals shut a dark chapter in Apple’s timeline: a period of hardware hubris and lost focus. Good riddance.
 
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The best designed MacBooks ever. I don't care much for the touch bar on the Pros - I think they missed who it's for as it was meant to be a power tool for Pros, but Pros know their shortcuts and don't want to be slowed down in their workflow; Air users could've appreciated it more... But these just look so much better simply as an object than the boxy stuff they have now. I sliced my finger on the bottom of one of the new 14 inch ones as I was observing how hollow and cheap it feels compared to my 13 inch model. Surprisingly deep cut from where the 2 openings on the sides are - I suppose those are vents but they're done super poorly. New Macs just lack the beauty and refinement of this, and look like a generic Dell 😕
 
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