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Apple Planning 'MacBook Ultra' With Touchscreen and Higher Price
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anthonymoody
macrumors 68040
CaspianKing
macrumors newbie
Tagbert
macrumors 604
It doesn’t have to be fully redesigned to allow touch as an optional interface. No one expect the Mac to become a device that you have to touch, even if touch is added. It just becomes one more way to interact with the device for some actions. Just because you have a trackpad doesn’t mean that you never use the keyboard anymore.
When I had a touchscreen Lenovo work laptop, I used both the touchscreen and keyboard/mouse. I became so used to it that I ended up with fingerprints on my Mac screen because I would forget it didnt have a touchscreen. Weirdly the same thing didnt happen because of my iPad.
Tagbert
macrumors 604
This early in the product rumor cycle, the rumors usually don’t have the real name. “Ultra” is more descriptive and not necessarily the name they will use. It’s easy for Apple to keep the actual name secret until very close to launch whereas physical details leak because there are other people and other companies involved. The iPhone Air was called the iPhone Slim for much of the rumor cycle. No one really thought that was the name but it was a useful descriptor. The cheap MacBook was thought to be called the MacBook until just a couple of days before launch when we heard that it would be the Neo.
Veinticinco
macrumors 68020
It’s gotten to the point now where I just don’t expect Apple to release a product that’s neither functionally or financially compromised. Incremental gains are now described as “evolutionary”.
At least the Neo fills a hole in the market. Where do you position an Ultra (or whatever stupid unoriginal name they come up with)?
This is just what the MBA should have become after the M1 generation, ultraportable, options like nano-texture display, minimal bezels. But Cook refused to do that as long as he had to conform to the magic $1000 threshold.
Jobs’ Apple used to lead the way, skate to the where the puck is going to be. How times have changed.
At least the Neo fills a hole in the market. Where do you position an Ultra (or whatever stupid unoriginal name they come up with)?
This is just what the MBA should have become after the M1 generation, ultraportable, options like nano-texture display, minimal bezels. But Cook refused to do that as long as he had to conform to the magic $1000 threshold.
Jobs’ Apple used to lead the way, skate to the where the puck is going to be. How times have changed.
I wonder if Apple will upgrade the Studio to the new M5-Max before there is a new Ultra chip.
Excellent, introduce new shittified devices at a higher price point and keep the MBP the same. Sounds great to me!
Tagbert
macrumors 604
iPad OS is a fully touch interface for a line of devices that is more about consuming material than creating it. (Of course there are exceptions)
Mac OS with touch would only have touch as optional where appropriate. Zooming, tapping, moving, scrolling. Things that work well with touch. You would still have trackpad and keyboard for other actions.
zombierunner
macrumors 68000
They'll make everything except the one thing people actually want, a 27 inch imac
Requiring the user to remember what they can and cant touch is a bad experience, and there is no real reason to do that. Assuming the touch targets are large enough, there isnt much difference between touching the screen and tapping instead of clicking on the trackpad. That being said, there will probably be a lot of 3rd party apps which dont update for touch, but touch input will probably mean more developers allow their iOS apps to run on the Mac.
Tagbert
macrumors 604
Have you seen the heat sink of the Ultra chips? They are at least twice as thick as the MBP. This rumored higher end Mac (Ultra name is unlikely) would not hold an M5/6 Ultra chip.
Neil J. Squillante
macrumors 6502
It seems like Gurman has not specified chips. If the MacBook Ultra is thinner and lighter, doesn’t it stand to reason that it will only offer the base M6, at least initially? This would make it more like the Air Ultra rather than the Pro Ultra. If the Ultra has no fan, can it ever support Pro and Max chips?
In 2020, Apple launched the MacBook Pro with only the M1. The M1 Pro and Max didn’t arrive until a year later.
In 2020, Apple launched the MacBook Pro with only the M1. The M1 Pro and Max didn’t arrive until a year later.
Jokes on me then, I already have three iphones, three apple watches, 4 ipads, and 2 MacBook pros in my household.
They can address the cannibalism issue by market placement, placing and pricing such a device to get them the margin on the hardware that they want from two sales in the single sale if they wish. They have already shown their willingness to sell expensive niche products, this would be no different and if it fails so be it.
I'm not holding my breath, I'm just expressing interest in the product should it ever happen.
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Someone at Apple should read the history books:
Apple is planning to launch an all-new "MacBook Ultra" model this year, featuring an OLED display, touchscreen, and a higher price point, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Gurman revealed the information in his latest "Power On" newsletter. While Apple has been widely expected to launch new M6-series MacBook Pro models with OLED displays, touchscreen functionality, and a new, thinner design in the fourth quarter of 2026 for some time, Gurman today turned that rumor on its head with the suggestion that this is an all-new kind of MacBook rather than a MacBook Pro.
Instead of succeeding the newly announced M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pros, the "MacBook Ultra" will be a new, top-tier Apple laptop. Gurman added that the device is likely to sit above the current M5 MacBook Pros, rather than replace them, suggesting that they will remain on sale.
This would enable a markedly higher price point for the new machines. Gurman noted that when Apple brought OLED displays to the iPhone X in 2017 and the iPad Pro in 2024, it simultaneously raised price by around 20%. As a result, Gurman believes a similar price increase on account of the MacBook's first ever OLED display may be likely and help move the MacBook Pro further upmarket.
Gurman says that this fits into a broader trend at Apple, where the company is seeking to offer more models at more price points, such as the new MacBook Neo at an unprecedented $599 price point to rival low-cost Windows and Chromebook devices. The same is occurring at the high-end, with more premium options available than ever before.
That is set to continue this year with the first foldable iPhone, featuring a ~$2,000 price tag, large inner display, and under-display sensors, and new AirPods priced above the current AirPods Pro at the top of the lineup with computer-vision cameras to feed Visual Intelligence data to Siri. Gurman even suggested that these products may be called the "iPhone Ultra" and "AirPods Ultra."
While the name "MacBook Ultra" is uncertain, Gurman is clearly no longer referring to the device as a MacBook Pro, instead referring to it as "the touch-screen and OLED high-end MacBook." He cautioned that Apple "could keep the traditional MacBook Pro name," but a MacBook Ultra moniker would "more clearly signal their position at the top of the lineup." Gurman expects the device to launch around the end of the year.
Article Link: Apple Planning 'MacBook Ultra' With Touchscreen and Higher Price
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Can an MBP Ultra just have like 17-18" screen? May seem silly for some, I have the 16", would love more screen real estate.
No to mention the Studio has a large fan so it can run quietly under load. Putting an Ultra in even the current MBPs is for people who miss the 5 hour battery life and jet engine noises of the Intel ThinBook Pros.
Tagbert
macrumors 604
Yes, when we are so used to touch devices, our reflexes cause us to reach out and touch other screens before realizing that they aren’t touch active. It kind of makes that non-touch device seem broken.
I use an iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard a lot and of course touch is part of that. It does get fingerprints but you only see them when the screen is off or you look from the side. A little wiping with a microfiber cloth cleans things up. It’s really not been a problem.
If Apple brings touch to Mac OS, I don’t expect it to be the primary interface. It won’t require a major redesign and will be used for those times when we just expect to be able to touch something on the screen.
jlc1978
macrumors 604
Hardware, at least computers, is not where the long term revenue growth will come.