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Apple to Unveil 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro With Unchanged Design Next Month, Claims Original MacBook Pro 'Notch' Leaker

base08 said:
Will people understand that the M2 is inferior to the M1 Pro? Apple is perhaps risking confusing potential buyers...
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They will. Just like they understand an iPad Pro with an older chip is still more powerful than the latest iPad Air.
 
I surely hope this rumour of a product line-up is false, because it is a total mess. Hope Apple has the sense to straighten this out, but I'm not sure about that. Maybe Apple should just delay the release of M2 while they sort this mess out, it will be better in the long term. Maybe delay the M2 until ARMv9 is released.
 
MacRumors said:


Apple will next month debut its latest M2 Apple silicon processor in a refreshed 13-inch MacBook Pro model that will have no major design changes, according to a previously reliable source with close links to Apple's supply chain.

macbook-pro-13-inch-banner.jpeg

Based on the new information seen by MacRumors, the upcoming 13-inch MacBook Pro retains the same design as the current version, including the Touch Bar, but unlike the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, it will not have a notch or a ProMotion display, contrary to some rumors.

If so, that means the headline difference in the new entry-level MacBook Pro model will be the new M2 chip, which features the same number of CPU cores as the ‌M1 processor‌, up to 10 graphics cores, and improved performance.

The above details were relayed by the original source of last year's last-minute MacBook Pro notch rumor that MacRumors was first to report on. In October 2021, we reported that the same leaker said the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models would have a redesigned display with a central notch for the webcam, but no Face ID.

That left-field claim, appearing seemingly out of nowhere and so close to Apple's fall "Unleashed" event, turned out to be completely accurate, and the new redesigned MacBook Pro models were unveiled the next week with the controversial camera housing centered at the top of the screen.

The latest 13-inch MacBook Pro rumor also lines up with a DigiTimes report that appeared last week claiming Apple will launch its first MacBook Pro with second-generation M2 chip at its spring event.

DigiTimes' supply chain sources also claimed that except for the processor, most other components used in the new MacBook Pro will feature almost the same specs as those for the existing model featuring M1 chips, seemingly corroborating the latest rumor.

Well-connected Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman recently said Apple's intention is to release an updated entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro with ‌M2‌ chip in 2022, but this was generally assumed to mean that the machine would appear later in the year, after Apple finishes releasing its final Macs with M1 Pro and M1 Max chips.

Notably, in contrast to the latest rumor, Gurman said he believes Apple will remove the Touch Bar on the new 13-inch machine, although he too expects the notebook will lack a ProMotion display.

Either way, we should know for sure in just a few weeks' time. Apple is working on several new Mac computers to be released this year, and Gurman has suggested the rumored spring event on Tuesday, March 8 will include the launch of "at least one" new Mac. Apple is also expected to introduce new iPhone SE and iPad Air models, which are both believed to feature an A15 chip and 5G support.

Article Link: Apple to Unveil 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro With Unchanged Design Next Month, Claims Original MacBook Pro 'Notch' Leaker
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This I hope to be true for I love the touch bar.
 
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base08 said:
Will people understand that the M2 is inferior to the M1 Pro? Apple is perhaps risking confusing potential buyers...
Click to expand...
Most users don’t know anything about the chip in their machine. It won’t cause any more confusion then Apple selling an a14 and a12Z machine side by side
 
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MrENGLISH said:
I can’t believe people are falling for this nonsense. There is no way that any of this is true.
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Why wouldn’t it be true? Apple does this with almost every other product line they have (Apple Watch SE, iPhone SE, the home button iPad, etc). Once they have a new design, they make the old design the lower tier, lower priced model.
 
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contacos said:
I don't get the logic from a customer point of view. I would expect the MacBook Pro line to come with at least a "Pro" chip and the "non-Pro" line with a regular M chip. Why would you release an "entry" MBP with a new M2 chip only to release a MacBook Air with an M2 later this year. Wouldn't that make it the "entry" model for those who do not need the "Pro" features? seems like a redundant device. In fact, I would throw out that stupid "Air" naming and just call the redesigned one a "MacBook"

MacBook (redesigned "Air") with M2
MacBook Pro 14inch / 16inch with M. Pro / Max
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It's for people who want to spend $1200 on a MacBook but don't want the same MacBook Air they just bought for their teenager.

It's 100% an image thing - you want a 'Pro' looking laptop for basically the same price as an Air.

This will become especially pertinent when the Air is redesigned and looks completely different from the old Pro. Currently, if you buy a silver or space grey Air, it looks more or less like the Pro from the distance between 2-3 tables in your local Starbucks.

However, once the Air is changed, there's a large segment of the population that won't buy it because it is immediately identifiable as an entry level laptop.

This is the same reason the 14/16 Pros are so distinctive looking, including the Notch. Black keyboard, Notch, ports... all easily visible from a distance.

It's also for corporations who want to equip their users with Macs (most employees want MacBooks) but won't deploy Airs and don't want to spend $2000 on a 14" Pro.

They need a mid-range priced entry point for enterprise customers.
 
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theluggage said:
That would actually make sense - assuming that the M2 is a more-or-less drop-in replacement for the M1, Apple could just bump the Air, the Mini, the 13" MBP and the 24" iMac to M2 (hmmm... that would be four "new" M2 Macs)

The 24" iMac is a new design and unlikely to get another major overhaul for years, so a M2 version of that once the chips are available is inevitable. The Air and Mini... well, we've been getting excited about a new design but people aren't exactly hating on the current models... (...a M? Pro/Max version of the Mini could be a separate product marketed as a "Mac Pro Mini") - Could Apple have finally learned "if it ain't broke don't fix it"?

(Or, more cynically, 'we're selling Macs hand over fist at the moment - let's hold back the all-new designs until the surge is over and we need another boost').

Personally, I don't see the reason for the existence of the 13" MBP currently, let alone vs. an all-new Air with better screen etc. but Apple are the ones with the sales figures... and if the Air is just getting a bump to M2 as well the current advantages aren't going away.

I think the main lesson is that Apple need to fire their "group of employees who's job is making up things to call things" - "pro" may be a meaningless marketing term for "better" globally speaking, but having in mean one thing within a processor range and something different in the range of computers that exclusively use that processor range looks like carelessness (it's like having a PowerMac G5 with a G4 processor, or a MacBook i7 with an i5...)... having the processor generation up front in the name - so a M2 sounds "better" than an M1 Pro... Calling a SoC M1 Max when there are SoCs with 2x or 4x as many cores in the pipeline... Seriously, folks, did you learn nothing from OS X Lion...?
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I think its more about who Apple compete with than it is anything else. Macbook pro's come up against dell xps-14 and Lenovo ThinkPads. If you dont have a product at the similar price point to your competitor then your throwing money away really. So the macbook pro has to exist at that £1200 price point. Also, I think if you are buying any computer over a £1000 that is pretty "pro" to most people. So Apple not having a pro machine under £1900 would be crazy.

No matter how popular the last macbook pros were, apple's bread and butter is always going to be 900-1200 macbook airs and pro's. Finally, the more you sell the old model the more you make (i.e. marginal cost of production per SKU goes down and profits go up). I wouldnt be surprised if the macbook pro touchbar actually makes more money then any other laptop they sell. (toss up between that and the air).
 
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HeavenDynamic said:
I don't see the point of this product. The entry-level Mac is the MacBook Air and a lower-end Pro device is just confusing people.
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Well, the 13 Pro right now makes no sense, making it a notch (no pun intended) better would both make it a worthy little upgrade over the Air and start filling the massive $1000 gap between the M1 laptops and anything with a better processor.
 
Long live the Touch Bar!

I wish they would bump up the screen resolution on the 13 inch though. Even on the "more space" scaling option the work area and tool area sizes are much too small.
 
danmaldesign said:
I thought we were done with the TOUCH BAR
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They could at least restrict the touchbar to F9-F12, a couple o‘ notches wide, with just enough space for the occasional emoji or special function key customization. I’m sure people would love having a bit of both worlds
 
Damn. I really wanted ProMo on this machine. It’s looking more and more like I’m going to have to migrate my workflow to iPadOS.
 
canyonblue737 said:
that's the point... it exists to provide a lowest cost option
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The Touch Bar isn’t free! It adds to Apple’s costs to put it in there. They used to sell a non-touchbar Pro 13” for $200 or more cheaper than the Touch Bar model!

On the other hand, maybe they’ve got a warehouse in China full of millions of Touch Bar components and they’re desperate to use them up somehow! ?

canyonblue737 said:
Apple doesn't want to make this low end too appealing and wants it to appear dated to send 90% of the buyers up market while still having a lower cost option.
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If that’s true, why even bother putting the new fancy M2 in it?
 
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