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Bloomberg: 13-Inch MacBook Pro With M3 Chip Unlikely to Be Announced at 'Scary Fast' Event

EugW said:
From what I understand, the 13” MBP is still quite popular with the corporate crowd, and is the second most popular Mac overall after the MB Air.
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I suspect Apple over-listened to influencers after over-ignoring them with the 13-inch MBP a testament to weaknesses in the higher end models. For most people, the Touch Bar is far more useful than the function keys — and very cool. Apple should have kept improving it. The higher end models have the same thickness as the 13-inch MBP and weigh significantly more. The HDMI port is of debatable utility since it’s easy to carry a dongle for presentations (you still need to carry a VGA dongle anyway) not to mention many conference rooms have an Apple TV or equivalent nowadays.
 
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theluggage said:
Yeah. Updating the 24" iMac to M2 - at such an embarrassingly late stage - would be pretty small beer and something to be snuck out in a press release.

OTOH, having the M3 debut in an iMac before putting it in the flagship MacBook range doesn't sound plausible either - I'd have thought it would be last in line - and it would be really annoying for non-iMac-fans if family Minis and Studios didn't appear alongside it.

There's another possibility: when the 24" iMac was released it was pretty bizarre that there were two different designs - one with just two TB ports and one with two extra (non-TB) USB-C ports - which also turned out to have a different cooling system. That would have made far more sense if the "better" model had originally been intended to have a M1 Pro (which could support 4 TB ports and would also need extra cooling).

So maybe they're going to release a M2 Pro iMac 24" - that would be a bit more newsworthy than just a bump to M2.
(Still think that M3 Pro/Max 14" 16" MBPs are most likely given the tagline - they could launch a M3 Pro iMac alongside that, but it would be as if millions of Mac Mini and Studio fans cried out in terror and were never silenced...)
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There will be an M3 iMac released on Monday - given it is literally the last computer to be updated with new chips, it would be fine for it for it to be the first to get the base M3 chip
 
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Personally I would not believe a word any of these news outlets or analysts as it is quite clear that Apple can still hold secrets. Last week they were claiming no new Macs and no more Apple events.
 
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So could be, then unlikely. Does it means we, forums users, get to take a hike no matter what happens on the event?

What a clown.
 
They need a Pro model with 16/512 that doesn’t cost 2K to get in. No MagSafe and one A and TB5 port only would be good for me
 
How will they capitalise on holiday sales if they only release new higher-end models?
 
Neil J. Squillante said:
I suspect Apple over-listened to influencers after over-ignoring them with the 13-inch MBP a testament to weaknesses in the higher end models. For most people, the Touch Bar is far more useful than the function keys — and very cool. Apple should have kept improving it.
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It was a good idea, but the lack of real function keys was a bad choice. Yo have to look at the TB to see what mode it is in; and it was useful for shortcuts, especially with BTT, but the need to check and possibly change the display made it a poor replacement for function keys taht get used regularly.

I wish Apple had worked to make it better but it seems to be on its last legs.

Neil J. Squillante said:
The higher end models have the same thickness as the 13-inch MBP and weigh significantly more. The HDMI port is of debatable utility since it’s easy to carry a dongle for presentations
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And one more thing to lose or forget, vs always there.

Neil J. Squillante said:
(you still need to carry a VGA dongle anyway)
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VGA? I haven't seen a projector with only VGA and not HDMI in a long time.

Neil J. Squillante said:
not to mention many conference rooms have an Apple TV or equivalent nowadays.
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That depends on where you are. I rarely see ATVs in a conference room but plenty of HDMI cords.
 
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Apple is advertizing this event on TikTok, which as far as I know is another first (like 8 PM ET).

They want eyes on this event…
 

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iamgalt said:
Seems like this is going to be a very short event. What's the point? Unless Apple does introduce more, like an M3 iPad Pro, magic accessories with usb-c, etc. But even then, I can't see this event running for more than 30-40 minutes. If you take out all the pointless fly-through transitions between presenters and it'll be down to 15-20 minutes.
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It’s scheduled for 2 hours and Apple is advertising it on other platforms, they want the general public to watch it…
 
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HobeSoundDarryl said:
And with this rumor, there would be no most popular Macs getting updated but only some less popular ones... immediately casting the most popular Macs as "old technology" and "likely to get upgraded soon"... WHILE in the most lucrative quarter of the year where most of the money is made. If I'm an interested buyer, anything else M3 next week encourages me to WAIT on the purchase of the Mac I want... because now I know it is obviously coming.
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Doesn't it make sense to start M3 with the less popular (and most expensive) Macs while chip yields are ramping up?
 
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In any other quarter? Yes. In the biggest-selling, most-money-making quarter of the year when even the fans up to about a week ago were well prepared for "no new Macs until 2024"? Anyone with a mind for "maximizing (overall) revenue" should be the judge.

If Apple can make enough 3nm for much-higher-volume phones, they can probably handle any level of (much smaller) Mac demand.
 
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One thing that keeps being forgotten here is that Apple sells worldwide and the MacBook Pro got WAY too expensive in a couple of years.

it STARTS at $2k! Do you know how that translates to other markets?

The 13" MacBook Pro is highly capable and you can do so much on it because of the fans, also it's MUCH cheaper.
 
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Apple should refresh 13-inch MacBook "Pro" with 14-inch MacBook Pro design, but without mini-LED and ports that are on the right side (HDMI, Thunderbolt, SD) as to maintain the lower price point.
 
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erikkfi said:
I don’t understand why you need a “base version” of the MacBook Pro. Isn’t that a MacBook Air?
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What I would want from a “real” low end MacBook Pro is something a little lighter than the 14” Pro but thicker than the Air to allow active cooling and more battery, base M series chip, and HDR+ProMotion displays. Basically just the Pro displays in something closer in weight and price to the Air.
 
A common thing I read on these forums and elsewhere online is:

1) Get rid of the 13-in Touch Bar MBP
2) SiMpLiFy ThE lInE

So one, I would wager that after the MBA, the MBP 13’ with touch bar is Apple’s best selling computer. Until it is not, or until Apple feels it can make the margins it is comfortable with to replace it with the 14’ it will be here to stay. It would be weird if they didn’t release it now, but I’m sure Apple has it’s reasons and maybe those could be those two reasons, but I doubt it.

Two yeah the Apple line of computers is more complicated than it was 10 years ago but I dare you to try and explain Dell, HP, ASUS, Acer, Samsung, Sony, or any other electronics companies naming schemes because you simply will not be able to. Could Apple simplify it a tad? Sure. But overall on both these points people online seem to live in a bubble where they are insulated from both of these points. And the reason why YouTubers and tech covers it so much more is well, they are the computers that those people predominantly use anyways. Do you think Marques Brownlee is using a $400 Dell all in one that for some reason has a touch screen that you can only get at Wal-Mart or a Sasung A32-Whatever-the-hell? Do you think he even knows about them?
 
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There is one way this weird array of Macs might make sense... If chip supplies were constrained (but the M3 Pro and M3 Max were no MORE constrained than the base model).

Mac sales volumes (in units, not dollars) go something like (this is an educated guess):

MacBook Airs (by far the best seller)
13" MBP
Mac Mini
14 and 16" MBPs
iMac
Mac Studio
Mac Pro.

If the iMac is a REALLY terrible seller, it might sell less than the Studio (which has been successful for an expensive pro desktop) - but I don't think so - it's much cheaper and aimed at a bigger market.

I also don't think the big MBPs outsell the Mini (in volume terms - they probably do pull in more revenue), but that's the other one I'm not quite sure about - laptops usually outsell desktops, but the 16" MBP has an average selling price close to four times the Mini's.

If you had no chip supply constraints, the obvious upgrade (which gets all the best sellers before the holidays) would be Airs/13" MBP/iMac (possibly ignoring the Mini because it needs the M3 Pro chip as well as the base M3). The 14" and 16" Pros are relatively new and need different chips, and the Studio and Pro are brand new. This also keeps the upgrade cadence of base first, then Pro/Max, then Ultra).

Throw a fly in the ointment - chip supply is severely constrained, but the Pro and Max are ready alongside the base chip. If they upgrade the Airs, delivery dates will immediately shoot to March or something, because they simply don't have the chips.

Suddenly, this weird group makes sense... The iMac is REALLY old (I don't know why it missed the M2 generation entirely), and updating it gets at a sore spot in the lineup. Maybe they give it an M3 Pro option at the upper end, maybe not. They have chips (actually, chip SLOTS at TSMC that they can use for the chip of their choice) for one more mid-selling model. They can choose the Mini, the 14" and 16" MBPs or MAYBE the 13" MBP (it may sell too many units).

Now it makes sense to update the 14" and 16" - they bring in a lot more $ per machine than the Mini does. They are also favorites among a highly visible group of creative users.

The other possibility, which has been alluded to, is that there are two versions of the 3nm process, and the second one (not ready yet) has better yields/higher volumes. Could that second process also be the only one that runs cool enough for the Air? The Air (and the iPads) are extremely thermally constrained (not to mention cost constrained). What if there are actually TWO versions of the base M3 - one that would work in anything, and one that won't work in the Air due to thermals? The Air HAS to wait for the high yield/good thermals chip, but the iMac doesn't. The Pro and Max are based off the first process anyway.
 
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Neil J. Squillante said:
I suspect Apple over-listened to influencers after over-ignoring them with the 13-inch MBP a testament to weaknesses in the higher end models. For most people, the Touch Bar is far more useful than the function keys — and very cool. Apple should have kept improving it. The higher end models have the same thickness as the 13-inch MBP and weigh significantly more. The HDMI port is of debatable utility since it’s easy to carry a dongle for presentations (you still need to carry a VGA dongle anyway) not to mention many conference rooms have an Apple TV or equivalent nowadays.
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I agree. The only thing I wanted was a physical esc key which they gave us. I had absolutely no need for any other physical key. Apple dropping it was disappointing.

And totally agree on the HDMI port. It is totally useless to me. We use screen sharing for 99.999% of presentations these days and hardly ever need to connect to an external display outside of the home. And when I connect to an external display it is always DisplayPort which is far superior to HDMI. They could have given one more TB4 port instead of wasting space on HDMI.
 
This guy Gurman has been all over the place the last year or so with his "predictions". One day it's MacBook Pro's in October, then it's no October event, then it's oh yeah there are Macbook pro's for October event, now there isn't. Probably will change the morning of the event.
 
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Jaro65 said:
It would be pretty silly if it did. It's time for Apple to drop this model and simplify the entire lineup.
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In my fever dream last night, I imagined that they dropped the MBA M1 and remodeled the 13" MBP with the screen from the MBA M2 13.6" with a mini LED backlight, they could retool the bottom case, without the touchbar, but adding in a few ports from the 14" MBP, including the HDMI and SD card ports but not including as many USB ports as the 14". They could price it at $1599, with either an M3 semi-pro CPU or the M3, and either 8gb and 256gn SSD like current model or 16gb and 512gb SSD like the MBP models. They've had tiny MBP models before, both in 2009 and in early 2000s the 12" PowerBook G4. This way they had ditched the old designs, solidified their lineup, and kept their margins up going into the holidays. I have no evidence for this, but considering the MBA M1 and the MBP 13" are long in tooth, it's probably time to cut them loose.
 
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