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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.

And if you take out their self congratulatory back patting about their environmentalism, about 10 minutes.
 
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We'll only be seeing devices next week with a base M3 chip in them - iMac, MacBook Air, iPad Pros, etc. Apple has never once released pro and max versions of those chips at the same time (for obvious reasons).
 
so the M3 Pro and Max dropping is set in stone in less than 2 weeks?
Not necessarily.

For those trying to draw parallels with past events: "Scary Fast" is just a marketing tag line.

And if Apple introduces an M3 iMac, the M3 Pro chip itself is enough to qualify as "Scary Fast".

14 and 16" MBP might get just M3 Pro versions this time around, with a larger chip ("Max"?) possible for next year.

IOW, Apple does not have to introduce more than one improved processor to quality as "Scary Fast".
 
Much ado about nothing... or collective denial?
If there is any collective denial it is across the techno-babble sites and Youtube "Content Creators" who are ignoring an industry wide problem.

Sales slumps have been reported here before. And computer sales have been down.

Let's start with hand-helds:

Global smartphone market slumps to lowest Q3 level in decade - Counterpoint


The global smartphone market contracted by 8% to its lowest third-quarter level in a decade on subdued demand for major brands including Apple (AAPL.O) and Samsung (005930.KS) in most developed markets, according to data from Counterpoint Research.

The data, shared exclusively with Reuters, showed that the share of the top five brands, which also include Chinese firms Xiaomi (1810.HK), Oppo and Vivo, had fallen to a three-year low.

Let's look at computers:

After the second quarter of this year:

Global PC market decline eases as shipments drop 12% in Q2 2023


The latest Canalys data reveals that the worldwide PC market decline slowed in Q2 2023, with total shipments of desktops and notebooks down 11.5% year on year to 62.1 million units.

After the third quarter this year:

PC market set to shake prolonged post-pandemic contraction


Global shipments of desktop and laptop computers declined 9% year-over-year in Q3 2023...Worldwide shipments have steadily fallen by nearly 25% since Q3 2021, from 84.1 million units to just 64.3 million units in the three month period ending Sept. 30, according to Gartner.

The good news in that article is that the decline is slowing.

Same article included this:

As enterprise refresh cycles kick in, Apple may have an opportunity to gain market share over Windows-based PCs, Ryan Reith, group vice president for IDC’s worldwide mobile and consumer device trackers, said in an August report.

Speaking at the Jamf Nation Users Conference last month, Cisco SVP and CIO Fletcher Previn presented data from an internal company review, which found Macs to be more secure and less costly over time than Windows-based PCs.

Recommend dropping inflammatory rhetoric over selective blindness.
 
Farewell old friend. You served me well.

Apart from all those weeks when the butterfly keyboard had to be replaced and I had to drive 70 miles to the nearest Apple Store.

Other than that, you’ve been a remarkable machine. Last of the Jony Ive era. Sadly.
 
We'll only be seeing devices next week with a base M3 chip in them - iMac, MacBook Air, iPad Pros, etc. Apple has never once released pro and max versions of those chips at the same time (for obvious reasons).

This makes no sense. 1) Apple would not use the "scary fast" tagline for base M3 machines. They will be fast but nowhere near scary fast. 2) There is nothing preventing Apple from focusing on the high end first, in fact this is not uncommon in the silicon world (make money off the expensive chips first). 3) Past patterns may help predict future patterns but they do not dictate the future. At this point EVERYTHING points to high-end laptops first.
 
There is nothing preventing Apple from focusing on the high end first, in fact this is not uncommon in the silicon world (make money off the expensive chips first)

It is fairly uncommon. Neither Intel nor AMD start with Xeon or EPYC. You want to first bring down cost of a core design by manufacturing it at scale, then serve niche customers.

But just because it's uncommon doesn't mean it won't happen.
 
This makes no sense. 1) Apple would not use the "scary fast" tagline for base M3 machines. They will be fast but nowhere near scary fast. 2) There is nothing preventing Apple from focusing on the high end first, in fact this is not uncommon in the silicon world (make money off the expensive chips first). 3) Past patterns may help predict future patterns but they do not dictate the future. At this point EVERYTHING points to high-end laptops first.

Where have you been? Apple marketing would use “scary fast” for a 10% bump…
 
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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.
What makes it more "Pro" than the Air if you take all that away? It's just a lumpy Air at that point.
 
There is no reason the regular iMac should not be offered with a Pro chip, if the Mac Mini cam handle it an iMac should at minimum have it, if they do an iMac Pro they should do the Max and Ultra chips like the Mac Studio has. (Probably means the base model would run $3k+, but considering they're already selling the previous iMac screen for more than the iMac was, that's on par)
apple tactics seem to be everything except simplifying the lineup
Exactly, this is the same day a 12 inch MacBook/MacBook Air name entered the rumours, the only lineup that isn't oversaturated right now is the desktop Mac lineup which well hopefully see updates.
The only product, will be a new iMac and even that might be M2, the M3 is compromised at the moment and half cooked , based on the 17 Pro performance 😏
They released the M2 MacBook Pros that had new chips with no prior warning of an event this year, they wouldn't do an event for an M2 iMac of lesser news.
I don’t understand why you need a “base version” of the MacBook Pro. Isn’t that a MacBook Air?
After the 15 inch MacBook Air knocked the 13 inches price down $100, the Pro lost its value, and yes anybody should go for the Air now instead. Before I considered the touch bar and the lack of a notch as a better value. Unless they give the 13 inch Pro a Pro chip to distinguish from the Air, or drop its price below the Air it should be discontinued now. (And I can only hope they bring back the touch bar later)

This event seems confusing by the claim they're some how do another MacBook Pro (14/16) release in the same year, but they won't touch the MacBook Airs or 13 inch Pro, their past event indicate the opposite regardless if an M3 iMac was coming.
 
Looks like it will be released sometime in 2024. Apple continues to sell it. I will definitely not buy the 13" MacBook Pro
 
It is fairly uncommon. Neither Intel nor AMD start with Xeon or EPYC. You want to first bring down cost of a core design by manufacturing it at scale, then serve niche customers.

But just because it's uncommon doesn't mean it won't happen.

IBM starts with Power before building any PowerPC chips based on the new design. It was part of what irked Apple because their focus was only on the high end. NVidia starts with the xx90 first before moving on to the lower end chips. But they are most certainly binning down. With PowerPC chips Apple tended to release the higher profit (Power Mac) systems first followed by Performa and others. There are probably other examples. So, not that uncommon.

Apple was following an Axx -> Mx -> Mx Pro/Max path but that may start breaking down as Apple starts increasing the performance gap between the designs. We might see Mx processors break away from Axx at some point but we are probably also going to see Apple focus on the high-profit SKUs first (lower volume while a new process is worked out).
 
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Why not a complete refresh of the entire line up for a change? All Macs get updated with a version of M3 (base, pro, max and ultra). They have control over the SOCs now, why not use that advantage?
 
Why not a complete refresh of the entire line up for a change? All Macs get updated with a version of M3 (base, pro, max and ultra). They have control over the SOCs now, why not use that advantage?
Just because they have the control of the processors now, doesn't mean they can release or want to release all the Macs simultaneously. Right now they have to stagnant it as 3nm (all the M3 line will use) chips are in short supply. Even if it wasn't the case it's better to let people see one Mac and decide if they want it before releasing the next, that's the only reason they didn't update the Mac Pro on the M1 generation despite there being no design change and the M1 Ultra existing.
 
We've seen various reports of the new m3 higher tier chips. Having previously and recently seen reports that there would be no more releases this year. Apple has reported falls in sales on across their computing line. I have a big upgrade spend coming on all my apple gear. I have been dithering between a fully loaded Macbook air 13 m2 (I love the form factor and its a usable compromise power wise with 24gb ram and a 1tb SSD) and the pro 14 12/30 2 max with 32gb of ram and a 1tb ssd (I like the additional power but am less keen on the form factor. Its the longevity buy) I have decided to wait. The Monday event will inform my decision. I wont invest in the pro (the longevity option if it doesn't have the m3 max and 32gb ram) and I'm not buying the m2 max version now as i know its due the update. The air is a much cheaper device and I can afford to compromise with that. I cannot believe the apple marketing team hasn't got that thinking down as one of their product demographics.
 
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