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Everything We Know About MacBook Ultra's All-New Design

macduke said:
Yeah it’s gonna be real neat but unaffordable—even for many professional users.
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This is exactly what I'm always on about: any professional that needs the feature set and performance that the MacBook Ultra will offer, by definition, can afford it. Otherwise they aren't professionals.

What many MR forum folk do is sweep a whole bunch of hobbyists and aspiring professionals into this group, where they don't belong, solely so that it can be claimed they are then somehow being ripped off.

If you are not directly monetizing the content your Mac produces, then you are fine with an entry-level machine until you are. Complaining that professional Macs are too expensive for your desire to run CyberPunk at higher frame rates, or "to start messing around with LLMs", or to future proof your machine for 10-year ownership "so that you can get your money's worth" are not professional use cases.
 
This might be the first time i am ever waiting out for a sale since buying macs. When the baseline m1 max launched down under it was priced at 5,500 kangas. Now the same baseline config will set me back 7,224 koalas with nano screen opted out.
 
This will mean the end of an anti-reflective coating, right – the one feature that makes MB(P)s so vulnerable to permanent smudges. I wonder how that trade-off will be received. I for one would be keen to get a less smudge-prone Macbook, but then again, I don't know how that would ultimately affect working in cafes, trains, etc.
 
Vincent Hanna said:
This is exactly what I'm always on about: any professional that needs the feature set and performance that the MacBook Ultra will offer, by definition, can afford it. Otherwise they aren't professionals.

What many MR forum folk do is sweep a whole bunch of hobbyists and aspiring professionals into this group, where they don't belong, solely so that it can be claimed they are then somehow being ripped off.

If you are not directly monetizing the content your Mac produces, then you are fine with an entry-level machine until you are. Complaining that professional Macs are too expensive for your desire to run CyberPunk at higher frame rates, or "to start messing around with LLMs", or to future proof your machine for 10-year ownership "so that you can get your money's worth" are not professional use cases.
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Problem is that the Ultra, as described in the article, does not offer much more in features vs a Pro. Your statement would make more sense if the Ultra was a better gaming machine vs a Pro, a convertible notebook, offered configurations well above the Pro, or offered better performance/cooling vs a Pro, but as far as we know none of that is in the cards.

The killer feature is a touchscreen and an over engineered hinge....Why would I pay hundreds for just that feature over a Pro? That does nothing for a workflow. At least with lighter weight and a convertible there's the angle of getting the Ultra for creative professionals that may want to draw.
 
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JoeG4 said:
I'm glad to hear they're getting rid of the notch because that design feature is ugly as hell.

And yes, I do have a m2 macbook air. I notice it every time I use it. lol.

Come to think of it, my work iphone is a 13 and I hate the notch on there too. Yuck!
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fully agree. the notch is one of the worst decisions they could have made and it "interrupts" my screen experience every time.

TopNotch app helps a bit but the damn thing is always lingering somewhere.
 
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MacRumors said:
Apple is reportedly working toward the thinnest and lightest products in their categories across the tech industry
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Hmm I don’t think anyone was asking for this in a pro laptop. The current form factor is perfect. No need to bring back the ****** keyboard and battery life.
 
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dannyyankou said:
My Windows work laptop has a touchscreen, and I never use it. There is no scenario where it makes my job easier than using a keyboard and mouse.
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To be fair though I wouldn't touch a Windows touch screen with a ten foot pole either. But on the iPad when it's on the Magic Keyboard, there's plenty of times where it's nicer and easier to be able to touch to scroll or do something incidental.

Back when I used my iPad this way more, it made things faster and easier being able to use a hybrid approach. It's not going to set the world on fire but I'm glad it's coming.
 
I hope we're not getting the kind of "thinnest and lightest" nonsense that came with the 2016 MBPs. Intel chips were thermally challenged and that design suffered under load. And we've got the disastrous keyboard experiment (butterfly and touch bar). Thinnest wannabes can get an Air. Already now, Pro models cook like crazy under load, I can't imagine the Max (although it will likely win on short bursts, until the chassis thermally saturates). Even minis with copper heat pipes don't get the Max!
I never needed/wanted the touch screen, not only because I prefer the nano-textured one. I keep following iPad's development, it just doesn't approach the productivity of the keyboard/mouse for most of "real work".
 
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staceyu said:
Problem is that the Ultra, as described in the article, does not offer much more in features vs a Pro. Your statement would make more sense if the Ultra was a better gaming machine vs a Pro, a convertible notebook, offered configurations well above the Pro, or offered better performance/cooling vs a Pro, but as far as we know none of that is in the cards.

The killer feature is a touchscreen and an over engineered hinge....Why would I pay hundreds for just that feature over a Pro? That does nothing for a workflow. At least with lighter weight and a convertible there's the angle of getting the Ultra for creative professionals that may want to draw.
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For the 100th time, the Ultra *IS* the new Pro. It will be a separate tier, but only above the entry-level M6 MacBook Pro, which will become the ONLY MacBook Pro.

There aren't going to be two lines of high-end expensive laptops, both with the same M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, differentiated by only the OLED touch screen and a pointless $500 price premium.
 
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krell100 said:
I'm confused; is it called ultra because it will have an Ultra chip or just ultra as in just a name to justify a very hefty price tag?
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it is "ultra" just like the apple watch ultra is; different screen, different body. the ultra M CPUs are not for laptop use...
 
rchaser said:
I wish there were polls we could use in the comments section.

I’ve never wanted to reach out and touch my MBP screen. If the feature was built in and I didn’t have to pay extra, I see no scenario where that would be helpful to touch the screen.

But I’m interested in what others say.
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Touch screens are useful for kiosks. That’s pretty much all
 
I couldn't be any less interested in touch screen and would never, ever use it.

What I dearly want, is a true convertible hinge so that I can finally have my laptop on the desk being useful, rather than having to hide a high-quality monitor out of the way cos it's got a massive and ugly keyboard sticking out of it.
 
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rchaser said:
I wish there were polls we could use in the comments section.

I’ve never wanted to reach out and touch my MBP screen. If the feature was built in and I didn’t have to pay extra, I see no scenario where that would be helpful to touch the screen.

But I’m interested in what others say.
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I agree. I had a surface laptop go 2 that has a touchscreen and I have never used it. It was even annoying because when you occasionally had some dirty on your screen and try to wipe it off, you, by accident, clicked something. If you want a touchscreen, use an iPad. I also own a Thinkpad T590 which also comes with a touchscreen. I honestly don’t know why though. I don’t like touchscreens in general because of the smudges. Even on my iPad I wish you could do all the navigation via the Apple Pencil.
 
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The thinnest, lightest, and simplest products are always welcome. That’s how technology should advance a product category.

But every product tier should have a clear purpose:
  • MacBook Neo – essentials.
  • MacBook Air – everyday users and professionals.
  • MacBook Pro – creators and power users.
  • MacBook Ultra – ??
If Ultra is just a faster Pro, it’s diversification for the sake of segmentation.

If, however, it’s the first device to genuinely merge the strengths of macOS and iPadOS into a new computing experience, then it becomes a compelling new category rather than just a more expensive Pro.
 
My biggest Gripe with MacBooks and any laptop is screen quality. it's so easy to pick up little micro scratches and marks.

I hope its got the same quality gorilla glass or what every they use on current phones and iPads so it can handle daily life better and stay mint for longer!
 
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