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Kuo: New 15-Inch MacBook With M2 and M2 Pro Chip Options Planned for 2023
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15” MacBook with a ‘Pro’ chip will take it quite close to the price of 14” MacBook Pro. Looking forward to the 15” MacBook.
Because it would still be relatively light. The old 15” Pro’s were 4.5 lbs at one point.
And the old Intel MacBooks were relatively fast. It’s about comparing what’s on the market today.
I am one of those people. I used a 2015 12” MacBook for 5 years as my main laptop for my online business. Upgraded in 2020 to the 16” MBP (Intel), and man, overall much better.
I would be very happy with A 15” M2 with a single fan. The pros are getting too powerful for my needs.
If this ends up being a 15.x" "MacBook" with an M2 and optional M2 Pro upgrade with 1 fan, this will be a home run for users like me (which I believe would be a significant percent of Mac users). I tried to use a 12" MacBook for 5 years as primary Mac, but it fell short in many areas. Upgraded to 2019 16" Intel MBP, and it works phenomenally. With Apple Silicon, the M2 serves my needs, but I need a fan and would much prefer a larger display.
If this ends up being the case, this will serve me and many users like me very very well.
If this ends up being the case, this will serve me and many users like me very very well.
I was thinking that, while a 12" MacBook would be nice for those who prefer that form factor, it might be too much of a niche product to have enough sales for Apple justify its existence today...but that, if Apple is able to continue to expand Mac sales, such that even a small percentage SKU would mean a lot of units, they might be more inclined to add such products.
However: Apple seems not to like having low-percentage-sales SKU's, even if total sales are substantial. E.g. even though the Mini sold ~7M units per year (230M/yr x 3% ~ 7 M/yr), Apple seems to have killed it because it's only 3% of iPhone sales. [Caveat: The Mini may not be cancelled--Apple may simply have decided to renew it only every other year.]
So I guess it comes down to whether the thinking about low-percentage SKU's in the Mac line will be the same as in the iPhone line.
However: Apple seems not to like having low-percentage-sales SKU's, even if total sales are substantial. E.g. even though the Mini sold ~7M units per year (230M/yr x 3% ~ 7 M/yr), Apple seems to have killed it because it's only 3% of iPhone sales. [Caveat: The Mini may not be cancelled--Apple may simply have decided to renew it only every other year.]
So I guess it comes down to whether the thinking about low-percentage SKU's in the Mac line will be the same as in the iPhone line.
I like the sound of this.
Before this rumor hit that I was already thinking that I know three people just off the top of my head who either already have or almost certainly will buy a MBP that is substantially overkill for their needs simply because they want a bigger screen.
I also was lamenting the loss of the "intermediate" form factor--I'm happy with the chunkier 16" M1 Max MBP, but the 2018 15" MBP it replaced was a marvelous machine for a lot of uses, and I can certainly think of people who have "pro" needs but would be willing to trade some of that thickness and weight for a shorter battery life and somewhat less power. I would have considered it myself if the hypothetical 15" had existed and had an M1 Pro option.
A lean 15" option that can be config'd with either a base M2 (for people who want the big screen but not the big CPU) or a lower-end M2 Pro (for people who want something faster but are willing to compromise for a more svelte computer) would perfectly fill both these niches without needlessly complicating the lineup, and would basically fit in with the current 13" MBP as a sort of third tier between the ultra-slim and the ultra-pro.
In terms of physical dimensions and power, it's essentially the same as today's iPad Air being for all intents and purposes a lower-end iPad Pro. The problem is entirely with the naming--in iPads, you have the cheap/small just-iPad and iPad mini, then the powerful iPad Air, then the really powerful and also huge iPad Pro, while the Mac lineup has already established the Air as the cheap/thin one and there's no equivalent below it.
If the ultra-thin had been re-christened the MacBook (period), then it would allow a parallel 13" and 15" medium-thickness MacBook Air and the chunky MacBook Pros. It would have been awkward to suddenly make the air mean something entirely different, so the best alternate option would be to have the thicker 13" and hypothetical new 15" just be MacBooks, period, along the lines of the old-school plastic ones that used to sit between the Air and the Pro.
Before this rumor hit that I was already thinking that I know three people just off the top of my head who either already have or almost certainly will buy a MBP that is substantially overkill for their needs simply because they want a bigger screen.
I also was lamenting the loss of the "intermediate" form factor--I'm happy with the chunkier 16" M1 Max MBP, but the 2018 15" MBP it replaced was a marvelous machine for a lot of uses, and I can certainly think of people who have "pro" needs but would be willing to trade some of that thickness and weight for a shorter battery life and somewhat less power. I would have considered it myself if the hypothetical 15" had existed and had an M1 Pro option.
A lean 15" option that can be config'd with either a base M2 (for people who want the big screen but not the big CPU) or a lower-end M2 Pro (for people who want something faster but are willing to compromise for a more svelte computer) would perfectly fill both these niches without needlessly complicating the lineup, and would basically fit in with the current 13" MBP as a sort of third tier between the ultra-slim and the ultra-pro.
In terms of physical dimensions and power, it's essentially the same as today's iPad Air being for all intents and purposes a lower-end iPad Pro. The problem is entirely with the naming--in iPads, you have the cheap/small just-iPad and iPad mini, then the powerful iPad Air, then the really powerful and also huge iPad Pro, while the Mac lineup has already established the Air as the cheap/thin one and there's no equivalent below it.
If the ultra-thin had been re-christened the MacBook (period), then it would allow a parallel 13" and 15" medium-thickness MacBook Air and the chunky MacBook Pros. It would have been awkward to suddenly make the air mean something entirely different, so the best alternate option would be to have the thicker 13" and hypothetical new 15" just be MacBooks, period, along the lines of the old-school plastic ones that used to sit between the Air and the Pro.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
I am really interested in why the 12” didn’t feel good over those 5 years. I understand that for someone who uses the screen of the device (instead of just plugged into an external monitor), it can become small, also if I recall correctly, the 12” had a 16:9 screen ratio, instead of a 16:10 screen ratio, and that’s a factor to keep in mind. I love the 11” of my iPad Pro, but the screen ratio is more vertical.
Anyways, my use will involve an external monitor 80% of time, and I value maximum portability (that’s why I use an 11” iPad Pro with the smartkeyboard folio)
Way to completely miss the point. The point is “Air” is a relative term. You want to compare what’s on the market, well the 16” weighs almost 5 pounds and the 14” weighs 3.5 lbs. A 15” Air at 3lbs or less is light by comparison. This isn’t really complicated.
There is no chance a 15-inch MacBook would weigh anything less than 3 lbs due to Apple's use of aluminum chassis and active cooling for M2 Pro.
Given there is no other 15-inch MacBook on the market, why would Apple call it an Air? The 15-inch footprint alone is bulky, no matter the thickness or weight.
I’m not sure why this concept is difficult for you to understand? Full power 15” laptops are typically in the 4 plus something pound range, such as the previous 15” MacBook Pro’s from just recently which were 4.5 lbs. A 15” MacBook Air would probably be the same weight or less than that of the 3.5lb 14” MacBook Pro.
It’s pretty simple. No one would consider a 15-inch notebook an Air because of the footprint alone.
Just because the standard Android smartphone is 6.5-inch doesn’t make a 6.1-inch iPhone a mini.
My perfect notebook would be the current MBA M2 with a 15" bezelless screen.
Pro Motion is nice but I don't really care that much, Mini Led is nice but I would rather take the battery life of the worse screens. M1 Pro is nice but I probably would be fine with just the M2.
No fans is awesome (please just throttle rather than get loud).
Good keyboard is non negotiable.
Thin and light.
I am on a 14" MBP right now and its great, I came from the previous gen Intel 16" which was a loud clunky mess. The keyboard was good but this one is better, it is just cool and quite and soo much easier to lug around. I would still trade it for a MBA M2 to get the extra protability and suffer the slightly smaller screen. What I would really want is a thinner slightly larger screen though.
If they remove the Mini Led, Pro Motion, M2 Pro or higher RAM options, additional cooling they still have good arguments for the Pro machines. But I have my compute in the cloud if I really need it, I just want battery life, ergonomics and portability. Basically an iPad Pro with keyboard and more screen.
Pro Motion is nice but I don't really care that much, Mini Led is nice but I would rather take the battery life of the worse screens. M1 Pro is nice but I probably would be fine with just the M2.
No fans is awesome (please just throttle rather than get loud).
Good keyboard is non negotiable.
Thin and light.
I am on a 14" MBP right now and its great, I came from the previous gen Intel 16" which was a loud clunky mess. The keyboard was good but this one is better, it is just cool and quite and soo much easier to lug around. I would still trade it for a MBA M2 to get the extra protability and suffer the slightly smaller screen. What I would really want is a thinner slightly larger screen though.
If they remove the Mini Led, Pro Motion, M2 Pro or higher RAM options, additional cooling they still have good arguments for the Pro machines. But I have my compute in the cloud if I really need it, I just want battery life, ergonomics and portability. Basically an iPad Pro with keyboard and more screen.