Leaker: Upcoming MacBook Pro to See Price Hike Over Current Model, Equal Performance Across 14 and 16-Inch Sizes

[smetvid]

Before everyone gets their undies in a twist here about the prices you have to keep in mind the higher end 13" was always hobbled due to a lack of a decent GPU. It was always kind of an odd product. More compact but rather underpowered compared to the base 16" which was only a little bit more expensive.

Some 16" users wanted a smaller form factor but hated greatly reducing performance on the 13". This is why many of us bought into the 13" M1 Macs. We finally had the performance we wanted in the smaller form factor.

The 14" makes sense for those kind of users who want performance but travel with their laptop and prefer the smaller form factor. I love my M1 MBA for its size band performance but I know the performance could be better for serious content work. So yes the 14" may cost more but if its using the same CPU and GPU as the 16" MBP that completely makes sense. That is one heck of a massive performance upgrade to the older higher end 13" MBP. Especially on the GPU side where the difference is going to be epic. I for one would now likely choose the 14" over the 16" because it will have the same performance as the 16" but cost less without many compromises. Suddenly that model makes perfect sense to me.

Many reviewers will likely also suggest the 14" over the 16" for that very reason. Just like they now suggest the M1 MBA over the 13" M1 MBP since the performance is almost equal but it cost less. Even if the 14" is only a couple hundred bucks less that will matter to those that want the M1X performance but don't want to spend the full price for the 16". Just like many of us wanted the M1 but didn't want to spend the full price of the M1 13" MBP with very little gain.

If anything this might actually impact 16" sales but could yield more overall sales for Apple being able to finally offer professional performance at a lower price point than they ever could with the 15" and 16" models.

Those that still find the price too high we still have the amazing M1 Macs which have a lot more performance than any of us ever expected. These things are no slouches at all and get better daily as software gets better optimized. I replaced my 6 core i7 Mac mini with 32 GB and a Vega 56 eGPU with a M1 base model MBA and never looked back. These things are very solid and very capable production machines for those more budget focused users.

 

[azentropy]

The current 13" MB Pro with M1 shouldn't have been called a Pro anyway. I still think it makes more sense to have 13" and 15" MacBooks (in the "Air" form factor with just USB-C/Thunderbolt ports), and then true 14" and 16" MacBook Pros (with more ports, more standard RAM/Disk etc.).

 

[wakedoo]

So should I consider upgrading my 2011 Macbook Pro? So then my wife can get upgrade to that one from her 2009 macbook. lol

 

[Timobrien19]

Here’s my bold prediction, the charger won’t be included, because you already have chargers from your old one.

 

[Pemberton_Malcolm]

Wth Apple?? I’m done with this rip off company.. price hike for what? Using their own chips and removing the Touch Bar and still jacking up the price😡😡

Apple will still sell a ton of laptops. Expectations are that Apple will sell more laptops in 2022 compared to 2020 and 2021 combined!

So, shareholders (like me) will receive higher dividends in 2022.

You are free to shop for lower priced laptops, there will be more discounts for non-M1 MacBooks In 2022 for you to consider.

 

[leviderschreckliche]

More than the price increases I am bothered by the standard configurations with 8GB of memory and 256 GB SSD as well as the outrageous price jumps in the configuration options.

 

[skitidetdu]

For me it all depends on the performance against the M1which is really powerful already for what I need.

 

[svish]

This is bad. Quite a steep hike. If this becomes true, there will be quite a price gap between Air and Pro, even if a new redesigned Macbook Air is launched costing slightly more than the current Air.

 

[Spanther]

(x) Doubt

 

[iPadified]

Lot's of extrapolations here. The only conclusion is that the 14 inch and 16 inch will be prices closer to the 16 inch as they share the same specifications except the screen size. As far as I remembers the 16 inch MBP had always much better components than the 13 inch which would explain the large difference in price.

Besides, a well built computer today last 8-10 years so who really cares about 100-200 more or less? It was much worse when computer reached end of usability after 3-5 years.

 

[q64ceo]

This is bad. Quite a steep hike. If this becomes true, there will be quite a price gap between Air and Pro, even if a new redesigned Macbook Air is launched costing slightly more than the current Air.

Apple is pricing these machines upon those who would get most benefit from them. You dont need an uber-powerful laptop just to surf the web and watch Netflix and the occasional word processing. They are targeted at professionals who need the extra power for making music or videos.

 

[Schnegg]

Christ, this feels like the longest wait ever.

 

[Maconplasma]

Christ, this feels like the longest wait ever.

You can blame COVID and the rest of the world who refuses to comply with safety rules. This coupled with the chip shortage is the reason for this.

 

[Maconplasma]

This is bad. Quite a steep hike. If this becomes true, there will be quite a price gap between Air and Pro, even if a new redesigned Macbook Air is launched costing slightly more than the current Air.

There should be a huge price gap between the Air and the Pro. Right now people are going back and forth whether they should get the 13" MBP or the MacBook Air simply because the biggest difference in the two is the fan in the MBP. Apple will design the truly PRO models to be a far distance from the consumer line as they used to do in the past.

 

[HiVolt]

Lots of R&D behind those machines, so I can see that.

That R&D was also started many years behind, due to these chips striking similarity to iPad 12X & 12Z chips which have been used since 2018, so it's a continuation evolution rather than revolution, as Apple has been making the A series chips for a long, long time now.

 

[justperry]

Prices should go down, Intel chips are the expensive ones, I am 100% sure these MX1 chips are substantially cheaper, but, I think I know the reason Apple will raise prices instead, instead of aluminium these MBP will be made of Titanium, for the sole reason to make them more expensive, we will see Tim bragging on stage about the super duper thin/fast and ultralight Titanium Macbook Pro's.

Apple started to make their own chips for the sole reason to *make more money, not because of (Slow) Intel.

*As with other things, like the AirTags lacking a hole just to sell more accessories.

 

[Starflyer]

u can buy a pci 4x 1tb ssd for 100 bucks (or little more) nowadays. selling a MBP with 512gb is like selling a Porsche with 14" wheels... How much long we have to wait for see that idiot fired from apple?

can you post a link?

 

[satchmo]

Hmm...does that mean the 30" iMac will be the same as the current 24" model?

 

[Maconplasma]

While other companies are dropping their prices during the pandemic, Apple might be raising theirs. If so, yay for Apple!! Just kidding. Apple gets worse by the minute. The M chips are fire though.

Please list these companies? Because due to the pandemic ALL tech companies were affected due to the chip shortage and loss of business due to closing up stores temporarily/permanent. No company would drop their prices when they are at a loss and short on inventory. Once again I would love for you to recite who these companies are.

 

[jterp7]

I have the M1 Air which overall has been amazing. More than enough power for what I use it for but good lord there are times that small screen gets to me. I would upgrade to a larger Air the second they announced it

its both res and size for when using as a laptop for me. Hence why i think most power users (aka folks upgrading from 15) will still opt for the larger especially with a smaller price delta. Again if true lol.

With the M1 air to hold me over, hopefully stores will still be open late fall so i can try them both out myself...and see if there's any thermal differences in actual work/gaming etc. Larger footprint usually equates to better heat dissipation.

 

[TonyTech]

I am so annoyed with Tim Cook always keeping „last years model“ to justify price increases on updated versions. Steve Jobs didn’t do it. He wanted his users to actually experience to best they can offer and didn’t settle with „last years models“. However, from a business perspective it’s smart of course but jeeze, I don’t even want to think of the Euro prices.

You said it right, "from a business perspective..." Have to make the shareholders happy. That's why Apple is a trillion-dollar company.

 

[reyesmac]

The base model 13in m1 mbp is just a way to say a Macbook pro is under $2,000. Apple isnt going to lower its $2,400 starting price on any pro level Macbook. The 14 will be $2,400 and the 16 would be $2,800. And thats just m1x versions. After Apple comes out with the Mac pro and those chips, they can make a Top tier Macbook pro with the same chip and price that at $6,000 if they wanted to. I think when all is said and done the current prices they are selling for will be the low end and middle, and new even higher prices will come out for models with chips with way more cores than m1x will have. M1x looks like their middle of the road chip after their transition is over. They are not just transitioning to a new silicon, they are transitioning to an entirely new price structure so they can grow the amount of profit per device. That is just as important to a company of Apples size as anything else. And if you want a discount, you'll have to buy used or stick with m1 mac updates they will trickle out every 3-4 years.

 

[Maconplasma]

This is dumb.. The macs are already so expensive, so they want to make the price even higher.... yet they are saving so much money making their own chips now. c'mon

Really? Any actual facts to back up such a statement? Hope you realize R&D cost money plus Apple has to pay for manufacturing to produce these chips since they don't manufacture the chips themselves.

 

[dguisinger]

That R&D was also started many years behind, due to these chips striking similarity to iPad 12X & 12Z chips which have been used since 2018, so it's a continuation evolution rather than revolution, as Apple has been making the A series chips for a long, long time now.

its clear the M1X is the most complex SOC they have ever built, with the highest core counts and will likely have required a lot of new R&D effort. Then there is the screen. yes, it was on the latest iPad Pro but that was probably a lower volume product and they are still paying off its R&D (heck, it was part of the reason these MacBook Pros were delayed)

 

[ignatius345]

And to be fair, they barely have raised prices in the mobiles since the PowerBook G4.

Which actually means the prices have fallen quite a bit in real dollars, counting in inflation.

In fact, Macs are by far the cheapest they’ve ever been.