It depends on the workload you apply. The MBAs are much lower end than the MBPs, so "heat issues" (throttling) will present if you work it hard. But if you do not task it with hard work it will be fine. YMMV
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Let's talk about the redesign MacBook Pro
- Thread starter hajime
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For the possible inclusion of cellular card in the up-coming MacBook Pro... Given that most people carry a phone with them all the time, what is the advantage of having an internal cellular card? I recall that when I considered an iPad Pro with cellular function few years ago, I would need to pay for monthly fee of an additional sim card for the iPad.
Arctic Moose
macrumors 68000
Save battery, avoid hassle. It is just so much nicer. I would have zero hesitation.
Do you have to pay for monthly fees for two sim cards (one for phone and one for laptop)?
Arctic Moose
macrumors 68000
I have five extra data SIMs connected to my phone account, sharing the same plan. I use them in iPads, as automatic failover for my wired network, etc. I think they’re ~$10 per month.
iPhone tethering has improved quite a bit since the beginning though, so I guess for digital nomad lifestyle folks they can see a lot of value in cellular capable MacBook, but otherwise tethering is just fine for occasional use. I myself used to buy iPad / iPadPros with cellular, but just stopped doing so to save the 200 bucks + the SIM data cost since I find myself have access to good WiFi most of the time.
OLED burn in on laptop sized screen has been an issue on other laptops. But supposedly, tandem OLED tech directly addresses this, since it splits the heat / brightness load across the 2 panels. The M4 iPadPro OLED has been out for a while already and I have never seen a burn-in report. Though running macOS and apps is a different story though, often with much more persistent menu bar text and other UI elements. But seriously if anyone is hesitant going OLED Apple is it, whenever they decide to go OLED on MacBooks we can safely assume the tech must be ready for this task.
I myself have been using a 16" M3 Max MBP, and I cannot wait for the chassis refresh to happen ASAP. The bulk and weight is frankly something I don't want to deal with anymore. Especially considering I also got the iPad Pro M5 13", knowing how Apple can manage to cram top of the line tech in such a thin and light chassis, they just chose not to for the 2021 Apple Silicon re-design for the 14" 16", due to how much the previous Intel models suffered from being too thin and light.
OLED burn in on laptop sized screen has been an issue on other laptops. But supposedly, tandem OLED tech directly addresses this, since it splits the heat / brightness load across the 2 panels. The M4 iPadPro OLED has been out for a while already and I have never seen a burn-in report. Though running macOS and apps is a different story though, often with much more persistent menu bar text and other UI elements. But seriously if anyone is hesitant going OLED Apple is it, whenever they decide to go OLED on MacBooks we can safely assume the tech must be ready for this task.
I myself have been using a 16" M3 Max MBP, and I cannot wait for the chassis refresh to happen ASAP. The bulk and weight is frankly something I don't want to deal with anymore. Especially considering I also got the iPad Pro M5 13", knowing how Apple can manage to cram top of the line tech in such a thin and light chassis, they just chose not to for the 2021 Apple Silicon re-design for the 14" 16", due to how much the previous Intel models suffered from being too thin and light.
Frankly I do not fully comprehend that paragraph.
However I will be curious to see how Apple updates the MBPs. You say "Apple can manage to cram top of the line tech in such a thin and light chassis," but the iPad Pro is just a tablet doing tablet tasks. A Macbook Pro OTOH is an extremely powerful desktop-replacement-capable laptop; the equal of a Studio Max for performance. Max chip, extreme memory bandwidth, multiple TB i/o, multiple displays supported, 128 GB RAM available, etc.
I do think that the next MBP revision will be a bit thinner, but I doubt that the top of the line can be made very much lighter. MBP is the halo super-performing laptop for Apple. Apple will not cripple the MBP performance just to get "thin and light." That role (performance crippled to achieve thin and light) will continue to be for the MBA, and the MBA is fulfilling that role very well.
M6 efficiency will allow Apple to make MBPs lighter if they want to. But my guess is that Apple will not make MBPs too much lighter, instead making MBPs even more powerful and with even more battery life. Or perhaps Apple makes the MBPs lighter and introduces the rumored Ultra as the most powerful (but heavier) Mac. Or conversely makes the Ultra as the lighter MBP, still with Max chip and throughput but not positioned as desktop-replacement powerful.
Like I said, I will be curious to see. Personally my only interest in potentially upgrading from M2 Max/96 would be to get a nano-texture display and more brightness.
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I wish I could tell how much lighter the redesign would be. If it is only less than 10% lighter, it may not be worth to wait. Too bad nobody knows the answer until it is released.
the issue is that it eats up even more vertical space I think which on a laptop/desktop environment is crucial
This sums it up, until it’s released for sale I have zero opinion.
Once upon a time this was true, not so much in recent years.
5 Hall Marks of the 2027 M6 OLED MacBook Pro
#1. Tandem QD-OLED 14" Display (Its already being used Its a DELL XPS Tandem OLED Touch Display Model DA14260)
#2. M6 Pro or M6 Max CPU on a TSMC 2nm Node with improved Cooling
#3. 32GB LPDDR6 RAM already in Production for Qualcomm Phones 20% lower power envelope.
#4. Apple Pencil Pro 2 features
#5. And a Thinner Lighter design with more Squared off Corners Vs the silly Rounded Corners that waste space.
#1. Tandem QD-OLED 14" Display (Its already being used Its a DELL XPS Tandem OLED Touch Display Model DA14260)
#2. M6 Pro or M6 Max CPU on a TSMC 2nm Node with improved Cooling
#3. 32GB LPDDR6 RAM already in Production for Qualcomm Phones 20% lower power envelope.
#4. Apple Pencil Pro 2 features
#5. And a Thinner Lighter design with more Squared off Corners Vs the silly Rounded Corners that waste space.
You are right I was being overly simplistic (didn't want to make the post too long). Of course I don't expect to see a 14" MBP with a Pro chip to be as thin as the iPad Pro, the iPad Pro with MKB should be akin to the MBA since they use the same class of base M chip, while having OLED and better speakers where it shouldn't take that much space if not less space. On the 14" and especially 16" the extra thickness is almost all used for cooling air space and battery, which I can agree for a workstation class machine Apple really shouldn't skim at, otherwise we are just back to the old days of "designing to a thermal corner".
Though what I am hopeful is with Gurman's recent rumor, he noted (probably only speculate) the OLED MacBook will be called an Ultra, it is a line that sits above the MBP in pricing. This means Apple then has some leeway in treating the machine with a different mindset. Look at how the iPhone Air is different from the iPhone Pro, and likely we will see some of the characteristics carried over to the iPhone Fold this year, I can see Apple prioritizing some benefits only offered by a different form factor that they are willing to try on the Ultra, while leaving the MBP alone serving its own audiences.
Again I am using the iPadPro as example because Apple chose to keep its profile thin instead of say cramming more battery in it. So clearly they think the target audience value portability as much as if not more than battery life. I can see the MacBook Ultra being the same, though one would ask how to distinguish this from the MacBook Air then if portability is a priority, so time will tell.
Arctic Moose
macrumors 68000
Hopefully the introduction of the MacBook Neo means that Apple can let the MacBook Air be what it was meant to be, small, thin and light.
Any mobile device is not a good indicator for burn-in. Most people don't use their phones or tablets for 8+ hours during an entire workday.
I used a LG CX 48" OLED TV as a desktop display for two years. ~8h a day working from home + personal use. It's now over 5 years old and still has no burn in. But I did do a lot of mitigation tactics (dark mode, turning it off for longer breaks, low brightness etc).
By comparison a Macbook Pro used in a bright office or outside where it would use its tandem OLED for max brightness might mean burn-in issues. It might be the kind of thing that works fine for the warranty/AppleCare period of 1-3 years and then starts to develop issues. That's a major problem for long-term ownership.
Realistically the only things you gain from going to OLED is better viewing angles and pixel response times. The MBP display is the worst product on the market for motion, but very good on every other metric. So there's not really that much to gain from making it OLED.
I'd rather see Apple stick to LCD, and simply make a display with more normal pixel response times, capable of handling 120 Hz properly.