MacBook Pro 16" with Silicon Battery Tech + 2nm: How Much Lighter, thinner and faster could It Get?

[aditya1503]

Right now, the 16-inch MacBook Pro uses a ~99.6 Wh pack, which is just under the FAA’s 100 Wh limit for laptops on planes. The battery weighs about 400 g and is roughly 3 mm thick (spread across most of the chassis footprint).
If Apple moved to silicon-carbon anodes with 25% higher energy density, the same 100 Wh pack could be:
1. 80 g lighter
2. 0.5-0.8 mm thinner.

With 2 nm chips (+10–20% efficiency) and OLED panels (20–30% savings in dark use), and Apple’s Wi-Fi chip, a future 16" MBP could stretch to ~25-28 hours of light use — while also being slimmer and lighter.

 

[maflynn]

Apple has been making the MBP thicker not thinner, so the drive to paper thin laptops has come to an end, I really hope they don't go back to mentality.

 

[senttoschool]

Apple has been making the MBP thicker not thinner, so the drive to paper thin laptops has come to an end, I really hope they don't go back to mentality.

I hope they do. I have the 16" MBP and it's a way too heavy to carry around on a daily basis. They will lose me as a MBP customer if they don't make it lighter next gen. I'll probably switch to the MBA Air 15" and Apple will lose around $1500.

 

[MayaUser]

I need an laptop with sustain performance and good battery life...if that means to keep the weight as it is now...its ok
For lighter usage and lighter laptops there is the Air that will be a powerhouse by itself in its category with M5

 

[aditya1503]

I need an laptop with sustain performance and good battery life...if that means to keep the weight as it is now...its ok
For lighter usage and lighter laptops there is the Air that will be a powerhouse by itself in its category with M5

The federal limit for battery capacity is 100W, either they add additional features or the weight has to go down, no other option

 

[MayaUser]

The federal limit for battery capacity is 100W, either they add additional features or the weight has to go down, no other option

Who is saying otherwise? I said for me its ok better thermals inside even if that means to keep the same weight

 

[AgentMcGeek]

I'm expecting the next redesign to feature a thinner body, with the help of next-gen battery and new cooling solutions, either vibration-based fans and/or the vapor chamber they are testing on the 17 Pro. HDMI + TB4 over USB-C. Tandem OLED. C2 and N2 chips. Probably no under screen Face ID though, the screen remains too thin for this.

 

[cool11]

Apple has been making the MBP thicker not thinner, so the drive to paper thin laptops has come to an end, I really hope they don't go back to mentality.

I totally agree.
No other slimline of features, in favor of thinness. Enough is enough.

 

[Onimusha370]

The iPhone event last week was encouraging from a “let the Pro be Pro” perspective. I hope if the rumours are true and they do make the MBPs thinner next year that it’s more a refinement of the current design. Maybe the combination of vapour chamber/OLED/high density battery/2nm/N1 means they can shave off 10% thickness/weight while maintaining the current battery life and thermal performance.

 

[maflynn]

“let the Pro be Pro” perspective. I hope if the rumours are true and they do make the MBPs thinner

But isn't letting a pro be a pro meaning that you have more ports and options, Jony Ive, made some beautiful and bold Macs while at Apple, but the sacrifice of usability, and ports was the cost of such thinness. I'd rather have more ports and less dongles. Thinner means less battery potentially, and harder to cool.

Maybe the combination of vapour chamber

My take on the A19 getting a vapor chamber is that its running hotter then its predecessor. If that is the case, we could see a warmer M5, and it absolutely needs improved cooling. I had owned a M4 Pro Mini, but returned it, partly because it was running rather hot under typical usage cases. If (and its all conjecture), the M5 is hotter then making it thinner paints them into a thermal corner, regardless of the use of a vapor chamber. To put it another way, the M5 may require a vapor chamber anyways and a thinner chassis just compounds the difficulty to keep the MBP cool

Just my $.02

 

[dmccloud]

Right now, the 16-inch MacBook Pro uses a ~99.6 Wh pack, which is just under the FAA’s 100 Wh limit for laptops on planes. The battery weighs about 400 g and is roughly 3 mm thick (spread across most of the chassis footprint).
If Apple moved to silicon-carbon anodes with 25% higher energy density, the same 100 Wh pack could be:
1. 80 g lighter
2. 0.5-0.8 mm thinner.

With 2 nm chips (+10–20% efficiency) and OLED panels (20–30% savings in dark use), and Apple’s Wi-Fi chip, a future 16" MBP could stretch to ~25-28 hours of light use — while also being slimmer and lighter.

The one thing you omitted is the cost of that type of battery compared to what is currently in use. If the cost is significantly higher, then it might not be feasible to switch at this time.

 

[bryo]

Don’t forget OLED could help make the lid a little thinner too.

 

[dtakias]

Apple has been making the MBP thicker not thinner, so the drive to paper thin laptops has come to an end, I really hope they don't go back to mentality.

I really hope they bloody do!!! Are you joking??!

This is the exact reason i ditched my second 16" M3 laptop after 3 years of ownership together with the M1 version. Coming from the first gen 15" retina and moving onto the 2nd gen intel based the last gen apple silicon 16" body is bloody heavy for absolutely no reason. Apple silicon doesn't get hot like intel used to and most pro will hardly use the old ports that require a thick body to exist.

We need a slim 16" Pro laptop as the Air has trash sound and old tech screen and Apple will never address these issues due to the existence of the Pro series.

 

[DHagan4755]

My take on it is Apple won't dramatically "thin out" the MacBook Pro. Don't expect a MacBook Air level of thinness. Silicon carbon battery technology may help in this regard, but as was mentioned, the transition to a tandem OLED display will be a contributing factor. Apple will probably include a vapor chamber for cooling because why not?

 

[bill-p]

We need a slim 16" Pro laptop as the Air has trash sound and old tech screen and Apple will never address these issues due to the existence of the Pro series.

Fun fact: you could actually EQ the Air to have at least 30% louder sound with significantly more bass. Even with that enclosure. Basically it can actually match 14" Pro.

Apple could always improve Air objectively. They don't do so because as you guessed... it's because of the Pro series.

But I also do not expect the Pro Macbooks to get any thinner. If anything, the iPhone 17 line is already a sign. Air will be the line that will get thinner, with increasingly more "Pro" features like better screen. Pro will be even thicker, with more features and with better cooling. If anything, I'd expect Apple to make M5 Pro and M5 Max completely "maxed out" and then vapor chamber will help cool the chips.

It's entirely reasonable when you consider that the Macbook Pro is actually not for "prosumers" who spend a lot of time consuming content. The Macbook Pro is for professionals who want to get jobs done fast even at the expense of battery life. If you want to consume content a lot (better screen, better speakers) and you don't care for performance or features, I believe Apple will make the Macbook Air with OLED display that kind of offering.

 

[Makisupa Policeman]

I’m expecting that between OLED and 2nm chips, the MBPs could get slightly (but not significantly) thinner. I’m thinking 1-2 mm at most, and shaving off .2-.3 lbs at most. So the 14” might come down to about 3.2lbs and the 16” to about 4.3lbs. Which is nothing to sneeze at.

Remember we don’t necessarily want super thin MBPs like the Ive era. They lacked functionality and overheated constantly. I’d rather have a little extra cheese on my meat 🤣