My post did not in any way mean to imply that Neos and Airs would wear out sooner. My point is simply that some prefer using top end gear (displays, speakers, bandwidth, performance, heat removal, available RAM, etc.) over using low end gear. And we will pay a dollar or two a day for the privilege.
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MacBook Ultra: 5 Features That Could Justify the Name
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jdawgnoonan
macrumors 65816
It feels like “Me Too” stuff to me. Just like folding screens and chatbots.
IMO $trillion companies cannot "Just keep it simple" in the way you suggest. Larger volume demands broader product lines; no way to avoid that. Yes simplicity is always a goal, but not at the expense of common sensical broader product lines.
BSDnostalgia
macrumors 6502
I agree. Brilliant! I love the fact that it is an ARM processor, too. Battery life and heat should be much better than the equivalent Intel or AMD. Too bad you have to use Windows, but, it does look like an excellent design.
The regular MacBook Pro could continue to be the regular MacBook Pro...
Seriously, the MBP has evolved to become the world's best desktop replacement laptop; a beautifully functional tool (mine is an M2). I see no reason for changing what works so very well, other than small evolutionary changes like the available nano texture display, etc.
Apple laptops rock. Adding another new model, this time at the top end, does make a world of sense.
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I have a weird feeling this is going to be a "luxury" machine, not necessarily a high-performance machine.
Because I suspect "Ultra" will be the moniker for a new "luxury" line, not a performance line. The MacBook Pro will remain the performance machine and the Ultra will become a niche, high-end product for people who want a very fancy version of an Air. That's just a guess, but given the focus of the specs, and the fact of retaining the MacBook Pro line (as far as we know), I think it's a good one. Basically the Apple Watch Ultra of the laptop line. That would be of zero interest to me, but as long as the MBP sticks around, I don't really care.
contacos
macrumors 603
eltoslightfoot
macrumors 68040
It’s definitely a fair point—especially since in my example I have a high end computer as well.
Reports and rumors suggest the next MacBook Pro that Apple will release might not be a MacBook Pro at all. It could actually be something altogether new and more exciting – a "MacBook Ultra" – positioned above the Pro as Apple's top-tier laptop, suggesting that the current M5 Pro and M5 Max models will remain on sale when it launches.
The MacBook would be just the latest Apple product to carry the Ultra name, which already spans the Apple Watch Ultra and CarPlay Ultra (not forgetting Apple's top-end Ultra-designated silicon chips). This is likely to bring a markedly higher price point for the new machines. It fits into a broader trend at Apple, where the company is seeking to offer more models at more price points, such as the new MacBook Neo at an unprecedented $599 price point.
Below, we've listed the features we are expecting in the MacBook Ultra, which is likely to go on sale either later this year or in early 2027. As things stand, the latter time frame is now looking more likely, owing to the global memory chip shortage.
OLED Display
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo say Apple is readying OLED technology for these models, and industry reports corroborate their claims. Samsung Display is said to be making the panels, and the supplier has invested heavily in an 8.6-generation OLED production line in South Korea. The line recently reached a key milestone for mass production.
The MacBook Pro will utilize hybrid OLED technology, similar to that used in Apple's latest iPad Pro. This display technology combines a glass substrate with thin-film encapsulation, offering improved brightness, contrast, and power efficiency compared to current MacBook Pro models, which use LCD displays with mini-LED backlighting.
Touch Screen
The new MacBook Pro is expected to become the first Mac to support touch input directly on the display. It's a notable shift from Apple's longstanding position against bringing touchscreen functionality to the Mac.
Apple previously experimented with touch controls through the OLED Touch Bar on earlier MacBook Pro models, but the feature was ultimately discontinued following a lukewarm reception. Rather than positioning the MacBook Pro as a touch-centric device like the iPad, Apple is reportedly planning to let users move seamlessly between touch and traditional trackpad or mouse input across the system.
This will require updates to macOS to make it more touch friendly, and users will reportedly be able to tap or click on-screen elements, and controls will change based on input method. If a user taps on a menu bar item, for example, it will display a larger set of controls optimized for touch.
Thinner Design
Gurman has reported that Apple is working to make the OLED MacBook Pro significantly thinner, as part of the company's plan to create "the thinnest and lightest products in their categories across the whole tech industry." (Think the latest iPad Pro and iPad Air – two of the thinnest devices the company has ever made.) Indeed, the reporter has said there's a good chance that the next MacBook Pro model will represent a "true overhaul" for the laptop, thanks to the combination of the OLED display and thinner design.
Notably, the MacBook Pro got thicker and heavier with its most recent redesign in 2021. A major highlight was the reintroduction of several ports that were removed in previous iterations in favor of chassis thinness. How Apple will make its redesigned MacBook Pro thinner without removing the functionality it reintroduced fairly recently is the big question.
Dynamic Island
Apple's highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro could ditch the current notch for a display cutout potentially similar to the iPhone's Dynamic Island, according to Bloomberg. Such a move would mirror Apple's iPhone evolution, since the iPhone's notch became the current Dynamic Island starting with the iPhone 14 Pro models in 2022.
As with the iPhone, the Mac Dynamic Island will be interactive and it will contextually expand based on the app or Mac feature in use. The change should address long-standing user complaints about the notch, which physically ingresses into the macOS menu bar.
M6 Processor Architecture
The redesigned MacBook Pro models are expected to boast M6 Pro and M6 Max chips, which could adopt a completely new packaging based on TSMC's 2nm process that allows components such as the CPU, GPUs, DRAM, and Neural Engine to be more tightly integrated.
Terms like "3nm" and "2nm" describe generations of chip manufacturing technology, each with its own set of design rules and architecture. As these numbers decrease, they generally indicate smaller transistor sizes. Smaller transistors allow more to be packed onto a single chip, typically resulting in increased processing speed and improved power efficiency.
Based on where the industry's headed, Apple is likely to heavily market the processors as optimized for AI workflows.
Article Link: MacBook Ultra: 5 Features That Could Justify the Name
I have zero interest in a touchscreen laptop and zero interest in a thinner laptop?
So... not worth the label/cost at all then...
Cool.
roklanhavok
macrumors regular
Not "a very fancy version of an Air." Instead a very fancy version of a MacBook Pro, which is a huge difference. Just my $0.02.
The MBA is low end, and the low end of the laptop line was recently broadened via the Neo. My guess is that Apple will next broaden at the top end rather than further expanding the low end with a spiffier MBA choice. Apple loves the higher end, plus with tariffs and wars driving costs up this would be a terrible time to be trying to introduce lower priced midrange devices.
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BSDnostalgia
macrumors 6502
Except that Apple already has broadened the top end, has rather expensive options at the top end, and has everything a Pro user could need except more ports. So, what to do? Gold plated versions?
I assume this is the Apple marketing department having a little fun with pushing out a solid gaming laptop and gussying it up with memes and some style as opposed to the plastic-fantastic look of Wintel gaming laptops. This way there's no longer a gap in the Mac laptop range. But for Apple as a whole sorting out the supply of low-power-draw desktops is far more important -- as is building up in-operating-system AI to the point where it can displace things like Claude desktop (why have to network for all that hard-drive, workflow and email reorganizing power when you could do it privately behind your firewall?) and operate as a meaningful alternative to something like DEVONthink as well.
I don't think I'd be their market for such a laptop though. I hardly play games, I'm easily impressed when it comes to gaming frame rates, and I always thought the 17 inch PowerBook and MacBook Pros of the 2000s were gigantic and impractical. I like the 16 for its cooling and screen size but it's the absolute limit in terms of portability as far as I'm concerned and if they were ever to come up with a better means of cooling the 14 than one fan and no vapor chamber, I'd consider it.
I don't think I'd be their market for such a laptop though. I hardly play games, I'm easily impressed when it comes to gaming frame rates, and I always thought the 17 inch PowerBook and MacBook Pros of the 2000s were gigantic and impractical. I like the 16 for its cooling and screen size but it's the absolute limit in terms of portability as far as I'm concerned and if they were ever to come up with a better means of cooling the 14 than one fan and no vapor chamber, I'd consider it.
I wonder why none of iPads is with Ultra moniker. There is a touch, same CPU, iPad Ultra 🙂 That is ridiculous, right?
Trusteft
macrumors 65816
Perhaps my complete disdain of it wasn't clear enough. I wouldn't buy any such laptop even if I had more than 4 euros in my account.
Trusteft
macrumors 65816
I don't know how to reply to this without sounding rude. I mean....what are you talking about?
Regardless, the Neo is the least powerful model now, no one buys it to do super heavy work, yet anything that even whispers to the laptop, makes it reach 100C+ and thermal throttle after few seconds.
I have zero doubts the ultra will thermal throttle if they indeed make it thin. You can't beat physics. Are there many people who still don't care? Yes. Am I one of them? No. You don't care about thermal throttling, good for you.
switz
Contributor
When the M4 processor family was introduced, we both had M1 laptops with max specs. The political situation got me thinking and we had choices at that time and took advantage of the opportunity to upgrade nearly everything computer wise. Glad we did as the options we have for memory and storage are currently no longer on offer.
Ever since my first Apple gear in 1990, the common knowledge was put in maximum memory and storage size and the gear would be usable for a long time. At least the user could change the memory and drive size at will back then. Now that these two items are soldered in, that line of reasoning is even more important.
As the old saying goes, you can not uncool a steak..... Likewise more memory and or larger SSD storage are no longer changeable after the unit hits the door of our home or office.
Ever since my first Apple gear in 1990, the common knowledge was put in maximum memory and storage size and the gear would be usable for a long time. At least the user could change the memory and drive size at will back then. Now that these two items are soldered in, that line of reasoning is even more important.
As the old saying goes, you can not uncool a steak..... Likewise more memory and or larger SSD storage are no longer changeable after the unit hits the door of our home or office.
The_Martini_Cat
macrumors 6502
I think I might be able to solve the problems of always having the top down, not wanting touch screen, having the computer too thin to deal with thermal issues in a giant new chip, by not buying this computer.🍸😼 Carrying an eight thousand dollar machine around would give me the willies anyway. 🍸🙀 I've had hands on with the MacBook Neo and ... yeah baby! Macstudio at home once RAM prices come back down, and carry around an iPad Air!🍸😸
I agree with "zero interest in a touchscreen laptop and zero interest in a thinner laptop," but I bet Apple's offering will be more complex than that. E.g. perhaps
• Better display. Display could be brighter, nano textured, etc.
• Lighter. Two nm chip tech should reduce heat therefore potentially also reduce weight. Or Apple could use expensive technology tricks to help heat removal.
• Ports. Looking at my M2 MBP it seems the physical box could be thinner and still have the same ports, and newer Thunderbolt means more total bandwidth. Or Apple could add a fourth and/or fifth TB port and take away the fat HDMI port and/or the fat MagSafe port.
So even though we do not specifically need a thinner laptop, a lighter MBP with more TB ports, better display and speakers as good or better than what we have now would be attractive - - and if it happens to be thinner that is OK too. ;~)
The AVP is primarily a tech demo that Apple sold half a $Billion of. I do not see the AVP analogy to a new high end laptop choice.
Edit: After more thought I do see the AVP analogy to a new high end laptop choice. And given how big Apple is and Apple's huge resources, I like it. Apple could put the latest most expensive tech into an ultra laptop series, and the tech that proves cost effective could then over time move down the line into the MBPs and MBAs.
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WHere touch helps is with photos and 3D, I can use two fingers to rotate and pinch-zoom and then swipe over an object to select it for masking. Touch works very well for manipulating 3D objects in renders and more so in 3d CAD modeling. Touch works poorly for text.
I have a Microsoft "Surface" with Linux installed. Linux (See this: https://elementary.io/ ) is much more Mac-like than Windows-like so I can claim "related experience". With my Linux/Surface, the best feature is that the keyboard can be removed. You need touch for that so you can type on-screen You have to use it for a while than touch become automatic when it works.
With my touch-enabled Mac-like notebook, for some kinds of work I'll can use touch with two hands, pencil in the left and multi-finger gestures witht eright hand. That works in apps that are VERY graphics-oriented. That said, my M2-pro Mac Mini woth 4K monitor is easier to use simply because of the screen size and resolution. But the tablet-like touch computer can be used while you are on your feet.
The touch tablet works like an iPad but has the capabilities of a complete desktop PC.
If I were an industrial engineer working os assembly line automation with robots and such I'd like to have a touch-mac. so A can work while walking around and mostly standing. Touch is good if you are not at a desk and many times iPad can't work because they don't use you Mac's same apps.
Don't worry about the price, all of those professions earn enough to pay for the high-end Mac with one job.
I see no reason that a $trillion company should "Keep it at 3 tiers to keep it simple." To me your list suggests obvious room at the high end for a top end laptop:
Highest end: MacBook Ultra > Latest tech [bleeding edge].
High end: MacBook Pro (14"/16") > Fastest and most competent by a lot.
Low end: MacBook Air (13"/15") > Light and very good value.
Lowest end: MacBook Neo (13") > Most affordable but very low RAM.