'MacBook Ultra' Coming Soon With These 12 New Features

[Lounge vibes 05]

In the 1990s, when Apple was months away from bankruptcy, Apple had a byzantine array of products at every level so complex that Steve Jobs nor anyone else could make heads or tails out of it.

Then Jobs whittled it down to high-end laptop, high-end desktop, average laptop, average desktop.

… I love how posts like this always leave out what Steve did after that.
…
Then, after he had his four product grid in 1999, a year later he… Expanded it to include a G4 cube. Then a titanium power book. Then aluminum powerbooks to accompany the titanium powerbook. Then the iPod. Then the iPod mini. Then the iPod color. Then the iPod shuffle. Then the iPod nano. Then the iPod hi-fi. And the Mac mini. And the iPhone. And the MacBook Air. And then a 13 inch aluminum MacBook to accompany the 13 inch plastic MacBook. Then the iPad. Then an 11 inch MacBook Air to accompany the 13 inch MacBook Air, which was also being sold alongside a 13 inch MacBook and a 13 inch MacBook Pro.

By the time he announced his resignation in August 2011, Apple had three different laptop lines, four different desktop lines, three different iPhones being sold at the same time, the iPad, the Apple TV, four different lines of iPods and several other bits and bobs. Not to mention the stuff he signed off on before he departed the company, an iPad mini, a cheaper iPhone that would eventually become the 5C, yeah, both of those projects were approved under Steve Jobs in early 2011.

If anything in today’s world of Apple Silicon, the Mac, iPad, and iPhone lineups are cleaner than they were even in 2011.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Yeah I think a lot of people are missing the point. It's more convenient and less fatiguing and RSI-inducing to be able to use the screen for incidental scrolling and touching. Anyone who uses an iPad Pro on a Magic Keyboard can tell you that it's still nice being able to occasionally touch the screen.

Completely agree.
I totally understand someone who doesn’t want to use the touchscreen as their primary input on a laptop, and I don’t think Apple will be marketing it as that at all.
But I don’t understand how someone literally can’t think of a single situation where just reaching out and tapping something is just that tiny bit more convenient, because it is.
The situation I usually think of is media playback, sure, it’s not necessarily that difficult to use the mouse, but if you ever just want to quickly scrub through a video, you’ve got to find the mouse, move the mouse to the area where you want to scrub, and then press down on the mouse and do the actual scrubbing. Whereas on an iPad even with the magic keyboard attached, you can just… Reach out and poke the thing to do whatever you want.
Sometimes direct manipulation of things on the screen is just easier, more convenient, or in the case of a lot of people who don’t necessarily spend much time using a PC, expected behavior because it’s what all of their other devices do.

 

[HowardEv]

What I need is a light, portable machine that is easy to carry around and integrates with my ecosystem in a transparent and seamless way.

Agree, putting a powerful computer in a laptop doesn’t work well. It gets too hot and loud and would have a bunch of cables attached, making it hard to carry around and use. We need a light portable laptop that can connects wirelessly to a powerful computer, with all the cables and heat and fans. Like a Studio or Mini, but with battery so it can be taken with the Neo if you want.

 

[Killa78]

Completely agree.
I totally understand someone who doesn’t want to use the touchscreen as their primary input on a laptop, and I don’t think Apple will be marketing it as that at all.
But I don’t understand how someone literally can’t think of a single situation where just reaching out and tapping something is just that tiny bit more convenient, because it is.
The situation I usually think of is media playback, sure, it’s not necessarily that difficult to use the mouse, but if you ever just want to quickly scrub through a video, you’ve got to find the mouse, move the mouse to the area where you want to scrub, and then press down on the mouse and do the actual scrubbing. Whereas on an iPad even with the magic keyboard attached, you can just… Reach out and poke the thing to do whatever you want.
Sometimes direct manipulation of things on the screen is just easier, more convenient, or in the case of a lot of people who don’t necessarily spend much time using a PC, expected behavior because it’s what all of their other devices do.

Yeah, no. If you feel the urge to occasionally touch the screen, buy a 13in iPad Pro. 14in vs 13in. Unless you can fold the MacBook like a 2 in 1, then it's going to look dumb. It's the sort of thing you won't be keen to do in public save you get laughed at.
Time will tell I guess. But obviously I'll pass.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I've said it before on different threads, and I will say it again: do professional (or the assumed "Ultra"-class) users typically rely on touch screen features for their work? Who actually makes heavy use of touch screens, aside from educational users, young kids and people who are "afraid" of using keyboards and mice/trackpads?

I feel like this is irrelevant, the touchscreen comes with the OLED display because it doesn’t need a separate layer, and the MacBook Pro just happens to be the computer getting that first. Likely because it’s the most expensive computer, thus the one Apple can put the most advanced technology into.
There are already rumors that the OLED display will come to the MacBook Air as early as 2028, and according to Mark Gurman, touch support will be coming to the entire Mac laptop line across the rest of the decade.
It’s just like most other features Apple introduces, start with the pro, a couple years later, bring it down to the regular, and then a couple years after that, bring it down to the economy budget model.
No different from 120 hertz, or face ID, or the dynamic island. All started on profones before being brought down to the regular sometime later.
It’s very likely that by 2030, the entire MacBook line from the lowest end Neo to the top of the line $10,000 plus spec’d out MacBook Pro will all have touchscreens, and likely all have OLED as well.
OLED, and by extension, touchscreen support, is also rumored for the 24 inch iMac as early as 2029, which also means that it probably will eventually come to the studio display. It’s clearly a feature that Apple is going to eventually have across the entire Mac lineup.


I have no idea why the original article continues to use the name MacBook ultra, it was Mark Gurman who initially used that terminology to describe it months ago, and even he has completely abandoned that terminology within the recent months. His latest several newsletters have only described this computer as an updated MacBook Pro with an OLED display and touch support. It is so clearly just the next design for the MacBook Pro, which hasn’t been redesigned in about five years. Before that, the design hadn’t been updated in five years, so it is literally right on schedule for a MacBook Pro redesign.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Yeah, no. If you feel the urge to occasionally touch the screen, buy a 13in iPad Pro. 14in vs 13in. Unless you can fold the MacBook like a 2 in 1, then it's going to look dumb. It's the sort of thing you won't be keen to do in public save you get laughed at.
Time will tell I guess. But obviously I'll pass.

Ah yes, people touching touchscreens, the biggest thing being laughed at in public these days.

Also, I was very much around for a time where this entire forum thought no one would ever wear AirPods out in public because they looked stupid, they looked like Q-tips poking out of your ears. or my favorite, people who thought no one would ever purchase a product called an iPad because it sounded too much like a feminine hygiene product. These were real complaints, real comments, real posts made by people. Probably a lot of the same people complaining about the Mac gaining a touchscreen.
I don’t think people touching their laptop screens is going to be the death of technology or socially unacceptable. After all, there have been cases that turn iPads into laptop like form factors, literally since the first generation. I remember a school I attended literally having a huge cart full of iPad 2s in keyboard cases 15 years ago. You couldn’t fold them back, they weren’t 360, they just opened like laptops, looked like laptops, and yet were controlled by the touchscreen. This was before iPadOS even had trackpad support. Literally no one thought anything of it.

 

[Marty80]

They forgot the high price and the heart attack that follows.

 

[Sippincider]

The 16" MacBook Pro already now starts at $3,000.

And is over $10,000 fully configured. Will hate to see what their definition of a new HIGH end laptop is.

 

[kurtfoster]

Can’t wait!

 

[Sami13496]

I’ve always thought of the iPad as a touch-first device and the MacBook as a keyboard-and-pointer-first device for serious productivity.

First, Apple tried to turn the iPad into a laptop by adding keyboard accessories and trackpads, even though the iPad will never fully replace a Mac. That’s what the Mac is for. Those setups always raise the same question: if you need a display, a keyboard, and a pointing device, why not just buy a Mac in the first place?

Now it seems they’re trying to turn the Mac into an iPad.

What exactly is Apple doing?

Sometimes it feels like they’ve started shipping everything users think they need because some YouTuber said so, rather than what they actually need. In other words, new toys to play with, as long as they drive more sales.

 

[Antilogical]

Knowing Apple if the finger gets closer to the screen the elements will automatically change before you actually touch the screen.

Not sure how they would pull this off without doing image segmentation and classification which requires an always-on camera, which Apple would not do.

 

[platinumaqua]

Why does this need to be a separate-but-not-really tier instead of a direct upgrade to the existing MBPs

New name to justify the higher price tag is better PR than raising the price tag of an existing product.

 

[Lurch92]

Hopefully Apple use this and the new foldable to clean up their lineup. By the sounds of the features this sounds about right.

Ultra: High end luxury goods for people who just want the most tech and the blingiest bling. Think this touchscreen MBU and the iPhone Ultra - thinner, less ports, gimmicks like touchscreen on the Mac and folding on the phone. The one that tech enthusiasts would buy.

Pro: Thicker, tougher, no frills and more ports - think the current gen MBP, Mac Studio and iPhone 17 Pro. The one professionals genuinely buy.

Air: no frills, but all the looks and quality of the pro. Less performant, and less pro features, but the one you’d tell your partner/mum to buy. Think MBA, iPad Air, Mac Mini/imac

Base: for the buyer who is stretching to buy an apple device, but wants into the ecosystem. Enough apple features to make it worth it, but worth springing for the air if you can. Educational users, grandparents, kids, casuals. MBN, iPhone SE, iPad

 

[bmot]

The touchscreen will be a similar feature disaster as the touchbar was. Elaborate but nobody using it.

 

[teh_hunterer]

The touchscreen will be a similar feature disaster as the touchbar was. Elaborate but nobody using it.

I never naturally used the touch bar a single time. I use the touch screen on my iPad on the Magic Keyboard incidentally and naturally all the time. There's no reason not to include it.

 

[bluecoast]

Like the watch ultra, the 2nd version of this sounds more compelling with a souped up npu.

 

[rembert]

Bring it on, this high priced Ultra as it may push down the Pro laptops.

I work with 27”, using my pro in clamshell mode most of the time. While on the road I don’t care much about OLED. Weight isn’t an issue, nor are bezel sizes. Finger prints on my scrren are a huge no-go area. People around me know better than to touch any of my screens.

So, what’s in this Ultra for me? Only the possibility it will push down Pro prices. People buying Ultra’s are likely going to be next year’s Apple snobs. We’ll be able to spot them at our fancy coffeeshops. Although most seem to settle for an Air or even a Neo, which does make sense.

 

[jchap]

The touchscreen will be a similar feature disaster as the touchbar was. Elaborate but nobody using it.

I wouldn't call the Touch Bar a "feature disaster". It just wasn't quite as useful of a utility for most people as it could have been. It was sort of a fancy replacement for the function keys, a way to kind of dynamically customize that row of keys. I didn't really make much use of it, aside from just assigning function keys to it as a normal keyboard would have. There might have been some people who did a bit more with it, though, like scrubbing videos during editing, selecting tools for editing images and so on.

A touch screen on a Mac would not be in the same league as the Touch Bar. Two different things. True, there are users who really don't need or want to interact with the screen via touch (including myself), but a few users here are saying that it might be nice to have the option.

 

[Skypat001]

All novelties that has been on the PC side for YEARS. Sad to see Apple always behind...

 

[Kriss_De_Valnor]

I am waiting but the Ultra pricing will be shocking...

I can always do some overtime (plenty in my job place) but my instinct of self-preservation tells me "You don't want to spend this crazy money just to buy a laptop".

 

[nickf]

Apple would do well to focus on the Neo end of the market, not the Ultra.

 

[Macusercom]

I just upgraded from my 14" M1 Pro MBP to an M5 Pro before resellers upped their prices as well. I'm really happy with it and can't justify paying even more for OLED, touchscreen and a hole punch.

€ 3000 for an M5 Pro seems okay, but now it's € 3500 and the Ultra probably won't start below 4k

 

[stewiebeamen]

Who does Apple think is buying this in the current technology economy? The 16" MacBook Pro already now starts at $3,000. What will the MacBook Ultra start at, $4,000? MacBook Pros are already expensive enough, we don't need another insanely expensive Mac.

K-shaped economy.

 

[snipr125]

I’ve always thought of the iPad as a touch-first device and the MacBook as a keyboard-and-pointer-first device for serious productivity.

First, Apple tried to turn the iPad into a laptop by adding keyboard accessories and trackpads, even though the iPad will never fully replace a Mac. That’s what the Mac is for. Those setups always raise the same question: if you need a display, a keyboard, and a pointing device, why not just buy a Mac in the first place?

Now it seems they’re trying to turn the Mac into an iPad.

What exactly is Apple doing?

Sometimes it feels like they’ve started shipping everything users think they need because some YouTuber said so, rather than what they actually need. In other words, new toys to play with, as long as they drive more sales.

They will lock Mac OS to the App Store, that is their goal and main business revenue model like with iPhones and iPads.

 

[robertosh]

I was expecting Ternus to ditch this idea, which is a complete non-sense in my opinion. Not only is not useful, it will add a lot of code and design changes to macOS only for this that will end on every mac even if they have no touch screen. I also don't see why this Ultra distinction, adding the fourth model of laptop in their line-up. Maybe is to justify the "ultra-price".