Might Apple rethink how they position the MBP 13/14 and the MBP 16?

[dasjati]

I own a mid 2015 MBP 15 with integrated graphics only. Apple stopped making these and there also never was a smaller MBP with discrete graphics. Would you expect that to change in the future?

My thinking is: Apple‘s own chips are way more energy efficient. So you don’t need an enormous battery. Another side effect is that they don’t run as hot. So you might be able to use them in a smaller device.

I personally hope that the 13/14 inch and the 16 inch will be positioned more like the iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Max: They are basically the same with mostly the same options. Some features/options might still be exclusive to the bigger model. But you don’t have to pay for better graphics just because you want a bigger display. At the same time you don’t need to buy a big laptop just because you need the performance.

There are two sides to that question:

1. Is it feasible from a technological standpoint?
2. Is it something Apple wants to do?

 

[deeddawg]

Speculation follows, tread carefully...

I suspect Apple's tendency to just offer discrete GPUs in the 15+ size system has to do with real estate and cooling. Those things can kick off a bunch of heat, potentially more than they wanted to accept whatever design tradeoffs might've been necessary to put one into a 13" model.

The first question is whether there will be any discrete GPUs which will work with Apple Silicon in the near future. Maybe? I dunno. Then the question will be whether Apple's own performance would or wouldn't satisfy most of those who would've wanted a discrete GPU vs. Intel's integrated offerings. Another "I dunno".

It's already apparent that Apple is continuing the two-port / four-port bifurcation of the mobile product line - they've only transitioned the two-port macbook models to Apple Silicon. Will the four-port transition await the rumored 14/16 redesign or will there be an intermediate four-pout 13/16 pair of systems released first? (all together now: "I dunno")

Should be interesting either way.

 

[Mr.Blacky]

Disclaimer: I don't know ANYTHING and I'm pulling all of the following out of my butt.
I think, the 13" MacBook Pro will become a MacBook and we'll get a 14" and an 16" MacBook Pro, both with the same (new) chip, ProMotion display, more Thunderbolt ports and more RAM. The 16" model could have better speakers and more battery life.
Let's say:
14" display, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, 1699$
16" display, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD,
1999$. 🤔

 

[dasjati]

The first question is whether there will be any discrete GPUs which will work with Apple Silicon in the near future. Maybe? I dunno. Then the question will be whether Apple's own performance would or wouldn't satisfy most of those who would've wanted a discrete GPU vs. Intel's integrated offerings. Another "I dunno".

I am pretty sure Apple will also offer graphics performance comparable to what we have in MBP 16 and iMac 27 today. If that will be in the form of a SoC or as a separate "G1" GPU in addition to the integrated GPU in the SoC I have no idea.

 

[dasjati]

Disclaimer: I don't know ANYTHING and I'm pulling all of the following out of my butt.
I think, the 13" MacBook Pro will become a MacBook and we'll get a 14" and an 16" MacBook Pro, both with the same (new) chip, ProMotion display, more Thunderbolt ports and more RAM. The 16" model could have better speakers and more battery life.
Let's say:
14" display, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, 1699$
16" display, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD,
1999$. 🤔

Yes, that is basically my hope Although I would not be so optimistic about the specs for the 16 inch as you are

I am just wondering if people find it likely. Because of engineering constraints. Or because Apple likes to upsell people. They are pretty good at that

 

[jerryk]

Disclaimer: I don't know ANYTHING and I'm pulling all of the following out of my butt.
I think, the 13" MacBook Pro will become a MacBook and we'll get a 14" and an 16" MacBook Pro, both with the same (new) chip, ProMotion display, more Thunderbolt ports and more RAM. The 16" model could have better speakers and more battery life.
Let's say:
14" display, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, 1699$
16" display, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD,
1999$. 🤔

This is my guess also. There was always the funny upgrade with the 13" MBP to get 4 ports and the latest processor. By having a 14" with better display, thinner bezel, 4 ports, M2 processor, etc. the difference between the 13" and 14" becomes clear. And the 16" could just be a bigger display version of the same higher-end processor with higher base config for memory and drive.

I would love to dump my 13" and 16" for an as above speced 14",

 

[leman]

It is certainly possible that a 14” and a 16” will share the same hardware, running at different thermal dissipation targets (30 watts vs 60 watts for example). Or we could see an even larger CPU/GPU cluster in the 16”. Both options are possible and technically viable.

From an economic perspective, Apple would want to make as few different chips as possible, and share them between different Macs as much as possible to achieve economy of scale. But they will need at least two different systems for the smaller and the larger iMacs. I would imagine these are the systems that will make it into the smaller and larger MacBook Pros as well.