Redesigned MacBook Pro Models May Not Ship to Customers Until Late 2021

[transpo1]

I was thinking a little teaser at WWDC, and then a release of Sept/October.

I think that would also hurt sales of existing models. Could happen, but doubtful. They'll want to ship starting late July.

 

[James Godfrey]

It’s not REALLY reminiscent of the M1 iPad Pro launch, though. It’s more like the MacPro launch where it was announced at WWDC and I THINK the first ones delivered in December. So, I could certainly believe that they still make an announcement.

Slightly changed wording of the WWDC hardware question: How many WWDC’s have seen Apple announce hardware AND have it available for immediate delivery/ordering? Adding that stipulation will definitely drop it below 50%.

But the Mac Pro is a very very very niche product with an extremely high price tag, I doubt Apple will go:

Look at these new MacBook Pro’s they have this and this and this and this, look at all these fantastic features… but for the next 6 months you will have to do with this crappy intel model for the same price. I very much doubt that.

 

[James Godfrey]

$100 !? Apple isn't adding a new hardware configuration for the price of a watch band. $200 minimum.

I said $100 as the iPad Pro only got a $100 price bump with miniLED

 

[Ethosik]

I have to wonder if these will sell out quickly like the PS5 did. If so, will I not be able to score one until 2022? I really hope not.

At least with Apple you can order is, essentially get in line, and get your product in a couple months or so. I’d love to order a graphics card and get in line.

 

[Earl Urley]

I just wish they'd push out the 14 and 16 rMBPs out now without mini-LED and offer an upgrade later.

Mini-LED screens should have lower power requirements, so they could conceivably be made with the exact same power and LVDS connectors.

Not to offend current 16-inch rMBP owners, but it's been two years without any tweaks to a laptop that boils over just by connecting a large monitor to it.

I'd buy even the lowest tier of whatever new 16-inch comes out because I'm working right this second with the lowest tier 15-inch from 2014 and I refuse to downgrade my screen size..

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I’m wondering if that is partially because Gurman is changing his stories slightly on the details. Last I checked, the G4 Cube vs a half-sized Mac Pro (2019) look nothing alike. I’m not saying Prosser is generally more accurate than Gurman, but let’s not turn a blind eye to these “leakers” changing their story and playing it off as if it were in fact the original story. It is deceitful.

Could be. I didn’t look for a page that captured how they measure. If it was me, I’d capture first mention and, if delivery is different, even if you modified in the interim, it’d still be tracked as wrong.

 

[dguisinger]

I think that would also hurt sales of existing models. Could happen, but doubtful. They'll want to ship starting late July.

What sales of existing models? WWDC 2020 and the M1 macbooks release late 2020 killed all sales except for people who absolutely needed something today and people who didn't know better

 

[canned_tuna_og]

Yuk. With this design, I throw my hands in the air. It's frustrating that a small group of the loudest noisemakers complained incessantly until Apple thought it a great idea to resurrect the zombie that was the 2006 MacBook.

 

[dguisinger]

Not to offend current 16-inch rMBP owners, but it's been two years without any tweaks to a laptop that boils over just by connecting a large monitor to it.

Mine turns into a jet engine by playing back a single YouTube video. Its got such terrible thermals.

 

[mashinhead]

At this point they might as well start announcing things for 2023

 

[AlexESP]

I would love to be able to order a replacement for this loud, egg frying machine they call a macbook pro 16 that is sitting on my desk as soon as possible, so I've still got my fingers crossed. My only hope if it isn't available soon is that this computer can last another 6 months before the CPU goes dead because I really don't trust that its not taking damage with how hot the enclosure gets all the time.

That said, an argument others have said which is announcing now and shipping next year would destroy sales: What sales? Right now, the only people buying the old MBP16 are ignorant people who don't know they should be waiting, or are people who absolutely need one today for work. I doubt the sales numbers are very high at the moment. Everyone else stopped buying the moment they saw how well the M1 was performing in lower end Macbooks. Anyone who even follows computers at this point has heard of the M1.

We’re pretty bad at giving sales estimations from our MacRumors perspective. My intuition says it’s high. A friend of mine bought a 21.5 iMac for photo editing just days before the keynote, obviously against my advice.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

But the Mac Pro is a very very very niche product with an extremely high price tag, I doubt Apple will go:

Look at these new MacBook Pro’s they have this and this and this and this, look at all these fantastic features… but for the next 6 months you will have to do with this crappy intel model for the same price. I very much doubt that.

Just saying, it’s not like announcing a Pro system at WWDC that doesn’t ship until much later in the year is completely outside expectations. It COULD be that the systems with “all the ports” may carry a price tag that makes them similarly very niche products. “We’ll build in the ports, but it’s gonna cost ya! Or, just use the cables you already bought on these Thunderbolt only systems.” We’ll know in a few days!

 

[James Godfrey]

I am pretty confident now at this point that miniLED won’t come with these models, but will likely be an optional upgrade… Apple knows not everyone will want miniLED so what’s the point in having higher price points and long wait times for what many people arn’t even bothered about getting.

And those who want miniLED can get exactly what they want at a higher price tag and longer wait time.

 

[dguisinger]

We’re pretty bad at giving sales estimations from our MacRumors perspective. My intuition says it’s high. A friend of mine bought a 21.5 iMac for photo editing just days before the keynote, obviously against my advice.

Well, 16" MBPs are mostly only popular with professionals, and are really expensive. The target market is well aware of the transition.

The iMac and MacBook Air on the other hand are sold in much larger volume to the masses

 

[James Godfrey]

Just saying, it’s not like announcing a Pro system at WWDC that doesn’t ship until much later in the year is completely outside expectations. It COULD be that the systems with “all the ports” may carry a price tag that makes them similarly very niche products. “We’ll build in the ports, but it’s gonna cost ya! Or, just use the cables you already bought on these Thunderbolt only systems.” We’ll know in a few days!

But seriously announcing a $6,000 product vs a sub $2,000 product is completely different.

MacBooks sell many units every single day, Mac Pro’s probably don’t, and apple know that, those who are buying a Mac Pro are buying it because it is a mandatory requirement at the time.

If Apple are not shipping these until late 2021, we won’t see them announced until November.

 

[James Godfrey]

What sales of existing models? WWDC 2020 and the M1 macbooks release late 2020 killed all sales except for people who absolutely needed something today and people who didn't know better

Once announced these new models are going to be listed on their site alongside the current models for 6 months.

Yes the M1 MacBooks are also listed alongside but those are entry level MacBooks so there is still a market for the higher end models.

Once these new models are advertised, the higher end models will struggle for the next 6 months.

Just seems very weird for Apple to do that to their own product line for such a prolonged period.

I think it’s safe to say MBP models shipping in July won’t come with miniLED.

 

[dguisinger]

Once announced these new models are going to be listed on their site alongside the current models for 6 months.

Yes the M1 MacBooks are also listed alongside but those are entry level MacBooks so there is still a market for the higher end models.

Once these new models are advertised, the higher end models will struggle for the next 6 months.

Just seems very weird for Apple to do that to their own product line for such a prolonged period.

I think it’s safe to say MBP models shipping in July won’t come with miniLED.

Again, i think you are vastly overestimating the sales they still have on Intel machines. A majority of the machines they sell are now already transitioned to M1. MBP16, iMac27, high-end Mini and MacPro are all low volume in comparison to MBA, MBP13, and iMac 24

The machines left with Intel are their most expensive machines. These users are more informed and are only buying if they absolutely need to.

I think they already have the Osborne Effect going on.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

But seriously announcing a $6,000 product vs a sub $2,000 product is completely different.

MacBooks sell many units every single day, Mac Pro’s probably don’t, and apple know that, those who are buying a Mac Pro are buying it because it is a mandatory requirement at the time.

If Apple are not shipping these until late 2021, we won’t see them announced until November.

MacBooks, yes. But, Apple could be targeting these particular 16 inch MacBook Pro’s for the higher end of the market starting at $2000 (and offered with, say, 32 Gigs of RAM and 1 TB SSD as a minimum). I mean, I’ve always felt that the “gradient” of performance levels we’ve seen in the past would be one of the first things to go with the switch to Apple Silicon, and port allotment would be one of the few remaining areas to differentiate on. If they decide to keep all the Thunderbolt ports plus add ports such that they’re increasing the bandwidth allowance of this system, they could be planning to charge more for folks that NEED that level of performance/port selection. And, as someone else said, it’s not like they’d be cannibalizing the low end, because low end folks (which are most of them) will continue to buy the low end systems in huge numbers. Folks that have been waiting for 16 inch and will not settle for anything BUT 16 inch would just keep waiting until the 16 inch they want comes out.

 

[StupidOpinion]

if they announce a new macbook but not release it until late 2021, wouldn't that just hinder sales of the current macbooks? if they're slow on microchips, i'd have to assume they can still announce 1 macbook and release it in about a month and then release the other one a few months later

 

[Martius]

But the Mac Pro is a very very very niche product with an extremely high price tag, I doubt Apple will go:

Look at these new MacBook Pro’s they have this and this and this and this, look at all these fantastic features… but for the next 6 months you will have to do with this crappy intel model for the same price. I very much doubt that.

Yeah, that is what I think. They did it with Mac Pro just because it didn't hurt sales of their other computers that much. Especially because the base Mac Pro is really overpriced for what you get, so the customers looking for a better value just got iMac Pro for the same amount of money.

If the launch of the new MBP is delayed to Q4 2021, they won't announce it before October.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

if they announce a new macbook but not release it until late 2021, wouldn't that just hinder sales of the current macbooks? if they're slow on microchips, i'd have to assume they can still announce 1 macbook and release it in about a month and then release the other one a few months later

I don’t think so. If a person requires ther laptop to be
Apple Silicon
16 inch
HDMI
SD

Then, you haven’t bought any of Apple’s current systems anyway. This mainly means that folks that have been waiting will continue to wait for the system they need. Those that are fine with the current Air and MBP are just going to keep buying those/upgrading from their old ones. And, remember, half of folks that buy Macs in any given year haven’t even owned a Mac before.

 

[opeter]

Not happening. I don’t see any real motive for Apple to do that. I think the new M1 has been an overall success thus far.

I was just making fun... for these who don't understand it...

 

[MikeZTM]

I wish people would pay more attention to this.
Apple already did this with the iMac back in April, update a product design while leaving in the regular LCD.
I think that’s what we are going to see here. The MacBook Pro updated with a new design and a new processor, but retain the LCD.
and then early next year, we’ll see the mini LED version of the MacBook Pro and iMac 24

mini LED iMac 24 would require a total redesign as it will be much thicker and more power hungry than the current 24inch display or it have to largely compromise on the peak and sustained brightness.

1000nits are not equal and it is related to the screen sizes. That's why ProDisplay XDR is a space heater while reaching same "nits" of an 12 inch iPad.

 

[James Godfrey]

Problem with this article is the fact that WWDC last year was nearly 2 hours long just for software.

All rumours are pointing to a summer launch of redesigned MacBook Pro’s there were many rumours of miniLED on them earlier this year but those rumours have recently seemed to dissipate (so I find it unlikely that they will release with miniLED).

So if this article is true, which I personally don’t think it is, I just don’t see the benefit of announcing new macs at a developer event, wouldn’t apple just be better off announcing the M1X chip?

Then holding a Mac event later in the year when the Macs the new chip is going in can be shipped in a timely manner, similar to how they announced the M1 at WWDC last year, then launched there first macs with M1 later on?

 

[Zdigital2015]

My prediction:

14” - LCD, good availability starting end of June
16” - mini LED, limited availability starting in September

People’s heads exploding starting in 3, 2, 1.