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The MacRumors Show: Goodbye MacBook Pro? MacBook Ultra Is Coming

Carrspasty said:
Yet more clickbait guesses that are probably based on what somebody told somebody who told somebody and turns out to be nonsense. We need products from Apple not this constant drip drip drip of 3rd hand rumours !
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And yet you're here like the rest of us, reading & commenting on said rumors
 
I won’t go easy with anyone about to touch my macbook screen with a finger or pencil. Actually touching my screen means you are in real trouble.

Ultra is never going to make it for me. I’ll wait for the next Pro Max. I’m actually more than fine with the M4
Max.
 
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I really hope we do get a cellular option for the MacBooks at some point. I feel extra features like that will make the upsell more tolerable. I currently use my phone as a hotspot for the laptop but I'd love to cut the middleman out, would make things a lot easier when working outside away from any reliable Wi-Fi.

I also wonder what untapped names will come after they exhaust Ultra as the branding. How much further can we go? MacBook Pinnacle? iPhone Zenith?
 
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Putting a powerful CPU in a laptop sucks. It can’t be used as a laptop and work as a powerful computer at the same time. What we should want is to be able to put the CPU in a separate brick, with all its cords and monitors and heat and fans far away from our lap and ears, and a light cool quiet laptop that connects wirelessly to it. That’d be Ultra.
 
jgdeschamps said:
I said it before and some of you guys said "no way," but... Neo and Ultra will be the new lines, Air and Pro will be out...
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Why not both...errr... all?

These are just names for price points, and there is a huge range for price points:

"Neo < mini < Air < Studio < Pro < Ultra"

More price points== Good
 
The other day I was helping a friend with their iMac, and I instinctively started trying to move things around the screen, thinking it would respond like an iPad.
 
M-even number for power efficiency for the iPads and MacBook Airs, and maybe the low end MacBook Pro. M-odd number for Tim the Toolman Taylor levels of Power, but at the cost of fans and short battery life. Case in point:

"The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 has a default TDP of 28W, but laptop manufacturers can configure it between 15W and 54W. Under standard workloads, average power draw hovers around 20W, with short boost peaks hitting 34W to 54W."

That CPU does 80 TOPS, twice an M4. Has anyone seen the TOPS spec on an M5 yet?

I'm not sure where the Mac mini would fit unless you had two distinct versions like the M1 and M2 did. An M6 in the current case and an M7 Pro back in the M1 Mini case to provide a little more room for cooling?
 
Apple line up starts to feel like Dell's

New customers really can't understand or follow.

MacBook Neo
MacBook Air
MacBook Pro
MacBook Ultra

Air means thin and light, but only for Macs, on iPad it means prev. gen and bulky. but on iPhones it means light, but weaker as well.

I remember my mom told me she saw a deal on iPad and I asked 'which one' and she said 'iPad, ad doesn't say' and she's right. Why not selling an unnamed model of the same product to confuse even more? What is iPhone 17e?

I really hope the new CEO would start simplifying their lineups.
 
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eyalben said:
I really hope the new CEO would start simplifying their lineups.
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I really hope Ternus doesn't do this.

The "words" are just branding, they don't need to mean anything. Should Apple harmonize their branding more? Probably, but changing the branding of a successful product is super risky for minimal return.

We live in a complicated world where people have different requirements and have different budgets. The product line being more complicated means there is more consumer choice at more price points, which is a good thing.

The problem is simple: for the majority of users just getting the Neo (hopefully that branding reaches the other product lines) will be good enough. If someone needs more, they can spend more and go up the price points.

This:
- MacBook Neo
- MacBook Air
- MacBook Pro
- MacBook Ultra

is way better than:
- MacBook ">$699"
- MacBook ">$1300"
- MacBook ">$2000"
- MacBook ">$3300"
 
fenderbass146 said:
Personally I hate the Ultra moniker.
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I think Apple's naming conventions have been pretty bad over the last decade with no signs on getting better.


Apple TV, Apple TV+, and Apple TV app is a great example if Apple just being silly. Many people have no idea what an Apple TV 4K, and maybe people think they already have it, it is built in their smart tv.


I really didn't like the iPhone Pro Max, or basically the "Max" part, but it got really silly with AS, the M chips with the Pro and Max. MacBook Pro with the pro chip, M1 Max Mac Mini. Just the Mac with Max, and Pro with Pro, doesn't sound right to me.
 
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Eric_WVGG said:
I swear the first coworker to reach over and touch my screen is getting their finger broken
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Hahah 😂

I just wanted to say, you might have to poke their eyes for moving the mouse pointer with sight.

Wouldn’t be crazy to think that there are chances higher than zero that it’s related to gestures, sight pointing, thumb-index fingers tapping, etc…

Arm length screens still causes arm fatigue, the quote was “totally optimized for indirect input” (touching the screen directly with the fingers is, direct), they have tested this already with the Vision Pro and in minor extents the tapping with the Apple Watch.

So, who knows, would be an Apple like thing to do… now, do we need it? Nah, not really beyond accessibility and disability help
 
fenderbass146 said:
No way they go to Ultra and kill the pro...It's either the laptop they think will be the Ultra will keep the pro name, or there is going to be another tier above pro.
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I think this is wrong.

The only way to square the circle of all these confusing rumors is if the new MacBook Ultra branding is simply replacing the MacBook Pro branding on the two higher end models with the Pro and Max chips, leaving what we now call the entry-level MacBook Pro (with the base M-series chip) as the only one with MacBook Pro branding.

The $300-$3000 price hikes already in place, combined with the fact the there will be no M6 Pro or Max chips make this inevitable. The 14” M5 MacBook Pro already starts at $2499. There can’t be an Ultra version above it at $2999 if the only difference is the OLED touchscreen.

Changing the name of the two highest end models from Pro to Ultra makes the entire laptop lineup make WAY more sense. It’s still jumbled upon launch with the very first Ultras staying with M5 Pro and Max, but next year when both the MacBook Pro and Ultras are on M7s, and the Airs are on M6, it will make sense. Each line moves you up one in the Apple Silicon SoC hierarchy.

MacBook Neo A-series
MacBook Air M-series
MacBook Pro M-series +1
MacBook Ultra M-series Pro and Max +1
 
Vincent Hanna said:
The $300-$3000 price hikes already in place, combined with the fact the there will be no M6 Pro or Max chips make this inevitable. The 14” M5 MacBook Pro already starts at $2499. There can’t be an Ultra version above it at $2999 if the only difference is the OLED touchscreen.

Changing the name of the two highest end models from Pro to Ultra makes the entire laptop lineup make WAY more sense.
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See my spreadsheet earlier in the thread. 😛

I disagree with you, but only in so far that I think the Pro line will keep the Pro SoC.

OLED is not rumoured to be the only change. The upgrades, which I imagine will draw an ~$800 increase are rumoured to be:
- OLED Screen,
- Cellular Modem,
- Touch screen,
- notch becomes hole (OK, I think this is a meaningless change), and
- Newer Chassis.
 
The same people that buy the Iphone Pro with sub 50k salaries will love this 3-4k Laptop...assuming they can finance it over multiple years.
 
ceddy said:
The same people that buy the Iphone Pro with sub 50k salaries will love this 3-4k Laptop...assuming they can finance it over multiple years.
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wasn't too many years ago the same group was salivating over 'trendy' cars , they still may be for all I know, good call
 
DavidSchaub said:
See my spreadsheet earlier in the thread. 😛
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I see now that you beat me to the same basic idea.

DavidSchaub said:
I disagree with you, but only in so far that I think the Pro line will keep the Pro SoC.
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This is the big question, isn't it?

My reasons for the now single model MacBook Pro not having a Pro level chip, is that it simply doesn't need it. The base M6 and then M7 SoCs are going to be more than powerful enough for what were even the most demanding professional workflows just a few years ago. In the years to come, 80% of professionals (both legit and self-styled) will get all they need from the new single MacBook Pro model with "just" the base M6/M7/M8, etc.

DavidSchaub said:
OLED is not rumoured to be the only change. The upgrades, which I imagine will draw an ~$800 increase are rumoured to be:
- OLED Screen,
- Cellular Modem,
- Touch screen,
- notch becomes hole (OK, I think this is a meaningless change), and
- Newer Chassis.
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This will be initially true, but those features will all trickle down to the MacBook Pro, some of them in as little as six to nine months. Over time, the fundamental differentiator between the MacBook Pro and MacBook Ultra will be base M-series versus Pro and Max M-series.

I see it playing out like this over the next 15 months

October 2026
"Entry-level" 14" MacBook Pro gets the new M6 chip and becomes the only MacBook Pro model. Existing case and screen. Same new starting price of $1999, but with RAM, SSD and Nano-texture upgrades you can easily get it to $4,000.

The M5 Pro and M5 Max models get the redesign with OLED touchscreen and slimmer case and are rebranded as MacBook Ultras. Same higher starting price of $2499, but with RAM, SSD, cellular, and Nano-texture upgrades you can easily get it to $10,000.


April 2027
The MacBook Air gets the M6 processor at the same prices. Just the chip, no redesign.
The MacBook Neo gets the A20 Pro processor with 12GB of RAM and becomes a much better value at the same price.


June 2027 WWDC
The 14" MacBook Pro gets the AI-optimized base M7 chip AND the redesign with OLED touchscreen and slimmer case to bring it inline wth the design language of the Ultras. Apple will sell a metric bleepton of these. It's the prefect laptop for almost anyone who wants more than what the MacBook Air can offer.

The M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Ultras stay unchanged for now, and represent a poor value for the next few months.


October 2027
The Ultras are bumped to the AI-optimized M7 Pro and M7 Max at the same prices, and the true pros have their dream laptop. A new symmetry is established across all Apple's laptop lines for years to come.
 
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