Quick a bit of Apple News - MacBook 12" No More? MacBook Pro Killed off?

[WelshDdraig]

Sources - Engadget
https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/09/apple-killed-the-12-inch-macbook/

https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/09/apple-macbook-air-macbook-pro-updates/

 

Spoiler

 

Okay, so the title may have been a little click-baity, however - in a sense, it's not wrong.

 

Today, Apple announced to Engadget (and other Tech News sources - most likely), that they have killed off the MacBook 12", MacBook Pro without Touch Bar and discounted the MacBook Air.
So that's a lot, let's start at number 1.

MacBook 12"

Gone, Dead, Kapoot. 
It was controversial at the time, with only 1 USB-C port and very lackluster internals - however, it set the steppings stones for Apples next generations of machines.
However, as many have pointed out (I've been thinking about this myself), but since the release of the refreshed MacBook Air, this machine made very little sense.
The MacBook Air was almost the same size, almost the same price, and while it still had very lack-luster performance, it still beat the MacBook 12".
 

Spoiler

The laptop was first introduced in 2015 and ushered in a new era of MacBook design for Apple -- it was the first to use USB-C, the first with the controversial and problematic butterfly keyboard, and the first Mac laptop without a glowing Apple logo in years. Apple has confirmed to Engadget that the 12-inch MacBook is no more.

Number 2 - The MacBook Pro
Here is the click bait I did say in the title - which however can be interpreted as true depending on your point of view since that's exactly what happened.
Apple has stopped selling the MacBook Pro without the Touch Bar while also buffing the specs of the base MacBook Pro.
It seems like Apple are finally considering what "might" be considered pro - for 4 years ago...

There is finally a Quad-Core i5 (8th Generation) and optional i7 (Quad/Hexa?)
The Touch bar has been added as standard, so no more dedicated function keys. You're getting a laptop with a T2 Chip and You're Going to like it...
However, the rest of the internals don't really change - and nor does the price.
13" MacBook Pro with 2 Thunderbolt 3 Ports & 8GB of RAM starts at $1299 ($1199 for Students).
 

Spoiler

Don't expect other overhauls, though. The Pro still starts at $1,299 ($1,199 for students) with 8GB of RAM, a 128GB SSD and two Thunderbolt 3 ports ($1,499 with a 256GB SSD), so you'll still have to pony up if you need more memory and storage. Look at it this way, though: you won't have to spend nearly as much to get a quad-core Mac laptop as you did in the past.

 

MacBook Air News.
There's not a whole lot to talk about with this one.
It's mainly just the introduction of a TrueTone display and a price cut.
The Machine now started at $1099 ($999 for students).
No hardware updates/downgrades. That's pretty much it.
 

Spoiler

The company has updated the MacBook Air and the entry 13-inch MacBook Pro with newer hardware and, in one case, a price cut. The Air now starts at an easier-to-swallow $1,099 (conveniently $999 for students) and introduces a True Tone display to the lineup. You won't find a newer processor or other spec updates, unfortunately, but there's now a clearer reason to buy the Air versus a 13-inch MacBook Pro.

 

My Thoughts?
Phew, that was a long article of combining 2 into 1.
Let's start at the top.
MacBook 12"
I'm not surprised that it has gone the way of the dinosaurs (as I mentioned in its little sub-section). It was outclassed by the MacBook Air and had no real place left in Apple's Line-up and eco-system.

MacBook Pro (Non-Touch-Bar Death)
It kind of annoys me that Apple are doing away with physical Function keys, however, I guess it could be seen as good since having the Touch Bar means AppleID, so could be more secure for individuals and businesses. Also, the increase in performance (from the processor side is nice).

MacBook Air
About time they lowered the price. It was really expensive at its launch price since it was nipping at the heals of the MacBook Pro base model, so it's a welcome surprise that Apple has done this. Plus the introduction of TureTone is not unwelcome. So, meh, but not bad Apple.


Your Thoughts? Please Leave them Down Below.

[rcmaehl]

MacBook Pro without Touch Bar

 

Isn't this one of the ones Louis recommended? If so, OOF

[Rain7]

They're making way for a new line of macbooks where you can buy the screen hinge for only $499.

[rcmaehl]

14 minutes ago, Rain7 said:

They're making way for a new line of macbooks where you can buy the screen hinge for only $499.

Beginning starts off rough but

[Sauron]

good, the macbook 12" was irredeemable trash and the macbook air was insanely overpriced even by apple standards.

[DrMacintosh]

1 hour ago, rcmaehl said:

Isn't this one of the ones Louis recommended? If so, OOF

No. Louis didn’t recommend anything post 2015. 

[BigDamn]

Wait, people still care about Apple? Wtf..

[DrMacintosh]

I would have to say that getting rid of the 12" MacBook makes a lot of sense. For its price and extremely niche target audience (mostly executives and people who just need something with a keyboard really who also have a lot of money). It just didn't have the right specs at it's price point. It was basically a netbook but priced like a Pro machine. 

 

As for the non-TouchBar MacBook Pro, that's an interesting move. The only thing that was holding Apple back before with that particular line was Intel. For the longest time there were no 8th gen chips available with Iris graphics. Without Iris graphics the 13" MacBook Pros don't have a shot in the dark at being a pro machine. IntelHD just doesn't cut it for what people expect these machines to do. 

 

It's also interesting to see that Apple made the decision to add the TouchBar, rather than keep it gone or go the route similar to the MacBook Air and give it TouchID only and keep the function keys. With the TouchBar though, these new base MacBooks gain access to the T2 chip which has HEVC encode/decode blocks, which should help propel these machines further even more thanks to those as well as optimizations made in FinalCut Pro. My biggest fear is that they soldered the SSD to the logic board because of the T2 chip. The SSD is removable on MacBook Pros that do not have the TouchBar. We will have to see when people get their hands on them and start doing teardowns. 

 

As far as the spec bump goes, it has an interesting CPU to say the least. It's a quad core that has a base clock at 1.4GHz that can turbo all the way up to 4.9. That's a pretty big range meaning this thing should have no problems lasting all day if you're just browsing the web. My first instinct is to say that these are also 15W CPUs like the models they are replacing given the limitation presented by the form factor. By choosing to keep the 2 port design, Apple is most likely reusing the motherboard and simply carved out a TouchBar into the top case. This means that they are using the same 1 fan design and the same cooler, which can only handle a 15W part. 

 

 

At the end of the day, I would say this was a great cleanup up the Mac lineup, and one that bought a little but more Pro to the MacBook Pro line. I am however, salty that my configuration of MacBook Pro is dead. I really thought that Apple would keep the no TouchBar design and simply add TouchID like they did with the MacBook Air, but I guess not. 

[elfensky]

9 hours ago, rcmaehl said:

MacBook Pro without Touch Bar

 

Isn't this one of the ones Louis recommended? If so, OOF

Louis doesn't really recommend any of the modern MacBooks, but it's still an oof given the touchbar's perchance to... freak out.

[xtroria]

Base 13 macbook pro is now an actually good value for money. It's still annoying to see apple charge ridiculous amount of money for 256GB SSD but i think most people can live off with it if they are willing to go cloud or grab an external SSD.

 

In australia alone, MBP costs as much or a little more than XPS 13, with better screen, trackpad and speaker and you get the apple customer service

[Fnige]

Dude, A family friend hated the touchbar. Can we just get digital touch function keys apple?

[maartendc]

Honestly this makes a lot of sense. I never really understood why they had the 12" Macbook device and the 13" Macbook Air in the same product lineup.They were both seemingly aimed at the same thin and light market. Since they finally revamped the Macbook Air in 2018, there was no reason for the 12" device to exist.

 

Killing the old Macbook Air without Retina display also makes a ton of sense. Who wants a low resolution and huge bezels like that in 2019?

 

The macbook Pro 13" with a quadcore for $1300 is honestly good value. It is a very well built machine, pretty powerful, pretty thin and light still, very good screen, etc.. For that money, it is totally a good value, not much more expensive than a similar specced quality windows machine like a Dell XPS 13. The only thing that is bothersome is it is limited to 8GB or RAM, but again not dissimilar from Windows machines in that range.

 

I definitely felt that Apple had too many confusing models in their lineup, and this move to simplify makes a step in the right direction.

 

 

[suicidalfranco]

Still think the 13" MBP should just become the entry point MacBook. Hey why not make the none touchbar one the MacBook?

As for the MacBook, makes sense to kill it off, it's existence made no sense other than being a worst 11" MBA.

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, suicidalfranco said:

Still think the 13" MBP should just become the entry point MacBook. Hey why not make the none touchbar one the MacBook?

There simply isn’t room in the lineup just for a MacBook anymore. 

[iamdarkyoshi]

Am I the only anti-apple person here who genuinely liked using the touchbar?

[suicidalfranco]

8 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

There simply isn’t room in the lineup just for a MacBook anymore. 

Considering what the macbook  was and what the macbook pro currently is, the 13", with or without the touchbar (preferably without), would fill that spot perfectly

[DrMacintosh]

4 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

Considering what the macbook  was and what the macbook pro currently is, the 13", with or without the touchbar (preferably without), would fill that spot perfectly

Yeah but adding another separate name, like what was going on with the 12" MacBook, all you end up doing is crowding the lineup. Having only 2 lines makes it a bit easier. 

[suicidalfranco]

30 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Yeah but adding another separate name, like what was going on with the 12" MacBook, all you end up doing is crowding the lineup. Having only 2 lines makes it a bit easier. 

It worked when the were 3 lineups, the 12" macbook  was trash and overpriced for what it offered. The Macbooks  before it were all the same as a entry mbp spec with the difference that it had a poly body.

Since poly isn't an option anymore and that the purpose of a pro line has been watered down over the years, turning the 13" into the macbook  and having the 15 and possibly 16" if rumours are true as the pro one would make sense (though 16" and 15" coexisting doesn't make sense given the marginal difference in size. they should just axe the 15 if it comes to fruition)

[bobhays]

On 7/9/2019 at 9:09 AM, DrMacintosh said:

As for the non-TouchBar MacBook Pro, that's an interesting move. The only thing that was holding Apple back before with that particular line was Intel. For the longest time there were no 8th gen chips available with Iris graphics. Without Iris graphics the 13" MacBook Pros don't have a shot in the dark at being a pro machine. IntelHD just doesn't cut it for what people expect these machines to do. 

What are people doing that needs the iris gpu and can't be done with the standard igpu? 

[DrMacintosh]

12 minutes ago, bobhays said:

What are people doing that needs the iris gpu and can't be done with the standard igpu? 

Rendering video? Accelerating 3D workloads?

[79wjd]

1 hour ago, bobhays said:

What are people doing that needs the iris gpu and can't be done with the standard igpu? 

Light gaming is a good enough reason for me. I have absolutely no interest in having a dGPU, but I do play games on my laptop occasionally. So the best iGPU I can get is a nice touch.

 

Dota 2 is a much better experience on Iris Pro 5200 (I believe this is still around UHD630 -- five years newer) than On HD4600.

[DrMacintosh]

15 minutes ago, 79wjd said:

Light gaming is a good enough reason for me. I have absolutely no interest in having a dGPU, but I do play games on my laptop occasionally. So the best iGPU I can be a nice touch.

 

Dota 2 is a much better experience on Iris Pro 5200 (I believe this is around UHD630 -- from five years later) than On HD4600.

A fair amount of games go from terrible to playable with Iris graphics. 

[abazigal]

Come to think of it, we never did get to see that face-off between LTT and TLD using his macbook for video editing.  

[Commodus]

1 hour ago, abazigal said:

Come to think of it, we never did get to see that face-off between LTT and TLD using his macbook for video editing.  

Well, one thing's for sure: the base 13-inch MacBook Pro is now a much better option for video editing than it was before.

[bobhays]

On 7/12/2019 at 5:47 PM, DrMacintosh said:

Rendering video? Accelerating 3D workloads?

But if it was for actual "pro" work wouldn't you get one with a real dGPU? I think a majority of people who buy a macbook pro would be fine with standard hd graphics, and those that aren't would go for a dGPU

 

On 7/12/2019 at 6:45 PM, 79wjd said:

Light gaming is a good enough reason for me. I have absolutely no interest in having a dGPU, but I do play games on my laptop occasionally. So the best iGPU I can get is a nice touch.

 

Dota 2 is a much better experience on Iris Pro 5200 (I believe this is still around UHD630 -- five years newer) than On HD4600.

I get that, and personally am in the same boat but they were talking about pro workloads where a dGPU would be much more useful than even iris graphics. There are people like us for whom the iris graphics are ideal but we are far from the majority and the uses cases are not "pro" workloads.