Because of former sizes... and my apartment layout... I need another 15" MBPR.
When Apple makes one... I'll buy it.
But I don't want a Mac Air.
Interesting. I’m also not in the market for an Air. As I do a ton of graphic design, video editing, 3D, and after effects work, I NEED some serious cooling. An Air would throttle itself to death.
But I started my Mac journey with a 17” PowerBook G4 - the last one they made. That thing was awesome. Perfect screen size, thin and light for how much screen it has, and I didn’t even bother with a desktop.
Hopefully the low grade Air brand getting a bigger screen opens up the door for a 15” MBP as the low end and a 17” MBP on the high end once again. If Apple can squeeze the bezels down some more, the actual footprint of the machine may not need to increase by much at all.
Damn! No M3? Looks like I’ll be putting off that purchase for a whole extra year.
The way they stagger their M-series releases you may not want to do that. Would you be fine with a low-end M3 or would you rather have an M3 Pro, Max, or Ultra variant?
If this 15" MBA gets announced at WWDC it may have an M3 to help showcase the new chip. If it launches before that then I assume it'll be an M2 variant.
Damn! No M3? Looks like I’ll be putting off that purchase for a whole extra year.
The way they stagger their M-series releases you may not want to do that. Would you be fine with a low-end M3 or would you rather have an M3 Pro, Max, or Ultra variant?
If this 15" MBA gets announced at WWDC it may have an M3 to help showcase the new chip. If it launches before that then I assume it'll be an M2 variant.
I don’t think Apple would launch a major new feature like a new SoC series into a down market. Plenty of potential buyers are holding off on purchasing new computers and other technology driven devices because they’re getting hammered on other expenses related to cost of living, food, transportation, health care, job loss, etc.
It’s hard to make a big splash in a shallow pond.
The current economic situation is definitely going to result in many manufacturers of durable products stretching some of their release timelines to reduce their costs and compensate for staffing reductions. Apple may be more insulated from some of these effects because their target customers tend to be more affluent and Apple has global reach. But Apple will definitely feel an impact. This will likely affect their release timing, even if only in subtler ways compared to what some of Apple’s competitors are dealing with.
Let’s also be real here. Very few if any Apple customers are “suffering” because they are limited to only being able to purchase M1 and M2 series equipped machines. Even the base M1 from the first round of Apple Silicon products is still a stellar processor from a performance and power consumption standpoint. Plus, if you can afford to wait a “whole extra year” for the promise of something better it tells me that you probably don’t really need much beyond what you currently have. Otherwise you’d be making accommodations now to deal with your current loss of productivity, loss of business revenue, or personal disappointment that’s being impacted by shortcomings in your current Apple products.
Of course people don’t always buy things based on their actual needs. Wants and desires play a big role. I understand that once Apple releases something newer than what you already own the FOMO kicks in, as does fear of becoming obsolete (FOBO) and these dull the shine on what you already own. Apple undoubtedly feeds off these reactions. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Apple actively drives product obsolescence, but every new Apple product release plants the seeds of FOMO and FOBO in the minds of their customers. It’s more like passive obsolescence even though some Apple customers just keep trucking along happily with their older gear because Apple products tend to hold up pretty well long term.
In any case, I think we are in an economic cycle where fewer upgraders are going to succumb to the pull of FOMO/FOBO related to new product announcements and simply stick with what they already have until their situation improves or show signs of improving. If Apple releases a major upgrade in a soft market and an insufficient number of people jump on it immediately, it will be viewed in a negative light. Later on, when the hold-outs are finally ready to pull the trigger the soft market upgrade will be seen as being deeper into FOBO. That’s exactly the behavior we are seeing with people who are “Waiting another year for the M3” are exhibiting.
re: sluggish Mac sales Apple asking an additional grand to upgrade the memory to an acceptable amount and a 1TB hard drive is what turns me off from buying a new Mac. Especially when market prices for these components are a fraction of that cost.
re: sluggish Mac sales Apple asking an additional grand to upgrade the memory to an acceptable amount and a 1TB hard drive is what turns me off from buying a new Mac. Especially when market prices for these components are a fraction of that cost.
This is disingenuous. Take HP ZBook Firefly, for example. Upgrade from 8GB to 16GB RAM is $140. Apple MacBook Air is $200, for unified memory upgrade, not just RAM upgrade. Upgrade from 256GB to 1TB storage is $365. Apple MacBook Air is $400.
So we’re talking $505 (HP) versus $600 (Apple) total, and it’s not a one-to-one comparison because with Apple you get a GPU memory boost, not just CPU.
I gather you also mean 16GB isn’t an “acceptable” amount of RAM or unified memory. The HP upgrade to 32GB from 8GB RAM is $410. upgrade to 24GB from 8GB of unified memory is $400.
So, again, we’re talking $775 (HP) versus $800 (Apple) total — the additional 8GB of RAM you get with HP still doesn’t outweigh the boost in graphics performance you get with Apple’s approach.
Damn! No M3? Looks like I’ll be putting off that purchase for a whole extra year.
The way they stagger their M-series releases you may not want to do that. Would you be fine with a low-end M3 or would you rather have an M3 Pro, Max, or Ultra variant?
If this 15" MBA gets announced at WWDC it may have an M3 to help showcase the new chip. If it launches before that then I assume it'll be an M2 variant.
I don’t think Apple would launch a major new feature like a new SoC series into a down market. Plenty of potential buyers are holding off on purchasing new computers and other technology driven devices because they’re getting hammered on other expenses related to cost of living, food, transportation, health care, job loss, etc.
And that wasn't the case last year or the year before that? The M2 was announced on June 6th 2022.
If you look at the market, Apple is the one keeping the "PC" market from looking much worse. Apple is also not stopping their R&D and their development goes into multiple components and products so I have no trouble believing that Apple could announce an M3, a 15" MBA, or other HW during WWDC... just like they did last year.
re: sluggish Mac sales Apple asking an additional grand to upgrade the memory to an acceptable amount and a 1TB hard drive is what turns me off from buying a new Mac. Especially when market prices for these components are a fraction of that cost.
This is disingenuous. Take HP ZBook Firefly, for example. Upgrade from 8GB to 16GB RAM is $140. Apple MacBook Air is $200, for unified memory upgrade, not just RAM upgrade. Upgrade from 256GB to 1TB storage is $365. Apple MacBook Air is $400.
So we’re talking $505 (HP) versus $600 (Apple) total, and it’s not a one-to-one comparison because with Apple you get a GPU memory boost, not just CPU.
I gather you also mean 16GB isn’t an “acceptable” amount of RAM or unified memory. The HP upgrade to 32GB from 8GB RAM is $410. upgrade to 24GB from 8GB of unified memory is $400.
So, again, we’re talking $775 (HP) versus $800 (Apple) total — the additional 8GB of RAM you get with HP still doesn’t outweigh the boost in graphics performance you get with Apple’s approach.
re: sluggish Mac sales Apple asking an additional grand to upgrade the memory to an acceptable amount and a 1TB hard drive is what turns me off from buying a new Mac. Especially when market prices for these components are a fraction of that cost.
This is disingenuous. Take HP ZBook Firefly, for example. Upgrade from 8GB to 16GB RAM is $140. Apple MacBook Air is $200, for unified memory upgrade, not just RAM upgrade. Upgrade from 256GB to 1TB storage is $365. Apple MacBook Air is $400.
So we’re talking $505 (HP) versus $600 (Apple) total, and it’s not a one-to-one comparison because with Apple you get a GPU memory boost, not just CPU.
I gather you also mean 16GB isn’t an “acceptable” amount of RAM or unified memory. The HP upgrade to 32GB from 8GB RAM is $410. upgrade to 24GB from 8GB of unified memory is $400.
So, again, we’re talking $775 (HP) versus $800 (Apple) total — the additional 8GB of RAM you get with HP still doesn’t outweigh the boost in graphics performance you get with Apple’s approach.
What's that? I picked a 3.5" HDD and you picked an m.2 SSD? So you're saying that the type of storage makes a difference? Well to that I remind you that Macs aren't using m.2 which makes your aftermarket component sourcing as irrelevant as mine.
The Air is supposed to be small and light weight. That was the entire purpose of the Air. A 15" MacBook would be a MacBook, not a MacBook Air.
I have no doubt it will be plenty "Air-y" for a large screen Macbook and thus justify the name. Have you picked up an MBP 16" lately? The AppleCare for that model includes 5 free visits to a chiropractor.
Damn! No M3? Looks like I’ll be putting off that purchase for a whole extra year.
The way they stagger their M-series releases you may not want to do that. Would you be fine with a low-end M3 or would you rather have an M3 Pro, Max, or Ultra variant?
If this 15" MBA gets announced at WWDC it may have an M3 to help showcase the new chip. If it launches before that then I assume it'll be an M2 variant.
I don’t think Apple would launch a major new feature like a new SoC series into a down market. Plenty of potential buyers are holding off on purchasing new computers and other technology driven devices because they’re getting hammered on other expenses related to cost of living, food, transportation, health care, job loss, etc.
And that wasn't the case last year or the year before that? The M2 was announced on June 6th 2022.
If you look at the market, Apple is the one keeping the "PC" market from looking much worse. Apple is also not stopping their R&D and their development goes into multiple components and products so I have no trouble believing that Apple could announce an M3, a 15" MBA, or other HW during WWDC... just like they did last year.
I understand what you're saying from a historical perspective, assuming the same model continues irrespective of the current year's market situation being much worse than last year's market. Apple undoubtedly has a long term roadmap for new SoC generations and earmarks collections of new features and architectural improvements for each one. I'm not suggesting that Apple will totally sit out a release cycle due to soft demand. But they may delay features and architectural improvements earmarked for one release to a later release or even accelerate implementation of some features depending on the cost, effort, software alignment, time to market, or projected ROI.
I suppose it comes down to what Apple considers to be a "new version defining" update to their SoC product line versus adding an extended naming identifier like "Pro," "Max," "X," or "Ultra" to an existing version scheme. Is it fab technology, core counts, core mix, performance per watt, or some fundamental new capability? I think it's basically whatever Apple decides it will be, which is why I don't get too excited about holding off on purchase decisions. You can generally expect that a newer SoC will have some distinct advantages over a current SoC, but the advantages may not be relevant to your needs and may not be worth waiting for, especially when you don't know exactly what you are waiting for.
All I can do is buy what I know I need when I need it and option-up core things like memory and storage to hopefully provide a longer service life of the product. It's worked out pretty well for me so far if for no other reason than not feeling compelled to upgrade for at least 5 years post purchase, at least for mature products like Mac, iPad, and iPhone.
Comments
When Apple makes one... I'll buy it.
But I don't want a Mac Air.
If this 15" MBA gets announced at WWDC it may have an M3 to help showcase the new chip. If it launches before that then I assume it'll be an M2 variant.
It’s hard to make a big splash in a shallow pond.
The current economic situation is definitely going to result in many manufacturers of durable products stretching some of their release timelines to reduce their costs and compensate for staffing reductions. Apple may be more insulated from some of these effects because their target customers tend to be more affluent and Apple has global reach. But Apple will definitely feel an impact. This will likely affect their release timing, even if only in subtler ways compared to what some of Apple’s competitors are dealing with.
Let’s also be real here. Very few if any Apple customers are “suffering” because they are limited to only being able to purchase M1 and M2 series equipped machines. Even the base M1 from the first round of Apple Silicon products is still a stellar processor from a performance and power consumption standpoint. Plus, if you can afford to wait a “whole extra year” for the promise of something better it tells me that you probably don’t really need much beyond what you currently have. Otherwise you’d be making accommodations now to deal with your current loss of productivity, loss of business revenue, or personal disappointment that’s being impacted by shortcomings in your current Apple products.
Of course people don’t always buy things based on their actual needs. Wants and desires play a big role. I understand that once Apple releases something newer than what you already own the FOMO kicks in, as does fear of becoming obsolete (FOBO) and these dull the shine on what you already own. Apple undoubtedly feeds off these reactions. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Apple actively drives product obsolescence, but every new Apple product release plants the seeds of FOMO and FOBO in the minds of their customers. It’s more like passive obsolescence even though some Apple customers just keep trucking along happily with their older gear because Apple products tend to hold up pretty well long term.
In any case, I think we are in an economic cycle where fewer upgraders are going to succumb to the pull of FOMO/FOBO related to new product announcements and simply stick with what they already have until their situation improves or show signs of improving. If Apple releases a major upgrade in a soft market and an insufficient number of people jump on it immediately, it will be viewed in a negative light. Later on, when the hold-outs are finally ready to pull the trigger the soft market upgrade will be seen as being deeper into FOBO. That’s exactly the behavior we are seeing with people who are “Waiting another year for the M3” are exhibiting.
Apple asking an additional grand to upgrade the memory to an acceptable amount and a 1TB hard drive is what turns me off from buying a new Mac. Especially when market prices for these components are a fraction of that cost.
So we’re talking $505 (HP) versus $600 (Apple) total, and it’s not a one-to-one comparison because with Apple you get a GPU memory boost, not just CPU.
I gather you also mean 16GB isn’t an “acceptable” amount of RAM or unified memory. The HP upgrade to 32GB from 8GB RAM is $410. upgrade to 24GB from 8GB of unified memory is $400.
If you look at the market, Apple is the one keeping the "PC" market from looking much worse. Apple is also not stopping their R&D and their development goes into multiple components and products so I have no trouble believing that Apple could announce an M3, a 15" MBA, or other HW during WWDC... just like they did last year.
https://a.co/d/5RY4BQF
32GB RAM $80
https://a.co/d/gtRgQdg
https://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Blue-Hard-Drive/dp/B08VH8R94B/
What's that? I picked a 3.5" HDD and you picked an m.2 SSD? So you're saying that the type of storage makes a difference? Well to that I remind you that Macs aren't using m.2 which makes your aftermarket component sourcing as irrelevant as mine.