Apple’s latest delay affects the Mac Pro Promise | Jobs Vox

Updated on November 14 below. This article was originally published on November 12.

Apple’s decision to delay the launch of the “professional” 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops until 2023 has left those looking to upgrade – wait for the M2 Pro and M2 Ultra MacBooks, or take what’s on offer now. .

Update: Monday, November 14: Moving Apple’s next Mac event to 2023 has another impact on the release schedule. As Dan Moren points outThe Mac Pro won’t be released until the end of the year:

“But as 2022 rolls around, a few Intel laggards are still in the pack. The Mac mini has moved on to the M1, yes, but the higher-end Intel model is still on sale. More importantly, the company’s most powerful machine, the Mac Pro , is still nowhere to be seen, other than a vague hint at the Mac Studio announcement this spring.

Why is it important to mention this? Because of Apple’s very public promise. During the 2020 Worldwide Developers Conference, Tim Cook and his team announced the move of the macOS platform from Intel to ARM-based Apple Silicon. And it promised that all new Mac products would migrate to the new platform by the end of 2022.

While the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and iMac have been able to make the leap — and launch Mac Studio — the Mac Pro is conspicuously missing from the pack. There was no M1 variant to join the first wave of Apple’s silicon revolution. We are now in the second generation of hardware. While consumers have the MacBook Air and the inexplicable 13-inch MacBook Pro, professionals are looking forward to the expected major upgrade to the MacBook Pro and the potential of the Mac Pro.

Apple rarely offers any indication of when new products will appear. Those waiting for the final Mac are still sticking to the 2022 deadline. There may be a press release in the next few weeks and a few machines sold through the Apple Store to a select few… but the deadline is fast approaching and the Mac Pro seems set for 2023.

Apple’s smooth presentation and confident confidence around product launch timelines is consistent with the iPhone, but for the Mac platform, it falls flat because Apple refuses to offer a stable schedule that people can plan for. Is there a better way?

One thing that the delay has a positive effect on is the MacBook Air. Curiously, at the pro-focused Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in early 2020, it stands out as the current “best” MacBook laptop you can buy; This is likely to make it a bestseller throughout the festive period.

Yes, Apple has an M2-equipped MacBook Pro, but upon closer inspection, it’s little more than a MacBook Air with a cooling fan. It offers a bit more performance, but for the vast majority of users, the M2 MacBook Air will be more than enough. The M1 MacBook Air will likely continue to deliver here as well. Apple certainly thinks so, keeping the latter on sale at an entry-level price of $999.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro is for those who want the illusion of a Pro. Those who want the full power available for full development and media creation should look to the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops. Although they still use M1 technology – the M1 Pro and M1 Max chipsets are superior to the vanilla M2 currently fitted to consumer machines.

Professionals and companies looking to upgrade to their next generation will have to wait until next year before making the move. They are now caught in the dilemma of “buy now, but buy the previous generation” or “make do with what you have now and wait for the next generation”. Neither of these is an attractive answer.

One of the advantages of the iPhone production cycle is how predictable it is / the second week of September comes every year and with it comes a new iPhone. Users take this as a read and can plan accordingly.

The switch from Intel to its own silicon gives Apple more control over the design and production schedule of the entire Mac platform. It needs to be able to offer the Mac user base a regular and reliable schedule of updates… and it needs to be able to communicate that, too.

The iPhone launch schedule is boring by design and works. The Mac platform needs to adopt this attitude as quickly as possible so that consumers, professionals, and enterprise users don’t get caught up in Apple’s plans. If the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops are to be refreshed every year, then this should be widely known, clearly communicated, and part of the predictable pattern implemented by Tim Cook and his team.

But that would require an even more shocking decision from Apple. The decision to tell people about their future product plans.

Now read the latest Mac, iPhone and iPad headlines in Forbes’ weekly Apple Loop news digest…