Mikey Campbell
Rumors of a 16-inch MacBook Pro launch continued to swirl this week, with one analyst claiming Apple plans to start manufacturing the big-screen laptop as a de facto replacement for the current 15-inch model.
In a note to investors over the weekend, IHS Markit analyst Jeff Lin said production of the as-yet-unannounced 16-inch MacBook Pro will begin in September with a target volume of 39,000 units per month, reports Forbes.
Lin in an email hinted that the introduction of a 16-inch MacBook Pro would mark an end to Apple's longstanding 15.4-inch model. The analyst specified an end-of-life in November, saying, "We think 15.4 [inch] MacBook volumes will shift to 16 [inch]," the report said.
The tentative reading of Apple's strategy was confirmed by an "OEM & panel supplier."
"I am pretty sure that MacBook 15.4" will be EOL [End-of-Life]," Lin said in a follow-up email.
Getting a good read of Apple's future plans is thought to be especially difficult for the 16-inch MacBook Pro, as the company is rumored to retain the chassis that serves as a base for the 15-inch variant. Aside from internal modifications and a larger display, the laptop could feasibly adopt an aesthetic largely similar to its 15-inch predecessor.
Beyond screen size, the 16-inch MacBook Pro is somewhat of a mystery. Rumors suggest the laptop was designed by Apple's pro product team, the same group that worked on the upcoming Mac Pro. If true, the Pro could benefit from beefy internals and custom hardware specifically designed to handle professional applications.
According to Lin, the laptop will be powered by an unreleased refresh of Intel's Coffee Lake-H mobile processor series. Apple currently relies on Coffee Lake-H silicon to power its 15-inch MacBook Pro lineup.
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35 Comments
All good with 16: but what about upgraded MBA and 13" MBP with Intel's 10nm processors ?
...please let's get back to laptops that are durable, can be 3rd party repaired and upgraded easily, and offer BTO options for those of us that don't want a $700 (as rumoured) touch bar that can only be work flowed on some mac hardware... Is 15.4" > 16" also questionable? How about a 4K 17" display to upgrade to the next commercial standard from the last HD (1080p) 17" model ?
I'd love to see something compelling in the bigger MacBook Pro line. I stepped down to a 13" last year after a long run buying the biggest, baddest MBP 15" that was available. I just couldn't see doing any real photo retouching work on any MBP, basically my Laptop has been relegated to a glorified communication and project management device, while all the production occurs on my fully loaded iMac 27". A few years back, I could easily do light-medium-duty photo retouching on a current (at the time) 15" MBP. Now I can barely open a complex Photoshop document on any MacBook Pro.
I'm very hopeful for a big change. Thought, I hope it doesn't get too big. Even though there is a compelling argument to be made that Apple has made too many compromises in pursuit of the light & thin designs, I am thankful every time I take my MBP with me to a client site of photoshoot that they are such easy travelers. I could give back a few millimeters for the sake of better performance, but I'm happy give Apple a pass on soldering chips and limiting user upgrades if it keeps the machine easily packable.
Hmm I seem to be the only one not liking this news. While I have no problems with a 16inch or larger form factor the dropping of the 15 inch is not good news. If this is the plan it's clearly a pricing strategy call to ensure they can charge a higher retail price across their laptop line. When you spec out a 13 inch it now bleeds into the 15inch model space and you are simply better off getting the 15inch from a value for money point of view. With dropping the 15 and placing in a 16inch they will clearly raise the prices (cause 16 inch not 15 now) which will just push the MacBook Pro prices up further. I've used Macs since the powerpc days and for a long time nothing on the windows side hardware wise came close to the Mac laptops. Increasingly that's just not true anymore on the hardware side, love MacOS X but with the constant price increases and dropping of hardware functionality and horrible keyboards it's increasing not stacking up for me anymore.