MacBook Pro should get the Apple chip

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MacBook Air 2020 with M1 chip

Todd Haselton | CNBC

Apple will hold a launch event on Monday to announce new products, such as a redesigned MacBook Pro.

Apple has a chance to give its Macs momentum ahead of the holiday shopping season, especially as it is expected to announce more computers that run on their own chips rather than Intel processors.

Recent computers running on the company’s powerful M1 processor have “fueled” the growth of Macs, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in June. In the past three quarters ending June 2021, Apple has sold $ 26 billion in Macs, up nearly 33% from $ 19.59 billion sold in the same period last year. “In fact, the last three quarters for Mac have been the best three quarters ever,” Cook said in June.

Before the pandemic, which led to the sale of new computers, many customers and analysts feared that Apple was neglecting the Mac in favor of newer and faster-growing businesses like Apple Watch and iPhone. But Mac computers remain essential to Apple. You can only develop iPhone apps on a Mac through Apple’s Xcode software, for example, and the Mac remains a bigger business than the iPad.

Last month, Apple announced and subsequently released new iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches, leaving Apple’s Mac line as the main remaining product line that wasn’t updated this fall. The larger 16-inch MacBook Pro, Apple’s highest-end laptop, hasn’t been updated since 2019 and currently uses Intel processors instead of Apple’s new chips.

Here’s what to expect on Monday.

A completed transition

If Apple announces the new MacBook laptops on Monday, it will be the culmination of a two-year transition to completely overhaul the entire Mac range.

Since 2019, Apple has replaced Intel processors within Macs with its own processors, called M1, which offer longer battery life and allow Apple to more tightly integrate hardware and software. Apple’s chips also enable new features while still providing enough power to run demanding applications.

So far, Apple has released four different Macs using its new chips: MacBook Air, Mac Mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and redesigned 24-inch iMac.

Apple is likely to emphasize the benefits of its chip, as it did during the latest Mac launch events. Expect a new name for the M1 chip if Apple makes significant performance improvements. It might call it M1X or M2, depending on how Apple wants to market the processor enhancements.

Apple has reportedly prepared a redesign for its high-end MacBook Pros with its own chips and new ports, including space for an HDMI cable to connect the laptop to monitors and a magnetic charger, according to Bloomberg. Also in the works is an iMac with a larger screen and a Mac Mini desktop with more power, according to the report.

On Monday, Apple is also likely to provide a release date for macOS Monterey, the latest version of Mac software, which was announced in June but has not yet been officially released.

More ports

Touch bar on the 13-inch MacBook Pro 2020

Todd Haselton | CNBC

The growth of Apple’s Macs has also been driven by changes the company has made to address some long-standing consumer issues with certain products.

Between late 2017 and fiscal second quarter 2020, Apple experienced eight out of 10 quarters of flat or negative annual growth in its Mac business. Growth started to take off in 2020.

In 2015, Apple introduced a slimmer design keyboard for its laptops, often called a “butterfly keyboard”. In the years to come, the thinnest keyboard has become the standard in Apple’s laptop line.

But the keyboard has been plagued with reports that it was unreliable and that crumbs or dust could make some keys “sticky” and not register or type certain letters twice. Apple has an ongoing service program to repair malfunctioning butterfly keyboards manufactured from 2015 to 2019 free of charge. It is also facing a class action lawsuit over knowing the keyboards were defective.

During this time, the biggest new addition to Apple’s laptops was the Touch Bar, a strip of touchscreen that replaced function keys. However, many users have found it frustrating and less useful than regular keys. Software developers have never come together to create touchscreen software, and Apple’s recent MacBook Air M1 doesn’t.

At the same time, Apple has significantly reduced the number of ports on its laptops, simplifying them into some USB-C connectors. Users have complained about the need for adapters, often called dongles, to connect things like external mice and monitors to laptops, which sometimes used older USB-A connections. Apple-made dongles were expensive, often costing more than $ 20 per adapter. The company temporarily slashed its adapter prices in 2016 after users complained.

This could change on Monday. Apple’s new MacBook Pro design could include an HDMI port for connecting the laptop to external monitors or TVs, an SD card port for photographers, and a new version of its MagSafe magnetic charger, responding to many complaints from professional users, according to Bloomberg. Apple’s 2017 MacBook Air was the latest laptop with MagSafe charging, although customers liked it.

Apple has begun to reverse some of the Mac design decisions made over the past decade. The MacBook Air M1 and 13-inch MacBook Pro now have a more traditional keyboard with deeper keys. Both computers received positive reviews. Laptops still use USB-C ports for charging, but Apple’s new iMac desktop, the first redesign since 2015, has a new type of magnetic power supply.

An increase in PC sales

Apple iMac M1 2021

Todd Haselton | CNBC

Apple’s Mac business was boosted by a global surge in PC sales during the Covid-19 pandemic as schools, businesses and individuals bought new laptops and desktops to go to school or work from home.

Earlier this year, at its peak, PC sales (including Windows) had the highest year-over-year growth of the past 20 years, according to research firm Gartner. Research firm IDC said PC sales increased 55% year-over-year in the first quarter. Analysts covering the PC industry and component manufacturers said at the time that they were optimistic that there had been a permanent shift in PC sales trends.

But the pandemic-related CP surge could be drawing to a close. In the third quarter, typically a boom period due to back-to-school sales, the US PC market shrank for the first time since the first quarter of the pandemic, according to market researcher IDC.

Apple computer shipments grew 10% during the third quarter, according to IDC, but the pandemic trends that lifted all manufacturers appear to have slowed significantly. Before the pandemic, PCs were one of the slowest growing technology markets, with several years of flat growth over the past decade.

Apple hopes the shiny new Macs can counter this trend.

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