Forget The New MacBook Pro, Apple Has Something Better

While this week’s focus will be on the iPhone, with a side order of Apple Watch, the MacBook portfolio is in flux as Tim Cook and his team continue the rollout of the M2 Apple Silicon options. And if you’re looking for a new macOS laptop, Apple’s newest options may not be the best choice.

First of all, let’s consider the new MacBook Air. Powered by the second generation of Apple Silicon with its M2 chip, the new Air is shaped around Apple’s new design language for its laptops, giving it an air of modernity. The older M1 MacBook Air retained the design of the Intel-based MacBook laptops. It’s also around 20 per cent faster in terms of performance.

You have to consider if the new design is worth the extra $300. After all, if you are focusing on power, then moving to the M2 MacBook Air because of a small power upgrade is a false economy. If you want power go for the professional-grade 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro.

Of course, Apple’s faithful will likely decide the $300 upgrade for smaller bezels, and mag-safe charging is exactly what they need. For everyone else the impressive numbers of the M1 MacBook Air – which remains Apple’s entry-level $999 laptop – should be sufficient.

Apple’s consumer MacBook Pro felt like a comfort blanket in its M1 guise. With the launch of Apple Silicon the marketing team had to have at least one MacBook Pro at that first event – but it was essentially a MacBook Air with a fan to allow for more cooling and a slight increase in processor performance. Once the professional MacBook Pro models – the true MacBook Pro -arrived, the M1 MacBook Pro went from ‘here’s where the mobile power is’, to ‘we have a little more power than the Air, but not as much as the 14-inch or 16-inch Pro.’ Which left the laptop in a terrible no mans land of not enough power for power users, not enough value for money for Air users.

The M2 MacBook Pro doesn’t even have that much marketing cover. Two years and two iterations later, I still have no idea why I would recommend this model.

Finally, let’s look at the aforementioned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with the M1 Pro and M1 Max. Currently, these are the top-end macOS laptops, but with the M2 family now in the market, versions with the M2 Pro and M2 Max are going to be here sooner rather than later. With indications that these uprated larger laptops could appear in Apple’s October event, anyone looking to make a huge investment would be smart to wait to see what the offering will be – especially if performance is going to be your top consideration.

Apple has a wide range of macOS laptops available. It rightly has a number of memory and storage options (although the pricing of those is a discussion point for another time), but in terms of physical models to choose from the options are clear. The new M2 MacBook Air does not offer enough value for money over the older M1 Air, and the new M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro laptops are going to be superseded in the near future.

They may have the numbers and the looks, but Apple’s newest laptops are not the best options on offer.

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