Apple’s Shock MacBook Pro decision

Apple product launches are pivotal moments in the world of consumer electronics. They allow Tim Cook and his team to stage the stories they will tell with their products. But what happens when the story is over?

In the case of the upcoming MacBook Pro, Apple seems to shock those expecting a big launch event; by canceling the moment that could herald the final steps of the Apple Silicon origin story, by highlighting the powerful Mac Pro that joins the part and rejoicing that the MacBook Pro is once again ahead of its rivals.

Why would Apple consider canceling the launch and relegating the details to a press release? It’s a move that makes some sense. After all, the transition to ARM is over, Apple is moving to a more connected cloud, and the market is fixated on the iPhone.

First off, why has Tim Cook’s Apple featured the Mac more prominently than previous models over the past two years? Apple silicon. Apple took Intel and its less-than-metronomic Intel Core chip release schedule out of the Mac lineup and replaced it with Apple-designed silicon.

That brought everything in-house and allowed Apple to tightly integrate macOS software with the Mac platform hardware. That alone has a huge impact on performance – Intel needs to keep its design portable between manufacturers and different operating system variants; Apple has a one-to-one relationship between the chips and the operating system.

ARM’s advantages over Intel — specifically, cooler temperatures, better power consumption, and more performance than the equivalent Intel chips — meant that even the entry-level first-gen M1 MacBook Air could outperform 2020’s competition.

Those were reasons to yell about switching to Apple Silicon. That’s why there was a bold promise to move the entire platform exclusively to Apple Silicon machines by the end of 2022. And in a matter of weeks, Apple can say that mission is accomplished.

It feels like Apple already said this… at WWDC when it announced the second generation Apple Silicon M2 chipsets. While the M2 Pro and M2 Ultra for the MacBook Pro are expected with the launch of the new MacBook, there’s no need to revisit it once the team has stood up and celebrated the M2 party over the summer. The job is done, everyone knows the new paradigm, and it’s time to move on to the next thing.

And the next thing isn’t just about the Mac.

Next is Apple Continuity. This allows you to share the capabilities of your Apple hardware with each other — your iPad acts as a second screen for your iMac, your iPhone becomes a webcam for your MacBook, you can work on documents that move seamlessly between devices, and your iPhone or Use iPad as a graphic tablet, your Apple Watch acts as an unlock key for the rest of your devices…

Continuity is not about a single device; It’s all about a single cloud that doesn’t matter what device you’re using. Yes, the more devices you have, the more flexibility you have, but there’s no must for everything to work, just a “choose Apple” feel.

If there were a central device in messaging, it would be the iPhone. It’s far more iconic than any other Apple product, sells far more units, and is far more customer-centric.

The MacBook Pro, especially the 14-inch and 16-inch models, are great consumer machines. Still, they lean heavily on media creation and developer roles…the kind of roles that support the rest of the Apple lineup. Does a consumer event feel like the right place for this hardware story, or would the annual Worldwide Developer Conference be better? And if it’s the latter, there’s no need to make a big song and dance in the run-up to Christmas that has a unique focus on the Mac platform. This can be done more efficiently earlier in the year by speaking to the one audience that doesn’t need to see all of the shiny edges and boxy lines of the new design…namely the developers.

Apple’s transition from Intel to ARM is complete. The potential surrounding Apple Silicon is established. Now it’s time for the Mac platform in general, and MacBook Pro hardware in particular, to step back and return to a supporting role.

Now, read the latest Mac, iPhone and Apple Music headlines in this week’s roundup of Apple news…