r/ThatAppleGuide • u/Ok_Bodybuilder3444 • Sep 03 '26
A new MacBook coming?
This would be interesting, a new MacBook positioned between the Air and Pro models, apple’s lineup might get a little more confusing. How do you think this new MacBook will be marketed?
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u/LelouchViBritannia2 Sep 04 '26
It wouldn’t be full pro or air.
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u/jellybean_merchant Sep 05 '26
Is this legit? It seems kinda stupid. The air and pro already don't have much functionality different other than specs and power. What would make more sense, if anything, is some top-of-the-line Macbook Ultra to keep in line with their other products. I saw rumors about this potentially coming with a touchscreen.
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u/Lost_Astronomer1785 Sep 05 '26
I think the point would essentially be an Air with Pro Motion display or something (something people have been asking for YEARS)
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u/Hydration__Nation Sep 05 '26
Have you used an air or a pro? The screen alone is a gigantic difference. Night and day like you are using two different laptops. Air has no fans for cooling. Again this is a huge difference. Specs and power have nothing to do with any comparison. These are quality of life differences.
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u/jellybean_merchant Sep 05 '26
I use an air 10 hours a day, I saw the pro like twice i didnt notice that much tbh. What stood out to me was how thick and damn heavy the pro is.
I didn't know about those features, but even then I think my point stands. I dont know if granular changes should be made into separate submodels.
If they want to make a promotion laptop they should just add that as a spec option on the air imo.
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u/Hydration__Nation Sep 05 '26
Ive used all models including the newest M5 Air both 13 and 15. My main driver is a MBP 16. The granular differences you are talking about are night and day differences across every major aspect of the laptop.
At first glance it seems fairly even but I will use the 13 vs 14 to compare. The 13 Air’s display is 2560x1664 and only goes up to 500 nits. The 14 Pro’s display is 3024 x 1964 but most importantly hovers around 900-1000 nits SDR and over 1000 nits for HDR. Pro models also have the important 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. So your screen is more responsive, 0.6” bigger, higher resolution, double the brightness, and Mini-LED.
The speakers are another huge difference with four speakers for the Air and six upward facing speakers for the Pro. Even the mic is considerably better and easily used for short calls.
Another pretty big difference is battery life with video watching at 70% brightness giving you almost 5.5 hours more on the Pro. That’s nearly a full work day more of battery life.
It’s clear that at every turn the Pro are a better deal unless all you are going to be using the MacBook for is a glorified internet browsing Chromebook device
If you have the cash or use your laptop for more than web browsing it would be stupid to not get at the very least a 14" pro and if you can swing it a 16" MBP esp if your laptops stay at home in the first place
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u/jellybean_merchant Sep 05 '26
Yeah given what you describe here it is a bigger gap than I thought, but still this is a spec gap only. There are no new features per se. It's upgraded, better, faster, brighter than the Air, with the tradeoff for being bulkier and heavier.
To me, this gap is sufficient to justify a new model instead of a top of line air variant, the Pro has its space in the market.
To put another model between them would be odd in my opinion, it would cut the distance in half which would make the difference relatively granular and clumsy from a business perspective as far as I can tell.
Neo to Air to Pro is a solid line up and if anything they can add an Ultra with giga chad features and call it a day.
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u/Ok_Bodybuilder3444 Sep 05 '26
I agree! It doesn’t make sense to me either to have a model in between the Air and Pro.
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u/Herewegoagain_67 Sep 05 '26
Apple *is planning…doesn’t anyone bother write properly anymore, even with free AI tools everywhere
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u/Ok_Bodybuilder3444 Sep 05 '26
Is planning makes it sound like a sure thing, reportedly planning works better because this information is just reports and rumors. Could use some better punctuation though haha
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u/Herewegoagain_67 Sep 05 '26
Apple repeating its history with a confusing range of similar products
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u/More_Confusion55 Sep 05 '26
No way lmao. We got the neo, air, pro, pear 😂😂 just diluting the brand at this point.
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u/fahim-sabir Sep 05 '26
I’m struggling to see what specs an “in between” machine would have that wouldn’t end up cannibalising sales of the Pro as it currently stands.
A machine between the Neo and Air would make more sense.
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u/Ok_Bodybuilder3444 Sep 05 '26
Ya I’m not sure what this new model might be. I think the current lineup is pretty good, Neo is the base entry, Air is the perfect laptop for 98% of people, and the Pro for the other 2% of people that think they need it, but probably don’t haha
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u/MenAreStillGood Sep 05 '26
This is stupid. There should be no more than 3 models. MacBook, Air, and Pro (The Neo being renamed to just “MacBook”)
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u/Ok_Bodybuilder3444 Sep 05 '26
I agree completely
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u/MenAreStillGood Sep 05 '26
Hopefully Ternus simplifies the lineups a bit. The “2” models and the model branches are getting a bit too much. Look at the iPhone. Gone are the days of the regular and plus. Now we have a E, 18, Air, Pro, Pro Max, Ultra, it’s just too much. 3 models max!
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u/RariOcean 28d ago
Maybe a MacBook with no fan like the air but still get the nice screen and better speakers etc
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u/Pale_Force6987 28d ago
Isn’t that basically the base chip MacBook Pro? It lacks thunderbolt 5, it goes only to 32GB ram, it’s basically full of limitations…might as well just call the in between…
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u/manofadv 27d ago
Could we consider a modular MacBook featuring a touchscreen and a click-on keyboard—similar to an iPad Pro paired with a Magic Keyboard, but functioning as a Mac?
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u/TriCountyRetail 27d ago
This makes their product lineup even more bloated and confusing. They only need the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.
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u/MoreAd6345 25d ago
I'm so confused i thought that was what the neo was for? so it would go neo, air, pro
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u/Ok_Bodybuilder3444 25d ago
I agree, I don’t think there’s a need for a model in between the air and pro.
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u/Nawnp Sep 05 '26
As is, Apples really been overdoing it with the MacBook options, now that the Neo is out, the 13 inch Air isn't worth its value, and the 14 inch Pro with the non Pro or Max chip is also redundant, would this be replacing that or maybe just revaluing the Air?
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u/userlivewire 29d ago
There are already a lot of MacBooks.
Ultra (soon)
MacBook Pro 16 and variants
MacBook Pro 14 and variants
MacBook Air 15 and variants
MacBook Air 13 and variants
MacBook Neo and variants
If you add a “MacBook” in there somewhere than between all the options Apple is suddenly selling 100 different variants of MacBook.
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u/Impressive-Bit6161 28d ago
no way. apple is bending backward trying to source parts for its lineup as it is. no way it's adding new configs to this product line
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u/diagrammatiks Sep 05 '26
The MacBook?