Forget the New Macbook Pro, Apple Has Something Much Better
Apple’s new MacBook Pro laptops come with the latest Apple Silicon but little else. Now we know when one of the most eagerly awaited upgrades will arrive.
The M3 MacBook Air, which is expected to launch at Apple’s March 2024 event. Apart from the upgrade to the M3 chipset, no major changes are expected to the design beyond the Apple Silicon choice. One difference compared to the M2 may be in the schedule, with the 13-inch and 15-inch Air laptops launching simultaneously, as opposed to the 12-month gap with the M2 variants.
The M3 offers more potential thanks to its 3nm technology, but the laptops aren’t offering much more in terms of design.
Nikkei Asia’s Lauly Li and Cheng Ting-Fang are reporting, from multiple sources, on a new MacBook that will ship with an OLED display.
Apple’s move to an OLED laptop should offer a display with richer and more vivid colours, while blacks can be much deeper and offer higher contrast with the colours. Physically, OLED displays can be thinner and lighter and offer wider viewing angles, all areas that benefit a high-end laptop.
The biggest issue is how long it will take for an OLED display to arrive. Countless Windows laptops are available with OLED displays, yet Apple has refused to add the technology to the MacBook range. After taking over a decade to release a consumer-focused laptop with a screen larger than 13 inches, that should come as no surprise.
The recent launch of the M3-powered MacBook Pro laptops has revealed just how much of the MacBook design Apple is updating for the M3 generation. The answer is not inspiring. Beyond the obvious chip upgrade and the new deeper black finish, they still come with the LCD-based Liquid Retina XDR display, the same number of USB ports, the same SD card reader, the same 3.5mm headphone jack…
In other words, the M3 is little more than a mid-cycle processor upgrade. The real change in the design will likely come with the M4-based technology. Given the eighteen-month cycle of M1 to M2, and M2 to M3, it’s safe to assume that a 2025 launch for M4 Apple Silicon fits the tempo of the regimented Apple. A date that tallies up nicely with talk of an OLED display for Apple’s laptops.
Another question about the display is intriguing: will Apple finally add a touchscreen? The company has stayed firmly away from this user interface option in macOS, although it leans heavily into it for iPhone and iPad (for obvious reasons). Yet the mission to bring iPadOS and macOS closer together—to the point of apps for one platform running comfortably on the other—screams out for a touchscreen on the Mac. If the iPad can happily run with a keyboard and trackpad, why can’t the Mac pick up on touch?
Knowing that a new display is on the way should make any decision around upgrading an existing Apple Silicon-powered MacBook Pro or MacBook Air. Unless performance is an absolute must, the M3 portfolio only features minimal upgrades in design and options. The temptation of the OLED display and the potential for a touchscreen suggest waiting would be a smart investment.
