Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Desktops (Apple) Portables (Apple) Apple Hardware

Apple Announces October 30 Event With Focus On 'M3 Series MacBook Pro' (macrumors.com) 31

Apple has announced a Mac event for October 30th with the caption "Scary Fast." According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the company is expected to focus on the M3 series MacBook Pro models. MacRumors reports: Kuo's wording suggests that he is expecting multiple M3 chips rather than just a single M3 chip, hinting at the possibility of M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips. If Apple does release M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips at once, we can expect to see the new chips introduced in 13-inch, 14-inch, and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. Kuo says that he previously predicted that Apple would not likely introduce new MacBook Pro models in 2023 because of "limited 4Q 23 shipments," and if new MacBook Pros do come out in November or December, the tight supply will last until the first quarter of 2024. Kuo further says that Mac shipments have declined due to the "limited M2 computing power upgrade," which may be the reason why Apple might launch M3 MacBook Pro models with low production volume.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also says that Apple has been testing M3 Max and M3 Pro MacBook Pro models, suggesting that these machines are going to be refreshed. Gurman just last week claimed that Apple would not update the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M3 Pro and M3 Max chips until early 2024, so it seems that his predictions have since changed. That Kuo and Gurman are both now suggesting that we'll see 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models at Apple's October event comes as a surprise because much of their prior information pointed toward a 2024 refresh for these devices.

Gurman maintains that Apple will not refresh the MacBook Air models, Mac mini, Mac Studio, or Mac Pro at this time, which leaves the iMac, 13-inch MacBook Pro, 14-inch MacBook Pro, and 16-inch MacBook Pro for the October event. As Gurman has previously pointed out, these are the machines that are facing extended shipping times in Apple's online store.
You can watch the event live via Apple's website starting at 5 p.m. PT on October 30th.

Further reading: Apple To Revamp TV App in Step Toward Simplifying Video Services
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Apple Announces October 30 Event With Focus On 'M3 Series MacBook Pro'

Comments Filter:
  • one can hope for apple that they keep things simple and do not offer too many different models and options. It is the paradox of choice that has been confirmed later in experiments.
    • Re:paradox of choice (Score:4, Interesting)

      by mrfaithful ( 1212510 ) on Tuesday October 24, 2023 @08:20PM (#63951263)

      The other thing I've noticed since Tim Cook took over was that the prices for build to order specs are set abusively so that not only are they sore individually, but you are always just a *little* bit under the next upgrade, and the next, and the next. Trying to find the sweet spot of price vs. performance lands you exactly nowhere because everything is always more money than you want to spend but not quite enough machine for you to settle.

      It's the kind of pricing behaviour that gacha/lootboxes/mtx currencies perfected where they try to ensure there's never a good time to say "enough." You're always just on the brink of the next big thing. Because of this I sat fiddling with the macbook pro options for ages... and bought none of them. Then the studio... and bought none of those either.

      • by Tom ( 822 )

        Because of this I sat fiddling with the macbook pro options for ages... and bought none of them. Then the studio... and bought none of those either.

        Same here. None of the options really convinced me, for exactly the reasons you said. Either it was just a bit less than I wanted to, or way too expensive for what I wanted.

        It's come to the point where forums recommend buying the lowest internal drive and adding an external SSD.

    • Apple's model has been Base, Better, Best for the past decade+. I don't see that changing anytime soon.

      Barry Schwartz's TED Talk: The paradox of choice [ted.com] is a great video.

      • Re:paradox of choice (Score:4, Informative)

        by leonbev ( 111395 ) on Tuesday October 24, 2023 @08:57PM (#63951313) Journal

        Yep... and the "Base" model always has at least one critical hardware shortcoming that's unacceptable in a modern computer, like only having 8 GB of RAM or a 256 GB SSD in a $1,000 laptop. Those hardware specs might have been OK in 2018, but not in 2023.

        They always make the upgrade prices insanely expensive too, like charging $200 for an upgrade to 16 GB or $200 for an upgrade to 512 GB of storage. You could probably buy both of those parts on Newegg right now for under $100 if Apple products were still user upgradable... but they aren't.

    • No, it isn't. It's The Paradox of Performas, if anyone here is old enough to remember those. Apple doesn't need to learn from anybody's mistakes; they make enough of their own, and the richer they become the fewer they're allowed by the analysts.
  • I am curious how much their current strategy supports growth. I get that they have a reasonably captive replacement market, but even as a long-time Mac user I don't get what the value is today to people to get a Mac. I use my iPad Pro as my primary computer, along with a few NUCs as a desktop and headless machines. My iPad is heavily used, but Apple refused to honor the warranty on a screen crack nearly four years ago, so I will use it until its last breath as a constant reminder of how Apple treats their c

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • You sound like me 5 years ago. I had an iMac on the desk, MacBook Air in the backpack, iPad Air in the briefcase, and an iPhone in the pocket. The integration between all the devices made needing four different tools bearable, and I could do things on one device that were not practical on any of the other three. I kind of miss having the laptop right now; it is impractical to use Inkscape or SketchUp on my iPad. But the sad reality is the laptop can only run one of them today, and the migration away from x8

  • Because that's about the only thing that would get me to buy one.

  • I'm still waiting on a 27" upgraded M series iMac...and NO I don't want a 24" !!! The Apple refurbished store is full of 24" iMac M series is another reason I won't get one. So if/when we get a bigger iMac, it should be at least a M3 one !!!
  • I've bought all my Apple hardware from their refurb store for years, with no regrets. That typically saves at least 10%, even if the thing you're buying is still being sold new by Apple. Stacking a military or .edu discount gives you another 10%. Use the Apple Card and you've saved another 3%. Compounded together, a haircut of at last 21% from the price of the a machine.

No spitting on the Bus! Thank you, The Mgt.

Working...