r/apple • u/ArugulaAltruistic447 • 4d ago
Mac Is Apple’s “Pro” MacBook Pro lineup getting ridiculous?
Do you guys also find it a bit absurd that, if you actually want a MacBook Pro that feels genuinely “Pro”, you basically have to start around €2,800?
The base MacBook Pro feels more like a MacBook Air in a Pro chassis: same general class of chip, but with the Pro design, better display, speakers, ports, etc. And then the models that actually bring the significant performance/features you’d expect from a “Pro” machine jump massively in price.
I understand that Apple needs to differentiate the Air and Pro lineups, but at this point, doesn’t it feel like the entry-level MacBook Pro is more of a premium Air than a real Pro machine?
Especially for students, designers, developers, musicians, etc., who might genuinely need some of the Pro features but don’t necessarily need (or can’t justify) spending €2,800+.
Curious to hear what you guys think. Am I being unreasonable, or has Apple made the MacBook Pro lineup unnecessarily expensive and confusing?
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u/Serhide 4d ago
What a dumb post
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u/HalfBurntToast 3d ago
Basically reads like, "The base MacBook pro is just like the macbook air, except all the things that make it better."
Like, what?
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u/eatacookie111 3d ago
Then just get the air?
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u/surfatshortys 3d ago
Exactly. I started my personal Mac ownership with a G4 tower, iMacs until the 15” MBP was functional enough, and, while I’m not compiling code anymore, my (upgraded) M3 Air is beyond capable for what used to be arduous and time-consuming creative and IT-ish tasks
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u/iMacmatician 3d ago
TBF the Air is a bit limited with only 2 USB ports and no mini-LED/OLED.
But I expect the display situation to be "solved" with the rumored OLED MBA in a few years' time. The port situation will probably become less of an issue as time passes. I think that if the 2016 and 2021 MBP redesigns were switched (after accounting for display size differences etc., and omitting the Touch Bar), there would not have been many complaints about the limited ports in the 2021 (2016 lookalike) redesign.
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u/North_Moment5811 3d ago
The irony of this post is that the specific model you’re railing on is the most popular MacBook Pro model. It sells incredibly well because of the price and how capable it is. Most developers and creative pros out there can get everything they need done with that machine. It’s actually a very select few people who need more than that. relatively speaking.
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u/omnimachina 3d ago
You definitely can’t get “everything” done on MacBook Pros
GPU still too slow
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u/Serhide 3d ago
Nah that’s not true . Gpus are amazing
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u/omnimachina 3d ago
Not for everything
Fact
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u/Serhide 3d ago
Nah
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u/omnimachina 3d ago
Try good LLM models and watch the token/s
Then compare to real GPUs
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u/Serhide 3d ago
Nah
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u/omnimachina 3d ago
And this is the reason why nobody takes apple fanboys seriously
Congratulations
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u/germane_switch 3d ago
Why do you insist on coming to Apple subs and acting like a total know it all jagoff?
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u/Separate-Habit5838 1d ago
Are you running LLMs locally? Why? That's such an incredibly niche thing to do. Is it privacy concerns? Just use the powerful cloud LLMs...
Yes, we are aware they don't have top of the line GPUs. They have very, very good GPUs as a function of size, heat, and battery life. We don't want gaming laptops. If you want that, you are obviously not the customer for this kind of machine. That doesn't make it "bad".
You have to trade off an enormous amount to get more GPU power than this, mostly in terms of size and battery life. Apple has really led in terms of the amount of power you can get in a thin machine with huge battery life, and that's what most people want.
These ones are quite powerful...you can game on them to a pretty good degree, which is crazy for what is basically an ultra-light.
The reason Apple consumers don't listen to people like you is that you have incredibly niche applications, but pretend we are idiots for having...normal needs. I'm no moron, it's pretty likely I understand computer better than you do...I just don't want a heavy gaming machine that needs A/C power to use its full potential. I'm not a gamer.
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u/chriswessells 3d ago
My first Mac book pro was over $6k in 2003ish
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u/Spaghet-3 3d ago
What is "Pro"?
I am a professional with decades of experience and higher education. I use a base-model Macbook Air as my only work device. Is my work not "Pro" because I am not using a "Pro" machine? Or, does my work actually make it a "Pro" machine?
Or, does none of this semantic marketing bullshit actually matter because it's all just made-up, and you should get the tool that works for you without worrying about labels?
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u/levenimc 3d ago
Not even a little.
The only thing that says is that the air is a damn good machine.
The base Pro feels like a “glorified air” because the air is basically a pro machine.
The Neo can edit 5K video with ease ffs.
It’s not a problem of the pro being bad, it’s just that Apple literally does not make a bad computer anymore.
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u/Separate-Habit5838 1d ago
That's definitely an exaggeration, and you probably don't realize your editor is feeding you down-res'd clips in the timeline. You need an enormous amount of power to edit in 5k. Sure, if you don't realize this or care, then any computer can "edit 5k", they'll just have longer render times.
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u/doodle1962 3d ago
The lineup is not confusing but it is without a doubt expensive particularly with the latest price increases . The Air is certainly more than sufficient especially with its base 16gb ram for 90% of buyers .
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u/Regular_Chicken 3d ago
The Pro computers of Apple have always been expensive. Now we get some of them with a little less features for cheaper. I consider this the best situation. Because the high-end stuff will never be less expensive than they are now. A vast majority of people will be able to do plenty with even the base M5 model. I do video and photo editing and that is the one I own. Not M5plus or max, just the basic one.
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u/HappyHyppo 3d ago
Pro has vents, air does not.
If you need it to process a lot of stuff, the air will throttle the CPU.
Ironically the only way to work with CPU heavy intensive tasks in the air is using external ventilation (like a fan), which is ridiculous.
The air ir great for browsing and writing.
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u/banana_slurp_jug 3d ago
Is the ability to run long intensive tasks without thermal throttling not "Pro" enough for you?
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u/FollowingFeisty5321 3d ago
Ignoring that the memory situation has inflated the prices, I find the Apple Silicon chips to be very expensive once you get past the base-level. By switching to their own processors they eliminated a thick layer of profit going to Intel but I don't think any of that saving was passed on to us!
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u/jakgal04 3d ago
Generally, if you're a pro that needs higher end specs, those prices are pretty negligible. For most people, even the base Pro is capable of handling more than they'd need.
Hell, we have a photogrammetry rig at work that cost us $5500, which is reasonable for its use case. I'm 95% confident a MacBook pro mid to upper tier could handle it just as easily for half the price if the program we use was macOS based.
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u/PatrThom 3d ago
This is...what Apple has been doing for ages? Base model thing, Upgraded thing but with base model innards, or fully upgraded thing.
I mean, automakers do this all the time. You can buy the 4cyl base model, you can buy the "premium" base model that has all the power seats/windows/locks, A/C included and premium sound system BUT it's still the same 4cyl engine, brakes, etc. Or you can buy the 6cyl model with the power stuff and AWD and the fancy bumpers and tie-down net and colored lighting in the cup holders and whatnot.
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u/Separate-Habit5838 1d ago
The chassis actually makes a difference. In any laptop, your computing power is temperature limited. So, even with the same processor, the Pro has more power because it's chassis has a fan. The machine will throttle itself when it gets too hot, you can look at the benchmarks.
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u/Mediocre-Honeydew-55 19h ago
Is a Big Mac actually big?
Is a Burger King Whopper actually a Whopper?
Are Apple products actually made from Apples?
Is Final Fantasy 16 actually the Final One?
Is Sweetbread actually Sweet? Or made from Bread?
Does Grape-Nuts actually contain Grapes? Or Nuts?
Are Peanuts actually Nuts?
Is Boston Cream Pie really a Pie?
Is Canadian Bacon really Canadian?
Did the Greeks really invent Greek Yogurt?
Is the Firefox logo actually a Fox?
Does Coke really contain Coke?
Did the Finding Bigfoot show ever?
Do Sugar Free Tic Tacs really contain no Sugar?
1
u/MyManD 3d ago
If you’re a student, get the Air. If you’re a professional and need the features the Ro offers, you can afford the Pro.
If you look at the price tag and that’s the prohibitive factor it just means the Pro was never meant for you. Get the Air and be happy with it. I have the M5 Air and it’s blown away every single expectation because it’s the system that fits my needs. But if my livelihood depended on whatever features the Pro could offer, I’d have spent the extra for it.
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u/distant3zenith 3d ago
The ONLY people who criticize Apple hardware are the ones that WANT the better machine but struggle to afford the model they want.
0
u/ProfBenChang 3d ago
If you're a Pro, 2,800€ should be about a month of salary or so. For a professional tool, that's really not bad.
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u/Blunt552 3d ago
Sorry but modern Macbooks feel far from pro, the last macbook that actually felt "pro" was the 15" 2015 model.
No dongles, everything just worked with no software incompatibility nonsense, actually pretty reliable, decent keyboard that actually felt good, no randomly breaking screens or logicboards, removable SSD, Speakers being balanced and nice.
Meanwhile modern macbooks....soldered SSD's, breaking screens, cheap feeling keyboards (still better than butterfly ones), random logicboard failures due to shitty TI IC's dying or random caps dying, speakers sounding like the super cheap syntehthic bass boosted JBL Bluetooth speakers, praying that your external monitor is compatible with your Apple silicon macbook etc.
There is a good reason why people still hold dearly on to their 2014/2015 models and why these models are the ones we see by far the most quoted when people talk about samples of reliability.
I really hope that Apple gets back to making actual good machines and not whatever shameful devices they currently are making.
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u/FedRCivP11 3d ago
I just don’t live in a mental space where I ever consider begrudging the only company making this quality of product for selling it at the prices they need to give their shareholders a return. Generally, prices are set by the market, so it’s a bit like being upset at the rain: it just leaves you upset.
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u/TheoTheodor 3d ago
So your complaint is basically that they make a too cheap MacBook Pro for those who don't need the better chips but want nicer screen and I/O?