Apple October event

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bendud

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#310549 31-Oct-2023 14:53

With somewhat unexpected timing Apple have refreshed their iMacs and 14/16" MBPs with M3 chips (but no other changes other than cosmetics). 3nm chips so potentially significant efficiency gains, although all the M series chips are fabulous compared to Intel chips in MacBooks.

Disappointingly no larger iMacs or Mini M3 upgrades to make a DIY M3 iMac with a big screen.

And the TouchBar appears to have finally been put out of its misery. An idea before its time, lack of haptic feedback or widespread pickup in software meant a cool idea never really got traction (although I found BetterTouch Tool was fabulous).

The shallowest me is excited to see black MacBooks again though. With black cables, chargers, and black lettering on a black background with tiny black lights behind. Very halloween appropriate!

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wellygary

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#3154080 31-Oct-2023 15:45

Plenty of grumping on line that the iMac is still shipping with Lightning keyboard/mouse,

Also almost every performance comparison was back to the M1,

Did Apple work out that very few made the jump from an M1 device to the M2, or are they just doing it make everything look faster.... :)

Handsomedan

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#3154094 31-Oct-2023 16:01

wellygary:

Also almost every performance comparison was back to the M1,

Did Apple work out that very few made the jump from an M1 device to the M2, or are they just doing it make everything look faster.... :)

I think the latter. It's very Apple to do this.

Personally, I was surprised there were no iPad Mini updates - thought that might've gotten a bump to an M chip.

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bendud

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#3154134 31-Oct-2023 17:35

I guess normal people neither know nor care about a 3nm process, they just want faster and (usually) shinier. So from a marketing perspective it will be done on speed (and battery life for the laptops). On this occasion shiny less exciting than gothic black though!

Continuing the lightning ports seems a retrograde step (although I guess the cable only goes one way, unlike USB-C: I wonder how long it will be before someone complains that the keyboard and mouse are flat because they are joined to each other by a cable?).

I suspect the iPhone markets mature into a 2-3 year update cycle for many/most people, with older devices being passed on. For Apple laptops, the cycle seems at least twice as long for many - iterative improvements are unexciting year on year but compared to the Intel MBPs out there the difference is night and day. There's plenty of people on here and elsewhere online who change annually for sure, but they are generally disappointed by the lack of radical change.... whereas my youngest son's 2013 MBP, though still entirely functional and running Sonoma, is a dog compared to an M1 machine.

Apple's iPad lineup is a bit of a mess though - it is hard to work out which model is best in which scenario. And don't mention the pencils!

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cooljoo

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#3154492 1-Nov-2023 16:10

The MacBook Pro's price hike is disappointing.

NZ$ took a beating.

Discontinued 13" M2 MBP 512GB was $2,649 | New 14" M3 MBP 512GB is $3,199

Discontinued 14" M2 Pro MBP started at $3,699 | New 14" M3 Pro starts at $3,999

Discontinued 16" M2 Pro MBP started $4,599 | New 16" M3 Pro starts at $4,799

I would have been sold if the new M3 MBP had 16GB of memory and could use two external monitors.

The best bang for buck is getting an older M1 Pro or M2 Pro MacBook Pro.

GSManiac

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#3154500 1-Nov-2023 16:55

cooljoo:

The MacBook Pro's price hike is disappointing.

NZ$ took a beating.

Discontinued 13" M2 MBP 512GB was $2,649 | New 14" M3 MBP 512GB is $3,199

Discontinued 14" M2 Pro MBP started at $3,699 | New 14" M3 Pro starts at $3,999

Discontinued 16" M2 Pro MBP started $4,599 | New 16" M3 Pro starts at $4,799

I would have been sold if the new M3 MBP had 16GB of memory and could use two external monitors.

The best bang for buck is getting an older M1 Pro or M2 Pro MacBook Pro.

there was never a 13inch MBP at $2649. That’s the price of the M2 MBAir 512gb.

The old price of the entry level MBP was $3699 and is now $3199, a price drop. You can see this on the JBHIFI website if you wanna check it out.

cooljoo

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#3155190 2-Nov-2023 22:33

There was a 13inch M2 MBP released just before the M2 MBA in mid-2022.

256GB $2,299 | 512GB $2,649

https://www.apple.com/nz/newsroom/2022/06/13-inch-macbook-pro-with-m2-available-to-order-starting-friday-june-17/

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKAPP213651231/Apple-MacBook-Pro-13-Laptop-with-M2-Chip---Space-G

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tripp

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#3155205 3-Nov-2023 06:29

The price increase is disappointing however that new space black looks really nice :P

I would be keen on getting a New 14" M3 Pro ($3999) but with how everything is looking and the cost of every day stuff the macbook air m2 will have to do for a while longer.

Handle9

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#3155598 3-Nov-2023 20:03

Handsomedan:
wellygary:

Also almost every performance comparison was back to the M1,

Did Apple work out that very few made the jump from an M1 device to the M2, or are they just doing it make everything look faster.... :)

I think the latter. It's very Apple to do this.

Personally, I was surprised there were no iPad Mini updates - thought that might've gotten a bump to an M chip.

iPad is almost abandonware at this point. Tablets are an afterthought even if the iPad is the best of them.