Yesterday’s Apple keynote was all iPhone with a sprinkle of Apple Watch. That’s not all that surprising, but some were hoping Apple might squeeze in a long-rumored MacBook update with a more affordable price. Sad day for us, right?
But Apple’s laser-focus on iPhone might not be all bad news for Mac fans. What if Apple is saving a bevvy of Mac announcements for another announcement later this year? We don’t blame you for thinking that sounds outlandish. Stay with us — there’s some good reason to think a Mac-exclusive keynote is at least a possibility.
A lot of Macs are due for a big update
If you thought distinguishing between the iPhone Xs and iPhone Xr, just try and buy a MacBook in 2018.
We’ve written ad nauseum about how messy Apple’s current lineup of MacBook is. The MacBook Air sits at the bottom — ancient, but still selling well. Meanwhile, the 12-inch MacBook is priced the same as the base model MacBook Pro, which wasn’t included in the latest 2018 update. It’s a disaster.
But we know Apple has intentions of fixing this. For the better part of this year, rumors have been reaching a fever pitch about an updated, affordable MacBook. We’re hoping the MacBook Air is put to bed and the 12-inch MacBook is refreshed with updated internals and a reduced price tag.
There are a number of computers on the desktop Mac side of things that we’re waiting to hear more about, too. In a Wired article earlier this year, it was revealed that a Mac Pro is in the works, with a release window set for 2019. A report came out not long after that hinted at a Mac Mini Pro, a mini-PC that diehard Mac fans have been waiting a long time for.
Yes, the MacBook Pro has already received its 2018 update, but it was a hardware update — its design is new compared to other Macs. Other Macs, however, are due for a major update, and Apple could build a keynote announcement around them. With the poor reception of Apple’s mid-year MacBook Pro update, we can imagine Apple wants to take back control of the story surround its Mac lineup.
Will Apple update, or let them languish?
The Mac’s glory days are gone, and they probably won’t come back. Regardless of how many times we’ve complained or of how badly the laptop world needs it, the fact remains that Tim Cook has more lucrative things to worry about.
The last time a Mac received some limelight was WWDC of 2017, where the iMac Pro was announced. Before that, it was the introduction of the Touch Bar in 2016, where Apple spent a solid hour of its late-October keynote on MacBooks. It wasn’t an all-Mac affair, but it was close.
So don’t get your hopes up. A Mac-focused October event isn’t a sure bet. After all, Apple has plenty of others products waiting for updates that’ll be fighting for stagetime in a hypothetical late-October keynote. There’s the HomePod, the AirPods, the iPad Pro, and the Apple TV. That’s a lot of products to make wistful, Jony Ive-narrated videos for.
But maybe — just maybe — we’ll get a round-up of product announcements in late October that at least includes a redesigned $1,000 MacBook. If we get just that, I’ll call it good and wait patiently for 2019.
