In an article this morning, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman rehashed much of the previous rumors regarding Apple’s widely expected MacBook Pro refresh with Touch ID, AMD GPU, an OLED touch strip replacing the row of function keys and more. As per the report, these new MacBook Pros “aren’t likely” to debut alongside the new phones at the September 7 iPhone media event.
Which brings me to our question of the day: will the new machines launch in September, October or maybe even later? Let us know what you think in the comments.
First and foremost, it doesn’t make sense from a marketing standpoint to unveil two major hardware refreshes simultaneously (though Apple’s done just that in the past). In and of itself, the iPhone 7 is a big enough news to warrant a media event of its own.
Given the pent-up demand, the rumors and the fact that the next-generation MacBook Pro is apparently the most significant refresh to Apple’s professional notebook family in four years, I don’t see how the new MacBook Pro could debut alongside the iPhone 7.
Were Apple to unveil both the new phone and notebook next month, press coverage of the notebook would inevitably get drowned in a sea of iPhone 7-related news. Let’s not forget that—in most cases—Apple prefers holding two media events in the Fall: one in September, solely dedicated to a next-generation iPhone (occasionally with other hardware refreshes), and the other in October, usually for new iPads and Macs.
In September 2014, Apple launched the iPhone 6s and previewed the Apple Watch.
However, the iPad Air 2 and the 27-inch iMac with 5K Retina display debuted at another event, in October 2014. Mind you, the same “iPhones in September, Macs/iPads in October” pattern can be traced back to calendar years 2013, 2012 and 2010.
On the other hand, the September-October timeframe broke last year as Apple launched a bunch of updated hardware at a single mega-event in September—the iPhone 6s, the new Apple TV, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro—without a second event in October.
Given the 2015 release schedule, we can speculate that the new MacBook Pros might arrive alongside new iPhones come September 7. But if history is anything to go by, the refreshed notebooks (and maybe a next-generation Apple TV?) should see the light of day at a media event of their own, in October 2016.
When do you expect new MacBook Pros to be unveiled, during the iPhone 7 presentation next month or at a separate media event some time in October?