Despite announcing new Macs powered by its M1 chips, Apple is still selling high-end Intel-based MacBook Pro and Mac mini models alongside the new systems.
Intel-based MacBook Pro and Mac mini still on sale
The Intel-based MacBook Pro and Mac mini models are the same old models that Apple had announced before, without any new processor upgrades or price drops. These various models cost more than the new M1 models that Apple announced, and in many cases do not seem like future proof products to purchase at this stage. However, when Apple had announced its plans to transition its Mac line-up to its own custom Apple Silicon, it shared that it will be supporting and releasing Intel-based Macs for some time.
Perhaps this is the reason why Apple did not name any specific Intel processor throughout its ‘One more thing’. All the performance and battery comparisons that Apple did were against some vague ‘latest PC laptop chip’, which has raised questions by many tech analysts and critics. If we had to guess, it could be that Apple wants to maintain a good relationship with Intel for a long time, as its Apple Silicon roadmap might take some time before it can beat top tier Intel processor performance, especially the ones used in Mac Pro. However, this is all speculation on our behalf and not something that Apple has confirmed.
For now, when you go to Apple’s website to buy the new 13-inch MacBook Pro or Mac mini, you are shown the following buttons on the technical specifications pages: M1 and Intel. For the 13-inch MacBook Pro, the available Intel configurations start from $1799 and $1999, while the Intel Mac mini starts from $1099.
As mentioned above, we doubt that these Intel-based MacBook Pro and Mac mini variants are a good purchase at the moment, but we will wait for M1 Mac reviews to see how they fare against these higher-end Intel machines.
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