The MacBook Ultra’s Naming Dilemma

There’s a lot of reporting pointing to a new high-end MacBook on the horizon, as Tim Hardwick at MacRumors writes:

Reports and rumors suggest the next MacBook Pro that Apple will release might not be a MacBook Pro at all. It could actually be something altogether new and more exciting – a “MacBook Ultra” – positioned above the Pro as Apple’s top-tier laptop, suggesting that the current M5 Pro and M5 Max models will remain on sale when it launches.

The MacBook would be just the latest Apple product to carry the Ultra name, which already spans the Apple Watch Ultra and CarPlay Ultra (not forgetting Apple’s top-end Ultra-designated silicon chips). This is likely to bring a markedly higher price point for the new machines. It fits into a broader trend at Apple, where the company is seeking to offer more models at more price points, such as the new MacBook Neo at an unprecedented $599 price point.

This could be a very exciting machine. It’s rumored to come with a Dynamic Island, a thinner design,¹ M6-class processors, and of course, a touch-enabled OLED display.

Mark Gurman reported on much of this back in March:

Even with the new display, Apple won’t position the MacBook Pro as an iPad replacement — or describe its interface as a touch-first experience. Instead, the idea is to let customers use the touch input as much or as little as they’d like, and blend it with the familiar point-and-click approach.

To that end, the new MacBook Pro looks similar to the current model, including a full keyboard and large trackpad. Still, the Mac will gain a refreshed, dynamic user interface that can shift between being optimized for touch or point-and-click input, said the people.

For instance, if users touch a button or control, the interface will bring up a new type of menu surrounding their finger that provides more relevant options for touch commands. The goal is to give users the controls that make the most sense based on whether they’re touching or clicking.

The software will also display the most appropriate set of controls based on users’ prior interaction. And if a person taps an item in the menu bar at the top of the screen, the set of controls will enlarge to be more easily selectable with a finger.

I cannot wait to see (and touch!) what Apple has been up to here. However, this machine is probably going to be more expensive than the current MacBook Pro models on sale, and it’s likely the MacBook Pro as we know it today will still be around.

That could lead to confusion. Imagine walking into an Apple Store or Best Buy or Costco and being confronted with two very different machines with the same name. That may fly with some other OEMs, but not Apple. Hence, the “MacBook Ultra” idea. Giving this new machine a new suffix would help clear things up.

But that leads to problems. Surely this machine’s OLED panel and other features will roll down to other machines in the future. Would Apple keep the Ultra around then, hopefully with even newer features? Does the name imply that the Ultra is more powerful than the Pro, leaving the latter with older or lesser chips over time? Does Apple really need a fourth laptop line?

It turns out that Apple solved this 14 years ago when it rolled out a machine many of us came to love:

Apple today unveiled an all new 15-inch MacBook Pro featuring a stunning Retina display, all flash storage and quad-core processors in a radically thin and light design. Measuring a mere 0.71 inches and weighing only 4.46 pounds, the completely redesigned MacBook Pro sets a new standard in performance and portability for pro users

“The MacBook Pro with Retina display pushes the limits of performance and portability like no other notebook,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “With a gorgeous Retina display, all flash architecture and a radically thin and light design, the new MacBook Pro is the most advanced Mac we have ever built.”

The MacBook Pro with Retina display had a wordy name, but the strategy worked. Shopping for a MacBook Pro in the summer of 2012 was pretty simple:

The system continued to work into the fall when the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display rolled out:

I don’t know if Apple will look to its past to solve this problem or not. Calling this machine the “MacBook Pro with Touch” — or something better that Joz comes up with — would work long enough for every MacBook Pro to become a bit more ultra.