Hey, everyone, it’s Mark. Apple finally fixed the MacBook Pro after five years of fumbles. Also: The company’s new products are in short supply, thoughts on the new AirPods versus the AirPods Pro, and how the iPhone maker is stopping short of a vaccine mandate.

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The Starters

The MacBook Pro is back. 

For years, Apple Inc.’s MacBook Pro was the go-to device for creators, photographers, business users and students looking to get the most power out of their laptops.

I’ll never forget the debut of the original MacBook Pro in 2006, when Steve Jobs unveiled his first Intel-powered laptop and demonstrated the built-in video-chat camera for the first time. Nor will I forget the 2008 models with new unibody designs and revamped trackpads, nor the 2012 models with thinner frames, speedier chips and the first Mac Retina displays. 

But the 2016 MacBook Pro was absolutely forgettable. With that model, Apple disregarded its core audience for the MacBook Pro and attempted to go more mainstream. Instead of leaning in to professional users, Apple changed the definition of “pro” to anyone willing to spend top dollar for its products—even if that meant buying a device that jettisoned necessary capabilities. 

For actual pro users, the 2016 MacBook Pro was a failure. Let’s recap the ways it irked customers:

• Apple shifted to the thinner butterfly keyboard originally found in the 2015 12-inch MacBook Pro. This keyboard was quickly found to be unreliable, prone to breaks and uncomfortable. 
• The company removed the physical escape key, a must-have for programmers and other users who would normally buy a MacBook Pro.
• Apple replaced the physical function keys with the Touch Bar, which some customers found difficult to use. It was a hit to productivity and a solution without a problem.
• Apple removed key ports like the SD card slot and HDMI connector in favor of USB-C ports and clunky adapters. 
• Apple removed MagSafe magnetic charging in favor of the USB-C port, which I am sure led to quite a few MacBook Pros crashing onto the floor. 

Over the last five years, Apple slowly began to fix some of these problems of its own making. The escape key returned in 2019, and the keyboard was ultimately fixed. But this year’s new MacBook Pro goes further, finally addressing most—if not all—of users’ complaints. 

The new 2021 M1 Pro and M1 Max models truly feel like high-end products—putting them alongside the elite 2006, 2008 and 2012 versions. 

Behold all the fixes Apple made this time around:

• It embraced a better blend of form and function, letting the new models get slightly heavier and thicker (look at the photo above) to accommodate better performance and larger batteries. This is what pro users want. If they wanted the thinnest and lightest Mac available, they’d get an Air. 
• The Touch Bar is out. Instead, there are full-sized function keys for audio control, brightness, accessing search, turning on “do not disturb” and using dictation. Of course, the Touch Bar was conceived, in part, as a solution to Apple’s stubborn refusal to add touch screens to Macs. Perhaps one day Apple will add such functionality, but that could harm iPad sales. 
• The ports are back! The SD card slot and HDMI port have made their returns. The bad news: The SD slot supports outdated transfer speeds of 250 megabytes per second, about a third of newer standards. The HDMI port is also a 2.0 connector, not 2.1, meaning it misses out on higher bandwidth for improved 4K video frame rates. These are very questionable decisions, but the ports are back at least. I guess Apple needs to save something for the M2 Pro and M2 Pro Max models. 
• MagSafe is back—as “MagSafe 3”—and now we don’t have to worry about someone tripping over our cable at the coffee shop or at work. It’s about time. 

All of this represents a great step forward for Apple, which has occasionally focused too much on form and not enough on function. Now the company has started to find a better balance. The slightly thicker iPhone—with longer battery life and protruding cameras—is another perfect example. 

I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a new MacBook Pro soon and sharing more thoughts.

The Bench

Wait times for Apple’s latest (and some old) devices grow. The company is facing severe shortages of its products at the worst possible time. Want a new iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Watch? Good luck finding one. New orders from Apple’s online store won’t arrive until between late November and December. On top of that, Apple’s retail stores are light on supply. If the company doesn’t find a solution to its supply-chain problem soon, its golden holiday quarter could generate lower revenue than expected. 

The new mid-tier AirPods are a better value than the AirPods Pro. I’ll say it: I think the new third-generation AirPods are a better buy right now than the AirPods Pro. First, they’re $70 less, which is always nice. But the case also is more compact, and it doesn’t require the ear tips. And because the AirPods Pro are two years old at this point, the third-generation AirPods probably have newer audio drivers. On top of that, they boast an extra hour and a half of battery life.

One drawback of the new AirPods is they don’t have noise cancellation. But I’ve had two pairs of AirPods Pro and they both have had noise-cancellation problems (I’m not alone either—Apple has been running a program to replace faulty models). For now, I’d recommend the third-generation AirPods until Apple launches the second-generation Pros, which will potentially get a redesign next year. 

Apple still lacks a vaccine mandate, but it’s increasing employee testing. Despite typically taking a strong stance on social issues, being a government contractor (it has its own government sales channel) and employing tens of thousands of people in the U.S., Apple hasn’t committed to a full vaccine mandate. Instead, the company is testing workers more. 

But the new guidelines treat office workers and retail staff differently. Unvaccinated corporate employees will have to take a test every time they want to come into the office. Unvaccinated retail workers will need to test twice a week. And employees who are vaccinated—whether at a retail store or office—will still need to take an at-home rapid Covid test at least once per week.

Apple is implementing these new rules, which it calls a “pilot” program, because it’s firming up its plans to get all staff back into the office. The company recently set a January deadline for employees to return after delaying such plans from June and then September. 

Apple is promising that staff could work from home two days per week when the return occurs, but many employees believe that plan will be short-lived and they’ll end up having to come in four or five times a week. 

Speaking of Apple’s workforce, I’d encourage you to check out our expansive new data set on the diversity of Apple and dozens of the world’s other top companies. 

Google continues to veer away from Apple with its app store fees. For years, the Apple App Store and Google Play stores were aligned on financial terms for developers. If you sold an app, charged for a subscription or offered in-app purchases, you gave Apple or Google a 30% cut. When Apple changed the policy so that subscription fees dropped to 15% after the first year, Google followed suit.

But now Google is charting its own path. Earlier this year, it started charging all developers 15% on their first $1 million in revenue. Apple, in contrast, only offers that discount to developers who generated less than $1 million the prior year. 

This past week, Google made two additional changes: It’s cutting its subscription fee to 15% regardless of how long a user subscribes. It’s also reducing the commission imposed on major partners (media apps with 100,000 or more users) to 10%.

There’s no telling if Apple will embrace Google’s approach, but more changes seem inevitable given the recent Epic Games ruling and pressure from regulators. 

The Schedule

Tuesday, Oct. 26: The new MacBook Pro and AirPods will begin reaching consumers on this day, even if supply disruptions mean many will have to wait until November or later to get their deliveries. 

Thursday, Oct. 28: Get ready to hear from Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri. The two executives will reveal and discuss Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter results. I’ll be paying attention to how iPhone 13 sales are doing so far, their thoughts on the ongoing supply shortages, and how the company believes it will perform in the holiday quarter.

Post Game Q&A

Q: What do you think about the notch in the new MacBook Pro display?
Q: I want to buy a new MacBook Air. Should I wait?
Q: Is Apple done releasing new products for the year? Last year, there was a third event in November. 

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