Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing

Poll: The MacBook Pro’s new price is too high for 97% of buyers

Luke Larsen
By

Apple finally made a MacBook Pro that feels like a pro laptop. It has the performance, display, and port selection to back up that designation, unlike recent versions of the MacBook Pro.

It also has a new price to fit. And according to a YouGov Direct poll on behalf of Digital Trends, that changes who this laptop is really for.

The new Macbook Pro being announced.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

YouGov polled 1,116 people on the highest amount of money they’d be willing to spend on a new laptop. The results shed light on where this new MacBook Pro fits into a demographic compared to the older models.

Recommended Videos

According to the poll, just 3% of people are willing to spend $2,000 or more on a laptop. The base configuration of the 14-inch model starts at $2,000, and goes up from there.

Related

Previous versions of the MacBook Pro started well below $2,000. The Intel-based 13-inch MacBook Pro started at $1,799, for example. The poll shows that 7% of people were willing to spend $1,500 to $2,000 on a new laptop.

Meanwhile, the M1 13-inch model that’s still being sold comes in at a much cheaper $1,299. The poll found that 17% of people would spend between $1,000 and $1,500.

The difference between 3% and 17% is significant, and it exposes how the change in price really makes the new MacBook Pro an entirely different product.

This new MacBook Pro, more than ever before, is actually for creative professionals, people who spend the majority of their day working in a timeline in Adobe Premiere Pro or on a 3D modeling project in Blender, for example. There are plenty of quality-of-life upgrades in these new laptops that might attract a wider audience, such as the 1080p webcam or wider selection of ports, but this laptop is really not for your average laptop buyer.

Lifestyle image of someone using the new Macbook Pro 2021.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The M1 MacBook Air fills that slot much more nicely. The performance is plenty fast, especially if most of your day involves work in a web browser and Zoom calls. Even the occasional work in Photoshop or other creative applications is handled by the fanless MacBook Air just fine. Forty-one percent of the polled people fall into the price category of the MacBook Air, especially with the college discount, which brings it down to just $899.

It should be noted that 14% of those surveyed indicated that Mac was their primary operating system. And 70% said that price was their primary concern when buying a laptop, above considerations such as speed, size, battery life, and device brand.

YouGov polled 1,116 US adults online on October 18 between 4:12 p.m. and 6:11 p.m. ET. The survey was carried out through YouGov Direct. Data is weighted by age, gender, education level, political affiliation, and ethnicity. Results are nationally representative of adults in the United States. The margin of error is 2.9% for the overall sample.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Luke Larsen
Luke Larsen
Senior Editor, Computing
Luke Larsen is the Senior editor of computing, managing all content covering laptops, monitors, PC hardware, Macs, and more.
The case for buying the M2 MacBook Air over the M3 model
The screen of the MacBook Air M2.

Apple's MacBook Air M2 recently stood at the top of our list of best laptops, and for good reason. It's incredibly well-built, exuding an elegance that few laptops can match. It's also plenty fast for productivity users, and its GPU is optimized for creators. Its keyboard, touchpad, and display are all top-notch.

Enter the MacBook Air M3, which (hint) took over the MacBook Air's place on that list. The upgraded chipset offers even faster performance, particularly in GPU-intensive apps, and the M3 model supports an additional external display (with the display closed). It's $100 more, but is that uptick in price justified? Let's dig in.
Specs and configurations

Read more
Why you should buy a MacBook Pro instead of a MacBook Air
The 14-inch MacBook Pro on a window sill.

There are plenty of reasons to buy a MacBook Air instead of a MacBook Pro. If you want a MacBook on a budget, you don't necessarily need the goodies that come with upgrading to the MacBook Pro.

That being said, I'm going to argue for spending a little more. In my experience, the MacBook Pro offers several distinct advantages that help justify a higher price, especially with the introduction of the more affordable MacBook Pro 14 with the base M3. If you can stretch your budget a bit, here's why I think you should buy a MacBook Pro instead of a MacBook Air.
Setting the stage: pricing

Read more
Which color MacBook should you buy? Here’s how to pick
The MacBook Air on a table in front of a window.

Apple’s MacBook laptops come in a range of colors, and selecting which is right for you can be a tricky business. Sure, it’s perhaps not as important as deciding which chip to pick or how much memory you should buy, but it’s still a vital part of the equation. After all, you’re going to see that color every time you reach for your MacBook. You don’t want it to be something that fills you with regret.

But how should you pick a MacBook color? And what do the colors even look like in the first place? We’ve got the answers to those questions in this guide. We’d also advise you to go to an Apple Store to take a look at the MacBook colors in person, as some can be hard to appreciate just by browsing Apple’s website.

Read more