4 ms·

Damn. Will this company ever make a Mac with cellular built in

by julianozen 8mo ago

walterbell 8mo ago
When they don't have to pay a percentage of sales price as royalty to Qualcomm.
- julianozen 8mo ago
  All their iPhones run on Apple made cellular chips now
  - DonnieP 8mo ago
    They still pay a license fee to Qualcomm for the supposed Qualcomm IP in Apple's own chips.
  - raw_anon_1111 8mo ago
    Not yet. Only the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17e and I believe the new iPads.
dawnerd 8mo ago
I don't think that would be very popular considering how easy it is to hotspot to your phone. Their watches only offer cellular because they're frequently used away from a phone. I would love it though if they did, but it would probably require a data-only esim.
- julianozen 8mo ago
  They do it for iPad but yeah probably niche
- tshaddox 8mo ago
  Yeah, I'm surprised this request still comes up a lot in techie circles. 15 years ago it made sense. When I packed up and moved to San Francisco with nothing but an AirBnB for a few days, I didn't even have a smartphone, so I bought an iPad with cell data to be able to look for apartments. But these days, it's gotta be a pretty rare scenario to not have a smartphone with a data plan and at least a way to upgrade to enable tethering.
css_apologist 8mo ago
why?
- julianozen 8mo ago
  I just do a lot of remote work and I rely on my phone which drains its battery and I’d love if I could just open my laptop and work
  - zemvpferreira 8mo ago
    A 10 or 20 gram usb-c cable will literally solve this problem forever for $2.99
  - csomar 8mo ago
    Buy one of those data hotspots? Then you don’t drain your phone or your laptop; plus can connect your laptop and phone to it.
  - malshe 8mo ago
    I have to work for 3 hours in a place with no wifi and no power outlet twice weekly. I physically connect my iphone to the MBA and it works great. The phone stays charged 100% and the laptop drains maybe 20% battery in 3 hours.
  - raw_anon_1111 8mo ago
    Battery problem solved Anker 747 Power Bank (PowerCore... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089D4176K?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089D4176K?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_shar...
- bombela 8mo ago
  To everybody trying to justify apple not offering a wwan option. On Thinkpad you can add the module later. It's a simple upgrade, open up the laptop and plug in the wwan module. The Thinkpad already comes with a sim tray. Though today presumably you would use an esim. But hey you can pick a color for your macbook, so that's something. Extra rant: the hardware quality of modern MacBook is fantastic. The keyboard sucks. The reflective screen sucks. The number of ports is ridiculously small. Soldered ssd and ram etc etc. Fantastic battery life. My thinkpad is a turd in comparison. But at least it doesn't bend when dropped. MacOS is horrible, Linux is the only thing I want. Sleep on modern PC is broken by design. A MacBook sleeping loses 1% of battery per day. A thinkpad loses 100%. Why can't we have nice things god dammit.
zitterbewegung 8mo ago
All of the rumors pointed that this time in the refresh cycle is a spec bump and if they ever were going to make a Mac with cellular it would be the end of the year with the Macbook Pro redesign.
- smith7018 8mo ago
  Yeah, the rumor mill says the redesign will feature their C1X/C2(?) modem for the first time.
nicoburns 8mo ago
The rumours are that this is coming later this year with the M6 generation (along with OLED touch screens).
- khazhoux 8mo ago
  I don’t think we’re getting those this year, now that M5 MBP just launched
  - nicoburns 8mo ago
    Maybe not, but the rumours have been exactly that (6 month refresh cycle).
NoLinkToMe 8mo ago
Yeah not sure if it's so necessary. Everyone carries their phone. Power users (i.e. nomads who need connectivity in many different places) have lots of unlimited data plans available that are modestly priced (I've travelled asia the last few months and used e-sims for like $10 a month in each country). And that's a niche group, but even they have their phone as a hotspot. Downside is that it burns battery, but if you're sitting somewhere for any length of time that battery would matter, just plugging-in basically resolves that. The vast majority of us are either at home, work, friends/family or a rotating set of a few local cafe's, all of which are in our wifi auto-connect list, and have their phone hotspot for the rare occasion there is no wifi. Then for the powerusers you could just buy a mobile hotspot device as well, basically what your phone does but it's just connectivity + battery. It's not as cheap a part as you'd think, estimates range between $100 and $300 extra per laptop, even though it seems like a niche thing for which alternatives at lower/similar price points (phone/dedicated device) already exist. So I'm not sure we're going to see it anytime soon. Maybe with Apple making its own modems now it'll happen in a few years. Previously it'd just make for a more expensive device for something few users need (and shipping cheap devices to everyone is a priority with their service business of $100b in 2025, more than Tesla with a market cap of 1 trillion)
- elxr 8mo ago
  > The vast majority of us are either at home, work, friends/family or a rotating set of a few local cafe's, all of which are in our wifi auto-connect list, and have their phone hotspot for the rare occasion there is no wifi. So the minority that goes further than that doesn't matter? Also "rare occasion there is no wifi" is a very city-centric view, and a bit out of touch. We're talking about a trillion dollar hardware company here, asked to add a tiny modem to a laptop. It's a dead simple change. If I was in the position to buy a premium laptop, work on the go a lot, and enjoy being in nature, I'd 100% want cellular in my laptop. There's zero downsides for someone like that.
  - NoLinkToMe 8mo ago
    Not saying a minority of users doesn't matter, just saying it's bad business to increase the price of an entry-level laptop by $200 for a minority user who has alternative solutions that are free or cheap. Apple traditionally keeps a simple line-up of 3 or 4 models per product category. And each product has limited simple upgrade options consisting of normal vs expanded ram/storage/cpu. Could they technically create 300 models with every permutation? From cellular, to touch-screen laptop, oled/led screen, different ports, battery sizes etc. Sure, but they'd be confusing their customers with a complicated product offering and adding complexity in their supply chain hurting their margins, to pursue ever smaller niches that don't improve their bottom line, while competing with small niche brands that already cater to this demand. And what's the point? You have cellular on your phone and a $3 usb cable plugs it into electricity, meaning you already have cellular for your laptop. You can buy dedicated cellular hotspots the size of a Airpods case that you can throw into any bag, jean or or jacket pocket. Now if a cellular modem was a $1 part, sure, throw it in there. But it's not, again if you look at industry prices it adds between $100 and $300 to the retail price. A $200 price bump makes sense for a common need, not for a niche use for an entry-level laptop model, in fact raising the price of an entry-level laptop by $200 is absolutely nuts for a minority use. Niche users can plug in their phone or buy a dedicated hotspot. You say I have a city-centric view, sorry but I don't know if you're not familiar with the typical macbook air buyer. Southpark did a satirical episode about them and it's not far from the truth. Macbook Pro would be a different story, but this thread is about the air. I do think they'll introduce it in the next 2 years because Apple started to build its own modems. Previously they'd basically increase their entry-level product by a lot just to offload the majority of that price increase as revenue for Qualcomm, it was an entirely bad business decision and no surprise they didn't take it.
4fterd4rk 8mo ago
Because of the integration between the iPhone and the Mac it is extremely easy to tether your Mac to your phone. Like three clicks easy. Why would anyone want to pay for another data plan?
- Marsymars 8mo ago
  Well, I don't have an iPhone, so that particular premise doesn't apply.
headcanon 8mo ago
Yeah that would be nice. My thinking is that they don't want to cannibalize ipad sales.
kylehotchkiss 8mo ago
Agreed. That's my upgrade cue. Cellular iPad changed me. Mobile hotspot is clunky and unreliable still. I don't see that changing in the next 5-10 years.
BirAdam 8mo ago
No. Apple needs reasons for the iPad to exist.
cdcarter 8mo ago
Even a PCMCIA slot would help! ;)
a456463 8mo ago
I see the need for cellular built in. But apple is cash cow machine. All they will do is make more cash cows

Damn. Will this company ever make a Mac with cellular built in

walterbell 8mo ago

When they don't have to pay a percentage of sales price as royalty to Qualcomm.

julianozen 8mo ago
All their iPhones run on Apple made cellular chips now
- DonnieP 8mo ago
  They still pay a license fee to Qualcomm for the supposed Qualcomm IP in Apple's own chips.
- raw_anon_1111 8mo ago
  Not yet. Only the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17e and I believe the new iPads.

dawnerd 8mo ago

I don't think that would be very popular considering how easy it is to hotspot to your phone. Their watches only offer cellular because they're frequently used away from a phone. I would love it though if they did, but it would probably require a data-only esim.

julianozen 8mo ago
They do it for iPad but yeah probably niche
tshaddox 8mo ago
Yeah, I'm surprised this request still comes up a lot in techie circles. 15 years ago it made sense. When I packed up and moved to San Francisco with nothing but an AirBnB for a few days, I didn't even have a smartphone, so I bought an iPad with cell data to be able to look for apartments. But these days, it's gotta be a pretty rare scenario to not have a smartphone with a data plan and at least a way to upgrade to enable tethering.

css_apologist 8mo ago

why?

julianozen 8mo ago
I just do a lot of remote work and I rely on my phone which drains its battery and I’d love if I could just open my laptop and work
- zemvpferreira 8mo ago
  A 10 or 20 gram usb-c cable will literally solve this problem forever for $2.99
- csomar 8mo ago
  Buy one of those data hotspots? Then you don’t drain your phone or your laptop; plus can connect your laptop and phone to it.
- malshe 8mo ago
  I have to work for 3 hours in a place with no wifi and no power outlet twice weekly. I physically connect my iphone to the MBA and it works great. The phone stays charged 100% and the laptop drains maybe 20% battery in 3 hours.
- raw_anon_1111 8mo ago
  Battery problem solved Anker 747 Power Bank (PowerCore... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089D4176K?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089D4176K?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_shar...
bombela 8mo ago
To everybody trying to justify apple not offering a wwan option. On Thinkpad you can add the module later. It's a simple upgrade, open up the laptop and plug in the wwan module. The Thinkpad already comes with a sim tray. Though today presumably you would use an esim. But hey you can pick a color for your macbook, so that's something. Extra rant: the hardware quality of modern MacBook is fantastic. The keyboard sucks. The reflective screen sucks. The number of ports is ridiculously small. Soldered ssd and ram etc etc. Fantastic battery life. My thinkpad is a turd in comparison. But at least it doesn't bend when dropped. MacOS is horrible, Linux is the only thing I want. Sleep on modern PC is broken by design. A MacBook sleeping loses 1% of battery per day. A thinkpad loses 100%. Why can't we have nice things god dammit.

zitterbewegung 8mo ago

All of the rumors pointed that this time in the refresh cycle is a spec bump and if they ever were going to make a Mac with cellular it would be the end of the year with the Macbook Pro redesign.

smith7018 8mo ago
Yeah, the rumor mill says the redesign will feature their C1X/C2(?) modem for the first time.

nicoburns 8mo ago

The rumours are that this is coming later this year with the M6 generation (along with OLED touch screens).

khazhoux 8mo ago
I don’t think we’re getting those this year, now that M5 MBP just launched
- nicoburns 8mo ago
  Maybe not, but the rumours have been exactly that (6 month refresh cycle).

NoLinkToMe 8mo ago

Yeah not sure if it's so necessary. Everyone carries their phone. Power users (i.e. nomads who need connectivity in many different places) have lots of unlimited data plans available that are modestly priced (I've travelled asia the last few months and used e-sims for like $10 a month in each country). And that's a niche group, but even they have their phone as a hotspot. Downside is that it burns battery, but if you're sitting somewhere for any length of time that battery would matter, just plugging-in basically resolves that. The vast majority of us are either at home, work, friends/family or a rotating set of a few local cafe's, all of which are in our wifi auto-connect list, and have their phone hotspot for the rare occasion there is no wifi. Then for the powerusers you could just buy a mobile hotspot device as well, basically what your phone does but it's just connectivity + battery. It's not as cheap a part as you'd think, estimates range between $100 and $300 extra per laptop, even though it seems like a niche thing for which alternatives at lower/similar price points (phone/dedicated device) already exist. So I'm not sure we're going to see it anytime soon. Maybe with Apple making its own modems now it'll happen in a few years. Previously it'd just make for a more expensive device for something few users need (and shipping cheap devices to everyone is a priority with their service business of $100b in 2025, more than Tesla with a market cap of 1 trillion)

elxr 8mo ago
> The vast majority of us are either at home, work, friends/family or a rotating set of a few local cafe's, all of which are in our wifi auto-connect list, and have their phone hotspot for the rare occasion there is no wifi. So the minority that goes further than that doesn't matter? Also "rare occasion there is no wifi" is a very city-centric view, and a bit out of touch. We're talking about a trillion dollar hardware company here, asked to add a tiny modem to a laptop. It's a dead simple change. If I was in the position to buy a premium laptop, work on the go a lot, and enjoy being in nature, I'd 100% want cellular in my laptop. There's zero downsides for someone like that.
- NoLinkToMe 8mo ago
  Not saying a minority of users doesn't matter, just saying it's bad business to increase the price of an entry-level laptop by $200 for a minority user who has alternative solutions that are free or cheap. Apple traditionally keeps a simple line-up of 3 or 4 models per product category. And each product has limited simple upgrade options consisting of normal vs expanded ram/storage/cpu. Could they technically create 300 models with every permutation? From cellular, to touch-screen laptop, oled/led screen, different ports, battery sizes etc. Sure, but they'd be confusing their customers with a complicated product offering and adding complexity in their supply chain hurting their margins, to pursue ever smaller niches that don't improve their bottom line, while competing with small niche brands that already cater to this demand. And what's the point? You have cellular on your phone and a $3 usb cable plugs it into electricity, meaning you already have cellular for your laptop. You can buy dedicated cellular hotspots the size of a Airpods case that you can throw into any bag, jean or or jacket pocket. Now if a cellular modem was a $1 part, sure, throw it in there. But it's not, again if you look at industry prices it adds between $100 and $300 to the retail price. A $200 price bump makes sense for a common need, not for a niche use for an entry-level laptop model, in fact raising the price of an entry-level laptop by $200 is absolutely nuts for a minority use. Niche users can plug in their phone or buy a dedicated hotspot. You say I have a city-centric view, sorry but I don't know if you're not familiar with the typical macbook air buyer. Southpark did a satirical episode about them and it's not far from the truth. Macbook Pro would be a different story, but this thread is about the air. I do think they'll introduce it in the next 2 years because Apple started to build its own modems. Previously they'd basically increase their entry-level product by a lot just to offload the majority of that price increase as revenue for Qualcomm, it was an entirely bad business decision and no surprise they didn't take it.

4fterd4rk 8mo ago

Because of the integration between the iPhone and the Mac it is extremely easy to tether your Mac to your phone. Like three clicks easy. Why would anyone want to pay for another data plan?

Marsymars 8mo ago
Well, I don't have an iPhone, so that particular premise doesn't apply.

headcanon 8mo ago

Yeah that would be nice. My thinking is that they don't want to cannibalize ipad sales.

kylehotchkiss 8mo ago

Agreed. That's my upgrade cue. Cellular iPad changed me. Mobile hotspot is clunky and unreliable still. I don't see that changing in the next 5-10 years.

BirAdam 8mo ago

No. Apple needs reasons for the iPad to exist.

cdcarter 8mo ago

Even a PCMCIA slot would help! ;)

a456463 8mo ago

I see the need for cellular built in. But apple is cash cow machine. All they will do is make more cash cows