Apple’s new MacBook Pro finally breaks the grid

Macworld

This has been a year of major change with Apple’s MacBook lineup. 2026 started with simple and limited choices, and it’s ending with a robust lineup that broadens the MacBook’s appeal.

When the year started, Apple offered the MacBook Air, the laptop for the general consumer, and the MacBook Pro, the choice for professionals with higher demands. Those laptop were effective in reaching a large part of the market, but it was missing laptops at the two ends of the market: the sub-$1,000 market where budget-conscious shoppers are at, and the ultra-luxury market where money is no object.

In March, Apple released the MacBook Neo, a $599 laptop (now $699) that instantly became a hit in the budget market. And on Wednesday, Apple went in the completely opposite direction with the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR, a laptop that’s the rich pro’s pro. You’ll pay top dollar for it–starts at $2,899 for a 14-inch model, and a maxxed-out 16-inch model tops out at $14,549. Regardless of how you configure it, the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR has top-notch features at its base, and it’s not difficult to find people who are willing to pay for it.

When 2026 started, a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro cost $7,199. What does nearly twice as much get you now? An OLED touchscreen display, a better sound system, a new design that’s about a pound lighter, and, just so everyone knows you have one, a glowing Apple logo for the first time in 10 years.

What about the grid?

At the 1998 Macworld Expo, Steve Jobs addressed the need for Apple to simplify its overly complicated Mac lineup. He presented what’s been dubbed the product grid, made up of two product lines (desktop and laptop) and two customer markets (consumer and professional). It’s been attributed as the core of Apple’s success and a testament to its simplicity. The company doesn’t get bogged down in too many SKUs and customers can easily find their desired product.

But over recent years, Apple’s Mac market share has been somewhat flat. Any noticeable jump in sales during a quarter was offset by a downturn soon after. It’s been reported that Apple wants its Mac market share to grow, and to do so it has determined that it needs to be more aggressive towards the attracting the fringes of the PC laptop market.

So it broke the grid. Instead of two options appealing to most people Apple needed to offer products to persuade those sitting on the fence to get off it and buy a MacBook. Now, there’s an affordable gateway into the Mac and an ultra-luxury option, along with the usual in-between options. Choices, choices.

The grid served its purpose but is now insufficient for a company the size of Apple. It’s time to move off it. What’s different now is that the MacBook Neo, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display are distinct products with obvious feature separation. It doesn’t have the quaint simplicity of Jobs’ quadrant, but by expanding the grid, Apple has set up the Mac for a different kind of success—one that fills every need and leaves no wallet unturned.