May 25 Update below; this post was first published on May 23.

The process for Apple to switch its MacOS hardware away from Intel to ARM processors is expected to be accelerated during WWDC later this month with new tools and a roadmap for developers. Getting developers to switch over is key, but there is a bigger question in regards next year’s ARM-powered MacBook and MacBook Pro machines.

How will you get consumers to buy the radical ARM-powered laptops? For that you need to look at the latest leaks and think about why people buy new laptops.

Update: Forbes’ Ben Sin has reviewed the latest MacBook Pro and notes that, the entry level models have little more than the upgraded keyboard; ”So that base model is purely a keyboard upgrade. Truth be told, just the return to a not frustrating typing experience is going to be worth the upgrade for many loyal MacBook users.”

 will be welcome is Intel’s Iris GPU included in the more expensive machines; “this 13-inch model is more than capable of professional creative work to a degree.”

But the biggest impact on the latest MacBook Pro for Sin is simple. It’s not an iPad Pro. Apple’s tablet has been pushing itself as ‘a personal computer’ for the last few years, while the MacBook offering has marked time. 

While the upcoming ARM-powered MacBooks will not be visibly similar to a keyboard-toting iPad Pro, Apple will be bringing the chipsets into line with the Axx range of processors, increasing the portability of code between the two platforms, and can use that ‘inside baseball’ change alongside consumer facing changes to revitalise the MacBook platform in 2021.

 MacBook design has been preserved in amber for nearly a decade. While the laptops have all become thinner and lighter (just like every other laptop family out there), the lack of change in terms of design and features is clear. If you had to suggest a hashtag for the MacBook family, it would be #stable.The only visible change has been to remove the physical function keys and replace them with the Touch Bar. Launched in 2016 it promised much, including a second display on your laptop and the first touch sensitive display available under MacOS. But the promise was never delivered on, either by third-party developers or Apple itself, and it is regarded as a gimmick by many.

The recent updates to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro have seen lukewarm response to the hardware and features… except for the keyboard. Replacing the embarrassing and flawed butterfly keyboard with a scissor-switched ‘Magic’ keyboard drew a huge amount of praise and goodwill towards the 2020 laptops. But that’s a card Apple can only play once, and now it has been burned.