Apple still offers higher-end Intel-based 13-inch MacBook Pros and Mac minis; however, the MacBook Air is now only available with Apple silicon chips
Context & Ripple Effects
This lands on schedule: Bloomberg reported a week earlier that production had ramped up for new 13-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros and a new 13-inch MacBook Air running Apple silicon, and Ming-Chi Kuo's mid-year roadmap called for exactly this sequencing — a 13-inch MacBook Pro this year, the Air this year or early 2021, bigger Pro models after.
The notable wrinkle is what did not change: Apple kept selling higher-end Intel-based 13-inch MacBook Pros and Intel Mac minis alongside the new machines, making the Air the first line where the Intel option disappears entirely. That dual-inventory posture follows Apple's earlier reassurance that it remains committed to Thunderbolt support on Apple silicon Macs, an answer to the peripheral question hanging over the transition.
First-order effects
- Air buyers now face a single-architecture choice — every new MacBook Air ships with Apple silicon — while shoppers eyeing the higher-end 13-inch MacBook Pro or Mac mini can still pick either chip, splitting Apple's own laptop lineup across two platforms.
Second-order effects
- Intel loses its last foothold in Apple's highest-volume consumer laptop even as it retains the pro tier, so developers and accessory makers must keep building and testing for both architectures until the remaining Intel SKUs are retired.
Third-order effects
- If Kuo's sequence holds — consumer lines converted first, 14.1-inch and 16-inch Pro models following in 2021 — the Mac transitions to Apple silicon tier by tier rather than all at once, leaving a two-chip catalog as the deliberate bridge rather than an accident.
The trend: Apple is executing a staggered migration of the Mac lineup from Intel to its own silicon, starting with consumer models like the MacBook Air and working up the pro tiers.