Following the introduction of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, Apple is discontinuing the 15-inch model, which was refreshed in May 2019
Goodbye to the classic screen size — The arrival of Apple's new 16-inch MacBook Pro comes with an unexpected twist: the classic 15-inch model is being phased out entirely.
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple has been systematically pruning the MacBook line for over a year: it retired the 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro in mid-2018, then in July 2019 dropped the 12-inch MacBook and previous-generation Air entirely. The 15-inch model now being phased out was itself refreshed only in May 2019 — meaning Apple killed its own six-month-old design rather than keep two large-screen Pros on sale alongside each other.
First-order effects
- Pro buyers lose the classic 15-inch size overnight, forcing anyone who wanted that footprint onto the new 16-inch MacBook Pro or out of the lineup.
- Channel partners holding May-2019 refresh inventory are left selling a discontinued configuration with no successor at that screen size.
Second-order effects
- Windows PC makers gain an easy differentiator pitch in the professional segment, since Apple no longer sells anything between the smaller portable sizes and the 16-inch.
- Apple's own pricing ladder simplifies but moves up-market: the entry point for a large pro notebook rises to whatever the 16-inch costs.
Third-order effects
- The consolidation logic points toward a two-size Pro line — a pattern confirmed years later when Apple discontinued the 13-inch Touch Bar model, leaving only 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros.
- The same shrink-the-SKU instinct extends beyond laptops: by 2026 Apple had also discontinued the Mac Pro outright, suggesting a structural preference for a deliberately narrow Mac catalog over covering every legacy size.
The trend: Apple is steadily compressing the Mac lineup into fewer, larger-screen Pro configurations, retiring legacy sizes within months of their replacements shipping.