I was hopeful they'd weigh less. An iPad Pro 12.9 inches weighs 1.4lbs. The 13.3 inch MacBook Air M1 is 2.8lbs. I'm sure there are reasons but there are companies, LG for instance, that make 2 lbs 13.3 inch notebooks and 3 lbs 16 inch notebooks. No I don't want an LG but I was hopeful for a 16" Arm Macbook Pro that weight 3 lbs. Now I'm pretty confident it will be the same as an Intel Macbook Pro 16" at 4.4lbs (heavy enough my messenger bag leaves marks on my shoulder and gives me muscle pains if I have to lug it around all day) Somehow, getting it down to under 3.lbs removes that pain. Maybe because it includes the power supply which is also bigger.
To put another way. They could have taken an iPad Pro, expanded the screen to 13.3 inches, added a keyboard and put MacOS on it instead of iOS and it would be probably 1.8lbs. I don't know what the tradeoffs would be but I was excited by that possibility. It didn't happen though.
The 12.9” iPad Pro plus Magic Keyboard weighs 3lbs. Subtract a little weight for the wrapper and you are basically equivalent to an air with screen + keyboard + trackpad.
> LG for instance, that make 2 lbs 13.3 inch notebooks and 3 lbs 16 inch notebooks
Those are the Gram series, right? They use a magnesium alloy chassis that feels like flimsy plastic. They are light, but they feel like a something that's going to imminently break compared to Apple's aluminum unibody.
In my view, the Gram trades off too much stiffness and chassis robustness for weight to be palatable to a non-niche audience.
I thought I was in the niche of users that prized weight over all else but I had concerns that a light on-the-go laptop that was so flimsy would last. I returned my Gram due to the fact that I just couldn't get used to Windows (after using Linux and Mac for >10 years) so the build robustness and weight ended up being a moot point
I agree the LG feels bad. I don't agree that Apple doesn't have the talent to solve this and make 30% lighter laptops.
As for weight, carrying a 4.4lbs notebook to and from work and to meetings never bothered me. Carrying the same notebook for days on end as a digital nomad, especially in hot and humid weather did.
The LG grams go out of their way to be lightweight and they prioritize it above just about everything else. What you get is a magnesium alloy (?) chassis that feels very flimsy, a screen that flexes a LOT, and a battery that is far smaller than the chassis can support [1] to meet their weight goals.
Apple isn't really hellbent on making the lightest laptop and don't really have the luxury of creating SKUs just for these niche needs.
To put another way. They could have taken an iPad Pro, expanded the screen to 13.3 inches, added a keyboard and put MacOS on it instead of iOS and it would be probably 1.8lbs. I don't know what the tradeoffs would be but I was excited by that possibility. It didn't happen though.