Given the huge performance improvements of the M1, I'm not even sure Apple
needs that midrange.
- $999 MacBook Air. BTO hard drive, maybe RAM upgrades
- $1700-2000ish 13/14" MacBook Pro. Big-ass CPU/GPU, lots of RAM
- $1900+ 15/16" MacBook Pro. Same as above—all-in on performance
Other than BTO upgrades on the MacBook, what even fits into that midrange with Apple Silicon?
Ditch the weird low-end 13" MacBook Pro. It's never made sense in the lineup and has led to a lot of deeply confusing differences between two machines both known as the 13" MacBook Pro (eg the 2 port vs 4 port 13", different keyboards, some other things I can't remember). If they truly think that model is needed, just make it the MacBook.
But frankly, why not just make things dead simple:
Looking for a Mac laptop for normal personal use? MacBook Air. Need the horsepower for Photoshop, video/sound editing, modeling, whatever, because that's how you make money? Pick a 13 or 15 (or 14 or 16) Pro and upgrade the hard drive if you want.
This can be a flow chart with all of 3 boxes on it.