That new MacBook Pro replaces the low end of the Pro line which had a slower CPU and only 2 ports.

I would expect that, when Apple brings out their next iteration of chips, they would target the higher end of the Pro line with more cores and ports along with higher RAM capacities.

I'm guessing they also want devs of tools like docker to finish porting their software before they switch the rest of the macbooks over.

On performance, ya I agree. Although, they basically doubled the battery life over the previous generation so that alone might be worthwhile for some users.

I think we'll see an additional higher end Macbook Pro 13" when they start to release Apple Silicon models with discrete GPUs.