Go with the AP2.  I'm a scratch and love them.  Not much difference between the CB and MB; quite a bit of difference between the them and the AP2.  All Good!!!

AP2.....best irons I've ever played!  

Buttery feel of an MB but the technology adds some forgiveness and playability for guys like us.

are they more fogiving or not

Hi James - I've been advised the AP1's are designed to be more forgiving than the AP2's, but whether the AP2's I'm looking at are more forgiving than the old 690.CB irons I use is something I'm just going to presume since they have the benefit of the last 5 years of research and development leading to their design. The 690.CB irons are from 2005.

This would be a very interesting question to hear answered by someone from Titleist.

I have a set of 690.CB irons in the closet. They are my spare set for when company comes and wants to play without having to pay the airlines a fortune to transport their clubs. I'm tempted all the time to pull them out and play them to see if I can still hit them well.

I do know that while the 690.CB looks very similar to the current CB model, the blade on the new club is slightly longer and the sole grind is slightly different. There may be other changes, but that was what I was told.

To make a direct comparison, you would have to have identical shafts, swing weight and all that, but like I said, an answer from Titleist will be real interesting.

Thanks Cathi...

In the new Golf Digest, their annual club report comments might suggest the AP2 is more forgiving than the CB. From a market placement standpoint, is that pretty much what Titleist wanted?

Andrew, I could not agree more. The AP2 is an all around great club played by the 15 handicapper all the way down to the big boys on tour. The AP2's have the forgivness of the cavity back that they are, but the workability of a blade.  Makes you think...how did they do that?

This thread has come up at the perfect time as I consider whether to make a move and buy new irons. I use the Titleist 690.CB irons, which to me, look virtually identical to the new CB's. I honestly don't know what difference there is between the two.

I have looked at the AP1 and AP2 irons and much prefer the AP2's because I'm too old fashioned for my own good and just can't deal with the offset like most modren clubs have. What I wonder about is, would the AP2's be reasonable to spend the money on. In other words, Is there such an advantage to be gained over the 690.CB's in the first place?

seen and tried the new 712 CB's (indoors), they are good and look pretty. i've delayed my decision on getting them until i've tried them outdoors. my big problem is that i am still using the original 690CB's, which i still really like and think that i still hit better. i am not closing my doors on the new irons, but for the meantime my irons are all good...

LOL - I've decided Titleist 690.CB irons aren't golf clubs, they're an addiction.

I have a perfectly good set of AP1 irons, another set of G15 clubs, but when I pull things out of the closet to vacuum in there every week, it's the bag with the 690.CB irons in it that always catches my eye. They are filled with so many fond memories and they are simply the best looking club I have owned in a long time.

3 months ago I had a similar question.

During my fitting, I tried many different combinations of [712] AP2 and [712] CB with different shafts. The result surprised me because I tested much better with the CB than the AP2 after a 90 minute fitting session.

On clean hits, the CB had a significantly better smash factor and more consistent (and lower) spin. It also has a great trajectory. The AP2 honestly didn't feel all that more forgiving to me (though I did lose a little less distance on heel & toe hits), but I could definitely feel and see a difference on good shots, both visually and on the TrackMan. The AP2 spun a lot more, was easy to balloon up in the air, and was a little shorter on clean hits versus the CB (perhaps due to excess spin?). Granted, I only had a 6i to play with during the fitting, but I'm fairly confident similar results would be seen PW thru 4i.

I was initially concerned that I'd have problems hitting the 5i/4i consistently clean enough to get it up in the air, but that's not really a concern now that I've got the CBs. I just need to swing with a good tempo and the club does a fine job of getting the ball into the air and on the right trajectory.

I'm a 7 hdcp, so I still have a fair amount of non-pure hits per round, but with the CBs, I can definitely feel exactly where I hit the ball on the face and I find that pretty beneficial -- helps when I need to troubleshoot my swing problems. And on those off-center hits, the results aren't awful by any means...they just aren't as sweet as they are when it's a pure strike.

Were you testing the irons with the same shaft?  That much of a difference, eight yards, has to be due to the shaft.  Let us know!

Ap2!! It's like a hot knife cutting through butter!!! Not as hard to hit as the cb but great great feel!!!

Despite all the talk about the supposed increased forgiveness of the AP2 line, I haven't found them to be significantly easier to hit than Cb's. I have had a set of each generation of AP2's and comparing to my 712 CB's with the same shafts i prefer the CB's. I'm a 10 hcp and get to play several times a week. When I get to the 5 iron in any set my contact diminishes. The CB's go higher and farther for me even though the lofts are a degree weaker. The scoring irons (8-PW) are pin seekers. 

I didnt like the 710 CB, but the 712 are magic the 714 were the same so I didn't change. . I'm gonna be fit this weekend by the Titleist van so we will see what all the tungsten is about. I buy too many sets of irons and tinker all the time but I play the 712 CB's with KBS Tour Reg flex. I keep experimenting with other irons( I25, G30, AP1, cally Apex pro), but none compare. When I hit a bad shot with any club I lose distance. Some bad shots  may feel less bad, but the result is the same. The CB's are money overall and bring the lowest scores. I  Won my club championship, net ,  with them last spring. 3 days Medal play with no "gimmies" and all balls played from the tee to the bottom of the cup. 

Looking forward to trying the T- MB set. I hit a 7 iron that my clubs performance center has but the shaft was a Nippon 950 and I'm not sure it fits me. They all flew high for sure and seemed accurate. It's gonna take a lot to put the 712 CB's out of the bag especially the 8-PW

I agree.  The CB are the best feeling clubs I have hit, with the perfect combination of forgiveness and workability.  I didn't feel that the AP2s had any more forgiveness, and the feel just wasn't there for me.

I prefer the CB's.  Even hit them better than the AP2's, when I got fitted for the 712's before.  Although I did get 4 and 5 iron AP's then 6-9 CB's.  Looking forward to trying the 716 line when they come out.  Might go combo set again... depends on the fitting.