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With the M2 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air already on shelves, all eyes have turned to Apple’s desktop offerings, namely the Mac Pro and Mac mini. On the Max Tech YouTube channel, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has revealed some new information about Apple’s upcoming slate of Macs, and what it means for the next round of M2 chips.
Regarding the M2 chip, Gurman expects the same variations as the M1—Pro, Max, and Ultra, with a possible new Extreme model for the Mac Pro—but doesn’t think it will move to a 3nm process as has been rumored. He suspects the next-generation process will arrive with the M3 chips in late 2023 or 2024.
In short, Apple has several M2 Macs planned for this fall, including a “spec bump” for the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. Gurman expects the new laptops to get M2 Pro and M2 Max processors with the next refresh but no new features, much like the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Also in line for a refresh this fall is the Mac mini. Gurman said Apple will be updating both the M1 Mac mini and the higher-end Intel version with M2 and M2 Pro chips, respectively, but doesn’t think the machines will have a redesign, as has been rumored. He said it would be “odd” for Apple to introduce a new Mac mini design following the launch of the Mac Studio.
As for the long-awaited Mac Pro with Apple silicon, Gurman reveals that Apple planned to launch an M1-based Mac Pro “months ago” but “scrapped” it to work on a model with an M2. He doesn’t expect Apple to launch the high-end workstation until next year as a result of production and supply issues.
Finally, Gurman thinks Face ID on the Mac is a long way off. Despite the addition of the notch, he doesn’t expect it to come to the M2 MacBook Pro anytime soon. In fact, he thinks it’ll come to the higher-end iMac models first. That could come with the M3 iMac, since Gurman thinks Apple will skip the M2 chip in the all-in-one machine.
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He's still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.
The new 13.6-inch MacBook Air featuring the M2 chip that Apple announced earlier this week.
June 9, 2022, 4:07 PM UTC
Apple Inc. plans to expand the lineup of laptops using its new, speedier in-house chips next year, aiming to grab a bigger share of the market, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The company is working on a larger MacBook Air with a 15-inch screen for release as early as next spring, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. This would mark the first model of that size in the MacBook Air’s 14-year history. Apple is also developing what would be its smallest new laptop in years.
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Apple's brilliant M2 MacBook Pro is getting new models in 2023, and there's a chance that they may feature Apple's next-gen silicon, too.
Well, that's according to well-connected industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo [opens in new tab], who says refreshed versions of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro will enter production in the fourth quarter of 2022 for an early 2023 release.
The current 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro are the best MacBooks Apple makes if you need pro-level power: they're the biggest and most powerful of the MacBook Pro range, so these systems listed by Kuo will be building on that legacy.
And, what's more, there's a chance that these new MacBook Pros will feature Apple's new 3nm silicon for their processors. If that happened then those laptops would deliver orders of magnitude better speed, efficiency and performance that the current-gen M2-powered systems.
The thing is, though, it looks like that upgrade very much is right now just a chance, as Kuo also says there's a very real possibility that Apple's 3nm silicon might not be ready in time for the 2023 MacBook Pros.
While previous rumours [opens in new tab] have suggested that Apple silicon would move to a much more densely packed 3nm process in 2023 for MacBook Pro, Kuo's sources say that Apple may need to stick with the 5nm process currently used for the M2 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.
And if Apple does stick with the 5nm process that would mean that next year's MacBook Pros wouldn't get the next-gen 3nm tech.
So what's happening then with Apple's 3nm silicon?
Apple still intends to move to 3nm silicon, and is expected to put the processors into production before the end of this year. However, it might just not be ready in time for Apple to put them in its early-2023 laptops. It's possible we'll see them in a new Mac Studio or Mac Pro before we'll see them in laptops: Apple is reportedly working on M2-based minis and Pros for a possible 2023 release.
So, basically, the 2023 MacBook Pros are either going to get an upgrade or a massive upgrade depending on if they ship with the 3nm silicon. Either way, providing the price is right, Apple Mac users win. And, when Apple's laptops already smoke the competition in terms of efficiency, speed and power, either of those results will likely keep the MacBook Pro as the market-leading laptop for creative professionals.