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(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
Updated:And now anew leak to MacRumorssays that the laptop will be a 13-inch MacBook Pro with a new M2 processor.
You might remember the EECpreviously spilled the beans about an iPad and iPhone coming soon, which are almost certainly the newiPad AirandiPhone SE 3.
What will these Macs actually be? Well, that’s the tough question. It’s unlikely that the two desktop models are the new27-inch iMac Pro, because all the latest leaks say that won’t be ready until slightly later in the year. Assuming that’s true, my money’s on them being Mac Mini models with the M1 Pro and M1 Max processors used in theMacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch (2021)models.
As for the potential laptop, at this point I’m going to guess that it’s an entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro designed to replace the currentMacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020). It would probably swap the mini-LED display for a regular IPS edge-lit panel, and would include the regular M1 processor instead of the M1 Pro. That could shave lots off the price, and would mean Apple has totally retired the older design of MacBook Pro.
It would also leave a clearer difference between the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro from now: the Pro gives you a bigger screen, more ports, and probably a major step up in battery life. And the Air gets to stay focused on being thin and light.
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M2 on the horizon?
There is another possibility, which is that Apple is ready to launch the M2 processor, and the products we’re talking about are replacements for theMacBook Air (M1, 2020)and current M1 Mac Mini at the next event.
This seems unlikely: again, current leaks suggest that Apple is planning to launch theMacBook Air 2022with a full redesign later in the year, and I’d expect that to be the first machine we see with the M2 processor, since it’s Apple’s best-selling computer.
Update:Well, maybe I’m dead wrong about this. A leaker who proved reliable late last year has told MacRumors that the new laptop will be a MacBook Pro with the new M2 chip, which will feature more power (though still eight processor cores), and up to a 10-core GPU. Otherwise, it will be borderline identical.
This would probably mean that the desktop computers are Mac Minis with the M2 as well, rather than with the M1 Pro and M1 Max.
I still find this very odd. Surely this will put some people off the MacBook Air, since we’ll know that an M2 version is coming… but reports say that it could be 6-8 months away. That’s a long period of potentially reduced sales of Apple’s most popular laptop for it to live with…
Original story continues:So I wouldn’t put my money on this, but some will wonder about the model numbers of the new machines: A2615, A2686, A2681. They all start with ‘A26’. The 2021 MacBook Pros with M1 Pro all start with ‘A24’. The M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13-inch start with ‘A23’.
So is the model number a hint of a new type of processor inside? Probably not: the24-inch iMac (2021)andiPhone 13used ‘A24’ model numbers – and, in fact, in some regions theiPhone13 used ‘A26’ model numbers, so it seems to just be that Apple has decided to tick up the numbers, and someone didn’t like ‘A25’.
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