Dan Ackerman/CNET
Apple’s “Peek Performance” event came and went, and there was no MacBook Pro in sight. Despite speculation pointing to a possible March reveal for the high-powered laptop, Apple unwrapped the Mac Studio and Studio Display on Tuesday instead. (We got a new iPad Air and iPhone SE, too.) However, it’s still possible that a new 13-inch MacBook Pro could follow 2021’s MacBook Pro 16 and MacBook Pro 14.
Read on for everything we’ve heard so far about the rumored new 13-inch MacBook Pro.
When will new MacBook Pros be announced?
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, a seasoned Apple watcher, estimated in February that the 13-inch MacBook Pro, succeeding the 2020 MacBook Pro, would be announced during Apple’s March event. (DigiTimes also said a new model would be coming at the event, but it has a mixed accuracy record and Twitter leaker @dylantk’s account has disappeared since it initially posted some related rumors.) The rumor was bolstered by a recent EEC filing, which includes at least one new laptop, model A2681. Note that his prognostications don’t (yet) include a new MacBook Pro 14 or 16 for 2022.
As we now know, the 13-inch MacBook Pro didn’t arrive at Apple’s most recent event. However, the new laptop could still launch in the first half of 2022.
An M2 chip?
The so-called M2 is being bandied about as an update to Apple’s first-gen M1 entry-level version, although we’ve heard no details beyond that. AppleTrack and others have said that the aforementioned specs would take away everything that makes a MacBook Pro a “pro” model, especially in light of speculation about a revamped Air, but I disagree. If the rumored M2 chip has specs somewhere between the M1 and M1 Max, say eight cores (with six or eight P cores), support for 32GB RAM, 14 GPU cores and no ProRes accelerator, it could serve quite well as a less expensive Pro for low-end content creation, such as most photo editing. Not everyone is editing video. And that still leaves room for a light, less powerful Air.
Most recently, Gurman wrote that a developer told him Apple has been testing multiple Macs with a new chip, and that this new chip’s specs match those of the M2 that Gurman predicted last year.
Watch this:
What to Expect With Apple’s Next Event
8:50
Touch Bar: Yes or no?
According to AppleTrack, a previously reliable source on Weibo indicates that the design of the new 13-inch MacBook Pro wouldn’t change. If it’s true, that means the Touch Bar is staying — a decision that won’t thrill everyone. It also means no updated ProMotion display.
