Apple is set to debut a new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro powered the next generation of Apple Silicon, M2, later this year — reports 9to5Mac.
The two new MacBooks will directly succeed 2020’s MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, which rang the bell for Apple Silicon with the M1 chips under their hoods.
While the publication’s sources didn’t have an exact release date to share, they said both MacBooks are already in advanced stages of development.
Apple’s MacBook Air refresh has been pegged for a 2022 launch since last year, and it is going to feature a significant redesign if rumours are anything to go by. Internally, the upcoming MacBook Air is codenamed J413.
Apple will also renew the 13-inch MacBook Pro with a new M2-toting model, codenamed J493. The upcoming model will serve as an entry-level MacBook Pro, and might even get a slight bump in display size to 14 inches.
To that end, 9to5Mac says, Apple is even considering dropping the “Pro” from the product’s name, making it just “MacBook” to better indicate its position.
Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman also believes a new entry-level MacBook Pro with the M2 chip is coming sometime this year. Gurman expects it will take some design cues from Apple’s higher-end MacBook Pros by “losing the Touch Bar,” but otherwise feature “lesser displays, processors, and storage, and no ProMotion nor miniLED.”
It was reported earlier today that Apple is gearing up to debut Macs with M2 chips later this year. M2, known internally as “Staten,” will be based on TSMC’s 4nm process with eight CPU cores like its predecessor, but a more powerful 10-core GPU.
Both the refreshed MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro reportedly won’t come with any options other than the base M2 chip, but Apple is expected to introduce higher-end versions of the chip with other products further down the line, M1-style.
According to 9to5Mac, Apple is currently working on M2 Pro, M2 Max, and M2 Ultra, with the latter featuring a massive 24-core CPU. The publication recently accurately reported the current iPad Air 5 would include an M1 chip, instead of A15.
One of Apple’s first products with a beefed-up M2 chip could be the new Mac mini, which a Wednesday report said would come with a choice between the base M2 and the M2 Pro.
WWDC 2022 in June is a promising candidate for Apple’s next round of Apple Silicon Mac announcements, after which the company is expected to unveil additional Macs before year’s end. Apple hasn’t even launched an Apple Silicon-powered Mac Pro yet, which the company at its ‘Peek Performance’ March event teased is coming still.
