In this week’s edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman said he expects to see Apple unveil refreshed 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro powered by new M2 Pro and M2 Max chips sometime between fall 2022 and spring 2023 — reports 9to5Mac.
Apple just launched the 2022 MacBook Air, the second Mac to pack the company’s base M2 chip, on Friday. According to Gurman, last year’s 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are up next for an update.
The M1 Pro and M1 Max chips in last year’s higher-end MacBook Pro models offered a substantial performance uplift over the base M1, and second-generation Apple Silicon should tell a similar tale.
Apple’s 2021 MacBook Pro became the more obvious choice for professionals, and its successor will likely look to inherit that legacy.
“Look for much of the focus to be on the graphics side, just like with the standard M2,” Gurman said of what to expect from the new models. Professionals these days are always in need of more graphics performance, so a good bump in that department should definitely help.
Gurman said the overall design and features (other than the SoC, of course) are “likely to stay roughly the same.” That isn’t surprising, since last year’s redesign with a better display, more ports, and MagSafe was pretty well-received.
A June report indicated that Apple’s chip supplier, TSMC, will begin mass production of the M2 Pro chip later this year. The new MacBook Pro models could launch as early as later this year in the fall, or sometime in spring 2023. Gurman was unable to pinpoint a more precise launch window at this time.
“Given the continued supply-chain challenges, it’s hard to predict exactly when these will hit store shelves,” the Apple analyst said. Apple faced significant delays with shipments of the M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro models earlier this year, so the company will likely be more mindful of potential delays moving forward.
