If so far you haven’t been impressed by the base M2 chip that’s present in the new 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, there’s good news – the updated MacBook Pro is likely to have both M2 Pro and M2 Max chip options. be released between the third quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023.
This rumor comes from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, a respected Apple analyst who made the prediction in his Power On newsletter. According to Gurman, Apple has set a goal of releasing the expanded range of M2 chips as early as the third quarter of 2022, and Gurman’s sources also claim that an updated version of the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch Macbook Pro should be released. contain them are already under development.
As reported by 9to5Mac (opens in new tab), the design is expected to remain largely the same as these two laptops still sport a relatively fresh look and feel, so most (if not all) of the upgrade will be towards what’s under the hood. There are no official details at this stage, though Gurman shared that the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips will focus on the graphics side of things, as Apple did with the previous M1 Pro and M1 Max.
This is great news for creative professionals like video editors who need Apple’s cutting-edge silicon for tasks like 4K video encoding and decoding, or even those working with demanding 3D applications like Maya.
As with all speculative information, take all of this with a pinch of salt. Gurman even introduces himself in the newsletter, stating that “given the ongoing supply chain challenges, it is difficult to predict exactly when they will hit store shelves.”
Apple has been facing a slew of issues in its supply chains, thanks to things like ongoing global chip shortages and Covid-19-related lockdowns, shutting down its assembly lines, which has caused multiple shipping and production delays. With any luck, the situation will have improved by the time pre-orders roll out for these bigger, more powerful MacBooks.
Review: Should you wait for a new MacBook Pro?
Apple’s MacBook Pro with M2 chip is essentially the same laptop as its predecessor, the 13-inch MacBook Pro M1, as shown by a teardown of the device, with the only real difference being the M1 SoC (‘system-on- a-chip’) to an M2 and giving the option to select more system RAM (24GB if needed).
In fact, storage on the base model of the M2 MacBook Pro is actually slower than the M1 MacBook Pro, due to a different configuration for the SSD (although this is only true for that base model). If you need a lot of power, you’d be better off buying one of the M1 Max or M1 Ultra models of the MacBook Pro, otherwise you’ll have to wait for the M2 models to see a real boost to actuation.
The very existence of these 13-inch Macbooks is a little disconcerting given the minimal boost they offer over the more affordable MacBook Air (since they both contain the same base model M2 SoC), but Apple has previously confirmed that the M1 MacBook Pro 13 – inch is the second most popular product in the Mac family. That’s likely because, while it’s more expensive than the Air, it’s significantly more affordable than the 14-inch and 16-inch Macbook Pro models, making it the only ‘budget’ option for anyone looking to buy a portable workstation laptop. from Apple.
We suggest waiting until the new chips appear, even if you currently have your heart set on the 13-inch MacBook Pro M2 or any of the Pro models with the M1 Pro, Max, or Ultra chips, if only to make sure you get a fair market value for the performance of your device.
It’s also worth remembering that Gurman also predicted that a 15-inch Macbook and a 12-inch Macbook could hit the market sometime in the next few months, which we hope will bridge the performance gap between the 13-inch model and its bigger, shinier brethren. powerful. Still, we’ve rounded up the best Macbook deals currently available for those who are especially impatient.