We’ve caught a glimpse of what could be a MacBook Pro that Apple might launch at its upcoming event the day before Halloween.
Wccftech spotted a tweet from one of the better-known Apple leakers on X (formerly Twitter), ShrimpApplePro, which shows an image of what’s purportedly the box for said MacBook Pro refresh.
I guess this is the new MacBook Pro Source: Weibo pic.twitter.com/tdppFixOgJOctober 25, 2023
The box carries a picture of the laptop, of course, and it certainly looks like a MacBook Pro (it’s clearly thicker than an Air).
The design looks consistent with the current MacBook Pro chassis, in fact pretty much identical, but that could well be the case with the revamped model (indeed, Apple leaker Mark Gurman has said as much).
What’s particularly interesting about this alleged leaked image is that it shows a wallpaper on the screen of the opened notebook which is completely new, and that would make sense for a fresh M3-toting MacBook Pro (as the rumor mill believes will be the case, going by the latest speculation).
Although of course, we must consider the possibility that this is a faked image. It was leaked on Weibo, a Chinese forum with a sketchy track record for rumors, and it’s possible someone has just taken an existing MacBook box, made small tweaks here and there, and photoshopped that wallpaper in.
It seems everyone on X has a theory about the wallpaper possibly spelling out letters, but we can’t see anything really, and to us, it just looks like a close-up of some kind of high-tech maze.
Analysis: Something a bit off?
We’re not sure about this one – we’d say it’s a leak that definitely requires more caution than normal. As one denizen of X points out in the thread of the above tweet, the design of the wallpaper – which appears to be taken straight from the ‘Scary fast’ invite for the October 30 event – seems a bit off in terms of how the glow effect sits around the lines.
We can’t rule out that this is the genuine box, though, and others on X are convinced that the leaked pic looks authentic. Neither can we deny that the winds from rumorville have rapidly changed to favor the probability of an M3-toting MacBook Pro being revealed at the beginning of next week.
Most notably we have analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who previously predicted the MacBook Pro M3 would be released in 2024, changing his tune to an October reveal (and November or December on-sale date). Mainly because the leaker believes Apple needs something to make up for the disappointment of the M2 upgrade with the MacBook Pro, and to stoke flagging Mac sales overall.
The catch is Apple isn’t really ready on the production front – which is why Kuo believed 2024 was the launch timeframe up until now – but the company is purportedly going to push ahead anyway, even if it means stock will be scarce after the MacBook Pro M3 is unleashed. (And that would point to a December launch being most likely, we’d imagine – just to ensure as many units are ready as possible).
We didn’t expect to see the MacBook Pro M3 this year simply because there’s already been a Pro refresh at the start of 2023, so to have another in the same year is very unusual for Apple. Still, if the company believes the Mac sales situation is dire enough that more drastic action needs to be taken, it could happen.
The October event is shaping up to be a major one where we might see not just the MacBook Pro refreshed, but also a new iMac (maybe the 24-inch model revamped, going by the most recent rumors, although there’s some confusion over whether it’ll pack the M3 upgrade or not).
Whatever the case, the tagline ‘Scary fast’ heavily implies some kind of Mac will pitch up with the M3 chip inside, and we may even get several. Roll on October 30…
