We've heard plenty of rumors on the grapevine that the Apple M2 chip will debut in a new 13-inch MacBook Pro refresh in the next month or two, but it seems that the Mac family of Apple Silicon products is about to get much bigger.
Bloomberg's Apple reporter Mark Gurman has already mentioned the imminent arrival of a new 13-inch MacBook Pro, but fresh reports featured in the most recent edition of his Power On newsletter suggest that seven new Mac models will be released in 2022 that will all feature some version of the Apple silicon processors.
The newsletter is aptly titled "Return of the Mac", and outlines that current versions of the M1SoC (system-on-a-chip) such as the M1 Pro and M1 Max will still be featured, as well as an even more beefed up M1 Max chip and the highly anticipated second generation of silicon, currently dubbed the 'M2'.
The following is a list of predicted Mac models that Gurman anticipates will be announced in 2022:
- A new 13-inch MacBook Pro which will introduce the M2.
- A MacBook Air with an M2 (hopefully with that colorful redesign)
- A new Mac mini with an M1 Pro chip.
- A Mac mini with an M2.
- A new 24-inch iMac with an M2.
- A larger iMac Pro with optional M1 Pro and M1 Max.
- A Mac Pro with the equivalent of two or four M1 Max chips.
Only a few of these are expected to make an appearance at the upcoming Apple March event, namely the redesigned 13-inch MacBook Pro, though if the M2 SoC is unveiled then it's likely we will also see the Mac Mini and redesigned MacBook Air also released with the next generation of Apple Silicon. "The presentation is likely to focus on the 5G iPhone SE and iPad Air," Gurman says, "but I'm told to expect at least one new Mac that day."
As reported by MacWorld, Gurman has a pretty solid track record for these kinds of rumors, but nothing is set in stone so take all this information with a pinch of salt. The Apple event is only around the corner, with an official date expected for release any day now, so it won't be a long wait for us to see what Apple has been working on.
Analysis: Is Apple Silicon enough for the mighty Mac Pro?
Seven new Mac releases sound like a lot, but these will be spaced out across the year just as we've previously seen with fresh hardware releases from Apple. In fact, the number of products didn't surprise us, but the Inclusion of the Mac Pro desktop certainly has us intrigued.
It's expected that Apple would want to integrate its own processors into this beloved workstation, but the graphical capabilities of even the most powerful M1 silicon don't match that of a dedicated desktop graphics card, especially one suitable for a creative system.
This leaves a few outcomes: either the graphical capabilities of the M2 silicon are going to blow us out of the water, Apple will retain its current relationship with AMD for desktop graphics, or...Apple is developing its own graphics cards. There haven't been any credible rumors surrounding any of these, so this will be an unfortunate waiting game. We can only hope that the iconic cheesegrater design is retained, even if only to preserve its charm.
- How does the 13-inch MacBook Pro fare in our list of the best MacBook and Macs?
