Given the October 2020 launch of the first Apple Silicon laptops with the M1 MacBook Air and M1 MacBook Pro, many were expecting Apple to refresh the consumer laptops in October 2022. Instead, Apple unexpectedly updated the Air and Pro to the M2 chipset at the Worldwide Developer Conference in June.
Now the more powerful 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro machines may be getting their own unexpected refresh before the end of the year.
MacBook Pro sign is seen on a laptop in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on April 13, … [+]
Launched in October 2021, the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops also debuted the faster M1 chips, specifically the M1 Pro and M1 Max. Given Apple’s historic love of regular release schedules and the longer product cycles of the Intel-based Macs, many assumed that there would be an annual tick-tock, with the consumer Air and Pro laptops in October of even-numbered years and the more powerful pro machines in the October of odd-numbered years.
Hence the M2 MacBook Air expectations.
It now looks like Apple has an option to bring the larger MacBook Pro laptops to the market before the end of 2022, presumably with the M2 Pro and M2 Max variants of the Apple Silicon chipsets. Assuming Apple continues the tradition of a late-October or early-November launch event, this would be the prime time to announce these new MacBooks.
Given Tim Cook’s promise of having the whole of Apple’s Mac portfolio running on the ARM-based Apple Silicon by the end of 2022, there’s at least one big announcement left… the first Mac Pro running Apple Silicon. Reports suggest Apple will skip an M1 Mac Pro and move straight to an M2 Mac Pro, presumably with an uprated M2 Pro or M2 Max as an option.
October’s Mac event could easily see the uprated M2 MacBook Pro and Mac Pro debut together in a parliament of power and performance.
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