Following the announcement of the MacBook Air M2 at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, many were expecting the next-generation 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro laptops in Apple’s traditional late October/early release window of November Not only was there no sign of macOS laptops in Apple’s October launch press releases, but now it looks like the faithful will be waiting until 2023 for their brave new world.
Brussels, Belgium, July 12, 2022: Apple Store entrance in Brussels, Apple logo on the window
getty
Although there is no definitive statement from Apple, there are multiple indications that the argument for a delay has been won within Cupertino.
First, Tim Cook’s words on Apple’s recent earnings calls, where he claimed that Apple’s product line is ready for the holidays…words that imply we won’t see any new hardware before the 2023, albeit with the promise of moving the entire Mac. at Apple Silicon by the end of 2022, pending Cook and his team, at least one new Mac Pro with Apple Silicon must be sold to someone off campus.
Based on this, Apple reporter Mark Gurman suggests that these larger MacBook Pro laptops will be released “in the coming months” and “in the near future”; words that would cover the traditional November announcement and subsequent release during the holidays, or until 2023.
Finally (for now), supply chain reports suggest that production of the professional laptops is targeting a March release.
This means the one-year anniversary of the M1 Pro and M1 Ultra-powered MacBook Pros will pass without an update. Interestingly, the MacBook Air and the inexplicable 13-inch MacBook Pro launched in 2020 also missed an anniversary year in 2021, instead picking up their M2 updates at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2022 ; certainly after a year and a half.
If the larger professional MacBook Pro laptops get updated and join the M2 family in March, you could (almost) argue that they’re on a year-and-a-half schedule as well. Who knows, they might even return at WWDC 2023; after all, these are machines very much designed for developers and those who need the excess power that chipsets offer. Launching them at the event designed for developers and their peers has a certain appealing quality,
What it also offers is a clear holiday season arrival for the 13-inch MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. Consumers looking for a “new” MacBook will find the new M2 chips in a new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro on offer, with no other macOS laptops muddying the waters.
Now read the latest MacBook, iPhone and iPad headlines in this week’s Apple Loop on Forbes…