Apple is in the third year of its transition from Intel chips to its own Apple Silicon chipset for Mac. The first-generation M1 chipset left everybody impressed and the company is now expected to introduce the M2 chipset this year. Rumors have suggested that we may get our first M2 Macs this Spring, but thanks to a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, we have a little bit of clarity about the timeline of the new Macs release.
Apple to launch 7 new Mac models
According to Mark Gurman, Apple will release as many as seven new Mac models this year. The first set of new Mac models is set to be introduced at Apple's March 8th event. Due to the fact that the 2020 MacBook Pro and Mac mini are "two of the oldest Apple Silicon Macs in the lineup today", they'll be the first ones to be refreshed.
Apple is then expected to launch the new Mac Pro and iMac Pro around May or June. After launching new Macs at WWDC 2022, Apple will then look to finish off the year with a new and "revamped" MacBook Air as it will be a nice holiday seller. 24-inch iMac and a new Mac mini powered by the M2 chip may also be introduced alongside the redesigned MacBook Air. All in all, you can expect these new Macs to be introduced this year:
- Mac mini with an M1 Pro chip
- Entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro with an M2 chip
- Mac mini with an M2 chip
- 24-inch iMac with an M2 chip
- Redesigned MacBook Air with an M2 chip
- iMac Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max chips
- Mac Pro with next-gen M1 Max chips
New Macs will have one of these three chips
- M2 chip
- 2021's M1 Pro and M1 Max chips
- Super-powered versions of the M1 Max chip
According to Gurman, Apple will not ship the M1 chip in a Mac this year. Instead, they'll be powered by either of the three chipsets mentioned above. He says that the M2 chip will be the next generation of the M1 chip. It'll be speedier than the M1 chip but will retain the same eight-core architecture. Though we could see a bump in the number of GPU cores.
The Mac that will be introduced in June this year will have "super-powered" versions of the M1 Max chip. It will be available in two options: one that doubles the capabilities of the M1 Max chip and the one that quadruples it. Gurman says that we can expect one M1 Max-based chip to have a 20 core CPU and 64 core GPU, while the other option may have a 40 core CPU and 128 core GPU.
“Apple will want to drum up developer support for the super-powered Mac Pro chips, so I’d guess that the company wants to debut that machine as early as the WWDC event in June and ship it in the fall. A revamped MacBook Air would be a nice holiday seller, so it makes sense to release it around that time of year—even if Apple had originally planned to get it out the door at the end of 2021 or in early 2022.”