The Redesigned 16-inch MacBook Pro
Alongside the 14-inch MacBook Pro, Apple is also expected to finally release a redesigned version of its 16-inch model — something that we’ve been hearing about for even longer.
In fact, Apple actually threw us a curveball with this one, when it released a 16-inch MacBook Pro near the end of 2019 that replaced the 15-inch model but had no sign of the new design. Now, two years later, it remains the oldest MacBook Pro still on the market, stuck on ninth-generation Intel silicon, even as Apple bumped up the rest of its Mac lineup to Intel’s 10th-generation chips in the months leading up to the arrival of the M1 chip.
So, to say this one is overdue for a refresh would be an understatement — some rumours even suggested Apple would release one last Intel version last fall, but it clearly didn’t want to diminish the arrival of Apple Silicon by even tacitly admitting that an Intel chip might still have some relevance. Instead, it froze its Intel MacBook lineup in time, leaving them to await the arrival of the much more powerful M1X.
The redesign of the 16-inch MacBook Pro is likely to be more than purely aesthetic, however, as multiple reports have suggested a return of multiple ports, expanding beyond the USB-C and Thunderbolt design that Apple has stuck with over the past several years. While it’s not entirely clear what ports will be coming back, it’s likely to include an SD card reader, possibly an HDMI port, and perhaps even a MagSafe power connector for faster and more convenient charging.