Next Month’s M2 MacBook Pro May Sadly Dash Hopes of a New Design

It’s become apparent in the past couple of weeks that Apple could indeed be releasing up to three new Macs at next month’s event, but new information suggests that the new MacBook Pro might not be anything to write home about.

Although Apple is still expected to debut its next-generation M2 Apple Silicon in an entry-level MacBook Pro next month, a somewhat reliable source suggests that it won’t be getting the redesign that many had been hoping for.

Reports first appeared in January that Apple would discontinue the 13-inch design entirely, moving the entry-level MacBook Pro into the same form factor as the higher-end 14-inch models that were unveiled last fall.

At the time, this seemed like a reasonable course of action for Apple. Not only does it prefer to keep its MacBook lineup as aesthetically simple as possible, but with the M2 MacBook Air expected to get an even bigger redesign, it seems unusual that Apple would leave one of its MacBooks stuck in the Intel design era. Unfortunately, if the latest rumours are true, it looks like that may be the case — at least for one more model, anyway.

According to MacRumors, the same “previously reliable” source that correctly predicted the notch on the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models has weighed in, saying that the new 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro will remain physically unchanged from the current model.

This includes not only the same 13-inch design, but even features like the Touch Bar, and limited port configurations. While it was clear the rumoured move to the 14-inch design wouldn’t include a better ProMotion display — or likely even a notch — there was at least a glimmer of hope that it would gain the SD card slot, HDMI port, and MagSafe 3 connector.

All About the M2 Chip

If this is true, it means that the only significant change to the new MacBook Pro will be the move to Apple’s M2 chip. While that’s not necessarily a small thing, it’s still ultimately just a spec bump.

• The M2 chip is expected to feature the same number of CPU cores as the M1, although each of them will undoubtedly run faster.
• GPU cores, however, are expected to increase from 8 to 10, which should result in even better graphics performance.

Earlier this week, three new Macs appeared in the Eurasian Economic Database, where Apple normally registers new products a few weeks before they go on sale. We can only speculate on what Mac models these could be, but it’s a pretty safe bet that one of them is the new entry-level MacBook Pro.

The other two remain a mystery, since reports of when new MacBooks are coming have been all over the place. Mark Gurman of Bloomberg believes they aren’t coming until the fall, yet these reports of a new entry-level MacBook Pro next month have been gaining a lot of traction.

Since it would be unusual for Apple to debut its latest M2 chip in only a single new Mac, this also suggests that a new MacBook Air could be around the corner as well. We’ve heard rumours about a big redesign, but now we’re left wondering if that may not be in the cards just yet either. While leaks have revealed Apple’s plans for the redesign, we haven’t seen or heard any reports that Apple has actually started manufacturing these new MacBook Air models.

Nonetheless, Apple appears poised to announce new Macs of some kind next month, and if we really are going to see a major redesign of its MacBooks, it’s been doing a pretty good job of keeping things under wraps. On the other hand, MacBooks that haven’t changed in any visible way would much more easily fly under the radar within Apple’s supply chain.

Aside from the mysterious new Macs that will likely appear next month, Apple is also expected to unveil a next-generation 5G iPhone SE, the iPad Air 5, and possibly even a few other new iPad updates. With the event rumoured to be happening on March 8, we won’t have to wait long to find out what’s up.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]