According to a report in Bloomberg, Apple plans to launch new versions of its MacBook Pro laptops "around the middle of the year," and these machines will feature speed and display enhancements, as well as a return of the MagSafe charging design seen in MacBook computers several generations ago.
Citing "a person with knowledge of the plans," the Bloomberg story claims that Apple's 13-inch MacBook Pro will get a 14-inch successor, just as the 15-inch MacBook Pro became a 16-inch model when the screen bezel was reduced to allow more screen real estate in a similarly sized chassis.
Both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro are slated for the middle of the year and will incorporate Apple's custom silicon. The company first introduced its own silicon with the M1 chip included in November refreshes of the low-end 13-inch MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini. The new machines described today would have a successor to Apple's M1 chip with more CPU cores and "enhanced graphics."While the overall design of the laptops is not expected to be significantly different from current models (beyond the screen size in the smaller MacBook Pro), there is one major design change that may please fans of Macs prior to the Touch Bar and USB-C redesign introduced a few years ago: the return of the MagSafe charger.
Mac laptops once had charging cables that slotted easily into their ports, thanks to magnets, and were intended to gracefully disconnect without tugging on the laptop if someone pulled the cord or tripped on it. Over the past few years, the company purged this feature from its lineup, but it introduced a related tech using the same name in its iPhone 12 lineup last year.
According to the report, the MagSafe connector in the new MacBook Pro models will have a similar shape to that of MagSafe connectors in Macs of old. It will also allow the laptops to charge faster than before. The report does note that the computers will still have multiple USB-C ports as well, though.
The new MacBook Pros are also said to have brighter displays with better contrast. This report doesn't explain how Apple will achieve this exactly, but recent supply-chain rumors and analysts have been predicting that Apple will incorporate Mini LED displays in its upcoming machines, which would likely produce that result.
Bloomberg's source also says that Apple has been testing versions of the laptops without the Touch Bar, which was introduced to the lineup a few years back. The Touch Bar is a strip-shaped touch screen at the top of the keyboard that replaces the function keys with either virtual versions of those keys or other, app-specific functions.
While many apps support the Touch Bar, some power users have complained that the Touch Bar is not always as convenient as physical keys.
Finally, the report ends with a footnote that Apple plans to also update the MacBook Air with a new design but that it won't arrive as soon as the MacBook Pro updates. It doesn't outline any details about the MacBook Air redesign.
Update: Bloomberg ran an additional report today claiming that both iMac sizes are also due for a major update. They would include Apple Silicon chips, reduced bezels, and an elimination of the metal chin below the display. They would also sport flat chassis, in contrast to the curved design of the current iMac. The report also repeats prior claims that the Mac Pro will see a smaller, Apple Silicon successor that will live alongside the Intel model in Apple's lineup, and vaguely alludes to a cheaper, consumer-oriented alternative to Apple's expensive ProDisplay XDR monitor.
reader comments
253