Hype over the M1 chips having died down, Cupertino is preparing for the next steps (and chips). The most credible rumors about the future of Apple's computer range.
Having shown to the world the potential of the new M1 chip, much higher than expected, Apple is in the position to give continuity to the new course inaugurated with the new line of Apple Silicon processors, and to renew at the same time the entire range of Macs not only from a technical point of view.
The MacBook Air, MacBook Pro 13 "and Mac mini on which last year has debuted the M1 chip have not received a cosmetic change. Apple could remedy this year, at least for a part of these products that - it must be said - continue to sell well even with a design no longer fresh. According to rumors bounced by Bloomberg, Cupertino's calendar would be quite busy: at the beginning of the summer should arrive the new MacBook Pro, then at the end of the year the new MacBook Air and finally, in 2022, it would be the turn of the Mac Pro, but not before the launch of a "cheap" MacBook Pro.
Apple's plans for MacBook Pro, Air and mini
The first to arrive, as mentioned, would be the new MacBook Pro in the 14 and 16 inch versions. The most visible novelty would concern the display, which finally would have inactive areas (the so-called bezels) thinner than before thanks to the adoption - according to rumors - of miniLED panels (already seen on the new iPad Pro 2021).
Tornerebbero then a series of physical inputs including the never forgotten magnetic connector MagSafe for power, a slot for microSD and an HDMI port to meet the needs of creative profiles.
Minor news about the news under the shell. On the next MacBook Pro there should be revised chips, known for the moment as Jade C-Chop and Jade C-Die, with ten-core CPUs: eight for high loads, two for low and therefore with a reduced power consumption. There seems to be no doubt that at the time of purchase you will be able to choose between configurations with a different number of graphics cores, rumored to be 16 or 32 (the current SoC M1 is equipped with 7 or 8 graphics cores). In addition, up to 64 GB of RAM should be available, instead of the 16 GB supported by the current M1 chips.
The new MacBook Air will immediately appear different from the previous ones, due to a makeover that should involve the available colors, along the lines of what happened with the new iMacs, but also the black bezels around the display, which could be reduced.
On the features front, on the next MacBook Air is expected the successor of the M1 chip with eight, nine or ten graphics cores, the same technical system expected on the "cheap" MacBook Pro.
Finally Mac mini, on which will arrive the successor of the M1 chip and on which will be increased from two to four the number of USB-C Thunderbolt inputs.
The new Mac Pro
To know the new Mac Pro, always the most powerful desktop machine of Apple dedicated to professionals of graphics and video, we will probably have to wait for the new year. According to Bloomberg, it is not wrong to expect yet another concentration of performance, with chips two or even four times faster than those that will find place on the next MacBook Pro.
Currently the new chips for the Mac Pro are known as Jade 2C-Die and Jade 4C-Die, the first with 20 cores while the second with 40 cores in total. Numbers that rise significantly talking about graphics, with 64 or 128 dedicated cores. Nothing or almost instead the aesthetic innovations provided.