The rumors never made much sense. They were based on the idea that either Apple was going to release more M1s or that they were going to wait for N3 to release the M2. Apple already said that the M1 Ultra was the last of the M1 line in March. So that theory wasn't credible. And N3 isn't coming until next year. The idea that Apple would wait another 9 months or longer to release a new generation SoC also made no sense. Why would they wait that long? Obviously the answer is, they wouldn't.