Apple's Rumored 12-Inch MacBook Could Be Pro Model With M2 Pro and M2 Max

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

...why?

No really, why? You're gonna have poor battery life and performance on that 12 inch laptop compared to the 14 and 16 inch MBP. M1 Max already was such a battery drain in the 14 inch, so why would you put that in something even smaller with less airflow?

 

[visualseed]

Not buying this rumor.

The thermals won't make any sense.

If they started making the Pro chips on a 3nm process they may be able to pull off this flex.

 

[CPark98]

I kind of want to see this come to life. Lol

 

[Macalway]

This is a cruel rumor. As much as I want the 12" back, I'm pretty sure it ain't gonna happen.

Just the odds. But ya Neva know.

The thing with the 12" was portability (obviously). But it was like a tablet with a keyboard, but with the weight of just the tablet alone (something that the iPad can't match).

Btw, Samsung has 2lb laptops. Had them for years. Very good ones. Samsung.

 

[nicolas_s]

12-inch is way too small for professional usage when you need to spend long hours in front of it.

If you use it in the office with an external display but also use it on the train / hotel it makes sense.

The 16-inch is advertised as a portable device but it's way too big to use while traveling, the 14-inch can also feel big in an airplane seat.

 

[teh_hunterer]

12" fanless device with an M2 Pro? 12" fanless device with an M2 Max? Even a moment's thought will tell you that's simply not going to happen. The M2 as it is will already be slightly more power hungry and harder to cool than the M1 because of the extra GPU cores.

You're trying to tell me this device is going to handle 40+ GPU cores? Lel

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Bad take.

M2 is using A15 cores. The performance is as expected.

You don't put chips like this together last minute. Engineers start planning chips 3-4 years before launch.

Are you referring to that 18% increase? That’s it? It was a minimal effort, to be honest with you. Apple should have waited. If this was in MacBook Pro 14" and 16" line up. It wouldn't be worth the upgrade.

 

[MacPoulet]

And how are they going to price this thing?

M2 Pro below the M2?
12” above the 13”?

I believe the last 12“ MacBook was price above the 13” Air…

 

[TSE]

I kind of want to see this come to life. Lol
View attachment 2017151

Great job! Looks insane.

 

[ruka.snow]

A 12 inch pro would be absolutely fantastic for developing on where you are usually connected to external screens and the internal is just for meetings.

 

[MayaUser]

I have to ask.. at this point why does anyone listen to Gurman? he’s wrong 80% of the time, and when he’s proved wrong he just says he never said that. Despite clearly saying it.

he was the one that called the M1 Pro and Max, he was the one who called the next MBa will come with M2 and not M1 like others said Digitimes etc...he is more than 50% right

 

[Eagle_Eye]

No, it won't. Too small for active cooling, so this is not going to happen. M2 chip maybe, but it will throttle in such a small form factor.

 

[MayaUser]

Are you referring to that 18% increase? That’s it? It was a minimal effort, to be honest with you. Apple should have waited. If this was in MacBook Pro 14" and 16" line up. It wouldn't be worth the upgrade.

View attachment 2017155

18% its enough from 1 gen to another, and thats only on cpu side, The Gpu is up to 35% depending of the config
Also the Ram now is LPDDR5 and not LPDDR4x
Also we have Pro Res on the SoC. A15 also runs cooler than A14...so what are we talking about? is more than others brings in 2-3 years

 

[terminator-jq]

Very interesting if true… While 12” for a “Pro” laptop would be an odd size, it could help bridge the price gap between the the MacBook Air lineup and the 14” MacBook Pro. Especially if this would replace the current aging 13” Touchbar model. M2 Max at that size sounds like a thermal nightmare but I can certainly see having the option between base M2 and M2 Pro.

I’ll definitely wait for more credible leakers before giving it too much thought but the concept of a smaller cheaper MacBook Pro especially for students or traveling sounds like it could be successful.

Let’s just hope Apple doesn’t make their laptop lineup as confusing as the iPads…

 

[dgdosen]

It would be cool to see how many transistors they'd be able to cram into a M3/Pro/Max and then into a 12" ultrabook.

50 billion? 75 billion?

I only hope I'll be able to put it to good use.

 

[ahurst]

12-inch is way too small for professional usage when you need to spend long hours in front of it.

For you maybe, I know several programmers and scientists who happily used 12” MacBooks when they were on the market. The 12.5” ThinkPad X201/X220/X230 series has also been a long-time favorite in the programming community for its robust performance and small size.

That said, I have friends with the M1 Air who say that it gets pretty hot when running long heavy number-crunching tasks (scientific simulations): if the *base* M1 is already at the thermal limits of the MBA’s fanless case, an M1 Pro or Max in an even smaller case seems right out of the question unless the new 12” is substantially thicker than before.

 

[teh_hunterer]

Are you referring to that 18% increase? That’s it? It was a minimal effort, to be honest with you. Apple should have waited. If this was in MacBook Pro 14" and 16" line up. It wouldn't be worth the upgrade.

That 18% increase without a node improvement is at the high end of the industry standard. You've also got a power consumption reduction if I remember correctly. Then you have the stronger GPU cores, the extra GPU cores, as well as the video encode/decode blocks that the M1 missed out on (that the M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra and A15 all got).

It's not mindblowing, but it's quite decent.

 

[DrNevs]

Pro, Max, Ultra.

These M chip series names are clumsy.

If there is an Ultra, it’s not really ‘Max’ is it?

 

[uczcret]

Yeah, this rumour sounds like utter bs.

The M1 Max is already pushing the thermal limits of the 14" MBP, how would the M2 Max fare in a 12" chassis?

 

[kyjaotkb]

The processor rumors are baseless. the 12" will obviously be powered by a G5!

 

[MayaUser]

Pro, Max, Ultra.

These M chip series names are clumsy.

If there is an Ultra, it’s not really ‘Max’ is it?

That Ultra is in fact ULTRA MAX

 

[GhostOS]

I honestly feel like it was put together very last minute.

Lmfao the armchair analyst comments on here these days that make 0 sense. Yes Apple puts everything together 'very last minute', sure, yes, of course Apple does that.

 

[Moonjumper]

I think there is room for a MacBook that has the same aim as the original MacBook Air: Portability above everything else. Battery life of the Intel MacBooks was fine for many. A MacBook with a smaller battery could be much lighter, but still useable for many. I'm not suggesting this replaces the existing Air, I'm talking about those who need portability, but don't spend days of use away from from a plug.

 

[visualseed]

This is a cruel rumor. As much as I want the 12" back, I'm pretty sure it ain't gonna happen.

Just the odds. But ya Neva know.

The thing with the 12" was portability (obviously). But it was like a tablet with a keyboard, but with the weight of just the tablet alone (something that the iPad can't match).

Btw, Samsung has 2lb laptops. Had them for years. Very good ones. Samsung.

I would have said the odds were more against the original 12" since it required so many compromises to bring to market than Apple would have to make now. Even if a M2 Pro or Max were not feasible, this design could be so easily resurrected with a regular M2 or even an M1 with a boost to battery life and performance light-years beyond the original.

 

[bLackjackj]

M2 Max in a 12" chassis, though? Sounds like it would be incredibly thermally limited.

Lol, why? Have you not seen the size of your pocket computer called an iPhone?