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I hope not. If they’re going to ditch the Touch Bar, they should not be letting it linger around for another year in a lower model Pro. I’d presume that the new MacBook Air with M2 would have the same small gap as the current M1 MBP and MBA.
 
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For a time everyone thought Apple was putting the M2 in the 14" MacBook Pro (sans a few ports) to replace the 13" MacBook Pro M1. It's not that the 13" MacBook Pro design is bad; it's namely the Touch Bar. If Apple omits the Touch Bar with an M2 version as Mark Gurman says is happening, then it should be ok for now. Ideally, omitting the Touch Bar, adding MagSafe 3, and a 1080p webcam is what Apple should minimally do if they're keeping the 13" MacBook Pro around. My 2¢...
 
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They could easily update the 13in. MBP sans TouchBar with M2 and a few other tweaks and allow it to hold the current price. Mind you this would be a stopgap measure with the new Air coming later with M2 wherein we would again be where we are now, with an Air making the Pro 13 largely pointless. The Pro has to have something to justify the price disparity.
 
They will at some point, that's certain. What isn't certain is if they will release it TOMORROW.

But they would have to discontinue the 13" M1 MBP - and then if they released the M2 MBA at a different event, no one would buy it because the M2 is more up-to-date.

Hopefully my logic makes sense.
 
If they do refresh the 13", it will probably just be the processor in the same chassis. If they made a 13" MacBook Pro with the new design, keyboard, chassis, and display, it would probably eat into the 14" MacBook Pro sales. And not sure if they'd use the keyboard that was once used in the non-touch bar model, or keep the touch bar alive (also doesn't make sense).

With the new Air coming out - I think this will fill the 13" category for Apple and the 13" MacBook Pro will eventually be killed off. I personally would like the 13" MacBook Pro turn into a 'MacBook' for those who do not need a Pro, and doesn't want an Air based on the current design rumors. Kind of like a middle-ground Mac.

I would love a new thin and light MacBook, but I've become so spoiled by the MicroLED displays in the new Pros. If the new Air or any new MacBooks do not have a MicroLED display, not sure if I would be interested (as much as I would love and super thin, light and cool running MacBook). Going from my new Pro's to my M1 Air is night and day (in terms of the display).
 
The reasonable thing to do would be to discontinue the old MBP 13", and let us customers choose between the Air which is so powerful these days - or the MBP 14" or 16" when you need more power or just want the shiniest thing.

But Apple is the company that gave us the iPad/Apple Pencil lollipop, so "reasonable" should be used with care sometimes when it comes to Apple and product decisions... ?
 
Looks like Kuo is correct. The great thing about Kuo is that he's humble about his predictions as well.
 
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