I guess there’s also a chance that it’ll be an announcement with “available… this fall” added to it to allow for manufacturing delays and the like.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
M2 MacBook Air Said to Be Among Most Likely WWDC Hardware Announcements, Apple AR/VR Headset Unlikely
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
My genius tells me it's the 13" MB Pro which still rocks the Touch Bar.
Both this & high end mac mini which still rocks intel will be updated with M1 Pro only.
iMac 27 & iMac Studio will get a look in.
The MacPro will also be introduced with it's only line of silicon separate to M1 Family & AR iGoggles will get a look-in.
I'm expecting the big reveal of the new larger display iMac with an M1 Ultra. Apple won't have the new Mac Pro close to ready so they'll throw us this bone.
I think what Apple does is mainstream things. Remember how everyone initially laughed at how dorky the AirPods looked, and they are practically iconic today.
Think about why Microsoft’s HoloLens is limited to enterprise markets - because Microsoft has no smartphone presence, and no leverage or influence to get developers on board to support their product. Making it all but dead in the consumer space.
What I see the AR glasses as being is an awesome piece of iphone accessory that allows users to consume AR content on a giant display without having to physically hold up their phone. It’s going to look similar to an actual pair of glasses, like how you can recognise an Apple Watch a mile away, but it doesn’t really look out of place on anyone’s wrist.
And personally, I already wear glasses, so wearing a pair of Apple Glasses (assuming they have a version with prescription lens) is no real loss or inconvenience to me.
That’s Apple’s strength in a nutshell. They get both tech and design. Other companies typically are only able to master one but not the other. And that is why I feel that only Apple is uniquely positioned to succeed in the wearables space.
The most powerful piece of AR tech is useless if nobody is willing to be caught dead in public wearing it.
MacBook Air has had WWDC refreshes before — stage time in 2012 and 2013, along with a silent refresh coincident with the 2017 keynote. It's certainly not unheard of.
And it would make some degree of sense, too: Apple's already said outright that the M1 Ultra is the final SoC in the M1 series, but it's also rumored that an even more powerful SoC (essentially doubling the M1 Ultra) is destined for the Mac Pro, which would seem to preclude the Mac Pro from an M1 refresh, given that Apple disparaged the notion of a dual-SoC setup during the March event to explain why M1 Ultra was a better path.
Given that, I don’t believe that the “that is for another day” line, referring to an Apple silicon Mac Pro, would’ve been included in the March Apple event if it were coming in just a few months — it was likely meant as a nod to Mac Pro customers both that the Mac Studio is not replacing the Mac Pro and that while an Apple silicon Mac Pro is coming, it’s going to be a while. After the 2013 Mac Pro fiasco, Apple probably determined it was in everyone’s best interest to let customers know that the Mac Pro hasn’t fallen by the wayside once again and will indeed get transitioned to Apple silicon…just not yet. Apple doesn’t take pre-announcing products lightly, but they did it for the Apple silicon Mac Pro.
From a marketing perspective, I also can’t see any timeline where Apple announces the top-of-the-line M2 SoC for Mac Pro before any lower-end M2 SoC. Production logistics aside, to the extent possible, they want the M2 to become more impressive with time, not less.
Tim Cook wearing AR/VR goggles is a scary thought. Can just picture him stumbling around Apple Park now.
My guess is any new Mac device or comptuer will all come in at higher price points. The old ones will be kept around to show entry prices did not go up but to get the new speed or any upgrades you will have to pay more for that. I don't think the supply chain is such where they will make money by selling higher volumes. They will try to make as much as they can while selling less devices overall.
Why would he stumble? It is AR...augmented reality. I assume the lens is see-through in AR mode or cameras provide the external view.
Oh yes – I keep forgetting about my own prediction that it will be renamed to "MacBook." It's a confusing outlier in Apple's line-up right now.
I actually really hope they don't announce the iMac-coloured Airs, because I *crave* one, but can't justify the purchase. €1199 is a bit much to pay for "but it's BLUE!"
I don’t expect any new hardware news @wwdc this year. However, they may announce RealityOS as a separate environment that can be run inside an iPhone so developers can start making apps and third-party MFi headset cases so that when Apple’s headset is ready, announce it with a ton of apps already on the market.
I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said. I’ve been saying the same for a few years now. But the rumor suggests this is VR/AR and the mockup suggests it’s more VR-related. We’ll soon see
Right. There is no way they would announce a device that isn’t relevant to developers. If it is ready to ship, Apple would have a separate event. Zero chance of M2 announcement. Slight chance of a really early announcement for the headset.
The M2 is likely on a different process, so they might be able to fulfill more of them… but I think it is very unlikely to be announced at a developer event. There just isn’t anything that would concern developers. Every WWDC hardware announcement was to give developers time to adapt software. The 2012 MacBook Pro was the first with a Retina display for instance.
A very early announcement is expected when it is announced. Likely before there are more then prototypes. It isn’t going to be a just in time announcement like most hardware.
We don’t have to be a “professional” leaker or a palm reader to guess what will come at the event in June:
Mac Pro silicon preview that comes out in the fall (or later in 4th quarter).
Mist be a slow Memorial Day weekend for rumor news or need advertising money for click bat.
Even worse, because I am not a photographer or video editor I have to have a fischer price themed laptop?
The Air sells well amongst developers, consultants, executives, etc. They don't need the GPU boosts that come with the Pro models and portability is a factor. They'll also be looking for conservative colours... especially if it's the company buying.
Coloured options -- sure, just let me pick something suitable for the office.
The Air has historically been popular with developers. Even the older design was used by a lot of developers (I couldn't believe they could still use that screen, but people did...)