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Reviewing the past M/A/Ax chip family it comes to my mind:

M2 will be based on A16

2020: A14 -> M1 family
2022: A16 -> M2 family

- this would mean a 2 year cycle
- 2022 chips probably implementing arm v9
 
Reviewing the past M/A/Ax chip family it comes to my mind:

M2 will be based on A16

2020: A14 -> M1 family
2022: A16 -> M2 family

- this would mean a 2 year cycle
- 2022 chips probably implementing arm v9

Let's hope that's the case. Doesn't seem like there's a big enough performance gap between generations, so skipping one might be better. Let's also hope it doesn't take a year or so to get the Pro/Max/Ultra variants out the door. Would be nice if we saw at least the M2 Pro/Max this time next year, 6 months after the release of the M2. And then maybe the Ultra updated closer to the end of the year.

I don't think Apple will ever move to ARMv9.
 
The M1 MacBook Pro will be tweaked and branded as a MacBook at $999.

The Macbook Air will be redesigned with an M2 and priced at $1299.

- The 13" MacBook Pro is gone, done, dropped, retired.
- The current "Air" will continue as is with the M1, but there will only be a single very low-end model.

It doesn't matter what the newer laptops will be called, there will be 2 of them...
- The smaller will be passively cooled - this takes the place of high-end Air
- The larger will be actively cooled - this takes the place of the 13" MBP
- They will both have the M2
- They will both come in the same colors as the iMac
- The displays will not have a notch , but instead have larger white, glorious bezels
 
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"A new report today from 9to5Mac once again reiterates these rumors"

Uh huh.

A lot of blah blah blah around here.

After all the baloney blather from the media about the M2 Mac Air, I'll believe it when I see it.
 
I'm a 12" MacBook owner; Apple pinged me for a survey inquiring about interest in a similar ultraportable. For me, it was a "Shut Up And Take My Money" question. Apple Silicon's power and efficiency is perfectly-suited to be the engine inside a resuscitated 12.5 or 13" screen ultraportable two-pound (or 2.2 lb.) MacBook with 14 hours of battery life. Please, please, Apple — bring back this perfect computer. Put two Thunderbolt 4 ports on it (who cares about the audio jack?), and take my money.
 
makes no sense to have both a macbook air and a macbook pro 13 with the same chip. would be logical to make it just one product, the macbook. or they'll find a reason to have a distinction (like more ports plus active cooling); but still flimsy)
 
makes no sense to have both a macbook air and a macbook pro 13 with the same chip. would be logical to make it just one product, the macbook. or they'll find a reason to have a distinction (like more ports plus active cooling); but still flimsy)
Or else a 2022 MacBook Air update with M1 (again), and 2022 13" MacBook Pro update with M2.
 
- The 13" MacBook Pro is gone, done, dropped, retired.
- The current "Air" will continue as is with the M1, but there will only be a single very low-end model.

It doesn't matter what the newer laptops will be called, there will be 2 of them...
- The smaller will be passively cooled - this takes the place of high-end Air
- The larger will be actively cooled - this takes the place of the 13" MBP
- They will both have the M2
- They will both come in the same colors as the iMac
- The displays will not have a notch , but instead have larger white, glorious bezels
the benefit of cooling in the 13" pro is very minimal. certainly doesn't justify the price difference; and a completely passive laptop will be more durable; quiet obviously, and won't gather dust inside. I don't see it. They need either other gimmicks (more ports; more ram for the base model); or a better CPU/GPU (besides the 7/8 graphical cores difference; who cares?).

also if they bump the price on the macbook air or whatever they call it; the 2020 M1 macbook air will have a great future in the second hand market.
 
Is the trackpad response and click strength any better in the Pro? In the old days, the Pros had noticeably stronger Force Touch response.
 
makes no sense to have both a macbook air and a macbook pro 13 with the same chip. would be logical to make it just one product, the macbook. or they'll find a reason to have a distinction (like more ports plus active cooling); but still flimsy)

They do the same now with ipad.

From apple’s perspective, the chip is just part of the recipe. They differentiate on connectivity, screen quality and features, size and weight, etc.
 
the benefit of cooling in the 13" pro is very minimal. certainly doesn't justify the price difference; and a completely passive laptop will be more durable; quiet obviously, and won't gather dust inside. I don't see it. They need either other gimmicks (more ports; more ram for the base model); or a better CPU/GPU (besides the 7/8 graphical cores difference; who cares?).

also if they bump the price on the macbook air or whatever they call it; the 2020 M1 macbook air will have a great future in the second hand market.

Under heavy use, something a Pro would normally need, the Air can drop from 3GHz all the way down to 2GHz, that's a 30% hit because of throttling. The fan makes a huge difference in performance.
 
I am desperately need a new MacBook Air, I don't want to buy the current MacBook Air, but the new gen MacBook Air needs to wait until September or later! I am refresh Macrumors.com every few minutes for the new MacBook Air news!
Newbie huh? Welcome aboard Mate!!! Still rocking a 2013 MBA, which runs perfect,but locked out of further OS updates. Got the 2021 12.9 iPad Pro with M1 Chip and 2TB SSD, it flies!! Going to do the same config for the new MBA,with the addition of the M2 chip and 32or 64 GB Virtual memory. At 74 sb my last machine.
 
Let's hope that's the case. Doesn't seem like there's a big enough performance gap between generations, so skipping one might be better. Let's also hope it doesn't take a year or so to get the Pro/Max/Ultra variants out the door. Would be nice if we saw at least the M2 Pro/Max this time next year, 6 months after the release of the M2. And then maybe the Ultra updated closer to the end of the year.

I don't think Apple will ever move to ARMv9.
Yeah, think so too, next time the stronger versions will maybe materialize a bit earlier.

About v9:
Apple went all the way from v6 to 8. I don’t think they will loose out on this round. They do their own designs, right, but they agreed on a common ISA and from my point of understanding would let the other contenders catch up a bit.
I think they will do their own recipe of v9 as they did so successfully with v7 (A4-6) and v8 (the astonishing A7 and following, Apple did explicitly mention that it is backwards compatible with v6&7).
 
I don't understand why Apple would bother rebranding and tweaking the M1 MBP to hit the $999 price point when they already have a terrific entry level M1 MBA at that price that does not require any tweaking or changes to their production/supply chain.
Because the old MBP design is still two years older than the current MacBook Air design, so probably easier to produce.
Removing the touchbar could dramatically drop the price.
 
makes no sense to have both a macbook air and a macbook pro 13 with the same chip. would be logical to make it just one product, the macbook. or they'll find a reason to have a distinction (like more ports plus active cooling); but still flimsy)
The difference will be that the M2 MacBook Will be thick, silver and gray, with big bezels.
The new MacBook Air will be super thin, colorful, thin bezels.
There you go
 
Yeah, think so too, next time the stronger versions will maybe materialize a bit earlier.

About v9:
Apple went all the way from v6 to 8. I don’t think they will loose out on this round. They do their own designs, right, but they agreed on a common ISA and from my point of understanding would let the other contenders catch up a bit.
I think they will do their own recipe of v9 as they did so successfully with v7 (A4-6) and v8 (the astonishing A7 and following, Apple did explicitly mention that it is backwards compatible with v6&7).

Of course they could, but its been over 9 years and 8 generations of custom CPU designs... I think Apple has invested enough in customizing and extending v8 it wouldn't be worth moving to v9 at this point.
 
Looks like MacBook Air will be the product of the year in 2022. They will sell like hot cakes. Can't wait to see the new gorgeous colors.
Fully agree!
It's possible that they'd just retire the 13 inch MacBook Pro, replace it with this new M2 MacBook, and keep the old Air in the lineup.
no point keeping the old Air.
Called it.
Given that the old MBP design is almost 6 years old, it’s much cheaper to produce at this point.
If they remove the Touch Bar, they can drop down the price even more.
So my prediction is that the thicker, heavier, silver and gray, thick bezeled MacBook will slot in at that $999 price point, replacing the old MacBook Air.
Than the new MacBook Air which is thinner, lighter, colorful, with thinner bezels and a notch will be priced at $1299.
So it would literally mirror the iPad lineup with the obvious exception of the mini.
iPad/MacBook: cheapest, thicker, heavier, silver and gray only, LCD display, thick bezels.
iPad Air/MacBook Air: thin, light, colorful, midrange.
iPad Pro/MacBook Pro: top-of-the-line, best CPU, mini LED, 120 Hz

The current and long winded 6-yr MBP 13” can just be further milled down:
to be slightly thinner,
drop the fans on the motherboard, making the motherboard smaller,
drop Touch Bar,
replace the screen and hinge design to accomodate the slimmer chassis.

And there the new MBA.

In all renders shown, the non-slopping MBA Mx model is essentially the same design and shape as the current 13” MBP just being slimmer and a different screen & bezel. I mean just look at it very simply and ignore any specs etc just the design.
 
Disagree.

The base Mx SoC will be updated every year.
The "pro" variants will be on a two year schedule.

The reason we're waiting two years for the M2 is because of the transition.

M2 Fall 22
M2 Pro/Max Summer 23
M3 Fall 23
M2 Ultra Late 23/Early 24

I’m going on record to challenge this:

M2 Late Summer 2022 - MBA/MB just in time for BackToSchool deals or just after.
M2 Pro/Max Late 2022 (Nov-December)
M3 mid-year 2023, the M1 Ultra just released days ago.
 
For marketing reasons they won’t launch M3 then launch M2 Ultra after that, as people will get confused as what’s the better chip etc… hence why there was no M2 at this weeks spring event, on top of this we still have the global chip shortage to deal with.

If they were to do the pro lines every 2 years and the Mx lines every year it would end up looking more like…

M2 Fall 22
M3 Fall 23
M3 Pro Max Ultra Early-Mid 24
M4 Fall 24
M5 Fall 25
M5 Pro Max Ultra Early - Mid 26

This just makes zero sense, and there is literally no need for Apple to refresh the Mx lines every year, even the iPad Pro only got refreshed every 18 months for the most part.

If anything it will be a tik tok cycle going forward…

Fall 22 - Early 23 - M2
Fall 23 - Mid 24 - M2 Pro, Max, Ultra
Fall 24 - Early 25 - M3
Fall 25 - Mid 26 - M3 Pro, Max, Ultra
Yeah, I estimate a similar release cycle.
 
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