New MacBook Pro Features Breakdown: Everything Rumors Say We Can Expect

[MacRumors]

With Apple's redesigned MacBook Pro believed to be just days away from being announced at Apple's "Unleashed" event, we have compiled all of the coherent rumors from our news coverage to build a full picture of the features and upgrades coming to the company's highly-anticipated new laptops.

It is worth noting that the rumors below are aggregated from our coverage from a wide range of sources, including leakers, analysts, and publications. The reliability of each source varies, so some of the rumored features may need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

That being said, this year's MacBook Pro rumors have been very consistent, with sources including Ming-Chi Kuo, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, and "Dylandkt," as well as MacRumors' own findings, presenting a very similar picture of the new machines.

• 14-inch and 16-inch models with the same performance across both machines.
• Slimmer bezels and no MacBook Pro logo below the display.
• Mini-LED displays with ProMotion and resolutions of 3024 x 1964 and 3456 x 2234, resulting in higher contrast and brightness, as well as smoother on-screen motion. A camera and sensor notch at the top edge of the display is also a possibility.
• 1080p webcam for improved video calls, up from 720p on the current models.
• Flatter design, more akin to the design of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13.
• Six ports, including two Thunderbolt ports and a MagSafe charging port on the left side of the machine, and an HDMI port, a Thunderbolt port, and SD-card reader on the right side of the machine. This means that there are three Thunderbolt ports expected, one less than on current high-end MacBook Pros.
• No OLED Touch Bar, with full-size physical function keys instead.
• "M1X" chip with a 10-core CPU that features eight high-performance cores and two energy-efficient cores, along with 16-core and 32-core GPU options, and support for up to 64GB of RAM.
• Improved thermal design for the 14-inch model, mirroring the improvements that came to the 16-inch model in 2019, including a larger heat pipe and heat sink, as well as added thermal pads.
• High-Power Mode to optionally boost performance when not connected to power.
• 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage as standard with the base configurations.
• Larger battery for the 14-inch model and a slightly smaller battery for the 16-inch model, relative to the current models.
• MagSafe charging like older MacBook Pro models, now featuring faster charging speeds and a redesigned power brick.

The overall view of the redesigned MacBook Pro rumors gives a good idea of many of the upcoming upgrades and what users can largely expect from the new machines when they are officially revealed. Apple's "Unleashed" special event takes place on Monday, October 18, where the new MacBook Pro models are widely expected to be announced. For more detailed information about the redesigned MacBook Pro models, see our comprehensive "Everything We Know" guide.

Update October 15: Updated to include mention of a last-minute rumor of a display notch.

Article Link: New MacBook Pro Features Breakdown: Everything Rumors Say We Can Expect

 

[DHagan4755]

Can't wait!

 

[lewdvig]

I think you are missing the ‘unleashed’ feature: turbo mode or whatever they call it.

All that cooling capacity for a miserly chip would be wasted unless there is a new mode we don’t know of.

If Apple Ramos up the watts on these chips the performance may be shockingly high.

 

[puckhead193]

While I like mag safe charging from way back. I did like be able to use whatever side of the computer I wanted to charge via usb c

 

[Juicy Box]

a MagSafe charging port on the left side of the machine

The thing I am looking forward to the most!

MagSafe has saved my wife's MBA from certain death many times, and was very sorry to see it go at the horrible "hello again" event back in 2016.

I just hope Apple sticks to what works and doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, potentially causing more problems than what they are trying to fix.

 

[iBluetooth]

It would be very unlike Apple to call the chip "M1X", as it would be based on the new CPU A15, and as such a new architecture with double the cache and much more powerful efficient cores. Thus, they will give the new CPU at least a new number!

 

[hybrid_x]

I look forward to buying the first revised version of this. Never buy v1.0 of Apple hardware. It’s almost always got problems that need to be fixed.

 

[polaris20]

I'll be looking to get one next year, after all the issues with the screen, chassis, this or that that happens with a new design from Apple get ironed out.

 

[azentropy]

Pretty exciting, seems like a great upgrade. Will be interesting to see how many of the 12 bullets come true.

 

[Adamhwi]

Here's what will REALLY happen..... A minor refresh as 2021 for Apple seems to be an iterative upgrade year, so I'm not holding onto to much faith that this wish-list by MacRumors will come to pass...

 

[MLVC]

Seems trivial but I really hope they will offer more colors besides Silver and Darker Silver.

 

[JMO1]

It’s crazy how excited we are in 2021 for a 14” computer, with a row of function keys, no bezels, a regular amount of ports, and MagCharing.
Apple has really nerfed the MBP line for us to be ending up here

 

[MLVC]

Here's what will REALLY happen..... A minor refresh as 2021 for Apple seems to be an iterative upgrade year, so I'm not holding onto to much faith that this wish-list by MacRumors will come to pass...

Wouldn't call the iMac 24 an "iterative upgrade".

 

[jz0309]

Given the AW track record, I predict no legacy (SD card and HDMI) ports ...

 

[Gnomeo86]

I think you are missing the ‘unleashed’ feature: turbo mode or whatever they call it.

I think that's on the list already:

• High-Power Mode to optionally boost performance when not connected to power.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

My soul is ready! I can’t wait!

The expectations and anticipations are set very high. Please, do not disappoint us Apple.

 

[smythey]

Shaping up to be a truly great update, and I think most of these predictions/rumours will come to pass.

Any guesses as to starting price? 😬

 

[rnizlek]

While I like mag safe charging from way back. I did like be able to use whatever side of the computer I wanted to charge via usb c

I understand why MagSafe is popular and I welcome it back. However I truly hope that these also support USB-C charging or at very least Apple offers an official USB-C to MagSafe adapter. Being able to connect a single cable from a Thunderbolt dock to cover everything from display to power is very convenient, but more importantly having to carry a separate power adapter is an enormous hassle when traveling. With USB-C I can bring along one power adapter that can charge my phone, work laptop (PC), and personal laptop. USB-C also makes it very convenient to power a laptop off a battery pack without the inefficiency of an inverter.

I realize there are USB-C to MagSafe adapters but I haven’t found a good quality one made by a decent company yet.

 

[TheDailyApple]

I look forward to buying the first revised version of this. Never buy v1.0 of Apple hardware. It’s almost always got problems that need to be fixed.

I'll be looking to get one next year, after all the issues with the screen, chassis, this or that that happens with a new design from Apple get ironed out.

Same here. My 15” 2017 could use an upgrade, but I intend to hold out till next year.

 

[fwmireault]

I look forward to buying the first revised version of this. Never buy v1.0 of Apple hardware. It’s almost always got problems that need to be fixed.

Not sure what you’re implying. Apple makes MacBook Pro since 15 years, and this model would already be the revised version of the first Apple silicon MacBook Pro.

 

[mikeboss]

not entirely convinced about the 64GB RAM option. at least the 14" MBP definitely will only have 16 or 32GB of memory.

 

[m4mario]

I hope Apple pulled an Apple Watch 7 and all these rumors are untrue.
Can’t wait for the M1X either way.

 

[jlc1978]

While MagSafe would be nice, why not just design a USB-C MagSafe connector and stick with what is now a pretty standard, and widely available, power connector? The physical cable need only provide power, simplifying the design a bit; and allowing the port to be used as a normal USB C as well.

I imagine the price will be unleashed as well...

 

[KurtWilde]

But how much?

 

[Orange Bat]

They should up the minimum storage to 1TB on MacBook Pros. 256GB was criminal when I bought mine in 2015 with limited funds. 512GB is a great improvement, but should be more for the price. (I bought my Mac Mini with 1TB. It’s the best value Mac in the line-up and I have zero complaints.)