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Next-Generation MacBook Pro Models With M2 Pro and M2 Max Chips Reportedly 'Delayed Once Again'

I throw some pretty heavy **** at my M1 MB Pro 14 and continue to be amazed at it's abilities. I wouldn't be chomping at the bit for a "faster" machine than this because I can't perceive of any use case where the spec bump would be perceptible. Although I'm sure 3nm would help with battery life but even that's not an issue for me.
 
CarAnalogy said:
Fine with me. Enjoying my 14” and not looking forward to that day known all too well to Apple fans when it becomes not the current model anymore.
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It’s funny you say that because I always thought that wasn’t going to happen to me. I bought an M1 MBA and somehow, since the M2 MBA came out, it’s looking weirdly old to me. Dang it 😆
 
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I'm calling bullsh!t on this rumor.

We know almost nothing from Apple, but we do have other data. Primarily, we know that Apple is the only buyer for TSMC's N3B (so far, that might well be changing at this moment, but that changes nothing) which has just gone into production. We know it'll be ~2.5-3 months for finished chips coming out of there, + maybe a little more for fancy packaging. We know that those chips have ~70% better logic density than N5.

We know the Air and 13" Macbook aren't going to be the first homes for these new chips, even though that would have made more sense (in terms of ramping production on smaller dice before moving to larger ones). So where are those chips going? Mini? (Pretty clearly not.) No, the plausible contenders are:
- iMac Pro (or possibly iMac 27/30/32)
- MBP 14/16"
- Mac Pro
And of those three, the last has the greatest margin, to perhaps cover low yield, but I wouldn't make that bet. Volume is too low. I think it's either the MBPs, or the MBPs and the Mac Pro.

Given that, and assuming that not much will change in the MBPs other than the SoC (not certain, but does seem universally expected, and makes lots of sense), an announcement any time in March (or even perhaps February, though doubtful) for shipment begining in late March through late April is by far the most likely scenario.

Unless TSMC announces a serious production problem, or everyone in China dies of Covid++, don't expect any more delays.
 
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I keep getting my theory reinforced. Macs got A LOT of attention recently. What happened to iPhone and Apple Watch? Now we are hearing so many rumors about AR/VR, and macs are getting shafted again?

Apple has too many areas. Introducing AR/VR will not be good. Apple seems to be able to really focus on one thing at a time.
 
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t0rqx said:
Apple is a mess at the moment.

Update: There is a scheme going on to make the M2 Pro/Max the first M-socs to run xrOS apps. Killing the M1-socs in the proces, to force upgrades again.
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Fact or theory? I'm guessing the latter
 
I feel bad for the people who decided to wait for the second generation. They could have been enjoying the benefits of Apple Silicon for a year. I hope it's a great update to make it worth it …
 
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Ethosik said:
I keep getting my theory reinforced. Macs got A LOT of attention recently. What happened to iPhone and Apple Watch? Now we are hearing so many rumors about AR/VR, and macs are getting shafted again?

Apple has too many areas. Introducing AR/VR will not be good. Apple seems to be able to really focus on one thing at a time.
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the iphone and apple watch are grown up...the AS macs are still young and growing
 
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Many seem to have jumped to the conclusion the delays are forced or technological, but they just maybe 'business decisions'. For me M2 was unspectacular compared to the M1 which provided a solid improvement for many devices. With M3 allegedly in production, then Apple may take the commercial view, which is common to business, of still producing M2 range because they don't want to knock their existing range too much. So is not necessarily about pushing out the best products, but looking to their margins, as if they came out with M3 products so much better than M2, then existing products may not seem that enticing to customers. For example the M1 Mac mini. If they produce something much faster/better than it will hit their M1 Studio. Apple are a business, they do not have the obligation to push out the best products, the fastest products (sadly) if it hits their margins.

It also depends on what competitors are bringing to the market which is why advances in other companies should be relished by Apple users, as that drives technology forward because then customer base is also in the equation.
 
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t0rqx said:
Apple is a mess at the moment.

Update: There is a scheme going on to make the M2 Pro/Max the first M-socs to run xrOS apps. Killing the M1-socs in the proces, to force upgrades again.
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They seem to be in a bit of a mess I have to say, rumours of increasing iPhone Pro prices to boost non Pro model sales, delays upon delays upon delays, a locked down none upgradable Mac Pro, and now rumours of a touch screen laptop which they spent years and years telling us no we they wouldn’t do it get an iPad?
Still so long as they make record profits every quarter they won’t change.

I suspect if true this is to make way for the pointless AR / VR headset, that is one device they’ll have to work very hard at selling, it won’t be cheap and I don’t think many people who wear glasses will buy one. And consumers will literally just see it as another device like a phone, when they already have a phone.
 
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I don’t think these machines were ever supposed to come out last fall or early this year. The M1 Air came out in November 2020, and updated to M2 in July 2022 — why wouldn’t this cycle be the same for the Pro and Max laptops? Add in the fact that China shut down production for a number of months last year, and it just shows you how wrong some rumors can be.
 
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Delay? Supply chain issues are still a thing with Apple and many other tech companies. But that's par for the course given that almost 80% or more of the required ICs and materials are sourced and produced from China.
 
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MacRumors said:
The rest of the report is focused on how MacBook shipments will likely decline 40% to 50% sequentially in the first quarter of 2023, citing unnamed supply chain sources. The report claims that Apple "adjusting its shipment ratios" by adding Wingtech as a MacBook assembler is the primary reason for the substantial decline.
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The causal direction sounds backwards here. It would make sense if Apple were making use of an anticipated decline in sales to give them some breathing room to work out the kinks involved in adding a new assembler. But MR is saying the opposite: That Apple's shipments will ~halve because they are adding a new assembler. This makes no sense. I wish MR did more than simply parrot these stories, and instead actually explained what's going on.
 
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t0rqx said:
Update: There is a scheme going on to make the M2 Pro/Max the first M-socs to run xrOS apps. Killing the M1-socs in the proces, to force upgrades again.
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meanwhile, Apple offers 5 years of software updates on their most profitable product but everyone focuses on planned obsolescence
 
There is no necessary to use more powerful macbook pro within two years from the issue in my opinion. And the sustainable world doesn't need it too.
 
MacRumors said:


Apple's next-generation 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips were slated to hit the market in "early 2023," but the laptops are now expected to be "delayed once again," according to Taiwanese publication DigiTimes.

14-vs-16-inch-mbp-m2-pro-and-max-feature-1.jpg

The report does not offer a revised launch timeframe for the new MacBook Pros. In his newsletter last weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple planned to release the laptops in the first half of this year and said they will have the same designs and features as the current models, but with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. Gurman said those chips will offer only marginal performance improvements over the current M1 Pro and M1 Max.

In late October, Gurman said Apple planned to release the new MacBook Pros in the first quarter of 2023 and had tied the launches to an upcoming macOS 13.3 release, but it's unclear if those plans have changed since then. Based on Gurman's latest timeframe of the first half of 2023, the new MacBook Pros should finally be released by Apple's annual developers conference WWDC in June at the latest, but hopefully sooner.

Apple's chipmaking partner TSMC started mass production of 3nm chips in late December, but reports have conflicted as to whether the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips will be 3nm or remain 5nm like the M1 Pro and M1 Max.

The rest of the report is focused on how MacBook shipments will likely decline 40% to 50% sequentially in the first quarter of 2023, citing unnamed supply chain sources. The report claims that Apple "adjusting its shipment ratios" by adding Wingtech as a MacBook assembler is the primary reason for the substantial decline.

Article Link: Next-Generation MacBook Pro Models With M2 Pro and M2 Max Chips Reportedly 'Delayed Once Again'
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Once again Apple is saving me money. Ok, let’s wait another six months.
 
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tongxinshe said:
After switching to in-house CPUs, the update pace actually slowed down, and the performance improvement between two generations is even smaller than Intel.
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I used the intel versions, now I have M1 Macbook Pro. Not comparable, mainly when I use my old i9 16 MBP...
 
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