Apple is a company that is, at times, unpredictable. The most recent example of this is that we all thought they would introduce new Macs at the end of 2022, and they didn’t. In fact, 2022 has been one of the few years in which Apple hasn’t released any computers in its last fiscal quarter. Actually, 2022 has been one of the few years in which Apple has not released any computers in its last fiscal quarter.
There has been much speculation about the reason behind this: problems in the production line, lack of innovation… Not at all, the reason Apple hasn’t launched any new Macs by the end of 2022 is because it wasn’t planned. The company’s idea is to launch the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro in March along with other Mac products that are not yet ready. It’s always better to have a big event where several products are unveiled than to release them in dribs and drabs in press releases. There’s a mystique that surrounds Apple’s events that leads to more media coverage than a separate, boring release like the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro in a press release. That’s the reason, marketing.
The question that naturally arises in many people’s minds is obvious: what are these “other Mac products”? And I’m here to answer it.
There will be three: a Mac mini with M2 chip (and perhaps M2 Pro), an innovative 15-inch MacBook Air, which I’ll talk about in a later article, and the long-awaited Mac Pro. The latter will be the jewel in the crown. A new display will also be launched to replace the Pro Display XDR, the best display Apple has ever made.
I’ll talk about this new Mac Pro later in another post, but in short, it will be a cheaper and more efficient machine than the current Mac Pro, it will be configurable with the M2 Ultra chip with up to 24 cores in its CPU, 76 cores in its GPU and a RAM memory of 192 GB. The company was planning to launch this new Mac with a chip known as the M2 Extreme, but unfortunately this has been cancelled as it was deemed “too expensive to produce for a very small audience”. In other words, this chip was not going to be profitable for the company.
As to the Mac mini, don’t expect anything special. The design will be the same as always, at least in the version with the M2 chip. The function of this product is none other than to offer the new Apple chips and macOS at a very competitive price to attract new users to the Apple ecosystem, and for that it is necessary to reduce costs, hence the design remains the same.
The company is still working on more Mac products such as a new iMac Pro, and intends to get rid of others, such as the Mac Studio, although this will be discussed in another post.
They’re already thinking about getting rid of the Mac Studio they just released?
I guess this is because the Mac Pro couldn’t get a better chip than it already has in the Ultra? Bummer though, it’s a good product