The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro could soon be shipping with new M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. There was an 18-month wait between the arrival of the M1 MacBook Air and M1 MacBook Pro and their M2 replacements, but despite it only a year since the M1 Pro and M1 Max models launched, their successors may not be that far off. Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming release.
2022 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro: Release date
Apple will make macOS Ventura available to download on compatible Macs later today (October 24) but if you were hoping for news of a new 14/16-inch MacBook Pro today as well it is likely you will be disappointed.
In an October 23 newsletter Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said that the new MacBook Pro would launch “within months”. This followed an October 16 newsletter in which he correctly predicted that a new iPad Pro and new iPad would launch within days, but that “While the new MacBook Pros are on track to launch in the near future, I wouldn’t expect them to be released alongside the iPad Pro”, adding that Apple “has historically launched new Macs in November”.
A November release does look feasible – indeed a fall release for the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro has been expected for some time. In a July 2022 Power On newsletter Gurman indicated that Apple was already preparing the next round of Apple silicon updates and that the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro will be getting M2 Pro and M2 Max chip upgrades by the end of this year.
However, Gurman at that time cautioned that the update could be delayed until early 2023 due to “continued supply-chain challenges.” Gurman’s “within months” claim does suggest he still isn’t confident about a November launch.
Gurman isn’t the only Apple watcher expecting a late 2022 launch. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo tweeted in August that the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro will enter production in the fourth quarter, which tallies with a fall launch.
It would be normal practice for Apple to hold a Mac event in October or November, so there had been some expectation that the MacBook Pro update could arrive (alongside new Mac mini) at an Apple event in October or November, or at least via a press release. On October 18 Apple shut down the Apple Store and then issued press releases about a new iPad Pro and new iPad, so it is possible that news of the MacBook Pro could take the same format.
2022 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro: Price
The current models are priced as follows. While there are some big price leaps between the 8-core and 10-core CPU modes that many will be hoping Apple will close up, we don’t anticipate any major changes in the U.S.—although we could see some price rises in some parts of the world in line with inflation–and the global prices rises following the introduction of the new iPad models does make this look likely. Apple raised the price of the entry-level MacBook Air by $200 or 20 percent with the M2 redesign. See: Is Apple ripping off the rest of the world with inflated prices?
- 14-inch MacBook Pro, M1 Pro, 8-Core CPU, 14-Core GPU, 16GB Unified Memory, 512GB SSD, $1,999/£1,899
- 14-inch MacBook Pro, M1 Pro, 10-Core CPU, 16-Core GPU, 16GB Unified Memory, 1TB SSD, $2,499/£2,399
- 16-inch MacBook Pro, M1 Pro, 10-Core CPU, 16-Core GPU, 16GB Unified Memory, 512GB SSD, $2,499/£2,399
- 16-inch MacBook Pro, M1 Pro, 10-Core CPU, 16-Core GPU, 16GB Unified Memory, 1TB SSD, $2,699/$2,599
- 16-inch MacBook Pro, M1 Max, 10-Core CPU, 32-Core GPU, 32GB Unified Memory, 1TB SSD, $3,499/£3,299
Read: 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro: Buy now or wait?
2022 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro: Design
If you were hoping that Apple would change anything about the design of these two larger MacBook Pro models be prepared to be disappointed. The company made some huge changes in 2021, with the new 14- and 16-inch size displays and their ProMotion technology, along with the removal of the Touch Bar and the addition of the notch (all of which serve to differentiate from the 13-inch MacBook Pro). Gurman has indicates that the MacBook Pro is expected to “stay roughly the same” on the outside.
Foundry
2022 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro: Specs
While the outside of the MacBook Pro will look the same, the inside will be different.
Based on the M2, and the M1-variants that Apple launched in 2021, we estimate that the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips will offer the following:
- M2 Pro: up to 10-core CPU, up to 20-core GPU, up to 48GB RAM
- M2 Max: up to 10-core CPU, 40-core GPU, up to 96GB RAM
CPU
We might see even more CPU cores than predicted above – Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that his sources indicate that the M2 Max will have 12 CPU cores.
Two extra CPU cores are not the only change that could spell a faster CPU. There had been suggestions that Apple would start using the new 3nm process for the M3 chips when they arrive, probably in 2023, but some reports suggested that this new process could be used for the M2 Pro and other variants.
The 3nm process should allow even higher transistor density among other things. According to DigiTimes in June 2022, Apple has “booked TSMC capacity for its upcoming 3nm M3 and M2 Pro processors” and TSMC will be starting volume production of 3nm chips in the second half of 2022.
YouTube channel Max Tech’s Vadim Yuryev also indicated that the M2 Pro will be 3nm.
However, as per Ming-Chi Kuo’s August tweet (above): “Given TSMC’s guidance that the 3nm will contribute revenue starting in 1H23, processors of 14″ and 16″ MacBook Pro models may still adopt the 5nm advanced node.”
If the M2 Pro, Max and Ultra chips are built using this 3nm process the gap between the M2 and these other variants will be bigger than ever and the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, Mac Studio, high-end Mac mini, and Mac Pro could offer even bigger speed boosts than those seen with the M2 compared to the M1.
If Apple is adopting this new process for the M2 Pro and beyond it would be unlikely that it will arrive before spring 2023. However, Gurman thinks we will have to wait until late 2023 or 2024 before we see the 3nm process arrive with the M3 chips.
GPU
Gurman also suggests a maximum of 38 GPU cores, six more than the M1 Max offered. As with the M2 chip, the M2 Pro and M2 Max will focus “on the graphics side,” according to Gurman. In the case of the M2 in the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, Apple delivered a graphics boost from 8- to 10-cores. For the M2 Pro and M2 Max this could translate to a move from 14 cores and 16 cores to 18 cores and 20 cores for the M2 Pro and 24 cores and 32 cores to 30 cores and 38 cores for the M2 Max.
RAM
It’s likely that the new MacBook Pro models will also offer more RAM. Apple upped the RAM in the M2 MacBooks from a maximum of 16GB in the M1 to 24GB in the M2. A similar increase could theoretically mean we see up to 48GB RAM in the Pro and 96GB RAM in the Max.
