Apple is preparing to release several new Mac laptops and desktops with faster processors, new designs, and improved connectivity to external devices, accelerating the company's effort to replace Intel chips and leapfrog rival PC makers.
The overhaul encompasses a broad range of Mac devices, including Apple's higher-end laptop, the MacBook Pro; the laptop
aimed at the mass market, the MacBook Air; and its
desktop computers, the Mac Pro, iMac, and Mac mini,
according to people familiar with the matter.
Redesigned
MacBook Pro models are expected to debut as soon as early this summer, said the
people, who requested anonymity to discuss an internal matter, followed by a
revamped MacBook Air, a new low-end MacBook Pro, and an all-new Mac Pro
workstation. The company is also working on a higher-end Mac mini desktop and
larger iMac. The machines will feature processors designed in-house that will
greatly outpace the performance and capabilities of the current M1 chips, the people said.
Apple's MacBook lineup is getting a big jolt, with the
introduction of laptops with company's own microchips, technology that is
supposed to give the devices faster performance, better battery life, and,
maybe, bigger profits.
The
high-performance cores kick in for more complex jobs, while the
energy-efficient cores operate at slower speeds for more basic needs like web
browsing, preserving battery life. The new chips differ from the M1's design,
which has four high-performance cores, four energy-efficient cores, and eight
graphics cores in the current 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The
chips also include up to 64GB of memory versus a maximum of 16 on the M1.
They'll have an improved Neural Engine, which processes machine-learning tasks,
and enable the addition of more Thunderbolt ports, which let users sync data
and connect to external devices, than the two on the current M1 MacBook Pro.
This
will be the first time professional Macs get in-house main processors;
eventually the company will stop selling the high-end Intel MacBook Pro models.
Apple
has also been working on a more powerful version of the Mac mini (code name
J374) with the same chip as the next MacBook Pro. It's expected to have four
ports versus the pair available on the current low-end version and to sit above
the current entry-level M1 Mac Mini. Apple could delay or cancel the new mini's
launch - as it has in the past - but eventually the company will likely replace
the Intel-equipped version it now sells.
An
Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.
Buyers
of the high-end Mac Pro desktop planned for next year will likely have a choice
of two processors that are either twice or four times as powerful as the new
high-end MacBook Pro chip.
Codenamed
Jade 2C-Die and Jade 4C-Die, a redesigned Mac Pro is planned to come in 20 or
40 computing core variations, made up of 16 high-performance or 32
high-performance cores and four or eight high-efficiency cores. The chips would
also include either 64 core or 128 core options for graphics. The computing
core counts top the 28 core maximum offered by today's Intel Mac Pro chips,
while the higher-end graphics chips would replace parts now made by Advanced Micro Devices.
The
new Mac Pro has been in the works for several months and is expected to look
like a smaller version of the current design, which was launched in 2019,
Bloomberg News has reported. Apple has also been working on a larger iMac with
in-house processors, but development of that version was paused months ago in
part to let Apple focus on releasing the redesigned 24-inch model this month.
For
a redesigned, higher-end MacBook Air planned for as early as the end of the
year, Apple is planning a direct successor to the M1 processor. That chip,
codenamed Staten, will include the same number of computing cores as the M1 but
run faster. It will also see the number of graphics cores increase from seven
or eight to nine or 10. Apple is also planning an update to the low-end 13-inch
MacBook Pro with that same chip.
As
early as 2022, Apple plans to replace the last remaining Intel part with an
in-house version. Apple's current M1 Mac devices still use an Intel component
known as a USB Retimer, which helps power the USB-C and Thunderbolt ports
on its computers.
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