Apple’s M2 MacBook Pros could arrive next March

Apple won’t release any more new Macs before the end of the year. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the company had planned to announce new M2 versions of its 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros “as early as this fall,” but Apple now aims to introduce them in the first quarter of 2023. Gurman adds that the launch will likely coincide with the release of macOS Ventura 13.3.

“Apple has rarely launched new products in January or February during recent years, so I’d expect the new Macs to be announced by the first half of March,” he writes. “That aligns with the planned ship dates for the corresponding software, but also makes sense in light of Apple’s recent history of launching new Macs during that month, including the Mac Studio this year.”

Gurman points to Apple’s recent earnings call for supporting evidence. Earlier this week, Tim Cook told analysts the company’s product line for the holiday season was “set.” Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri provided even stronger confirmation, noting he expected Mac revenue to “decline substantially” in December in part because there are no new MacBook Pros to boost sales.

When they finally do arrive, the new MacBook Pros will feature the same design as the current 2021 models. The primary change Apple has planned is the inclusion of its new M2 Pro and M2 Max chipsets. According to Gurman, the M2 Max will feature up to 12 CPU cores and 38 GPU cores.

While Apple users shouldn’t expect any more hardware from the company before the end of the year, the company is still working on new software. Gurman says iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 should arrive by mid-December. The company is currently testing those updates among developers.