Everything we know about the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro M2 Pro and M2 Max

Apple is expected to release the first revision of the 2021 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro as early as this month. Here’s everything we expect to see from the M2 Pro and M2 Max-chip MacBook Pro laptops so far.

Would it be an email?

Have you ever had a meeting that you know should have been just an email? It could happen at the MacBook Pro/iPad Pro event this year.

Mark Gurman at Bloomberg has hinted over the past two weeks that Apple is unlikely to hold a second fall event this year. Instead, Apple could just tell some members of the tech media about the new machines and issue a press release.

That’s partly because the big upgrade to these Macs is largely just beefier versions in terms of performance. This does not mean, however, that there is no possibility of external updates.

The colors of the MacBook Pro 2022?

Expecting the gray and silver colors of the MacBook Pro again is the safe bet. However, something new has happened since the last series of MacBook Pro. In June, Apple made a darker aluminum finish called Midnight. The MacBook Air is so far the only machine to sport this blackish blue shade of metal.

If the MacBook Pro were available in the new color, it would both look newer and be the first midnight laptop with an all-black keyboard. While many are still waiting for an all-black MacBook Pro, this would be a great alternative to silver and space gray.

Last year’s MacBook Pro customers were also disappointed that the USB-C MagSafe 3 cable only came in white/silver. It matches the color of the silver MacBook Pro, but it’s not a match for space gray customers. Apple has since released color-matched USB-C to MagSafe 3 cables for Space Gray, Starlight, and Night. Apple will surely bundle the Space Gray version with Space Gray MacBook Pros with this revision.

M2 Pro and M2 Max

Finally, the real reason for the upgrade is internal.

Apple introduced its M1 Pro and M1 Max processors in October 2021 alongside the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros. The company kept Apple’s silicon upgrade train going last spring with the even more powerful M1 Ultra.

Then Apple launched the M2 cycle in June with the MacBook Air. We can probably expect the same performance boost from M1 to M2, just scaled for the Pro and Max versions in the new MacBook Pros. Yes, that could mean more fan activity to avoid throttling. That remains to be decided.

Unless you’re getting the most out of your MacBook Pro’s performance, it probably won’t be the year-over-year update that M1 Max customers need. If you bought an M1 Pro last year and are ready for a Max flavor instead, M2 Max is your chance.

Mark Gurman at Bloomberg stressed that graphics performance will be at the center of these new chips.

After

Here are some other possibilities we hope to see with the new MacBook Pros:

• Quickly charge 16-inch MacBook Pro via USB-C; this was not entirely possible with the M1 Pro/Max version.
• More RAM? Apple has increased the RAM limit for MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with M2.
• Center stage webcam? Probably not, especially after the Studio Display hype.
• M2 Ultra version? Don’t hold your breath. Ultra is basically two Max chips, and that kind of performance would likely reduce battery life.
• Speaking of battery life and performance, the 16-inch MacBook Pro M1 Max’s High Power Mode speeds up graphics-intensive tasks. Maybe we’ll see this feature coming to other versions of the new MacBook Pro.

Whether the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro M2 Pro and M2 Ultra are released via press release or Apple event, we expect to hear the fate of these new machines soon, so stay tuned.

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