Brand new Mac Pro with ‘M2 Ultra’, ‘M2 Extreme’ SoC options likely to launch in 2023; New MacBook Pro, Mac mini expected next month
Apple is now expected to launch a brand new Mac Pro model with previously undisclosed models of the M2 SoC series, possibly named ‘M2 Ultra’ and ‘M2 Extreme’. This would mark the completion of Apple’s multi-year plan to switch from Intel processors to its own in-house Apple Silicon chips. The Mac Pro is the last remaining model from Apple to make the leap, but is aimed at creative professionals who need significant processing power as well as scalability. According to Mark Gurman, Apple supply chain tracking expert, in his latest newsletter, hardware testing in Apple has recently gained momentum.
2023 is coming Mac Pro refresh is now expected to ship with brand new SoC options beyond the power of Current M2 and M2 Pro, M2 Max and M2 Ultra are expected to be available now MacBook Pro and Mac Studio configuration. The purported ‘M2 Extreme’ model could feature 4x more CPU cores than the upcoming M2 Max. Project Gurman options with 24 and 48 CPU cores, plus up to 152 GPU cores and up to 256GB of unified memory built into the SoC die.
This can deliver a huge leap in performance, especially for media encoding and content creation workloads. Apple could announce a new Mac Pro as early as March 2023, if it follows its current event schedule or at its annual time. WWDC event in June.
Apple previously teased an upcoming Apple Silicon-based Mac Pro when it announced the Mac Studio in March 2022. It looks like iMac Pro won’t convert to Apple Silicon and has been discontinued, though Bigger, more powerful iMac still the subject of occasional rumors. Apple last updated the Mac Pro in 2019 with an all-new design, up to 28-core Intel Xeon CPUs, a new modular PCIe expansion format, and up to 1.5TB of RAM. Combination Pro Display XDR also released at the same time.
Meanwhile, New 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro with the updated M2 Pro and M2 Max SoC options now expected to be announced in November. It’s likely that Apple will introduce these quietly, with just a press release, instead of holding an event. It is not expected that there will be major design or feature changes compared to the current M1 generation MacBook Pro models. One New Mac mini with the base M1 SoC also likely to be provisioned at the same time.
Apple is expected to hold a live event in October, like in previous years, to New iPad launch and MacBook Pro, but instead chose to just announce its latest iPad, iPad Proand a New Apple TV 4K model through press releases. The company is probably rolling out its announcements to allow each product line to get its own focus market share.