Well, it’s that time again. You guessed it—Apple leaks and speculation time! It didn’t take long for the product leakers to come up with new information for M2-based portable devices this time around, right after Apple unveiled its M1 Ultra at last weeks Peek Performance event.
As part of that event, Apple also unveiled its compact Mac Studio. Hot on the heels of those announcements, there has been a leak that the 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are both expected to be released later this year at another event. An anonymous source told 9to5mac that the long-standing rumors surrounding the devices can be confirmed.
The next MacBook Air, codenamed J413, is planned to be released on its own using Apple’s upcoming M2 chip. The new M2 chips are based on the A15 Bionic, which the latest iPhones and iPads are using. The difference in the new M2 chip versus the A15 is that it will pack a whopping ten cores into the package.
The new 13-inch MacBook Pro, codenamed J493, looks to be getting an M2 refresh as well. However, it is looking like the entry-level MacBooks are not getting the upgrade. That is not too big of a surprise as the new M2 processors are not meant to compete directly with the high-end form of the M1 chips, like the M1 Ultra or Max. Though the leak does state that these are planned M2 variants.
It is not expected that there will be any significant chassis design changes for the devices either, as it is most likely Apple tried to future-proof themselves for this planned eventuality. Though the leak does include some interesting information and several other simple confirmations of the new devices, there’s no more information on the release of the devices other than “this year.”
