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Apple M2 chip is reportedly planned for next-gen MacBook Air and new 13-inch MacBook Pro with potential late 2022 launch

Photo credit: Harry Cunningham / Unsplash

Apple’s “Peek performance” showcase earlier this week has led to more questions, especially about the Apple silicon roadmap and unannounced Mac devices. But a new report has now claimed that the long-rumored M2 chip is still planned to debut on the next-generation MacBook Air and a new 13-inch MacBook Pro.

For a bit of context, Apple fans were surprised when noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo released his forecast for the upcoming MacBook Air. Kuo is known for having mostly accurate predictions on upcoming Apple products, so many were a little shocked when he predicted that the MacBook Air would ship with a version of the original M1 chip.

However, 9To5Mac now cited information from its “reliable sources” that go against Kuo’s expectations. The report claimed the upcoming MacBook Air (codenamed J413) will be powered by the M2, just like earlier leaks mentioned. The chipset will be positioned as a direct successor of the original M1, so it is not a more powerful chipset than all Apple silicon with the name M1. This means the first M2, if that is what Apple would call it, is slated to be only superior to the M1 launched in late 2020.

The M2 chip is reportedly called Staten inside Apple with an architecture based on the A15 Bionic. It is rumored to have eight CPU cores similar to the first M1 but with 10 GPU cores, which is two more than what its predecessor has.

The same report also adds to the pile of claims that Apple will release a new 13-inch MacBook Pro (codenamed J493) that would also use the M2 chip. It is expected to be a direct follow-up to the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro, so it is unlikely to sport the same design as the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros.

The latest report somewhat corroborates the information from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The journalist said on Twitter earlier this week that a Mac mini and 24-inch iMac, along with the 13-inch MacBook Pro, powered by the M2 chip are all in development.

The release window for the upcoming MacBooks is still uncertain. But 9To5Mac said these notebooks are already in “advanced stages of development,” making a launch later this year plausible.

Photo by Harry Cunningham on Unsplash

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