The New MacBook Pros Are Coming This November | Everything We Know
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The much-rumored MacBook Pros are probably the most anticipated Apple products we wanted to see in 2021. Fun fact: A lot of people reportedly sold their old MacBooks because it was believed Apple would release the new computers around April. Since that didn't happen, those people were really angry. I guess it's not that fun of a fact...
Nevertheless, it seems like Apple will finally reveal the new MacBook Pros in November. The best part is that we basically know everything that we should expect to see—if the rumors are right, that is. More ports, better displays, and even the possible return of MagSafe to the MacBook, continue reading to browse everything we know about the upcoming Apple Silicon MacBook Pros.
What Are the New MacBook Pros?
Rumor has it that Apple is working on not one, but two MacBook Pro models. Apple plans to release a 14-inch MacBook Pro that's said to replace the 13.3-inch MacBook and a 16-inch model that will replace the current 16-inch MacBook Pro.
According to the rumors, the upcoming 14-inch MacBook Pro will keep the same size as the current 13.3-inch model. Apple may instead reduce the bezels and drop in a larger 14-inch display.
We Might See the Best Display on a MacBook Yet
One of the biggest rumors about the new MacBooks regards the display. According to many sources, Apple will use a better, brighter display.
Apple analyst and leaker Ming-Chi Kuo said that the new MacBook Pros would feature mini-LED displays. If that's the case, this will be the first time Apple uses mini-LED on a Mac.
For those of us who didn't know, mini-LED technology uses thousands of LED lights on a screen to display a wider range of colors, higher color contrasts, and brightness that's better than OLED displays.
Since Apple has already used mini-LED displays with the 2021 iPad Pro, it's highly likely that we'll also see them on the new MacBook Pros.
New MacBooks Might Feature More Ports
This rumor will make a lot of MacBook users happy. It seems that Apple will add more ports to the new MacBook Pros. We don't know exactly how many ports that is, but Kuo said that it'd be enough ports so that people won't need to buy any additional dongles.
Not only will we see more USB ports, but other rumors suggest that Apple might bring back the SD card reader to the new MacBook Pros, which is great news for professional artists and photographers!
Will We See the Return of MagSafe?
Apple decided to ditch MagSafe back in 2016 to start using the more common USB-C port. And even though we're now used to using USB-C to charge our MacBooks, Apple might bring MagSafe back in 2021.
There have been many rumors that say the new MacBook Pros will feature a MagSafe connector as a power source. Although it may seem odd, Apple's been trying to make MagSafe popular again since it added it on the iPhone 12. According to rumors, the MagSafe connectors will be similar to those used before, and it'll help charge the new MacBook Pros faster (and easier).
Apple Might Ditch the Touch Bar
Back in 2016, the biggest change the MacBook Pro saw was the addition of a tiny display above the keyboard, right where the function keys were. Apple called it the Touch Bar, and not many people were a fan of it.
While the Touch Bar adds cool features that you just can't do with a regular keyboard, it wasn't everyone's favorite feature. Apple reduced the size of the Touch Bar to put the Escape key as a physical key again. Now, some people might be happy to know the new MacBook Pros might not come with a Touch Bar at all, albeit we're not really sure of that yet.
Earlier this year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple was testing a version of the MacBook Pro without a Touch Bar. Likewise, Kuo said that Apple would get rid of the Touch Bar in 2021. It's still a big maybe, so we'll have to wait and see if Apple does get rid of the Touch Bar this year.
We Might See the Next Generation of Apple Silicon
Apple introduced Apple Silicon as their own processor for their MacBooks reducing dependency on Intel. The company said that this change would take a few years, but it is going strong.
Apple started with the M1 chip. And even though it's still one of the most powerful processors in the world, Apple might be ready to release the second-generation Apple Silicon chip alongside the new MacBook Pros.
Many rumors suggest that Apple will feature a new M1X or M2 chip on both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros. This chip will be more powerful than the M1 chip and will support up to 64GB of RAM instead of the 16GB the current chip supports.
The M1X chip will also have a 10-core CPU with eight high-performance cores and two energy-efficient cores. There are also rumors that there will be 16-core and 32-core GPU options available. In a few words, the M1X chip is going to be extremely powerful, and it's what's going to allow more ports and memory on both MacBooks.
Price and Release Date
As you probably heard by now, many rumors suggest that Apple will reveal the new MacBook Pros in a November event, similar to what the company did last year with the M1 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini.
With that said, you should take it with a grain of salt. Many rumors and famous leakers were 100% sure that Apple would release the new MacBook Pros during WWDC this year, which we now know didn't happen.
As for the pricing, we don't know exactly how much the 14-inch MacBook Pro will cost, but we expect that it'll be more expensive than the current 13-inch model. You should expect the price to be anywhere between $1,299 to $1,699.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro, on the other hand, is expected to have the same price as the current 16-inch model. This means we're expecting the new 16-inch MacBook to start at a price of $2,399.