Apple may launch a refreshed MacBook Air next year with an upgraded M2 chip.
According to a tweet from leaker Dylan (@dylandkt), the M2 processor is “on track to release in the first half of 2022 alongside the upcoming colorful MacBook (Air).” Further, Dylan said Apple’s rumoured M1X chip would be reserved for “Pro Mac devices.”
https://twitter.com/dylandkt/status/1412089676220055555?s=20
Parts of Dylan’s claim are backed up by other leakers. For example, the sometimes unreliable Jon Prosser has also claimed the next-gen MacBook Air will feature a complete redesign and come in a range of iMac-like colour options.
However, MacRumors points out that Dylan’s claim about the M2 doesn’t necessarily line up with what Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has previously shared. In a report from May, Gurman outlined several new chips as well as Mac and MacBook computers Apple was working on. That included two chips with more performance cores, memory and GPU cores likely destined for future Mac Pro or MacBook Pro devices.
As for the MacBook Air, Gurman indicated Apple would use a “direct successor to the M1 processor” described as having the same number of computing cores but capable of running faster. Although Gurman didn’t include chip names, to me, the MacBook Air processor he described sounds a lot like something Apple would call an M1X — literally a faster M1 chip — rather than a whole new M2 processor.
It’s also worth noting that Dylan has had a decent track record with predicting Apple’s plans. MacRumors notes that Dylan predicted the M1 iPad Pro some five months before its release. He also nailed that the redesigned iMac would sport an M1 chip and would replace the smaller entry-level iMac. This also isn’t the first time Dylan has claimed the M1X will land in the MacBook Pro.
That said, M1X and M2 will likely just be marketing terms and may not have much bearing on the chips themselves. It’s safe to say the revamped MacBook Air will likely offer better performance than the current M1 Air while the refreshed MacBook Pro probably sports Apple Silicon with a higher level of performance. Whatever Apple ends up calling the processors, these devices seem set to get a significant update.
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