There are plenty of rumours about an M2 MacBook Air with a new design that Apple is said to be working on, but what about the 13in MacBook Pro?

Following the introduction of the 14in MacBook Pro in 2021 there will be those who are wondering if Apple will eventually discontinue the 13in model. Others will have noticed that there isn’t a huge difference between the MacBook Air and 13in MacBook Pro. The position of the 13in MacBook Pro is confusing, and perhaps precarious.

In this article we examine whether there will be a new model in 2022, and what new features and specs a 2022 13in MacBook Pro might offer.

Perhaps our biggest question is now that the 14in MacBook Pro is here, does the 13in MacBook Pro really deserve to be called Pro? But you may also be wondering whether if Apple updates the 13in MacBook Pro it will get the same redesign as the 14in MacBook Pro? Will the M2 MacBook Pro be a 14in MacBook Pro?

You might also like to read about the 2022 M2 MacBook Air.

If it’s the replacement for the M1 Pro and M1 Mac MacBook Pro in 14in and 16in you are interested in, the wait could be a little longer – according to the 20 March 2022 newsletter from Bloomberg’s Apple expert Mark Gurman, we may have to wait until 2023 before we see new models of the 14in and 16in MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. Gurman, on the other hand, maintains that the 13in MacBook Pro model will be upgraded this year.

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Will there be a new 13in MacBook Pro?

According to the subscriber version of the Power On newsletter from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in December 2021, Apple will launch an updated 13in MacBook Pro in 2022. Gurman doesn’t expect much beyond Apple squeezing a new processor into the shell, but he does anticipate that the 13in MacBook Pro will be one of five Macs getting updated in 2022. Read: Every new Apple product coming in 2022.

Gurman isn’t the only pundit who thinks there will be a M2 MacBook Pro. Twitter leaker DylanDKT (retired, as of January 2022) has claimed that the M1 13in MacBook Pro is to be replaced with a 14in MacBook Pro with an M2 chip in the second half of 2022.

However, there is some disagreement as to whether Apple will actually update the 13in MacBook Pro. Some predictions suggest that there is only one M2 Mac laptop on the horizon: an updated MacBook Air. There has also been the suggestion that this new M2 Mac laptop might be renamed the MacBook and replace (or join) the existing M1 MacBook Air and 13in MacBook Pro in the line up.

MacBook Pro 13in

MacBook Pro 13in

When will the new MacBook Pro M2 launch?

We expect the new MacBook Pro to come out in autumn 2022, although WWDC in June remains a possibility.

The question of when the new MacBook Pro will launch is really a question of when Apple will have finished development of the M2, as the M2 chip is the one most likely to reside within this new model.

Initially Twitter account Dylandkt wrote in July 2021 that he believed that a new MacBook (Air) with M2 chip could arrive in the first half of 2022.

However, by January 2022 (see the tweet in the section above) Dylan adjusted his position: “The currently available M1 MacBook Pro 13 will be replaced with a MacBook Pro 14 with an M2 chip in the 2H [second half] of 2022.”

We hold out hope that the M2 could arrive sooner than that – perhaps at WWDC in June. After all, three new Macs were spotted in a Russian database in February, indicating that new Macs are launching soon. The entries are used to identify the type of device: A2615 and A2686 are referred to as personal computers and expected to be a new iMac and Mac mini (presumably the Mac Studio), while the device with the model number A2681 is entered in the database as a portable computer.

We feel that the most likely MacBook this could represent is the MacBook Pro, simply because the MacBook Air update includes a complete remodelling, while the MacBook Pro will either adopt the 14in case or keep the 13in case.

It’s possible that Apple could be replacing the 13in MacBook Pro with M1 with a 14in model with the same M1 chip, but reports suggest this could be a 13in MacBook Pro with M2 chip.

For example, a MacRumors source, who that site claims revealed details of the MacBook Pro notch prior to the October 2021 event, has said that Apple will soon launch a new MacBook Pro in the same design – retaining the Touch Bar – but with an M2 chip.

Most reports we’ve read suggest that the M2 won’t be ready for use until the autumn, though, so we’re taking the claim with a pinch of salt. Not only that, but bringing the M2 out in conjunction with M1 variants expected to feature in the iMac and Mac mini will surely be confusing for customers.

Should there be a new 13in MacBook Pro?

There is a lot of uncertainty as to whether Apple will update the M1 13in MacBook Pro with a new M2 chip, or if the company will remove that Mac from the line up, replacing it with a new M2 MacBook Air or simply a MacBook.

Right now the 13in MacBook Pro has a lot of competition from the MacBook Air, which features the same M1 chip and has a slightly lower price. There are a few reasons to pick the MacBook Pro over the Air including better battery life and better cooling, but its inevitable that the MacBook Air will be Apple’s best seller of the two.

The only way that Apple could make the difference between the Air and Pro models obvious to consumers would be by upgrading the 13in MacBook Pro to the 14in case. But then the distinction between the M2 and M1 Pro will be confusing.

Traditionally the MacBook Pro was considered a more powerful, pro variant of the MacBook. The 2020 13in MacBook Pro with M1 is a great machine, but it’s position in the line up is confusing. It sits alongside the M1 MacBook Air as a consumer-targeted machine, while the 2021 14in and 16in MacBook Pro models with their M1 Pro and M1 Max chips are clearly pro-oriented. Having Pro in the 13in MacBook Pro name is therefore confusing.

But if Apple was to remove the Pro from the name of the 13in MacBook Pro how would this new 13in MacBook be any different to the MacBook Air? It wouldn’t, especially if the design changes rumoured to be coming to the MacBook Air are to be believed – including the end of the iconic wedge design that allowed the Air to be so light and thin (more on those changes below).

This new colourful MacBook variant that has been rumoured could actually be the revival of the MacBook. This Mac could replace the 13in M1 MacBook Pro and the M1 MacBook Air, or it could take a new position between these M1 Mac laptops and the M1 Pro 14in MacBook Pro. More on our price predictions below.

Which MacBook

Which MacBook

Design

This all depends on whether there will be an updated 13in MacBook Pro, a new M2 14in MacBook Pro, or if this new MacBook will be a revival of the MacBook with the design that’s been rumoured for the MacBook Air.

In his tweet (above) Dylan suggests that the new MacBook will have the same design as the 14in MacBook Pro – which could suggest it will have a 14in display, a notch, the same ports, and probably no Touch Bar.

In fact, in a February 2022 PowerOn newsletter Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggested that there will be no Touch Bar on the new model. More here: Gurman reveals more details of new MacBook Pro M2.

However, other rumours, including a MacRumors source, indicate that the new MacBook Pro will retain the same design – including the Touch Bar.

On the other hand, if this new MacBook represents a merger of the Air and the 13in MacBook Pro then it could come in a range of colours, as leaker Jon Prosser claimed in May 2021 said his source indicated. Apparently there will be blue and green options that will be “very close, if not identical” to the 24in iMac. The 24in iMac comes in seven different colours: blue, green, pink, silver, yellow, orange and purple.

Blue and green aren’t very corporate colours, so it’s possible that Apple will also offer silver and space grey options. We’d love to see the return of the black MacBook and white MacBook from 2006.

Black and White MacBook

Black and White MacBook

The rumours also suggest that the redesigned MacBook will be thinner and lighter, with the same size screen but with slightly slimmer bezels. If this is the case then it is likely Apple will use a notch to accommodate the webcam as it did with the 14in and 16in MacBook Pro.

One problem with this slim and small design is that the resulting Mac will be limited by the fact that it lacks space for cooling and heat dissipation. The M1 MacBook Air doesn’t have a fan while the 13in MacBook Pro does. The presence of the fan in the M1 MacBook Pro does allow that model to achieve more before it becomes too hot.

However, the new design for this new MacBook is rumoured abandon the classic tapered ‘wedge’ shape in favour of a new uniform shape – so the new Mac laptop could have more room for cooling as well as room for more ports. More ports is certainly something it needs – currently limited to two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports. We’d love to see an HDMI port, as found on the 14in and 16in models, but we don’t expect to see an SD card slot.

Specs

This all depends on what Apple has planned. Will Apple add an M2 chip to the 13in MacBook Pro and keep it as a pro-focused machine, or will Apple remove the Pro part of the name and make this new 13in MacBook a Mac that meets the needs of consumers and those who’s work doesn’t require a high-powered Mac.

Either way it seems likely that the 2022 MacBook (Pro) will have an M2 chip. The big question is what will the M2 offer?

It is pretty clear that when it comes to performance the M2 will not match M1 Pro and Max, but how different will it be.

We look into this in detail in Everything you need to know about the M2 chip, but in summary:

CPU

With the M2 Apple is expected to keep the same 8 CPU cores as in the M1, but Apple may increase the number that are high efficiency cores. The M1 currently has four efficiency cores and four high performance cores, while the M1 Pro and Max have eight high performance cores and two efficiency cores.

One reason not to expect to see the M2 before the autumn is the fact that Apple’s thought to be beefing up the manufacturing process. 

Apple is said to be using TSMC’s next generation N4P process, which is an enhanced version of the 5 nanometer process already used in the A15, M1, M1 Pro and Max. This new process is supposed to deliver 11 percentage points better performance and almost 22 percentage points more efficiency compared to the conventional 5 nanometer process .

TSMC indicates that production of N4P processes won’t start until the second half of 2022. So the M2 Macs are unlikely to be released before autumn 2022.

GPU

It’s also thought that Apple will add more GPU cores – there could be options for 9 and 10-core GPU in the new machines, up from the 7 and 8-core GPU offered currently.

If the new MacBook Pro ship with an M2 chip we could see up to 10 GPU-cores, according to reports. 

RAM

One thing that has held back the M1 is the lack of support for more than 16GB RAM. While 16GB of Apple’s Unified Memory isn’t exactly the same as the RAM we are used to in Intel Macs, it is still a limitation of the M1 models, at least for those who require more RAM. The hope is that the M2 will be able to support 32GB RAM, however, it’s not likely especially if it is Apple’s desire to refocus the 13in MacBook Pro as a MacBook. Another factor holding Apple back from supporting 32GB RAM could be excessive power consumption – which won’t be particularly compatible with a fan-less design, which the new Mac laptop might have.

SSD

According to Mark Gurman in February 2022, the SSD configurations of the new Mac will remain at 2TB.

Screen

As for the screen, while the M2 MacBook Pro seems set to adopt the same 14in size as the M1 Pro model, according to Gurman in February 2022, in order for the entry-level device to differ from the Pro machines with M1 Pro and Max, Apple not be offering an LED display, the entry-level Mac will be equipped with a conventional LCD screen.

Features

Right now the 13in MacBook Pro is the only Mac with a Touch Bar. Apple removed the Touch Bar – which was originally designed with professional users in mind – from the MacBook Pro because it was generally unpopular with pro users. Read Will anyone miss the Touch Bar?

This suggests that Apple will be removing the Touch Bar from the 13in MacBook Pro, but will it? Perhaps the Touch Bar is better suited to consumers who can use the swipe-able strip to control music and movie playback, adjust colours, and edit their photographs. Regardless, it looks like the Touch Bar is not long for this world.

Touch Bar vs keys

Touch Bar vs keys

MagSafe made a come back with the 14in and 16in MacBook Pro in 2021 and it looks likely that it will be the means of powering the new laptop. Will this mean that there are more USB ports though? The M1 MacBook Pro (and M1 MacBook Air) has two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports, which isn’t much when one of those it given to charging. Replacing one of those USB ports with MagSafe – it’s still a Thunderbolt / USB 4 port, it just means that the port is magnetic, so it snaps into place and will be pulled out if you trip over the cable.

As we discussed above, the new M2 MacBook Pro may get a notch like the 14in and 16in models did, but only if it’s granted a redesign by Apple. It’s also possible that Apple will merely put a M2 processor inside the existing M1 MacBook Pro and not change anything. Notch or not, we are hopeful that the webcam is improved: the current 720p FaceTime camera is terrible. Hopefully the new Mac will get an HD (1080p) webcam as seen in the 24in iMac and the 2021 MacBook Pro models.

Price

As we discussed above, the price depends on where in the line up this new Mac is to feature.

Apple could keep the existing M1 MacBook Air and 13in MacBook Pro models on at a reduced price while introducing a new Mac laptop that costs a little more and fits in the gap between the £1,499/$1,499 13in MacBook Pro and the £1,899/$1,999 14in MacBook Pro. This new M2 Mac laptop could therefore cost £1,699/$1,699.

In his tweet where he predicts that the M2 MacBook Pro will come in a 14in case, Dylan suggests that the new model will receive “a slight price increase over the previous generation.” Even with a slight increase in price, the new new model could still cost £400/$500 less than the current entry-level 14in MacBook Pro.

Should this be what happens it is feasible that Apple will keep the 13in M1 MacBook Pro in the line up at a lower price, but it is also possible that the current model could be discontinued. Read: Should you buy the 13in MacBook Pro.