Is THIS the New Mac Studio?

“Several” new Macs expected at WWDC next week

According to Mark Gurman of House Rumour, the First of His Name, King of the Whisperers and the Supply Chain Leakers, Protector of the Back Alley Tidbit Network, the Father of Leaks, the Ruler of the Great Insider Sources, the Source Close to the Matter, and the Breaker of Lies, we’ll be seeing “several” new Macs at WWDC next week.

He also suggests that due to the sheer amount of stuff Apple will be packing into the event’s keynote, it will “easily exceed two hours”. If this is true, it’s no wonder Apple decided to issue Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro for the iPad as press releases.

They’ve clearly got a lot to show us on Monday.

Talk of “several” new Macs is very interesting, though. So, let’s ponder what, exactly, they could be.

Updated Mac Studio

Hold onto your trousers, folks. According to last-minute rumours from… oh, I genuinely don’t care any more — Apple is testing two unannounced Macs with M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips.

We could read a lot into this, but the tech press has already jumped to the conclusion that these chips will arrive in updated Mac Studio configurations.

Labelled as ‘Mac 14,13’ and ‘Mac 14,14’, these new machines are, apparently, “high-end” Macs. The M2 Max version, for instance, is identical to the chip currently found in the 16-inch MacBook Pro, featuring the same 12-core CPU and 30-core GPU. The M2 Ultra chip being tested is thought to have a 24-core CPU, 60-core GPU, and be capable of supporting up to 192GB of unified memory.

We’ve heard these numbers before, and I still remain unconvinced about their eventual application. For me, the Mac Studio was always a stopgap before the new Mac Pro arrived; I cannot fathom a world in which we have a Mac Pro and a Mac Studio to choose from — they would be so closely aligned.

I’m calling it: the Mac Studio is toast.

These chips are going into something else.

The new Mac Pro (finally)

I think it’s far more likely that those high-end Macs currently being tested are new configurations for the Mac Pro.

Why not an M3 chip in Apple’s flagship beast, I hear you ask? Well, that can come later, and, regardless, a supercharged M2 Ultra chip is going to smoke a moderately specced M3 chip.

Despite this, I suspect there’s quite a bit of fatigue surrounding the Mac Pro. It’s as late as I am catching up on the latest episode of Succession and the audience — or, at least, the size of the audience — for it remains a bit of a mystery. Will anyone give two hoots if the covers are finally lifted from the new Mac Pro next week?

I would be amazed if we didn’t see the new Mac Pro next week. It’ll look identical to the one we already have, but there will be many mahoosive numbers trotted out by John Turnas and not a hint of an apology for its late arrival.

15-inch MacBook Air

I’m not sure how Apple can make this particular announcement keynote-worthy, but the possible emergence of a super-sized MacBook Air will probably be aimed squarely at the developer crowd.

I don’t think it’ll be anything more than a bigger version of what we already have. Expect the same number of ports, identical display technology, and no change to the colours on offer.

What will be interesting is the chip powering the rumoured 15-inch MacBook Air. I personally think it’ll be the first iteration of the M3 chip and therefore new enough to spark excitement but not quite powerful enough to upstage the M2 Ultra-powered Mac Pro.

Also, it’s a MacBook Air, which means it will immediately attract an army of fans who didn’t know they needed more than 13.6 inches of screen estate until now.

M3 iMac

The poor old iMac, eh? Updated in May 2021 with a brand-new design, funky colours, and an Apple silicon chip (it was the M1 — remember that?), it hasn’t been touched since.

As is customary with Apple, the price hasn’t changed, either. That’s right — you’ll still spend at least £1,399 on this two-year-old computer. As lovely and capable as the 24-inch iMac is, it really does deserve a fettle.

Since its release, we’ve seen new MacBook Pros, a new MacBook Air, and a comprehensive boost for the Mac mini lineup in the form of the M2 Pro chip. Why has Apple left the iMac to gather dust?

I can only think that they’ve been waiting for a big event and a brand-new chip. So, I’m betting on that event being WWDC 2023, and that aforementioned base spec M3 chip as the brains behind an updated iMac.

I think this is highly likely. But, again — don’t expect a bigger iMac to be launched at the same time — that is toast.

Final thought

It’s customary for me to sign off blog posts like this by reminding both myself and your good selves that everything I’ve typed above is based on rumours.

As accurate as Gurman often is, he does get stuff wrong and Apple has clearly worked very hard on limiting the proliferation of leaks, and, more amusingly, feeding the rumour network with absolute guff to throw it off the scent.

If you want proof of this, you only have to look at the reaction to the release of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro on the iPad. No one saw either of those apps coming — particularly the latter.

I’ll return tomorrow with some wider thoughts on WWDC, but I’d love to know what you think about these Mac rumours. Get involved below!

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Originally published at https://markellisreviews.com on June 1, 2023.