Apple is arranging updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models powered by Apple silicon for release in the second half of 2021, as per expert Ming-Chi Kuo, and a Nikkei Asia report today lends credence to that time period.
In a report focused on Apple slicing iPhone 12 orders from providers, the publication briefly noticed that Apple has pushed back mass production of the two new MacBooks from May or June until the second half of the year. The report refers to the notebooks as “MacBooks,” however it is likely this is referring to the upcoming MacBook Pro models.
In the interim, Apple has rescheduled plans to start mass producing two new MacBook laptops in the second half of the year, from the past timetable of May or June, Nikkei has learned. The two MacBooks will be powered by the Apple Silicon processor as a feature of a two-year transition away from longtime supplier Intel’s chip.
The second half of the year starts in July, so there should in any case be sufficient time for Apple’s providers to increase production for a launch later in the year.
Notwithstanding Apple silicon, Kuo expects the new MacBook Pro models to feature brighter displays with Mini-LED backlighting, another plan with a flat-edged top and bottom, a HDMI port and SD card reader, classic MagSafe accusing of a magnetic power link, and physical function keys rather than the Touch Bar. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has corroborated a large number of these details, and he was first to report that a SD card reader is returning.
