New MacBook Pros still on target for later in 2021, rumor claims

News
By Darren Allan
published

Production to start at some point in Q3

Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) Side View
(Image credit: Future)

Apple’s purportedly incoming redesigned MacBook Pro models are still on target for firing up mass production in the third quarter of 2021, according to the latest rumor.

This comes from a respected Apple leaker, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who believes that both the new MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch versions are going to be manufactured at some point in Q3 – although of course the start of making the laptops is different to the finished products actually being shipped.

As to the on-sale date, Kuo is thinking that Apple will hold a Mac launch event either in October or November – which mirrors what we’ve heard from another leaker recently – potentially with the devices going on sale just after. It is, however, also possible that the launch could come a while before availability, depending on the production situation in terms of one of the most critical components of the new MacBook Pros, namely that long-rumored Mini-LED screen.

All this info comes from a note Kuo penned which MacRumors flagged up.

Out of touch, in with MagSafe?

Kuo has previously asserted that the new MacBook Pro models will have a ‘flat-edged form factor design’ (think the ‌iPhone 12‌) rather than curvy, and that Apple could ditch the Touch Bar (the latter rumor has again surfaced very recently), but bring back the MagSafe charger.

The new MacBook Pros are also expected to use the M1X chip, which will be a step up from the original M1, throwing in two more cores from what we’ve heard on the grapevine elsewhere.

All the recent chatter from the rumor mill points to a launch later in 2021 for the redesigned MacBook Pros, and some of the other speculation which suggested that we might see these machines this summer seems to be fading into the background now, to the disappointment of some.

Then again, other rumors have hinted at a slip to 2022 for the refreshed portables, so at least that worst-case scenario doesn’t seem to be in the cards right now, going by Kuo’s insider knowledge.

Darren Allan

Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).