Apple thrilled a lot of us during its March event with the debut of a new iPhone SE with 5G, a fifth-generation iPad Air with an M1 chip, and the powerful Studio Mac and Studio Display. Apple also teased the future release of an updated Mac Pro. The only thing that could’ve made the event more exciting would have been the confirmation of rumored updates to the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and the iMac. The iMac in particular could use an update since it's the only device in the Mac line that doesn’t have one of the newer Apple Silicon chips. Could newer versions of these three Macs make their debut in the late fall when Apple typically holds a Mac event? We’ll discuss the Macs that we didn’t see in today’s event and when we might be able to expect Apple to finally release them.
Will Apple Update the iMac with a Newer Silicon Chip?
With the iMac, it would have been nice for Apple to announce a version with an M1 Pro, M1 Max, or even an M1 Ultra processor. The current iMac model, which launched in April 2021, just has the M1 chip, which isn’t as powerful as the processors in the Mac Studio and the MacBook Pro. If Apple decides to launch an iMac with one of these three silicon processors in the fall event, users will have the ability to do tasks such as edit high-resolution pictures, build apps, render 3D scenes, and play multiple 4K video streams. Hopefully, users can do these tasks for a more affordable price compared to the Mac Studio.
Another feature that Apple should still consider adding is their ProMotion display (Apple's name for its display with a high refresh rate), which helps give a nice user experience when browsing the internet or playing games and also saves battery life. An updated iMac could also feature more ports, such as USB-C and HDMI ports and an SD card slot.
We might see Apple announcing a new iMac at a fall Mac event this year, or we could expect to see its arrival sometime in 2023 if Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is correct.
What about a 2022 MacBook Air or MacBook Pro?
We were surprised that Apple didn’t launch a newer version of the MacBook Air since the most recent version debuted in November 2020. We were anticipating that the new MacBook Air would adopt many of the same features seen in the current MacBook Pro. Ideally, we'd love to see the MacBook Air with a 1080p FaceTime camera, great for people who use their MacBooks for video meetings, and more ports. I’m also hoping that the MacBook Air will come in a good selection of colors and feature a ProMotion display if Apple decides to announce the next-gen lightweight notebook in the fall of 2022.
The current version of the MacBook Pro launched in April of last year, and there was some anticipation about a smaller, 13-inch MacBook Pro. However, the speculation about the MacBook Pro turned out to be nothing more than that. We're hoping that it will get released in the fall of this year or perhaps next spring.
Don't Forget the Mac Mini!
Even though we didn’t see a new Mac mini model in today’s event, it wasn’t a huge surprise, since there was a possibility that Apple would cancel or delay its launch, according to tweets from known Apple leakers and reporting from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Instead, we might see an updated Mac mini at a late fall Apple event.
Last but Not Least: How Soon Will We See the Promised New Mac Pro?
In the end, Apple announced only one new Mac: the Mac Studio along with the new Studio Display. But the tech giant ended its spring event teasing that the company is in the process of creating Apple Silicon Mac Pros. Since Apple promised at the Worldwide Developers Conference in 2020 that it would complete its silicon chip transition within two years, these machines might even be announced at the 2022 WWDC in June.
