In context: Apple's vision of having in-house silicon in its entire product line by the end of 2022 is getting closer to fruition. Next-generation silicon is already in mass production. Several new MacBook Pros and a MacBook Air are lined up to get the upgraded chips before the year's end.
Last month, rumors from insiders indicated that the first allotments of the M2 (or whatever Apple decides to call it) would be ready by this summer, with new laptops coming equipped sometime in the latter half of the year.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg's Apple correspondent Mark Gurman reported the company is setting up to unveil the refreshed MacBook Pros with a redesigned chassis early this summer. Gurman says his sources told him Apple is readying the launch of 14- and 16-inch versions of the M2 MacBook Pro.
The new chips will have a slightly different architecture than the M1 variant. There are two versions of the M2 codenamed "Jade C-Chop" and "Jade C-Die." Both have eight high-performance cores and two energy-efficient cores. The difference will be in the graphical cores. The C-Chop will sport 16 graphics cores, and the C-Die has 32. Apple also has an upgraded Neural Engine to take advantage of the new architecture.
A updated MacBook Air, "low-end" MacBook Pro, and an all-new MacBook Pro workstation with the next-gen silicon are slated for a reveal later this year. Rumors indicated that the ultrathin Airs are expected to revive the MagSafe charger, but Gurman says the Pro line will be equipped with the magnetic charging port as well.
We can also expect the new MacBook Pros to include an HDMI port and SD reader. Creative professionals have been stuck with using USB-C adaptors for HDMI and SD cards for since Apple ditched them in the 2016 models.