We’ve covered several rumours about the next generation of MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops, and a new and very tasty one has just dropped: the forthcoming super-portable 12-inch MacBook model may be a MacBook Pro rather than a MacBook Air, running M2 Pro and M2 Max silicon in much the same way as today’s 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros run the M1 Pro and Max.
That’s according to twitter user Majin Bu who, as MacRumors reports, has something of a hit-and-miss track record when it comes to Mac leaks: a previous rumour of a 14-inch iPad Pro seems to check out but previous ones haven’t been so successful.
It’s certainly possible, though – and it’d bring back one of the most-missed Macs of all time.
Why a little MacBook Pro goes a long way
When the 12-inch PowerBook G4 launched in 2003, it was revolutionary: for the very first time you could get pro-level power without sacrificing portability. It was only slightly less powerful than a Power Mac G4, the forerunner of today’s Mac Pro and Mac Studio – but you could easily chuck it in a bag and use it in even cramped spaces.
Looking at it today the G4 was a bit of a chunky affair, but you can see from the current M2 MacBook Air that power no longer means bulk: Apple is already putting M2s into Airs, and while the M1 Pro and M1 Max are slightly bigger than the standard M silicon the difference is horizontal, not vertical, so finding a bit of room isn’t an unsolvable problem. Putting Apple’s most powerful silicon into its most portable laptop is exactly the kind of thing you’d hope Apple will do.
Upgrade to smarter living
Get the latest news, reviews, deals and buying guides on gorgeous tech, home and active products straight to your inbox.
Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).