Little curiosity about the new Macs (MacBook Pro 14 and 16 and Mac Mini) presented yesterday by surprise by Apple: it seems that they have been postponed, and that their initial launch was scheduled for October or November of last year. Colleagues of Daring Fireball in fact, they noticed that “2022” is contained in the URL of the keynote video. Following this, it emerged that the 3D models of the new products were compiled on October 18, 2022. Typically, this content is generated a week or two before the relevant presentation events.
Those clues are far from overwhelming, but they make sense. It has become a tradition for Apple to organize two important events in the autumn: one in September to talk mainly about iPhone and Apple Watch, and one in October or November for Mac and iPad. This second event, in 2022, did not take place, even though many rumors had circulated about it. Apple has limited itself to launching several new products, including the iPad Pro with the M2 chip and the 10th generation entry level iPads, via simple press releases.
Of course it is extremely unlikely that we will ever get confirmation from Apple. However, it is interesting to observe how the postponements concerned only the products with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips (It is true that the new Mac Mini can be equipped with the regular M2, but Apple may have decided that there was little point in only introducing the M2 variant and then later coming out with the M2 Pro).
The chips could be the cause – maybe there was a hitch in mass production at the foundry. As we know, these are complicated times for the sector: on the one hand there is very high demand and a need to expand factories, on the other there are still significant aftermaths of COVID-19, especially in China and neighboring areas, which continue to create problems in the production chain.
