We already know that new MacBooks seem set to be revealed at WWDC 2023, but a report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman sheds light on what we may specifically see.
In his newsletter, Gurman confirms that a brand new 15-inch MacBook Air, alongside a refreshed 13-inch MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro are in the works, with “at least some” of these models getting an announcement.
But there is a catch. According to Gurman, the models announced on June 5 “probably” won’t come armed with the highly anticipated M3 chipsets — built using a new 3nm process. Instead, he expects them to run something like an M2. Let’s break down what we may see.
1. A 13-inch MacBook Air refresh
Expect any visual hardware changes to be extremely minor, or completely non-existent. The M2 MacBook Air hasn’t actually been around for that long, as it was announced at WWDC last year and launched shortly after.
So, what may actually be new about this machine, if the premise of an M3 chip is off the table for a June release? Personally, I’m a little skeptical that we won’t see anything about this new processor.
According to the rumors and leaks we’ve been reporting on, everything is pointing towards its debut, as production is well under way (Apple bought all the 3nm stock before anyone else could), and Gurman himself has previously said it is “plausible.”
But let’s stick with this report that M3 is not happening this summer. If we do see a new MacBook Air, then my prediction would be for a slightly tuned up version of M2. Gurman did report on new machines appearing in developer test logs, which appear to have the same 8-Core CPU and 10-Core GPU of the upgraded M2.
2. A redesigned 13-inch MacBook Pro
While the other two on this list seem to be a given with all the leaks, this is the most intriguing to me personally. The current design of the 13-inch MacBook Pro has been around since October 2016, so it's in dire need of a visual revamp.
It doesn’t even need to be dramatic — just get rid of the Touch Bar and I’d be a happy camper. But I hope we see a mini LED display added to the mix, and the reintroduction of key required ports for any creative pro like HDMI and the full size SD card slot.
But the part of the report where Gurman talks about these laptops being powered by processors “in line with” the M2 chip opens a whole new door of possibilities. Could we see an M2 Pro 13-inch MacBook Pro? I hope so!
3. A brand new 15-inch MacBook Air
Following the 40% MacBook sales slump recently, the 15-inch MacBook Air seems to be one of the more likely options for WWDC. We already reported on how this laptop has apparently entered its third round of production, which started back in February.
A cheaper big screen laptop could be the shot in the arm that Apple needs to rejuvenate MacBook sales. As Mark Anthony Ramirez mentioned in his piece, we’re hopeful of a $1,499 price tag.
Outlook
All signs are pointing to WWDC being a big day for new laptops, with some real enticing prospects of a big screen MacBook Air and a long overdue 13-inch MacBook Pro refresh.
Of course, specific details on these are a bit thin on the ground, and Gurman reporting that they “probably won’t” feature the M3 chip does raise some questions around what will actually be powering them.
All will be revealed alongside macOS 14 soon, and you best believe we will be covering it all live. But since I love to do predictions, here’s mine: we only see the 15-inch MacBook Air. If the rumor about the M3 coming later is true, that’s going to be a fall event with the 13-inch MacBook Air and a completely redesigned 13-inch MacBook Pro.
