We’ve been talking about M1X MacBook Pros since basically November as soon as the Apple event for M1 was over, but over the past couple of days, SO MUCH new info has arrived, we may have been wrong about a LOT
Renders by Apple Tomorrow
0:00 Intro
0:27 M1X MacBook Pro getting a NOTCH?
0:55 Bye MacBook Pro TouchBar
1:16 What would the Notch Mean?
2:19 Software clues for the notch
2:38 MacBook Pro M1X MiniLED Display
2:54 M1X MacBook Pro Ports
3:12 M1X or M1 Pro and M1 Max?
3:53 New MacBook Pro Performance with Apple Silicon
4:38 New Mac mini with M1X?
5:13 AirPods 3rd Generation
5:29 macOS Monterey and Pro Software updates
5:53 A faster iMac?
Now that definitely looks like a notch shape, though it does appear to only include a single camera, no extra sensors or dot projectors that could enable FaceID, but also we’ve heard about that illuminated, round Touch ID sensor exactly where we found it before at the end of the Touch Bar, though the Touch Bar is also a goner on these new notebooks. It should be noted that Apple has patents for individual displays within single keys, and replacing the Touch Bar with a row of physical keys that could still be customised to individual needs would be a pretty compelling option, though there have been no rumours suggesting that Apple will do that in this generation of MacBook Pro.
Back to the maybe notch though, Its a strong 50/50 for me. It seems strange that we’d not heard about this before, and I personally don’t know how the camera modules look under the bezels we get on the current MacBook Pros. Are we simply relating it because its a similar shape to what we see daily on the iPhone? Maybe. But the display could just as easily have an iPad Pro style bezel that covers the camera module.
BUT, if it in fact WILL have a notch, that could mean RAZOR Thin bezels around the rest of the display. Is that a good trade off for a small notch into your display? I’d say probably yes, and remember that if it is real, all it will encroach on is the middle of your title bar, that bit that is almost exclusively empty anyway. Plus, its assumed that Apple will stick with this new design for a number of years to come, so if we’re wanting FaceID down the line, even if its not here just yet, I think its a good idea to have a placeholder ready. It also looks pretty promising that the camera in the new MacBook Pros will be 1080p too finally, so it may need that extra breathing room.
Finally, software is also suggesting the notch is real. The latest beta code for MacOS reportedly mentions a safe zone, similar to the one for the notch in iPhone’s iOS, which also points to the idea of having the notch. Let me know how much you hate the idea of it stealing some of your display in the comments.
Speaking of which, as these MacBook Pros are getting MiniLED displays the case is likely to be a little thicker, especially on the lid, along with the idea of Apple flattening the design which will make it look even thicker without that taper towards the sides.
Happily the latest rumours haven’t robbed us of all those ports that people have been oh so excited about coming back, so we’re still getting, as far as we know 3 USB-C shaped holes which could all be ThunderBolt for all we know, a MagSafe or unbranded magnetic charging port, HDMI and an SD Card reader.
And onto the chips – and… Maybe they’re NOT called M1X? I’m going to file this one under sketchy too, but it seems like some App Logs that developers are seeing refer to M1 Pro and M1 Max as chip names. Now these could be marketing names, or they could be internal code names, or perhaps the Graphics will be known as Pro and Max options – I think that third one is the most likely with these being the M1X Pro and Max graphics – but I though it was super interesting. I really don’t think we’ll be getting it called M2 which Brian Tong mentioned this week, because then where do they go for the next efficiency chips in the next MacBook Air – which, sidebar is also apparently getting a notch in its new redesign too.
In terms of performance, I’m expecting these chips, whatever they’re called to absolutely scream as Steve Jobs would say.
14193 was the multicore Geekbench score I predicted back on November 25th 2020 – so lets see how close I was soon! Bear in mind we assumed we’d get 4 efficiency cores in that, but it won’t move the needle too much.
So thats what we kind of know about the MacBook Pro M1 Pro Max X or something. But we don’t have long to wait until we actually see Apple release one in the current body but with a different chip and a Butterfly keyboard and just one USB-A port I guess. But very quickly what else is on the cards beyond this?
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