New MacBook Pro models predicted for Q3 2021, held up by mini LED shortage

AppleInsider · June 9, 2021 10:13AM

Sources within the supply chain say that Apple expects to ship new MacBook Pro models beginning in the third fiscal quarter of 2021.

Apple's MacBook Pro

After being rumored for, but not appearing at the WWDC keynote presentation, a revamped 14-inch MacBook Pro has recently been predicted for Q4 2021, and a 16-inch MacBook Pro for Q1 2022. Now, however, a new report from the supply chain claims that production will begin earlier in Q3 2021, meaning between July and September.

According to Digitimes, unspecified sources in the supply chain say that both new models of MacBook Pro will launch later in 2021. Shipments are now slated to begin in the third quarter, though it isn't clear whether that applies to both models.

The delay from a WWDC launch is thought to be related to lower than expected production yields on the new mini LED screens.

Separately, Apple is rumored to be working on an Intel-based refresh of the Mac Pro, as the company enters the second year of its two-year transition to Apple Silicon.

Digitimes has a strong reputation for the accuracy of its sources within the supply chain, but also an extremely poor one for its analysis and conclusions from the information it receives.

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eriamjh · June 9, 2021 10:21AM

Well, when one says new MacBooks are coming and it doesn’t happen, just say it again. Eventually, you will be right!

KTR · June 9, 2021 11:05AM

Most likely they waiting for parts

flydog · June 9, 2021 4:31PM

KTR said:

Most likely they waiting for parts

So you read the headline. Congrats.

MplsP · June 9, 2021 10:03PM

Well dang. I was hoping to get a 16" MBP this fall. Oh well - it's not like my 2017 MBP is antiquated. (ok, maybe the processor is, but the rest of it's fine!)

I'm curious about the Mac Pro rumor - I'd be surprised if they kept that on Intel silicon, but moving to Apple Si would likely mean they have either developed their own in-house GPU solution or they have the ability to interface with and use a discrete GPU (Radeon/Nvdia.) It would also presumably mean the ability to use external, discrete RAM.

I can't believe Apple didn't have a plan for this when they decided to make the switch, so we'll have to wait and see what their plan is.

waveparticle · June 9, 2021 10:16PM

Oh no! Our national security is in danger. We depend too much on foreign supplies. lol

verne arase · June 9, 2021 10:44PM

I for one am gratified that they're going to wait for mini-LED panels before releasing the 16" MacBook Pro - I was afraid they'd release the new models with the old panels when mini-LED was one of the major features I'd been waiting for. That would've meant that I'd need another two stage purchase to get the machine I really wanted - an expensive proposition.

Really I need the screen real-estate of the 16" and brighter panels and hopefully a better webcam - I sold my 2019 16" in anticipation of this model, in an attempt to sell the 2019 before its value tanked due to the introduction of its Apple Silicon replacement.

My current primary is a top tier 2020 iMac 5K which I expect to see less of a value drop due to its unique position in the market: being both a strong Mac and PC performer (because of boot camp) - though the latest Windows maintenance seems to futz up Thunderbolt chains.

rundhvid · June 9, 2021 10:53PM

MplsP said:

Well dang. I was hoping to get a 16" MBP this fall. Oh well - it's not like my 2017 MBP is antiquated. (ok, maybe the processor is, but the rest of it's fine!)

I'm curious about the Mac Pro rumor - I'd be surprised if they kept that on Intel silicon, but moving to Apple Si would likely mean they have either developed their own in-house GPU solution or they have the ability to interface with and use a discrete GPU (Radeon/Nvdia.) It would also presumably mean the ability to use external, discrete RAM.

I can't believe Apple didn't have a plan for this when they decided to make the switch, so we'll have to wait and see what their plan is.

Easy. Rewind back to WWDC20 and Tim’s announcement: “the entire Mac product line will transition to Apple Silicon within two years” (not a direct quote, but I distinctly remember Tim explicitly stated that all their Macs would run on Apple Silicon.)

Twelve months earlier, at WWDC19, Apple announced the current Mac Pro along with the XDR display.
The tooling alone for manufacturing the Mac Pro is insane and so if the next generation Mac Pro on Apple Silicon is designed from scratch, then the board of directors can expect a range of serious questions regarding mismanagement and waste of resources!

mattinoz · June 10, 2021 12:13AM

MplsP said:

Well dang. I was hoping to get a 16" MBP this fall. Oh well - it's not like my 2017 MBP is antiquated. (ok, maybe the processor is, but the rest of it's fine!)

I'm curious about the Mac Pro rumor - I'd be surprised if they kept that on Intel silicon, but moving to Apple Si would likely mean they have either developed their own in-house GPU solution or they have the ability to interface with and use a discrete GPU (Radeon/Nvdia.) It would also presumably mean the ability to use external, discrete RAM.

I can't believe Apple didn't have a plan for this when they decided to make the switch, so we'll have to wait and see what their plan is.

New Memory over PCIe standard has been released. GPU makers certainly AMD have adopted to it to create their version of unified memory. As an open standard still no reason Apple couldn't be using it or intend to use it in upcoming Mac's
That would let them keep some of advantages of current unified memory but spread out hot parts and allow 3rd party or in house GPU on a card.

MplsP · June 10, 2021 12:45AM

rundhvid said:

MplsP said:

Well dang. I was hoping to get a 16" MBP this fall. Oh well - it's not like my 2017 MBP is antiquated. (ok, maybe the processor is, but the rest of it's fine!)

I'm curious about the Mac Pro rumor - I'd be surprised if they kept that on Intel silicon, but moving to Apple Si would likely mean they have either developed their own in-house GPU solution or they have the ability to interface with and use a discrete GPU (Radeon/Nvdia.) It would also presumably mean the ability to use external, discrete RAM.

I can't believe Apple didn't have a plan for this when they decided to make the switch, so we'll have to wait and see what their plan is.

Easy. Rewind back to WWDC20 and Tim’s announcement: “the entire Mac product line will transition to Apple Silicon within two years” (not a direct quote, but I distinctly remember Tim explicitly stated that all their Macs would run on Apple Silicon.)

Twelve months earlier, at WWDC19, Apple announced the current Mac Pro along with the XDR display.
The tooling alone for manufacturing the Mac Pro is insane and so if the next generation Mac Pro on Apple Silicon is designed from scratch, then the board of directors can expect a range of serious questions regarding mismanagement and waste of resources!

Right - we all know they promised 2 years. But Apple typically doesn't update the Mac Pro every year. If they do an Intel update of the Mac Pro this year and hold to their 2 year promise, it will mean releasing an Mx version of the Mac Pro very soon after the intel update. if they do release an Apple Si Mac Pro this year it will mean significant changes/advancements in the architecture from what we've seen so far. So either the rumor is wrong, or Apple's timeline is wrong or they are deviating significantly from their past practice.

You're right about the tooling - when it was introduced, they said it was for airflow and cooling. Subsequent reviews backed that up, but from what we've seen so far, the Mx chips are markedly more efficient, meaning cooling shouldn't be the issue it was for the Intel chips. Maybe we'll see more of a garlic press design rather than a cheese grater.

9secondkox2 · June 10, 2021 4:04AM

Most likely the wait is for the core cpu android GPU coinciding with the new iPhone generation.

It will likely be an extension and will whoop the current A and M SOCs.

If they took the m1 and just added cores, it would still be great, but nothing like an m1x. M2 will likely be next year unless Apple packs so much into the new iphone that they can justify a generational leap (in phone years).

So long as at minim 64 GB is an option, then it’s ok.

128 GB would be ideal for those of us cranking out motion graphics and multimedia content out the wazoo.

M1x and 64 gb is acceptable for Apple to launch a truly pro notebook. May be on the rough side for An iMac Pro though.

Mac Pro upgrade will definitely have to wait for m2 or m2x. Going to need to be able to load that thing with ram galore to justify its existence.

Can’t wait to see what they are able to deliver this fall.

mattinoz · June 10, 2021 7:30AM

So eriamjh said:

Well, when one says new MacBooks are coming and it doesn’t happen, just say it again. Eventually, you will be right!

Even better if you can blame Apple for not hitting your target based on some supply chain issue to make you sound knowledgeable.

nicholfd · June 10, 2021 6:24PM

MplsP said:

Well dang. I was hoping to get a 16" MBP this fall. Oh well - it's not like my 2017 MBP is antiquated. (ok, maybe the processor is, but the rest of it's fine!)

I'm curious about the Mac Pro rumor - I'd be surprised if they kept that on Intel silicon, but moving to Apple Si would likely mean they have either developed their own in-house GPU solution or they have the ability to interface with and use a discrete GPU (Radeon/Nvdia.) It would also presumably mean the ability to use external, discrete RAM.

I can't believe Apple didn't have a plan for this when they decided to make the switch, so we'll have to wait and see what their plan is.

They've had their own in-house GPU for years. It's in all the iPhones, iPads & M1 based computers. No one ever said they would use a discrete GPU with the Mx series. The current M1 does not have enough PCI-e lanes to address a discrete GPU.

It also doesn't mean a "new" Mac Pro with M series CPU would have the ability to use external, discrete RAM. They could offer it with (as an example) 4 x sockets. Each socket could hold an Mx CPU, with the RAM & additional GPU cores on the chip. Filling the sockets added CPU, RAM & GPU.

I would expect that future Mx CPUs will support more than the current 16GB RAM, 8 (4 big, 4 little) cores & 8 GPU cores, on the chip. Maybe even able to mix/match Mx CPUs to get the performance needed (based on RAM, CPU or GPU).

MplsP · June 10, 2021 6:45PM

nicholfd said:

MplsP said:

Well dang. I was hoping to get a 16" MBP this fall. Oh well - it's not like my 2017 MBP is antiquated. (ok, maybe the processor is, but the rest of it's fine!)

I'm curious about the Mac Pro rumor - I'd be surprised if they kept that on Intel silicon, but moving to Apple Si would likely mean they have either developed their own in-house GPU solution or they have the ability to interface with and use a discrete GPU (Radeon/Nvdia.) It would also presumably mean the ability to use external, discrete RAM.

I can't believe Apple didn't have a plan for this when they decided to make the switch, so we'll have to wait and see what their plan is.

They've had their own in-house GPU for years. It's in all the iPhones, iPads & M1 based computers. No one ever said they would use a discrete GPU with the Mx series. The current M1 does not have enough PCI-e lanes to address a discrete GPU.

It also doesn't mean a "new" Mac Pro with M series CPU would have the ability to use external, discrete RAM. They could offer it with (as an example) 4 x sockets. Each socket could hold an Mx CPU, with the RAM & additional GPU cores on the chip. Filling the sockets added CPU, RAM & GPU.

I would expect that future Mx CPUs will support more than the current 16GB RAM, 8 (4 big, 4 little) cores & 8 GPU cores, on the chip. Maybe even able to mix/match Mx CPUs to get the performance needed (based on RAM, CPU or GPU).

Yes, the M1 (and Ax series) chips have their own GPU, but that is not on par with the capabilities of a high end discrete GPU which is what the Mac Pro target market demands. Likewise the unified memory is fine for a laptop but not for high end video editing.

Maybe they will use 4 parallel M1 chips, but that is the question - how will they achieve the necessary capabilities?

k2kw · June 11, 2021 8:03PM

MplsP said:

rundhvid said:

MplsP said:

Well dang. I was hoping to get a 16" MBP this fall. Oh well - it's not like my 2017 MBP is antiquated. (ok, maybe the processor is, but the rest of it's fine!)

I'm curious about the Mac Pro rumor - I'd be surprised if they kept that on Intel silicon, but moving to Apple Si would likely mean they have either developed their own in-house GPU solution or they have the ability to interface with and use a discrete GPU (Radeon/Nvdia.) It would also presumably mean the ability to use external, discrete RAM.

I can't believe Apple didn't have a plan for this when they decided to make the switch, so we'll have to wait and see what their plan is.

Easy. Rewind back to WWDC20 and Tim’s announcement: “the entire Mac product line will transition to Apple Silicon within two years” (not a direct quote, but I distinctly remember Tim explicitly stated that all their Macs would run on Apple Silicon.)

Twelve months earlier, at WWDC19, Apple announced the current Mac Pro along with the XDR display.
The tooling alone for manufacturing the Mac Pro is insane and so if the next generation Mac Pro on Apple Silicon is designed from scratch, then the board of directors can expect a range of serious questions regarding mismanagement and waste of resources!

Right - we all know they promised 2 years. But Apple typically doesn't update the Mac Pro every year. If they do an Intel update of the Mac Pro this year and hold to their 2 year promise, it will mean releasing an Mx version of the Mac Pro very soon after the intel update. if they do release an Apple Si Mac Pro this year it will mean significant changes/advancements in the architecture from what we've seen so far. So either the rumor is wrong, or Apple's timeline is wrong or they are deviating significantly from their past practice.

You're right about the tooling - when it was introduced, they said it was for airflow and cooling. Subsequent reviews backed that up, but from what we've seen so far, the Mx chips are markedly more efficient, meaning cooling shouldn't be the issue it was for the Intel chips. Maybe we'll see more of a garlic press design rather than a cheese grater.

Is there an available Intel Xeon chip that could easily be dropped into the Mac Pro. If not then they are probably doing an M# series pro with a high number of performance and GPU cores.

New MacBook Pro models predicted for Q3 2021, held up by mini LED shortage

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