What you need to know
- Apple is widely expected to announce refreshed MacBook Pros during a streamed event on Monday.
- If rumors are true, the new MacBook Pros will gain mini-LED screens, more ports, and updated Apple silicon.
- Analyst Dan Ives believes around 30% of existing MacBook Pro owners will upgrade to the new model.
If all goes according to plan we expect Apple to announce new mini-LED MacBook Pro notebooks during an event on Monday. The machines are likely to feature M1X chips as well as the return of a slew of ports, according to reports. Now, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives believes that the notebooks will be so compelling that as many as 30% of the existing userbase will upgrade over the next year.
The claim came in an Apple company report seen by iMore, with Ives further saying that we should expect the arrival of an HDMI port as well as a MagSafe charging solution. It isn't clear whether that's based on knowledge or if Ives is repeating what the rumor-mill has been saying for some time, however.
Apple's "Unleashed" event will stream online on Monday, with the new notebooks expected to be the top billing. However, Ives also mentions that a new Mac mini is also in the works, carrying much the same internals as those portables. That means an M1X chip with as much as 64GB of RAM, assuming the report turns out to be correct.
That would instantly make the new Mac mini the best Mac for a whole range of people, especially those who want the power afforded by such a machine but don't want to have to go all the way to a Mac Pro — or would simply rather avoid buying an Intel Mac at this point in the transition to Apple silicon.
Ives also suggests that we should expect new AirPods to be announced during Monday's event, too.
