(Bloomberg) – Apple Inc. plans to expand the range of laptops to use its new, faster internal chips next year in order to capture more market share, people familiar with the matter said.
The company is working on a larger MacBook Air with a 15-inch screen to launch next spring, said people who asked not to be identified because the plans are not public. This will mark the first model of this size in the 14-year history of the MacBook Air. Apple is also developing the smallest new laptop in years.
The new models underscore Apple’s strategy of using its own processors to make a profit in the Lenovo Group Ltd.-led market. and HP Inc. The company began to separate from its longtime partner Intel Corp. in 2020 and announced its latest chip, the M2, at a developers conference earlier this week. Better performance and new designs have helped revive the Mac range, which accounts for about 10 percent of Apple’s sales.
The 15-inch model under development is a wider version of the 13.6-inch MacBook Air that Apple announced this week. This design, unveiled at Monday’s developer event, is thinner than the latest models, relies on the M2 chip and abandons the previous wedge-shaped frame. This is considered to be the biggest overhaul of the MacBook Air since it was introduced by Steve Jobs in 2008.
Apple had previously considered a 15-inch version for this year’s MacBook Air, but postponed those plans to focus on the 13.6-inch version. However, even this model will take time to reach consumers. Despite the revelation this week, supply chain restrictions will prevent it from going on sale until July.
Apple has also begun work on a new 12-inch laptop and is considering launching in late 2023 or early 2024. If Apple continues to launch, it will be the company’s smallest laptop since shutting down the 12-inch MacBook in 2019
A spokesman for Cupertino-based, California-based Apple declined to comment on the company’s plans.
Apple debuted with its latest 12-inch laptop in 2015 with a thin bezel, but the device has been criticized for keyboard failures and sometimes slow performance. It is unclear whether the new 12-inch laptop will be a low-end device or a higher-end machine that is part of the MacBook Pro line, which is currently available in 13.3-inch, 14.2-inch and 16-inch. , 2-inch dimensions.
Between 2003 and 2006, Apple also sold a 12-inch version of the PowerBook, the predecessor to the MacBook Pro. And it briefly offers an 11.6-inch MacBook Air. Apple’s new Mac processors, based on the same architecture as the iPhone and iPad, are designed to allow the company to increase productivity in thinner cases.
Apple is also planning a new high-end MacBook Pro with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips in late 2022, although the release date may expire in early 2023. These new 14-inch and 16-inch models, with codenamed J414 and J416, will not be radically new products other than offering faster chips. Apple also launches a new 13-inch MacBook Pro next month with the same M2 chip as the MacBook Air.
The M2 Max chip in the next high-end MacBook Pro will include 12 core processor cores and up to 38 graphics cores, compared to a maximum of 10 processor cores and 32 graphics cores in current models. New versions of the Mac mini and an updated Mac Pro are also being tested at Apple, Bloomberg reported. And the company is already working on an M3 chip for future iMacs and other products.
The switch from Intel chips has been a success for Apple so far, which has helped significantly increase Mac revenue. The company reported $ 10.4 billion in Mac sales in the second fiscal quarter, nearly double the $ 5.4 billion generated in the second quarter of 2020 before Apple made the change.
Apple also plans to release a larger version of the iPad Pro next year, Bloomberg reported. The new model will take advantage of the new multitasking capabilities included in the iPadOS 16. And the company is preparing new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro for later this year.
© 2022 Bloomberg LP
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