After several years of macOS ho-hum announcements, the latest WWDC presentations have brought some important Mac announcements, which have caused much-needed excitement for the Mac platform. Now, with WWDC 2022 about to arrive, Apple is looking to take full advantage of the Mac’s momentum.
It will be difficult to surpass Apple’s silicon announcement of 2020, of course, but Apple is expected to make some major revelations that will continue to highlight the focus on the Mac. These are the Mac ads we expect to see at WWDC 2022 in order of preference.
For more information on the WWDC, please see our full preview of the conference, which will be held on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 PT.
Mac Pro
When Apple began its transition from Macs to Intel CPUs to its own M1 on-chip (SoC) system, the company said it would be a two-year process. WWDC 2022 is the two-year mark, and as Apple Vice President John Ternus pointed out at the March Mac Studio event, there is only one Mac left to make the transition, the Mac Pro.
However, the anticipation about the Mac Pro is less about the SoC (I’ll explain in the next section) and more about the machine itself and what Apple will do to meet the needs of the Mac Pro user. Will Apple build a Mac tower? What are the capabilities of the components? What kind of access will users have to inmates? How updatable will it be?
During the “Peek Performance” event in March, Apple Vice President John Ternus hinted that a Mac Pro announcement was imminent.
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So many questions we hope to have answered on June 6th. I can’t help but think that Apple will want to end this transition in a big way, so my hopes are high for this particular announcement.
Next generation Apple silicon
Apple is finishing a transition, but another is about to begin: the transition from the M1 series to the M2 series SoCs. The Mac Pro will probably have some configuration that improves the performance of the M1 Ultra, its fastest Mac SoC, so the company has reached its peak for the M1 series. It looks like Apple is in a two-year cycle with its silicon Mac, so the timing seems right to start the next series, although recent rumors suggest that the wait could be a little longer.
What’s next for Apple’s M-Series?
Foundry
But if Apple decides to introduce the M2 at WWDC, it will probably be more of a “preview” than a fully detailed revelation with product announcements. John Ternus could even make another one-line joke about it: Any kind of recognition would help keep the M-Series marketing momentum going. Apple launched the Mac M1s in the fall of 2020, so wait that the entry-level M2 will also be launched in the fall. That’s when we’ll have the bottom of the chip.
(Although I’ve personally lost interest in Intel, chip enthusiasts and people who like to engage in technology debates are very focused on the largest PC chip maker. Raptor Lake and Meteor Lake CPUs Intel are on the horizon, so Apple says something about the M2 will add a bit of spark to the better-level marketing game.)
MacBook Air
WWDC is not usually the place for consumer notebooks, but the MacBook Air could be an exception. It has been rumored for more than a year that it will receive a massive redesign with thin bezels, an even smaller footprint and colors other than space gray, silver and gold. The MacBook Air hasn’t been as exciting for a while, even the 2018 model was largely an iteration of the previous version, but if the rumors are correct, the new model will be one of the most exciting laptops in recent years. years.
The next MacBook Air could be like an updated version of the classic iBook.
We look forward to a return to the original iBook, just as the 24-inch iMac was a look at the original iMac. The MacBook Air M1 is a great machine, but not exciting. A redesigned model, with or without an M2 processor, would be a great way to recapture the excitement.
Features, fixes and the correct name of macOS 13
We have published our wish list for macOS 13 and we will watch the presentation carefully to see if any of our wishes come true. There are some items on the list that we want more than others, in particular desktop widgets (the ability to remove the widget from the Notification Center and place it on the desktop) and a Control Center more robust that can be customized and has more modules. —Perhaps even from third-party developers.
The only thing Apple really needs to do on macOS is fix bugs and optimize the system. As I said on the macOS 13 wish list, if that’s all Apple has done and nothing else, no new features, I’d be very happy.
The control center has great potential that needs to be unlocked.
Foundry
The macOS name may indicate a major upgrade. For example, macOS Monterey is named after Monterey Bay, which is part of the largest region of Big Sur in central California, and the earlier version of macOS Monterey was called Big Sur. And Big Sur, with its changes in the user interface, support for iOS and iPadOS applications on Mac M1 and more, was a bigger upgrade than Monterey.
But if you’re unfamiliar with the California locations that Apple uses, you’re lost. Then it’s just a name, and in the case of macOS, it doesn’t mean much more than being an alternative reference point to the version number.
Regardless, Mac users are invested in the macOS name and this is a highly anticipated announcement. When Apple’s senior vice president Craig Federighi arrives at this point in the WWDC conference, expectation and excitement grow, and the name brings the nebulous idea of an operating system update together. become a reality. Then, once the name is installed, there is an intense debate about whether it is a good option or not.
Even Apple Vice President Craig Federighi mocks the name of macOS a bit, saying how Apple’s “crack marketing team” is exploring California to find the right inspiration for the name.
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According to Apple’s trademark filings, the money seems to be in “Mammoth” to be the next macOS name. In addition to being a location in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, the word itself would imply that macOS 13 has some important changes and features for the Mac. The rumor hasn’t been filled with reports of major changes to macOS 13, so I don’t think “Mammoth” is the name. I think they will save it for a bigger release later.
M1 Pro / M1 Max Mac mini
When John Ternus of Apple said that the Mac Pro is the only Mac left to switch to Apple’s silicon, he was specifically referring to the Mac Pro, but it’s not the only Mac left. There’s also the high-end Mac mini: this $ 1,099 model still uses an Intel CPU.
There’s a gap in Apple’s M1 line between the iMac and Mac Studio, and a professional-grade Mac mini would fit perfectly in that slot. Reports indicate that this Mac mini could be upgraded with an M1 Pro and an M1 Max and could also have more GPU cores and support for more RAM.
iMac Pro
Apple stopped making the iMac Pro last year, but reports seem to indicate that Apple could return it. It could have a 27-inch screen and an M1 Pro and M1 Max SoC, and it could have a similar design to the 24-inch iMac, but not to the professional silver and space gray color palette.
There have also been reports of a 27-inch standalone Mac mini-LED display, but could this be a case of mixing the screen with the iMac Pro? This is what happened with Studio Display; the filters confused the studio screen with an iMac. Anyway, Apple seems to be working on a 27-inch screen for something, and hopefully it will be revealed at WWDC.