The mini-LED MacBook Pro might come this fall
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman suggests in his latest newsletter that Apple's redesigned laptops with more ports and power are arriving between September and November.
Summary
Apple’s rumored 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros with mini-LED displays could be coming this fall.
Specifically, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says the laptops could arrive between September and November.
This rumor lines up with past reports about the new MacBook Pros and may confirm a launch window for the devices.
Apple’s been rumored to be working on a redesigned MacBook Pro with plenty of new features like a mini-LED screen, more ports, an upgraded M1 processor, and more. We still don’t know anything concrete about the new laptop, but it seems that we don’t have much longer to wait until we learn everything there is to know.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has mentioned in his weekly newsletter, Power On, that the mini-LED MacBook Pro will ship at some point between September and November. This window lines up with a previous rumor from accredited Apple leaker Ming-Chi Kuo who suggested the same.
The new MacBook Pros will be completely redesigned compared to what’s currently on the market. Thinner bezels, a sleeker aesthetic, and a promise to help you “do more” are all in tow.
What do I mean by that point? I mean that these new MacBook Pros, both the 14-inch and 16-inch models, will come with more ports than what’s currently offered. That means things like an SD card slot and (potentially) rectangular USB ports will return to the laptop line after 5+ years of absence. This would be one of the biggest quality-of-life updates Apple would make to its laptop line in its history, so here’s to hoping the rumors suggesting more ports are on their way come to fruition.
Obviously, the most notable new addition will be that mini-LED display. Rumors suggest it’ll reach 1,600 nits of peak brightness and feature a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The laptop will be powered by the rumored M1X ARM-based processor which is said to be a more powerful version of the M1 in current Macs and the latest iPad Pro.
Given the fact the new MacBook Pros could come in just two months, I’ll be keeping my eyes closely on future MacBook rumors and reports. I’ll let you know if I hear anything big from inside the tech world.
1. Apple’s iPhone 13 could stay on, always
The iPhone 13 is shaping up to be a pretty big upgrade over the 12 with a 120Hz display, a faster chip, improved cameras, and longer battery life. Now, there appears to be even more insight into the device’s display from Mark Gurman over at Bloomberg, who claims the phone will have an always-on display.
The always-on display has been around on Android phones since Samsung introduced it with its AMOLED technology in 2010. Since then, nearly every major phone manufacturer has included it in some shape or form, with the biggest exception being Apple. For whatever reason, the company has refused to include such a feature on the iPhone, but it looks like that’ll finally change this year with the iPhone 13.
Gurman notes in his Power On newsletter that the phone will include an always-on display. It’s unclear if every iPhone 13 model will get it, but I’m assuming they will. The feature that’ll remain exclusive to the two Pro models will be the 120Hz refresh rate.
With an always-on display, your battery can drain a bit faster since some pixels are constantly illuminated. However, given that Apple is rumored to be increasing the size of the batteries inside the iPhone 13 series, I would bet that battery life should level itself out. That remains to be seen, of course.
So what took Apple so long to finally ship an always-on display? I have no idea. The company’s just gonna use LTPO displays for the iPhone 13, and they’ve been around for years now. I suppose they just caved a few years ago and decided to work on bringing the feature to the iPhone. Perhaps they wanna “revolutionize” the always-on display in some way.
Whatever the case may be, it looks like we’ll finally be getting AOD functionality on the iPhone 13.
2. Apple releases iOS 14.7 with support for the MagSafe Battery Pack
Apple has begun rolling out iOS 14.7 to iPhone users that includes support for the MagSafe Battery Pack which goes on sale this week. The update also includes support for merging two different Apple Cards into one shared account Meanwhile, iPadOS 14.7 and watchOS 7.6 are also rolling out.
3. Google Pixel 6 and 6 XL camera specs leak in new APK teardown
9to5Google just did a teardown of the latest version of the Google Camera app’s APK, and they discovered some details pertaining to the Pixel 6 and 6 XL. Specifically, 9to5Google discovered that both devices should be able to record 4K selfie video, offer up to 7x zoom when recording video, and include up to 5x optical zoom with an “ultratele” lens (likely exclusive to the Pixel 6 XL given past leaks). The publication also spotted the display resolutions of both devices and mentions of a front-facing flash (a feature that’s likely software-based instead of being a physical LED).
4. Google Pixel foldable will have a 120Hz display
New leaks indicate that Samsung’s latest foldable display technology, arriving first on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 next month, will be used on six different upcoming devices. The list reportedly includes Google’s foldable Pixel phone, which means it’ll come with a 120Hz refresh rate. Thus far, Google has stuck with 90Hz refresh rates for its phones, but it wouldn’t be surprising for them to bring the more premium refresh rate to a presumably more expensive device like a foldable Pixel.
5. Google improves the Play Store on Wear OS
Google has announced it’s improving the Play Store on Wear OS with a new focus on adapting Material You design elements. Meanwhile, the process of using your phone to install apps on your watch is also being improved by letting you add “watch” or “watch face” to the end of your search query to quickly find compatible apps for your wearable.
6. The Huawei P50 is coming July 29th
Huawei has confirmed it’ll unveil its next P-series smartphone, the P50, on July 29th. The device is rumored to include a huge camera sensor, faster performance, and still no Google Play services.
7. The successors to the Bose QC35 headphones leak in FCC filings
New FCC filings have surfaced which show off images of Bose’s upcoming QC35 successors. The reportedly-named QC45 headphones will include USB-C charging and a very similar design to the QC35s. It’s unclear when they’ll be unveiled, but I’ll let you know when that time comes.
8. Warby Parker now lets you renew your prescription from inside its app
Warby Parker has updated its app to let those with no-so-serious eye issues renew their prescriptions for $15. This means you won’t need to make an appointment with your eye doctor, and you’ll get to pick out a fresh pair of spectacles in the process. The feature, named Virtual Vision Test, is rolling out now to all iOS users.
9. Dish cops out, will rely on AT&T for cell service
Whenever Dish decides to launch its own cellular network, it’ll be relying on AT&T to provide connectivity to customers. The satellite TV provider has announced a new 10-year, $5 billion deal with AT&T that will see the company rent towers from the carrier for its own cellular service. This contradicts what Dish promised to do following T-Mobile’s acquisition of Sprint when regulars requested Dish build out a fourth major network. At this point, it looks like there will still be three big carriers and a handful of slightly smaller networks that work on the bigger provider’s spectrum.
10. Snap buys Vertebrae to build out AR offerings
Snap is leaning more into the world of augmented reality. The company has purchased Vertebrae which lets users build 3D AR versions of products they might be selling. This feature could help grow Snap’s presence in the e-commerce space and help make Snapchat a viable shopping alternative to apps like Instagram and Facebook.
11. Amazon to end COVID-19 testing at its facilities beginning July 30th
At the end of this month, Amazon has confirmed it’ll begin phasing out its own onsite COVID-19 testing. “Free COVID-19 testing is now widely available and our employees have many options available to them,” the company said in a statement. This comes as vaccinations ramp up across the country, while cases continue to rise among unvaccinated people.
12. CNN+ is coming
CNN has announced it plans to introduce CNN+, a subscription service that will offer users more content and exclusive stories from the organization. Variety has a ton of details in a full article linked here, but it doens’t confirm a launch date or price for the service. I’m curious as to what CNN has planned for the service beyond “adding 450 more jobs over the next six months.”