MacRumors today reports that Apple is getting ready to announce redesigned MacBook Pro laptops with new Apple Silicon system-on-chips (SoCs) as well as Mini LED displays in Q3 21. The rumor, is fuelled by news that Apple, in a bid to ensure steady supply of displays with Mini LED backlighting, is reportedly investing as much as $200 million in surface mounting-technology equipment for one of its partners. As this is just a rumor, take the news with a pinch of salt.
Apple's upcoming 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros are set to be the most significant revamps of MBPs in years as they are expected to feature a new design, more ports (including an HDMI and SD card slot), drop the controversial Touch Bar, a MagSafe power connector, and introduce new displays with Mini LED backlighting. They are also said to be powered by Apple's new "M2" SoC offering higher performance. These new systems could appear sometime in Q3 (which lasts from July 1 to September 30) according to a report from DigiTimes.
The biggest improvement of Apple's new MacBook Pro notebooks will perhaps be the Mini LED-based displays (at least on some SKUs) that will offer a higher luminance as well as a higher contrast ratio. Recently Apple started to offer a Mini LED display on its 12.9-inch iPad Pro which lead to increased demand, and a shortage of this iPad model.
In a bid to ensure that it can meet demand for its new MacBook Pro laptops, Apple is reportedly spending $200 million to procure additional surface mounting-technology (SMT) equipment for its partner Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology. The added equipment will enable TSMT to produce additional 700,000 ~ 800,000 Mini LED assemblies for MBPs per month.
So far, Apple has not formally confirmed that it has invested $200 million in one of its partners.
Apple does not usually make big announcements before it launches its new iPhones in September, so if the new MacBook Pros are set to be introduced in Q3, this is going to happen very late in the quarter. Since Apple also does not usually start shipments of its latest products immediately after formal launch, we expect the new MBPs to hit the market later in the year.
