Apple's 2022 Hardware Roadmap Reportedly Includes Big Changes For Mac Pro

Over the past couple of years, we've seen several Apple devices transition from using Intel CPUs to Apple's own in-house silicon. A new report today predicts that the Mac Pro, among others, could be next to receive Apple silicon. That could happen this year, and the Mac Pro could get something of a new design in the process of upgrading to Apple's in-house CPUs.

That report comes from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who, in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, predicts that Apple will step on the gas regarding its product reveals in 2022. While 2021 may have been a relatively slow year for the company, Gurman is predicting an about-face from Apple in 2022 with plenty of new products reveal in store.

First, Gurman says that Apple has "a bevy of new pro Macs in the works" and that these machines will be built around the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips that have already started appearing in Apple's MacBooks. While details about this new Mac Pro are slim, Gurman does say that it will be smaller than existing models and will be available in configurations offering "up to 40 CPU cores and 128 graphics cores."

In addition to the Mac Pro, Gurman also expects to see a new Mac mini and an iMac Pro with a larger display than past entries in the line. While further details on those machines were nonexistent, Gurman does think that Apple will finish transitioning its products to its own silicon by WWDC 2022, which means that by June, all of the products that can be using M1 chips will be using them (or at least we'll have M1 versions of those Macs announced).

That prediction about the Mac Pro is intriguing for more than one reason. The prospect of a smaller Mac Pro certainly gets our ears to perk up, and of course, we're also excited to see how Apple handles the transition away from Intel with the Mac Pro specifically, given that it's often the go-to for people who want an upgradeable workstation. Will Apple's M1 chips be just as flexible as Intel CPUs when it comes to hardware upgrades? With the Mac Pro, we may get an answer to that question.

In addition to the new Mac Pro, Mac mini, and iMac, we also hear that Apple will launch a redesigned MacBook Air this year, along with a new entry-level MacBook Pro and an updated iPad Pro. Add to that whispers of a 5G iPhone SE, an iPhone 14 that finally ditches the notch in favor of a hole-punch cutout for the front-facing camera, and a collection of new Apple Watches, and it sounds like Apple has a year full of hardware ahead of it.

Of course, that's assuming that Gurman's predictions play out as they're expected to, which is never a sure thing. There's a long way to go between now and the end of the year, and Apple's 2022 roadmap could change as we move through the months ahead. While some of these predictions are givens – it's pretty easy to believe that we'll see a 5G iPhone SE, for instance – it's that Mac Pro report that we'll be watching with particular interest. We'll see if these predictions come true in the weeks and months ahead, so stay tuned for more.