MacBook Pro with mini LED backlighting set for fall launch

Apple's rumored fall launch of new MacBook Pro models is becoming more credible, with a report reiterating a potential release before the end of 2021, complete with mini LED displays.

Various predictions have put forward the narrative that Apple will be bringing out a 14-inch MacBook Pro and a 16-inch MacBook Pro around the end of the year. While production of the new models is thought to be underway according to some analysts, a new report has doubled down on the assertion.

In the Bloomberg "Power On" newsletter, Mark Gurman claims the announcement for the new models will take place sometime between September and November. Gurman asserts that the models were supposed to launch at an earlier time, "but complications around the new mini LED display have held up production."

A supply chain report from June highlighted shortages in mini LED production impacting the MacBook Pro, but that production itself will occur between July and September.

Gurman's claim again puts forward the idea of a mini LED backlit MacBook Pro, which could provide various display benefits as seen in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. By using thousands of mini LED backlights, the contrast ratio of the display can reach 1 million to 1, with improved color representation and better HDR support.

Previous rumors has the new models gaining an improved 1080p webcam, new chips such as the M1X, and possibly the return of port options such as a HDMI port, SD card slot, and MagSafe charging.

On July 16, it was reported Apple Germany's online description had mistakenly described the 16-inch MacBook Pro as having an Apple Silicon M1 processor, under specific circumstances.

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20 Comments

h4y3s 85 comments · 9 Years

About 3 years ago

The sooner the better!

Have any “M1X” benchmark reports surfaced?

jas99 168 comments · 11 Years

While I don’t need the added port types - I’m perfectly happy with the one dongle I might use once every 8 months - I suspect the M1X chip and board size is so small Apple had room left over.

If you can add those extra ports without increasing the form factor, why not?

retrogusto 1138 comments · 16 Years

jas99 said:

While I don’t need the added port types - I’m perfectly happy with the one dongle I might use once every 8 months - I suspect the M1X chip and board size is so small Apple had room left over.
If you can add those extra ports without increasing the form factor, why not?

I know they won’t, but throwing in a USB-A would be a nice perk for their actual customers. I have a late-2016 MBP with only USB-C/Thunderbolt 3, and almost five years later I still need USB-A on a regular basis (along with other ports they stopped including). I understand that they sacrifice user convenience in the effort to push other companies to adopt the latest technologies, but at a certain point I do still want convenience and for $2400 I should be able to have it, especially now that anyone likely to respond to that kind of pressure has probably responded by now. I wish they had another way of incentivizing their industry partners that didn’t require them to intentionally make a less useful product. And yes, I know many of you early-adopters don’t need USB-A, or headphone jacks or whatever, but there are also plenty of us who don’t want to change our peripherals/accessories every few years unless it will directly benefit our purposes as we see them.

aderutter 622 comments · 17 Years

Get yourself a new cable if you need usb-a.
or at least an adaptor for a couple of dollars.

darkvader 1146 comments · 15 Years

aderutter said:

Get yourself a new cable if you need usb-a.
or at least an adaptor for a couple of dollars.

Oh, sure, because the dongle pocket in my computer bag doesn't already weigh almost as much as the computer itself. I'll just throw in a few more dozen.

And it's not like I can take any out at this point, I actually had to use the mini-DVI to DVI adapter a few weeks ago. At least I don't have to regularly carry any SCSI adapters any more, it's been a few years since I needed one, so that's all in a separate SCSI data recovery bag.