A display analyst with a good track record says he is "skeptical" about the possibility of a 12-inch MacBook refresh with an Apple Silicon chip.
12-inch MacBook
Earlier in June, a Bloomberg report claimed that Apple was developing a smaller M2-equipped MacBook model with a display size around 12 inches. It would mark the first portable Mac since Apple killed the 12-inch MacBook in 2019.
However, Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) has expressed doubt about the rumor, suggesting that Apple is currently focused on portables with larger displays.
In a tweet shared with his Super Followers on Twitter and seen by MacRumors, Young said that DSCC is "skeptical" on a 12-inch MacBook at this point in time.
"Apple's strategy for notebooks is currently 13" and larger," Young said. "Companies in the MacBook Pro display supply chain we talked to are not aware of it."
It's possible that a 12-inch MacBook refresh is in the early stages of prototyping, which would mean that information related to its release has yet to reach supply chain partners.
Although the original Bloomberg report did not claim that the 12-inch laptop would be a direct successor to the discontinued MacBook, it said that the device would be Apple's "smallest new laptop in years."
Per the report, the company is also working on a 15-inch MacBook Air based on the recent redesign. Both the 12-inch MacBook model and the 15-inch MacBook Air would sport some type of M2 chipset, and could be ready for a launch by late 2023 or early 2024.