We’ve been hearing a lot of rumors about new Macs coming in the next few months, although some of them are conflicting. But now it seems that Apple itself has unintentionally confirmed that there are new Macs on the way. That’s because Find My configuration files are showing identifiers for unreleased Macs.
Apple’s Find My shows unreleased Mac models
The identifiers were first noticed by developer Nicolás Álvarez. More specifically, the unreleased Macs were found in a configuration file of Apple’s Find My network that determines specific Mac models that won’t notify the user when they’re “left behind.”
There are three unreleased Macs: Mac14,8, Mac14,13, and Mac14,14. While it’s hard to say for sure which Mac computer each of these models is, only desktop Macs are listed in this file since they’re the only ones that are not compatible with Find My’s Left Behind feature. So that leaves us with three options: iMac, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro.
One thing to keep in mind is that, starting with M2, every Mac having that chip is identified as “Mac14.x.” For instance, the M2 Mac mini is “Mac14,3,” while M2 Pro Mac mini is “Mac14,12” and the M2 MacBook Air is “Mac14,2.” In some cases, the same Mac can have different identifiers depending on its configuration.
When it comes to the iMac, 9to5Mac sources have said in the past that Apple will skip M2 to release an M3 iMac instead. With this in mind, it seems more likely that these identifiers found in the Find My files are for a new Mac Studio or Mac Pro.
The Mac Studio has never received an upgrade since it was released in 2022 with the M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips. However, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said this week that Apple will also skip M2 for the Mac Studio. Meanwhile, Apple was expected to introduce its first Apple Silicon Mac Pro with an “M2 Extreme” chip, but these plans were reportedly scrapped.
Even so, a new Mac Pro with M2 Max could arrive later this year. 9to5Mac has evidence that Mac14,8 listed in the Find My files is the Apple Silicon Mac Pro, codenamed J180. But of course, there’s a chance that these files are old and are listing Macs that will never see the light of day.
M3 or M2 MacBooks?
Interestingly, the rumors have been contradicting each other when it comes to the chip in the new upcoming MacBooks. It’s been almost a year since Apple introduced M2 with the redesigned MacBook Air and it seems logical to think that the next MacBooks will have M3.
Some reports claim that there are new MacBooks coming soon, but that they’ll keep the M2 chip instead of getting M3. But 9to5Mac has heard from sources that these Macs will feature M3. Last year, multiple reports claimed that the 2022 MacBook Air would keep the M1 chip, but it got the M2 – although the differences between the two chips are really small.
It remains to be seen if Apple still plans to release new M2 Macs this year or if the company will unveil the first M3 Mac at WWDC 2023.
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