There might be some really cool Macs en route for 2023.
Over the rest weeks, the Steam Hardware and Software Survey has noted a number of unreleased Macs and also released some Geekbench testing results. This comes as Apple is widely expected to release upgrade versions of the MacBook Pro and Mac Studio sometime in early 2023.
Steam publishes data every month showing what kind of computer hardware and software its gamers are using. This includes things like operating system versions, specs data, and more. While these results don’t usually factor into the general public, they’re interesting in that they seem to hone in on a group of unreleased Macs.
The survey results for November show two unreleased Macs with the model identifiers “Mac14,6” and “Mac15,4.” The use of these Macs is listed at “0.00 percent,” which means they are not being widely used. Instead, a very, very small number of Apple engineers are likely testing the gaming performance of these Macs using Steam software.
A “Mac14,6” identifier has been spotted a couple in Geekbench testing results, and are believed to represent the M2 Max chip, with single-core scores of 2027 and a multi-core score of 14888 in one test. In another leaked Geekbench result, the M2 Max chip scored 1853 on single core and 13855 on multi-core.
The “Mac15,4” identifier has yet to be seen outside the Steam data, and it’s thought that this model number is referring to another unreleased M2-powered Mac, such as a new version of the Mac Studio or a different MacBook model.
Apple is of course rumored to be planning to introduce multiple new Macs in 2023, including a new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, Mac Studio, and the long-awaited Apple Silicon-powered Mac Pro. There have also been reports of a new version of the Mac mini with an M2 chip inside.
Per the M2 Max Chip, it’s thought that the processor will power the high-end versions of the new MacBook Pro and the entry-level Mac Studio model. The base model of the MacBook Pro is likely to be powered by the M2 Pro chip. The M2 chip that powers the 2022 MacBook Air and the latest iPad Pro is only 11 percent faster than the M1, so it won’t be a surprise if M2 Pro and M2 Max lineup isn’t a major upgrade compared to its predecessor.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via 9to5Mac, MacRumors and steampowered.com