8th January 2021

Apple 2021 Products Roadmap: What To Expect

2020 was the year of Apple announcements. So, what does 2021 have in store? Personally, we’ve got good reason to believe that it’ll follow along a similar vein, with a specific revived focus on the Mac.

From an exciting new Silicon chip, to fresh devices, it’s going to be far from an event-free year. Here, we round-up what you can expect for the roadmap of Apple 2021 products.

New M1X chip

The ARM-based M1 chip blew us all away at the end of 2020. Apple are anticipated to take this one step further with the release of the M1X chip. This will have 12 cores and it’s even projected to radically outdo the present Intel 12-core Mac Pro; an impeccable achievement.

What’s more, the new Apple M1X chip is expected to incorporate more graphics cores. If there’s as many as 16 cores, then the graphics performance would beat the 5600M GPU in the current 16-inch MacBook Pro – this would be outstanding.

We anticipate that the M1X will support four Thunderbolt ports, and so it’ll be a step above the M1 chip which only supports two at the moment. On top of this, it could support 10GB ethernet on the Mac mini – if and when Apple adds this new chip as an upgrade.

It’s not known when the new M1X chip will be released, though it could potentially be in the second or third quarter of 2021. Its arrival is key – as it’ll have a knock-on effect on what else is to come from the line-up of Apple 2021 products.

Fresh Apple Silicon Mac

A wholly redesigned 24-inch iMac is rumoured to be released during quarter one of 2021. Many are expecting it to use the iPad Pro design language, and possess thinner bezels. This could potentially be unveiled in an Apple Special Event in March. If this does happen before the M1X chip comes into play, then we can only expect it to include the M1 chip. Either way, we’ll see the first Silicon iMac as part of the Apple 2021 products roadmap – and we strongly believe that it’ll be the 24-inch device.

Potentially, Apple could be keeping back the M1X chip for the 27-inch iMac replacement. This is rumoured to have a greater display size between 30-32 inches. It’s not projected to arrive until the second half of the year, however. What is expected is that this device will have a custom dedicated GPU – which, as the first Apple Silicon dedicated graphics chip, will transform graphics performance drastically. This is incredibly exciting, given that the performance of the M1 chip is already so superior.

Eventually, it’s anticipated that this custom GPU technology will be enhanced and introduced via the Mac Pro. However, we don’t see this happening until 2022.

Updated MacBook Pros

Whether or not new MacBook Pros will come with the new M1X chip is up for debate, but we strongly suspect that they’ll definitely at least have the M1 chips this year. It’s rumoured that there will be redesigned 14.1-inch and 16.1-inch MacBook Pros in the first half of 2021.

These are also anticipated to have Mini-LED displays with rounded corners – like the iPad Air 4 and iPad Pro. As these displays will be significantly thinner than their predecessors, we can expect Apple to (at long last) upgrade the webcams to 1080P sensors. Their base frameworks should be slimmer too, as the Silicon chip takes up less space.

Unfortunately, a new MacBook Air isn’t envisioned until Apple’s 2022 roadmap – so we may see no updates at all for this device in 2021. There could however be a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which would also be given the mini-LED display and 5G connectivity.

As for beyond 2021 – and exciting products outside the Mac – AirTags, AR Smart Glasses and the much-anticipated Apple Car could all be to come in the next few years.

Mac leasing

With so many Apple 2021 rumours, we can never quite be certain what Mac products are on the horizon – but we do know this: such value comes at a premium price tag. Thankfully though, you don’t have to put your cash flow at peril – you can spread the cost through leasing.

There’s no need to look any further than Lease Loop. As well as a range of leasing options, we work to create a supportive relationship that empowers your business to achieve its own ambitions. We’ll be there at every step of your own roadmap – during 2021, and far beyond.

Get started by speaking to our friendly team today.