IDC, Morgan Stanley On ‘M2’ MacBook At WWDC 2021

Morgan Stanley expects an M2 MacBook announcement at the Worldwide Developers Conference. IDC sees something coming down the pike too.

The research note from Morgan Stanley, authored by Katy L. Huberty and four* others, is unusual since Morgan Stanley typically doesn’t make this kind of short-term prediction.

Here’s an excerpt from the note — with “based on our checks” being the operative phrase:

“WWDC 2021 will mark the 1 year anniversary of Apple’s official M1 SoC launch…

We expect this momentum to continue into WWDC 2021, and based on our checks, we believe it’s likely Apple launches a new MacBook featuring in-house designed silicon.”

—June 3, 2021, Morgan Stanley Research

The research note went on to talk about the M2 processor. It’s not clear whether Morgan Stanley is simply repeating what’s been reported or whether they’re saying this to affirm what they’ve been hearing based on their “checks.”

“Reports have indicated that Apple’s second generation custom silicon (i.e. “M2”) entered production in April, in which case there is the potential that a newly released MacBook could also feature the M2 chip (assuming a 2H21 launch).”

I asked IDC analyst Jitesh Ubrani about upcoming MacBooks.

“We have been hearing that a 14 [inch] MacBook is on the horizon,” Ubrani said via email.

“In order to set itself apart, I believe Apple is also likely to introduce new silicon to go with it…I expect greater CPU and GPU performance…similar to what they did with the iMac,” he said.

He also expects a “a better camera and mic combo.”

And what about 5G in a MacBook? (Since the internals wouldn’t be that different than the M1 iPad Pro which is offered with 5G.)

“While it would be nice to have 5G built into the Mac I think it may still be early for that,” he said.

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NOTES:

*I receive research bulletins from Morgan Stanley Research. The four other names on the research note were Erik W Woodring, Kieran Kenny CFA, Sabrina E Hao, Jessica B Hutto.

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