Steam survey reveals existence of two unreleased Macs

A pair of mysterious and unreleased Macs have been noticed in Steam’s utilization information for November 2022. Labelled as “Mac14,6” and “Mac15,4,” the units are most likely machines with M2 Professional and/or M2 Max processors set for launch in 2023.
You possibly can see the info by visiting Steam’s survey web page and clicking the road entry labelled “OSX {Hardware} Mannequin Abstract.” The 2 fashions are close to the underside of the checklist, every assigned 0.00% of customers. Be aware that this means a really low quantity reasonably than none in any respect, for the reason that figures are rounded to 2 decimal locations; certainly, this makes excellent sense for a number of engineers working exams on prototypes of an unreleased machine.
Foundry
It may appear surprisingly careless for Apple workers to check unreleased merchandise on a public platform, given the corporate’s fondness for secrecy. However it seems to be unavoidable at sure factors in improvement, and the existence of a number of Apple units has first been revealed on this approach.
Actually, as MacRumors notes, the precise designator “Mac14,6” has been noticed within the wild prior to now. On two separate events in November and December 2022 Geekbench scores for the gadget–believed to be carrying an M2 Max chip–have appeared on-line. My colleague Jason Cross discusses the implications of these leaks in his Rumor Actuality Examine column.
It’s unclear when these new Macs might be introduced and turn into available for purchase. There’s minimal probability of additional bulletins earlier than the top of 2022, and January and February are typically quiet months for Apple. Ordinarily we’d anticipate any new merchandise within the pipeline to be held again till the spring–however the firm has sprung surprises up to now and should shock us once more.
For extra on what’s coming learn: Each new Apple product coming in 2023.