In recent weeks, we’ve seen some unreleased Mac hardware emerge via Geekbench testing results. Now, a pair of unreleased Macs have surfaced in another database: the Steam Hardware and Software Survey for November. This comes as Apple is widely expected to release upgrade versions of the MacBook Pro and Mac Studio sometime in early 2023.
New M2 Max Macs are coming in 2023
The Steam Hardware and Software Survey is published every month and shows what kind of computer hardware and software its gamers are using. This includes things like operating system versions, specs data, and more. Generally, these results don’t include much of interest for the general public, but the results for November are particularly interesting because of these unreleased Macs.
As first spotted by a MacRumors tipster, 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%,” which means they are not being widely used in the slightest. Instead, a very, very small number of Apple engineers are likely testing the gaming performance of these MacBooks using Steam software.
The “Mac14,6” identifier has been spotted a couple of times recently in Geekbench testing results. The results 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.
On the other hand, we haven’t yet seen the “Mac15,4” identifier anywhere other than this Steam data. It’s likely 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 rumored to be planning to introduce multiple new Macs in 2023. This includes 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.
When it comes to the M2 Max chip, it is most likely to 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% faster than the M1, so it won’t be a surprise if the M2 Pro and M2 Max lineup isn’t a major upgrade compared to its predecessor.
