The MacBook Pro 2021 is reportedly likely to be announced this year, despite the fact that a summer showcase seems unlikely.

This is according to a relatively reliable tipster and Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, who says the redesigned MacBook Pro should appear by the end of the year. If true, it would be announced in the fall.

Gurman makes this claim in his newsletter, Power On, while also noting that the fall will be very busy regarding Apple product news. And that makes sense, given that September is usually when Apple announces its new lineup of iPhones.

Rumors suggest that the iPhone 13 launch event will take place in the third week of September, and that the Apple Watch 7, an education-focused entry-level iPad, and the so-called AirPods 3 could be announced. However, whether a new MacBook Pro, including the rumored MacBook Pro 16-inch 2021, will also be announced at this event is another matter.

Last year, Apple held multiple events in the fall, tightly separating iPhone and Mac announcements; the Apple M1 chip announcement, along with refreshed versions of the MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro M1, came about a month after the big iPhone 12 launch event took place approximately one month after the iPhone 12.

In fact, leaker @dylandkt claims that the new MacBooks will not appear until late October or early November of this year.

Apple has had great success in the fourth quarter of 2020, and it is logical that they would want to replicate that success with a similar release schedule in 2021. Of course, none of this is definitive, and Apple is nothing if not unpredictable when it comes to non-iPhone product launches.

Aside from the timing of the new MacBook Pro, we can probably expect a 14-inch model to replace the current 13-inch laptop and a redesigned 16-inch machine with an enhanced port selection rather than four USB-C sockets.

These MacBook Pros are expected to feature the Apple M2 or M1X chips following the powerful M1 chip; the return of an SD card reader and a classic MacBook Pro version of MagSafe are also rumored.

Other than changes to internal specifications, the MacBook Pro has not undergone a major redesign in years. In the meantime, here are the best laptops you can buy now.