Apple adds support for 15 W Ice Lake processors in latest macOS Catalina beta ahead of expected MacBook Pro 13 refresh

There have been plenty of rumours about an upcoming MacBook Pro 13 refresh in recent months. Multiple sources have claimed that Apple plans to upgrade the device to a 14-inch mini-LED display, for example, along with the seemingly now obligatory change to the company's Magic Keyboard. Apple's decision to upgrade the MacBook Air to Ice Lake processors prompted us to speculate that it would do the same with the MacBook Pro 13, too. Now, commits within macOS Catalina 10.15.5 beta 1 have given credence to that idea.

Brought to our attention by @_rogame, beta 1 adds support for 15 W Ice Lake CPUs. The beta one also mentions the processors that Apple offers for the MacBook Air, although presumably support for these was present in macOS Catalina 10.15.4.

Regardless, this is the first time that we have seen explicit references in macOS code to the Core i5-1035G7 and Core i7-1065G7. We would not rule out Apple equipping the MacBook Pro 13 with "N" processors though, as it has with the MacBook Air.

Seeing as Apple generally offers a 28 W processor for the MacBook Pro 13, we imagine that it will continue to do so for the 2020 refresh. Currently, the Core i7-1068G7 is the only 28 W Ice Lake-U series processor, so expect to see it or the Core i7-1068NG7 make an appearance, too.