Three new Mac model identifiers were recently added to a Find My configuration file on Apple's backend, as discovered by Nicolás Álvarez (via @aaronp613).
The new identifiers are Mac14,8, Mac14,13, and Mac14,14, and they appear in a list alongside Mac14,3 and Mac14,12, the identifiers for the latest M2 and M2 Pro Mac mini models. The list in Apple's configuration file relates to overriding "separation monitoring," which suggests these could be desktop Mac models that do not need to be actively tracked via Find My for separation from the user as portable Macs do.
pic.twitter.com/Hnq5VpsXIW — Nicolás Álvarez (@nicolas09F9) April 22, 2023
Exactly what these new Mac models are is unclear, as Apple has recently shifted from using more specific model identifiers like "MacBookAir10,1" to generic "Mac"-based ones that can apply to any member of the family. The most imminent desktop Mac update we're expecting is the Mac Pro, although Bloomberg's Mark Gurman believes it won't be ready to launch at WWDC in June.
Gurman also believes the Mac Studio will not see an update until high-end members of M3 chip family are ready, and that seems unlikely until perhaps early 2024. With the Mac mini having just been updated in January, the only other apparent possibility for a desktop Mac update is the iMac, but that too isn't expected to be updated until M3 chips are available in the latter part of this year at the soonest.
It is also unclear just how many product lines these three new model identifiers represent. As seen with the Mac mini and other recent Macs, models with multiple chip options can have several identifiers, so it's possible these new identifiers could represent three variants of a single product, or something like two variants of one product and a single variant of a second product.
We'll likely hear more about the potential for Mac updates as we get closer to WWDC, but for now it appears the most likely Mac launch expected at the event is a new 15-inch MacBook Air, not a desktop Mac.
