Apple may finally bring an integrated SD card slot for its next 2021 models of its MacBook Pro laptops, according to a new report from BloombergMark Gurman, in a move that would restore the popular port pattern for the company’s computers.
The MacBook Pro line hasn’t offered an SD card slot since Apple removed the feature in its 2016 redesign, which removed all ports on laptops in favor of four universal USB-C ports. This forced many professional users – who rely on the popular memory card format to import photos and videos to their computers for editing – to resort to heavily criticized dongles to achieve the same functionality.
The news comes after an earlier report by Gurman that originally detailed some of the changes that Apple was planning for the next 14 and 16 inch designs. These changes include removing the controversial Touch Bar interface in exchange for physical function keys; offering a more square design that is in line with the recent lines of the iPad Pro, iPad Air and iPhone 12; add brighter screens; and bringing back Apple’s MagSafe magnetic chargers. This is all in addition to the biggest change that will move high-end laptops from Intel processors to a more powerful version of Apple’s ARM-based M1 chipset.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo corroborated these reports by stating that the new laptops would offer additional ports, but today marks the first confirmation of the SD card slot specifically.
The news of the return of the SD card slot actually comes as an aside in a larger report on Apple’s planned upgrade to a “high-end” model of the MacBook Air, which reportedly offers MagSafe and processor benefits similar to those of the new MacBook Pros. Unfortunately, however, there is no mention of the SD card slot being offered in the next Air refresh – just a pair of USB-C ports.