Because the calendar turns to March, we’re naturally looking out for clues that Apple is making ready to launch a brand new slate of spring merchandise because it has over the previous a number of years. And we’d have gotten an enormous one from an unlikely place.

Apple this week pushed a brand new beta firmware model 16.4 to the Studio Show with construct quantity 20E5223e. That’s the second beta in as many weeks and coordinates with the event of macOS Ventura 13.3, which can also be in its second beta. The complete releases are anticipated later this month or early April.

Whereas we don’t know what’s within the firmware since Apple hasn’t supplied launch notes, the replace is notable for a few causes. For one, it’s the primary Studio Show firmware replace since model 15.5, which arrived in October. For an additional, it coincides with the beta testing for macOS 13.3, which was beforehand rumored to be the model of Ventura working on Apple Silicon Mac Execs in testing.

When the new Mac Professional arrives, Apple might need to replace the Studio Show firmware to assist the brand new machine, very like iOS 16.3 introduced assist for the brand new HomePod final month.

These are two very huge clues {that a} new Mac Professional might be arriving very quickly. Whereas we nonetheless have a load of questions concerning the new machine, we’d not have to attend an excessive amount of longer to search out out.