Apple M4: New AI-ready processors to arrive sooner than expected
New M4 Chips: Which Macs will get the upgrade first?
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Apple is accelerating the release of its M4 processors to counteract declining sales, analyst Gurman says. After peaking in 2022, Mac sales were down by 27% in the last fiscal year, which ended in September. And the M3 didn’t bring enough of a performance increase to boost sales. Will the Apple M4 deliver what the M3 couldn’t?
Can the Apple M4 revitalize Mac sales?
According to Gurman, Apple plans to speed up the release of three M4 variants to satisfy the demands of increasingly power-hungry AI applications. In addition to the base model (code name: Donan), there will be a higher-level replacement for the M3 Pro and M3 Max (code name: Brava), as well as a top-of-the-line model (code name: Hidra). The latter could possibly directly replace the M2 Ultra, skipping the M3 Ultra altogether.
If Apple is indeed rushing the M4 to market, it is likely that the entire product portfolio will be transitioned over to the new chips, meaning that we may never see a Mac Studio or Mac Pro with an M3-series processor – just like there was never an M1 Mac Pro or an M2 iMac.
Apple M4 Processor: What to expect
In his latest “Power On” newsletter, Mark Gurman outlines a possible rollout schedule for M4-powered Macs: The 14” MacBook Pro and 24” iMac might get the new chips by the end of 2024, while new 14” and 16” MacBook Pros with M4 Pro / Max processors could follow in early 2025. In the spring of 2025, the M4 and M4 Pro might arrive in the Mac mini, as well as in new 13” and 15” MacBook Air models. The Mac Studio with a higher-end M4 is reportedly due around mid-2025, with the M4 Ultra-powered Mac Pro following in the second half of that year. This means that an upgrade for the popular Mac Studio could still be 12 to 18 months away, with new Mac Pros even further down the line.
What remains to be seen is how this development will affect macOS and iOS. How much of a role does AI play in the new Apple M4 processor, and how much power will the AI features of the new OS’s require? We expect to find out more at the upcoming WWDC.
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Note: This post by Marcus Schmahl originally appeared in German on gearnews.de.
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One response to “Apple M4: New AI-ready processors to arrive sooner than expected”
“Apple plans to speed up the release” = “Apple isn’t going to have time to make sure the cores all work well with audio software”.
We’ve already seen how newer Apple hardware runs some audio DAW’s worse than previous models. And they took more time back then!