Apple Silicon has been a long time coming, Dan Hansen writes. What’s next for Apple Silicon Macs? Think more CPU cores, more GPU cores, more memory, and new designs.
To the disappointment of many, the rumors that swirled in the run-up to WWDC, of a new MacBook Pro to be announced at the event keynote on June 7, have been proven incorrect. But those rumors have since been shown to have a likely factual basis via ‘m1x’ and ‘ M1X MacBook Pro’ keyword tags attached to the WWDC keynote video. Keeping in mind that even the most well-sourced rumors can be derailed by changing circumstances, a recent report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman provides details of the following four upcoming M-series chips:
• Jade C-Die: 8 high-performance cores / 2 energy-efficient cores, 32 GPU cores.
• Jade 2C-Die: 16 high-performance cores / 4 energy-efficient cores, 64 GPU cores.
• Jade 4C-Die: 32 high-performance cores / 8 energy-efficient cores, 128 GPU cores.
• Staten: 4 high-performance cores / 4 energy-efficient cores, 10 GPU cores.
While Apple tends to release new Macs in the fall, the WWDC keynote video keyword tags seem to indicate that the release of the updated MacBook Pros is imminent, no later than the end of July. If Apple follows the pattern of the initial Apple silicon Mac release, the higher-end Mac mini will be included in this launch. The larger iMac would also seem to be a candidate to co-launch with the MacBook Pros, but like the 24-inch iMac, it may be pushed back by a few months.
The fall should bring the higher-end MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook and at least some mention of the Mac Pro. Possibly an update to the current Intel-based model, and/or a preview of the Apple silicon model, but the current expectation is that M-series Mac Pro won’t ship before next year.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple initially said on June 22, 2020 that day was the beginning a two-year transition for the Mac to its world-class custom silicon. So, taking the company at its word, we’d expect the last Mac to go Apple Silicon to be the Mac Pro and for it to debut at (or very near to) the beginning of WWDC 2022 next June.