According to a new report from the Taiwanese Commercial Times, Apple plans to update its Apple Silicon chips on an 18-month cycle, compared to the annual upgrade cycle of macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS operating systems, and iPhone and Apple Watch hardware.
The report, which largely echoes previously reported information, said that industry sources have pointed towards an 18-month upgrade cycle for Apple silicon chips. With that, the report claims that the next generation of Apple silicon, M2, will launch in the second half of 2022 and is codenamed Staten, with “M2 Pro” and “M2 Max” chips expected to launch in the first half of 2023. A machine translation of the report reads:
According to sources in the supply chain industry, Apple Silicon will be updated every 18 months in the future. In the second half of 2022, Apple will first launch the M2 processor code-named Staten, and in the first half of 2023, it will launch the new M2X processor architecture code-named Rhodes, and release two processors such as M2 Pro and M2 Max according to the different graphics cores. Apple’s M2 series processors all use the 4-nanometer process, and will be updated to the M3 series processors after an 18-month cycle. It is expected that they will be mass-produced using TSMC’s 3-nanometer process.
MacDailyNews Take: The sooner the Intel shackles are dispatched from the entire Mac family, the better. No more Intel-handicapped Macs!
Bring on the Apple Silicon Mac Pro!
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I think this is great! So hardware won‘t become “old” just within a year!!! For me a 24 months cycle would be perfect
There’s historical logic in timing new macs (not perfect though), and it’s based on full years.
Apple silicon macs are (and will be) so fast, there’s no need for speed bumps in the future. Apple could update the silicon at the same frequency as the design and everything else too. That means every three or even four rather than 1.5 or two years.
E.g. MBA is still new, fast, and sells well. They can easily wait until Q4/2023 and the current model is still superior to any comparable PC, any Intel MacBook, and all M1 MBA owners are still happy with theirs. There no business reason to update it now.
My guess is a three-year cycle with new silicon out Q4 every year, but for different segments:
Year one: low-end (M1 devices)
Year two: pro (M1 pro max devices, incl. high end mini and larger iMac H1/22)
Year three: workstation (Mac pro Q4/22, maybe mid tower or iMac Pro H1/23)
The one thing that may break this mold is iPad Pro. Three years seems too long for it, and that would create a logical time for a speed bump at 18 months for the low end models. Also, the current MBA design is still old Intel-era design.