Apple is nearing production of M4 chips and is planning to release its first Macs with the components later this year, Mark Gurman reports for Bloomberg News.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
The big focus will be supporting on-device artificial intelligence, which requires a hefty amount of processing power.
The company is planning three main variations of the M4: a base chip dubbed Donan; higher-end versions codenamed Brava that will replace the M3 Pro and M3 Max; and an M4 Ultra dubbed Hidra. At the end of last year, Apple released a regular M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max, but an M3 Ultra hasn’t come to market. (Apple could choose to wait until the M4 line for a new Ultra, but it’s worth noting that an M3 variation does exist internally.)
Here are the Mac models Apple is working on and when it expects to introduce them (as always, release plans could shift):
1. A low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4, coming around the end of 2024.
2. A 24-inch iMac with the M4, also expected around the end of the year.
3. New 14-inch and 16-inch high-end MacBook Pros with M4 Pro/Max chips, due between the end of 2024 and early 2025.
4. A Mac mini in both M4 and M4 Pro configurations, coming between the end of 2024 and early 2025.
5. New 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Airs, slated for around spring 2025.
6. A Mac Studio with a high-end M4 chip, coming around the middle of 2025.
7. A Mac Pro with an M4 Ultra chip, due in the second half of 2025.
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MacDailyNews Take: Those new MacBook Pros can hopefully debut before this Christmas because they’ll be big sellers!
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What does this mean to you?
“powerful AI-focused M4 chips”
It’s like the iMac “on ramp for the information superhighway” back in 1999.
Based on Apple’s track record to date in AI, not much outside of weak hype.
Wait a sec, I’ll call Marketing….
No thanks, last thing I need is an AI chip from a WOKE Leftist virtue signaling Cooked CEO and Company. I would not TRUST THEM either of them…
“My current Mac performs for me just fine, so why should I upgrade?” That’s always the question, isn’t it? But you know what? What I want more than an AI “upgrade” is a larger screen. Offer me a 32-inch (or 42-inch!) iMac — M4 or M3, I don’t care — and you’ll shake from the sonic boom of me opening my wallet. Offer me a 24- or 27-inch AI-fancied-up M4 iMac, and — well, I’ll wait until a good reason presents itself to me. And I can be very patient.