With the release of the iPad Pro, Apple ushered in a new generation of chips with the M4. The introduction of this chip, however, disrupted Apple’s usual chip release cycle: the M3 was first launched only six months ago on the MacBook Pro and iMac. The last device to receive an M3 was the MacBook Air in January. What about the rest of the Mac lineup?
In the recent edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that the Mac Studio and Mac Pro are not on Apple’s release schedule until mid-2025. In April, Gurman reported that Apple was testing a Mac Studio with “an as-yet-unreleased M3-era chip” as well as an M4-series chip, which left its status for a 2024 release uncertain. But now it looks like Apple has decided to ignore the M3-based Mac Studio, which probably also means it will ignore the M3-based Mac Pro as well.
So the current M2 Max/Ultra Mac Studio and M2 Ultra Mac Pro will remain in Apple’s lineup for another year. This also means that WWDC24 probably won’t have any new Mac announcements; Gurman reported in April that the M4 Mac rollout would begin in late 2024 with M4-based MacBook Pros and an iMac, about a year after those Macs were released with the M3.
The other Mac that still uses M2 series chips is the Mac mini. Gurman reports that the Mac mini won’t be updated until 2024 or until 2025. That leaves four Macs – the low-end MacBook Air, Mac mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro – with M2 chips and three Macs – the most recent MacBook. Air, MacBook Pro and iMac: with M3 chips.
The decision to ignore the M3-based Mac Studio and Mac Pro isn’t surprising. The M3 was the first chip made with the 3nm manufacturing process, but the M4 uses a new and improved 3nm process. As our own Jason Snell pointed out, the two processes are incompatible, so Apple had to move to M4 to accommodate production.
With no new Mac hardware expected at WWDC24, the Mac spotlight turns to macOS 15 and all other apps, such as Xcode. WWDC24 is expected to focus on AI, with several AI-based features revealed. These features will likely be focused on iPhone and iOS 18 and ported to Mac where applicable.
Read our Mac Studio superguide to learn more about Apple’s high-end desktop Mac. And get more information about WWDC24 and the upcoming macOS 15.
