Mac Pro and Mac Studio refreshes may wait till 2025

AppleInsider

A new report claims that Apple's current schedule doesn't include updates to its Mac Pro and Mac Studio machines until the middle of 2025.

Mac Studio and Mac Pro may stick with M2 chips until 2025.

The Mac Studio and Mac Pro got their most recent refreshes at the 2023 WWDC, it may be a bit of a wait for the next refresh. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that the two pro-level Macs will be skipped in 2024. If accurate, this would mean a two-year refresh cycle for Apple's current highest-end machines.

Apple's M3 chip debuted with Pro and Max versions out of the gate, at the October 2023 MacBook Pro-centric event. Other chips started at the base, and worked their ways up to Pro, Max, and Ultra.

It took over a year for M1 to get an Ultra variant. The M1 Ultra debuted in the refreshed Mac Pro and then-new Mac Studio.

Apple's M1 and M2 chips in Mac Pro and Mac Studio had clear interconnects, so a chip like the Ultra was a clear possibility relatively early. The M3 does not have this obvious interconnect, so it's possible Apple had this road map in mind all along.

It's also not the first time a Mac has skipped a generation. The iMac went from M1 to M3 processor, for instance.

Relatively speaking, Apple does not sell that many Mac Studio or Mac Pro units. The company's flagships remain the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lines -- and it's not close.

No other new Macs are expected to be announced during WWDC, which runs from June 10 to 14. Most of the rest of the Mac line is expected to gain M4 chips by the end of 2024.

Rumor Score: Likely

Read on AppleInsider

discountopinion

I am not convinced this is true. Apple seems to be accelerating devices towards the M4 platform or they would not have dropped the M4 bomb with the iPad Pro.

Further they have demonstrated acceleration in model ramp of CPUs last year by releasing multiple SKUs of M3* at the same time. This indicates massively improved partnership and logistics with TSMC and if continued to improve then we have a fair shot at across the board launch for WWDC which would be a tour de force to signal Apple is back with a vengeance and is all in on AI.

I am hoping hoping for M4 Ultra shockwave at WWDC to send the Pros swooning.

wdowell

I also don’t believe this. Who the heck will buy a studio with m2 for the next year ? It just doesn’t stack up . M3 is dead due to the production process  and m4 and its variants will come. And frankly for the Studio, WWDC seems a very logical moment to at least announce it

dee_dee

When you click on “view comments” for an articles, why can’t you automatically scroll down to the comments instead of the user having to scroll through the article a second time?  Not a very Apple like experience. 

chasm

discountopinion said:

I am not convinced this is true. 

I am hoping for M4 Ultra shockwave at WWDC to send the Pros swooning.

Good luck to you, but it must be said that Gurman -- while not infallible -- is by far the most accurate pundit out there right now.

I'm just happy that all the other Macs will move on to the M4 and its variants this year.

And I'm probably showing my age with this, but if Apple doesn't call the chip after the M4 the "Mach 5," I will be sorely disappointed.  

icreate

With the Snapdragon X-Elite hype train in full swing, I'd imagine Apple would want to release the laptops first.

ApplePoor

I have a M1 Max 14" MBPro (64GB & 4TB SSD) and a M1 Ultra MacStudio (128GB & 8TB SSD). Apple depreciated the MacStudio nearly 75% in one year for a trade in value. Not quite as bad for the laptop. Both are able to run the latest MacOS. Both still work fine for my needs. Both have Apple Care going forward. 

Unless any of the software I use suddenly needs a M4 or M5 to run, I am content to keep the jingle in my pockets.

I recognize the difference between a "want" or a "need".  I may want the latest and greatest but I do not need it for what I do. Thus in the "soldered" world that Apple has now created, I order the maximum system memory and the largest SSD I think I could possibly need for my use for years.

I enjoy watching the "dog and pony" show for the new stuff and the last few years they have really had to work to generate apparent enthusiasm for their new products with small incremental changes.

y2an

Of course Apple had a roadmap all along! 

i hypothesise that the M1 and M2 Ultras existed only because of the capabilities of silicon production at the time. M3, M4 and beyond are showing very good performance at lower power consumptions and perhaps an M4 in a chassis with active cooling can do much better than we’ve just seen in the new iPad Pro. 

Missing in action is an upgraded Mac mini and I also wonder if, equipped with an M4 with active cooling, it might outperform the current Studio, obsoleting the Studio.

All pure speculation of course, looking forward to seeing what is really revealed at WWDC. 

NYC362

I just don't believe this.  It doesn't seem to make any sense.

Apple released an iPad with an M4.  They are about to introduce a pile of operating systems with all sorts of huge AI enhancements.  The M4 is specfically designed for those enhancements, and we're be told it will be an entire YEAR before the flagship desktop models will have those features? 

Sorry... just makes no sense.  By mid-2025, the Studio would be three generations behind as the M5 processor would almost certainly be out by then. 

I still believe that we will see M4 Max and M4 Ultra Studios at WWDC in three weeks... and if not then, then in the fall when the next MacOS comes out. 

macxpress

chasm said:

discountopinion said:

I am not convinced this is true. 

I am hoping for M4 Ultra shockwave at WWDC to send the Pros swooning.

Good luck to you, but it must be said that Gurman -- while not infallible -- is by far the most accurate pundit out there right now.

I'm just happy that all the other Macs will move on to the M4 and its variants this year.

And I'm probably showing my age with this, but if Apple doesn't call the chip after the M4 the "Mach 5," I will be sorely disappointed.  

He changes his story every other day so of course he's accurate. He just throws a bunch of shit at the wall and see what sticks and then changes his story to make it stick when it starts to fall off and claims he was right (and so do others). Next week they'll be another story about how they're coming this fall. He'll do it constantly. 

danox

icreate said:

With the Snapdragon X-Elite hype train in full swing, I'd imagine Apple would want to release the laptops first.

The actual Geekbench scores tell a different story (on the same site notice all of the Apple Silicon scores are in Apple computers) There are no separate postings by Apple but Qualcomm however does appears to post bench tests note: OEM's appear to post too but the OEM numbers are lower a lot lower in a actual computer.

Apples schedule isn't dictated by Microsoft or Qualcomm nor is theirs by Apple the lead times for all are just too long. Apple however would be missing a golden opportunity in  not getting the Studio M4 Ultra's and the Pro Mac M4's in the hands of the developers in June 2024, developers are screaming for more bandwidth and more usable UMA memory and that is only half of the equation they are also crying for as much behind the scenes software support from Apple as possible.

If Apple can execute they would come out of 2024 with an inside track to run what they need to run (software wise) on the Edge.

https://www.semiaccurate.com/2024/04/24/qualcomm-is-cheating-on-their-snapdragon-x-elite-pro-benchmarks/ The scores in actual OEM machines are a lot lower than Qualcomm bench tests.

https://browser.geekbench.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=dell+snapdragon In OEM machines

https://browser.geekbench.com/search?page=2&q=snapdragon&utf8=%E2%9C%93 In OEM machines

Hreb

Relatively speaking, Apple does not sell that many Mac Studio or Mac Pro units.

Not like this they won't...

9secondkox2

Hope not. 

Waiting thst long seems like a missed opportunity of tragic proportions. 

Better to strike while they have the edge. Do t wait for Intel etc. to catch up or leapfrog. 

danox

Hreb said:

Relatively speaking, Apple does not sell that many Mac Studio or Mac Pro units.

Not like this they won't...

 You are so right Apples timing in this area sucks up to this point when it comes to the Studio Ultra's and the Pro Macs. iCreate is partially right a fire needs to be lit. If you don't release a product in a timely matter you can't make a sell and Apple in this area has been very untimely.

danox

9secondkox2 said:

Hope not. 

Waiting thst long seems like a missed opportunity of tragic proportions. 

Better to strike while they have the edge. Do t wait for Intel etc. to catch up or leapfrog. 

If Apple could (hoping) release all the hounds of war (MacBook M4 Pro Max, Studio M4 Ultra's and the Pro Mac M4's in June/July Apple along with OpenAI GPT-4o would be a great one two punch towards Google/Microsoft/Intel/AMD/Nvidia particularity Apples on the edge hardware capability which works better than most now.

Releasing a M4 iPad Pro with a M4 SOC was the right thing to do going into the future for end users even most don't realize it yet.

davidmalcolm

I have trouble seeing them releasing the M4 in the iPad Pro and the. Not having other chips for the desktop sooner. Though part of me wonders if the iPad Pro being a lower volume seller might be one reason why it was the first M4 product. But from a marketing perspective it really doesn’t look good to be charging top dollar for an M2 anything. So I think someone is feeding the rumour mill false info. 

dewme

ApplePoor said:

I have a M1 Max 14" MBPro (64GB & 4TB SSD) and a M1 Ultra MacStudio (128GB & 8TB SSD). Apple depreciated the MacStudio nearly 75% in one year for a trade in value. Not quite as bad for the laptop. Both are able to run the latest MacOS. Both still work fine for my needs. Both have Apple Care going forward. 

Unless any of the software I use suddenly needs a M4 or M5 to run, I am content to keep the jingle in my pockets.

I recognize the difference between a "want" or a "need".  I may want the latest and greatest but I do not need it for what I do. Thus in the "soldered" world that Apple has now created, I order the maximum system memory and the largest SSD I think I could possibly need for my use for years.

I enjoy watching the "dog and pony" show for the new stuff and the last few years they have really had to work to generate apparent enthusiasm for their new products with small incremental changes.

So you’re saying that You get to decide when and how often you upgrade your tools based on your actual needs, how your current tools are serving you, and with a levelheaded concern for how it impacts your budget? 

Expect a call from Tim soon. 

But all kidding aside, anyone on the investor side of what Apple is doing always wants Apple to maintain and build on its market position. This requires continuous improvements and staying on the leading edge of what it takes to dominate the competition. As consumers we ultimately have the final say in what drives our purchase decisions and are not obligated to keep up with the leading edge of each new wave. 

CheeseFreeze

It sounds like a weird strategy not to push the M4 now it’s in their tablets. Especially when the Mac Studio still is on M2.

Personally I believe Apple is going full force on AI for their new operating systems and for this they need to get the M4 out there as quickly as possible, so they can once again show the benefits of a perfect marriage of hardware and software.

Sure, laptops come first, but their desktops are a ‘status symbol’ to them: demonstrate what their products can do for professionals who demand high-end performance.

It’s either at WWDC or late 2024 I believe.

canukstorm

CheeseFreeze said:

It sounds like a weird strategy not to push the M4 now it’s in their tablets. Especially when the Mac Studio still is on M2.

Personally I believe Apple is going full force on AI for their new operating systems and for this they need to get the M4 out there as quickly as possible, so they can once again show the benefits of a perfect marriage of hardware and software.
"Sure, laptops come first, but their desktops are a ‘status symbol’ to them: demonstrate what their products can do for professionals who demand high-end performance.

It’s either at WWDC or late 2024 I believe.

"Personally I believe Apple is going full force on AI for their new operating systems and for this they need to get the M4 out there as quickly as possible" => Agreed

i predict the release timeline to be the following:

WWDC 2024 - All desktop Macs ( Mac mini / Studio / Pro) transition to M4 counter parts
Fall 2024 - All MBP models transition to M4 series
Spring 2025 - MBA / iMac are the first to get the M5 (No M4)

9secondkox2

canukstorm said:

CheeseFreeze said:

It sounds like a weird strategy not to push the M4 now it’s in their tablets. Especially when the Mac Studio still is on M2.

Personally I believe Apple is going full force on AI for their new operating systems and for this they need to get the M4 out there as quickly as possible, so they can once again show the benefits of a perfect marriage of hardware and software.
"Sure, laptops come first, but their desktops are a ‘status symbol’ to them: demonstrate what their products can do for professionals who demand high-end performance.

It’s either at WWDC or late 2024 I believe.

"Personally I believe Apple is going full force on AI for their new operating systems and for this they need to get the M4 out there as quickly as possible" => Agreed

i predict the release timeline to be the following:

WWDC 2024 - All desktop Macs transition to M4 counter parts
Fall 2024 - All MBP models transition to M4 series
Spring 2025 - MBA / iMac are the first to get the M5 (No M4)

That sounds very plausible. 

mark fearing

I think the obvious answer is NEW HARDWARE designs will wait. But they will have to upgrade the chips on the models before 2025 or Mac Sales will be anemic.