Apple M4 chips could hit the market early next year – if these professional forecasters are correct
Earlier this month we saw claims from regular Apple leaker Mark Gurman that an M4-powered MacBook Pro was already in ‘formal development’ – and now we may have an estimated timeline of when we can expect the SoC’s debut.
A new ‘approximate roadmap’ produced by market analysis agency Canalys indicates that the new Apple Silicon could be launched in the first quarter of 2025. The roadmap is intended to provide a rough framework for companies to project their competitors’ key actions in the coming years and predicts when we can expect to see Apple’s M4 chip – as well as future Intel, AMD and Qualcomm processors.
Canalys believes these new M4 systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) will also be packed with new AI-powered features, and if (a big if, since we have to take these speculations with a grain of salt) the timeline will be It’s true that all four major chipmakers will release their chips around the same time – so prepare for a processor battle royale.
Great, but don’t you think you’re going a little fast?
The news that an M4 MacBook Pro was in the works already had me excited, and now that a possible timeline has been released that adds a release window to the existing rumors, it’s hard not to get my hopes up.
The M1, M2, and M3 SoCs each had about a year and a half between releases, and we’ll likely see Apple repeat the same gap when it comes to the M4. So even without this planned roadmap, it would still be wise to expect the new chips early next year.
While the idea of a new Apple silicon with AI capabilities is quite exciting, a year and a half isn’t a lot of time between launches. For example, if I just bought the M3 MacBook Pro, after searching for the most powerful laptop for my specific needs, I would be quite upset if an entirely new chip architecture appeared just a year later. Apple even has a precedent for this kind of silliness: releasing the M2 MacBook Air 15-inch just months before the M3 chip was unveiled.
The overproduction of technology and the wasteful nature of our products create a lot of e-waste, which in turn leads to many environmental problems in the long run. It feels unnecessary to bring new high-end chips to the market every year and a half that are placed in multiple product lines.
To anyone who says Apple should hurry up with M4 because other competitors already have AI processors on the market (mainly Intel with its new Core Ultra ‘AI laptops’), let’s be honest: Apple was always going to be late on that specific celebration. It’s the Cupertino-based company’s MO: Let the other companies duke it out with emerging technology before coming in with more refined offerings. So I say take your time, Apple. I’m sure M4 will be worth it when it gets here; I’d like to see an M3 Mac mini first, please!