A new MacBook Pro sporting Apple’s M4 chipset was previously reported to have entered formal development,’ but that does not mean that the new SoC or the portable Mac would launch this early, with an unveiling said to happen sometime in 2025. Now, a fresh roadmap has outlined when the new silicon could materialize, and assuming Apple experiences fewer obstacles in its path, it could launch the M4 in the first quarter of 2025.
With the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max announced in October 2023, all that remains for Apple is to unveil the M3 Ultra, which is expected to fuel the future Mac Pro and Mac Studio models. Details surrounding the M4 remain elusive for the time being, but Canalys shared a roadmap indicating that the new Apple Silicon could launch in Q1 2025. Then again, the announcement may be delayed to Q2 2025, as multiple and hidden factors will decide the outcome of the launch. However, Qualcomm is said to bring some competition to this space.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite, which is said to power a swath of notebooks later this year, is also reportedly working on less powerful variants. The San Diego chipset maker’s top-end version sports a 12-core configuration, with two versions said to arrive with 10 cores and 8 cores. With the 12-core Snapdragon X Elite said to be faster than the M3 in multi-core performance, the less capable SoCs might be found in more affordable machines, taking on Apple’s MacBook Air range.
The roadmap also suggests that both chipsets will arrive with features powered by AI, and if that is not enough, Intel and AMD are preparing their own versions that should arrive around the same time as Apple’s M4. As always, we will be here to provide all the latest updates, so stay tuned.
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