Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Does anyone think they'll release another Intel machine or is that unlikely now? Alot of things I use are not compatible with M1 which means I am limited to older machines.

I bought mine a few years ago (it's the 2019 i9 model) but I only have a 512 ssd and fast running out of space, so I would ideally like to upgrade to a 1TB but I'm not able to use M1.
I'm in the same boat. I need both x86 and Mac apps. I was using a 16" with bootcamp but I selled it last september waiting to see how the new models run. As I can see, ASi can't run/virtualize x86 properly. In the meantime I bought a powerfull PC (tower) with i9 10900k, 32GB and a RTX 3090 for gaming and work but still need a portable machine for work with some Windows and Mac apps. The "good" new is that I can be running with 512GB due I don't really need bootcamp anymore while I can run the Windows apps via VM.

Now in Spain we can buy and finance without interests all the Mac until August and that is a very good oportunity but I still don't know if buy a base 16" or wait to see if the new iteration of ASi can emulate all the Win apps that I need (TIA Portal, Factory io and some electronics).
 
Does anyone think they'll release another Intel machine or is that unlikely now? Alot of things I use are not compatible with M1 which means I am limited to older machines.

I bought mine a few years ago (it's the 2019 i9 model) but I only have a 512 ssd and fast running out of space, so I would ideally like to upgrade to a 1TB but I'm not able to use M1.
Out of interest, which Intel Mac apps are incompatible with M1 Macs?

Are they apps that simply won't work with Rosetta, or is it a question of performance or stability?

I'm curious! I know of one app that is unlikely to work with M1, which is PixInsight (an astronomical image processing application). The authors said that supporting Apple Silicon has a lot of dependencies on other packages being ported first (https://pixinsight.com/forum/index....ple-m1-system-on-chip-processors.15538/page-3)
 
Out of interest, which Intel Mac apps are incompatible with M1 Macs?

Are they apps that simply won't work with Rosetta, or is it a question of performance or stability?

I'm curious! I know of one app that is unlikely to work with M1, which is PixInsight (an astronomical image processing application). The authors said that supporting Apple Silicon has a lot of dependencies on other packages being ported first (https://pixinsight.com/forum/index....ple-m1-system-on-chip-processors.15538/page-3)
Yes, Pixinsight is another app that I'll need. Do you know if Pixinsight LE work through Rosetta?

I need to run some heavy apps like TIA Portal (a tool to program and work with Siemens PLC), Factory io (to simulate industrial enviroments) and RobotStudio (connect and run ABB industrial robots). I don't know if this apps work through Rosetta but I guess not especially TIA Portal. If at least TIA `Portal works through rosetta I'll go ahead to buy a MBP with ASi.
 
Last edited:
Yes, Pixinsight is another app that I'll need. Do you know if Pixinsight LE work through Rosetta?

I need to run some heavy apps like TIA Portal (a tool to program and work with Siemens PLC), Factory io (to simulate industrial enviroments) and RobotStudio (connect and run ABB industrial robots). I don't know if this apps work through Rosetta but I guess not especially TIA Portal. If at least TIA `Portal works through rosetta I'll go ahead to buy a MBP with ASi.
I haven't tried PixInsight on the M1, but their forum posts suggest that (a) you can get it "sort of" working but maybe with poor performance (b) that they might be able to release a version supported by Apple Silicon once all the dependent libraries have been ported (which could take over a year).

I see you live in Valencia, so you could probably phone them and ask Juan Conejero personally :)
 
Don't attack me or whatever, but can somebody tell me why we are so sure the 2021 MBP's will have M1X's and not a full-fledged M2??? I know there was a rumor that popped up a week ago or so that had a M1X hashtag, but is that the only evidence? I just feel like Apple will need to majorly distance their flagship Pro-level laptop for 2021 (the 16" MBP) with an iPad that has the less-beefed-up version. An M1X would be a beefed-up processor. An M2 would be a step-up worthy of the name. Why should a tablet crippled by iOS's walls share the same numerical processor as their flagship Pro-level laptop this year? That looks silly on paper.

If Apple wants me to drop 3 g's on a new MBP to replace my 2016 15", I want it to have an M2. That's just what I expect for such an investment. You may be in a much better position than me where you don't consider a MacBook Pro an investment and you can upgrade every 2 years, but it is an investment. I don't wanna get shafted.
They will need to have 2 lines of processors, one for casual users snd one for those that need more power. M1 is bit like intel i3 or i5 while m1x would be like i7 or i9 level. So M2 will come for next macbook air for example. And higher end macs like mbpr 16” will have m1x and later m2x
 
  • Like
Reactions: transpo1
They will need to have 2 lines of processors, one for casual users snd one for those that need more power. M1 is bit like intel i3 or i5 while m1x would be like i7 or i9 level. So M2 will come for next macbook air for example. And higher end macs like mbpr 16” will have m1x and later m2x

Doesn’t this mean that the lower-end Macs will always be half a year ahead in the cycle? That seems very odd.
 
They will need to have 2 lines of processors, one for casual users snd one for those that need more power. M1 is bit like intel i3 or i5 while m1x would be like i7 or i9 level. So M2 will come for next macbook air for example. And higher end macs like mbpr 16” will have m1x and later m2x
A closer analogy would be the M1 is the Intel-Y series (which comes in i3, i5 or i7 flavours), or perhaps the U series (15W) for machines with fans. The 'M1X' would be the equivalent of Intel-U (28W) or Intel-H (45W), the latter of which comes in i3 to i9, but differs from Y and U by differentiating those by core counts as well as sustainable clock speeds.
 
Out of interest, which Intel Mac apps are incompatible with M1 Macs?

Are they apps that simply won't work with Rosetta, or is it a question of performance or stability?

I'm curious! I know of one app that is unlikely to work with M1, which is PixInsight (an astronomical image processing application). The authors said that supporting Apple Silicon has a lot of dependencies on other packages being ported first (https://pixinsight.com/forum/index....ple-m1-system-on-chip-processors.15538/page-3)
Alot of music related software plugins which I spent a decent amount of money on, but hardly any have made it compatible with M1.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Trolle
Doesn’t this mean that the lower-end Macs will always be half a year ahead in the cycle? That seems very odd.
When ready with the transition it makes no sense to not do the processor changes of the whole lineup at the same time so ..
 
When ready with the transition it makes no sense to not do the processor changes of the whole lineup at the same time so ..
I’d say it doesn’t make sense to do them at the same time. If you had two lines of processors you would probably have your design team working on one, then send it for manufacture. While it’s being manufactured then get the design team on to the next update. Tik Tok. I doubt they would try to update everything at the same time then somehow manufacture everything that the same time.
 
I think we'll eventually see for some models potentially the M1 or M1X or M2 hang around at the low end even once higher end models are updated, a bit like when new iPhones come out you can still get some older models.
 
I think we'll eventually see for some models potentially the M1 or M1X or M2 hang around at the low end even once higher end models are updated, a bit like when new iPhones come out you can still get some older models.
If the colourful MacBook Prosser leaked does turn out to be real, I can very definitely see it coming in at $1,100-$1,200 to begin with (like the retina MacBook Air) and the current M1 Air being left on sale to cover the $999 price point for a few years while they trim the price. Beyond that, I think the M1 is in a lot of products so they can justify updating everything every year, because it helps to amortise the design cost and bring the unit price of the chip down.

I could see the M1 landing in the iPad Air when the iPad Pros and the rest of the Macs are running the M2, to help bump Apple's hardware install base for gaming purposes. The iPhone chips are probably not going to cut it graphically competing in that arena, even as good as they are.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ascender
Doesn’t this mean that the lower-end Macs will always be half a year ahead in the cycle? That seems very odd.
No, because if the "trends" hold up M1X (etc) will always be the machine that has MORE CORES, i.e. more power, so depending on your definition of "ahead" they might or they might not.

Think of M# like this; Better Power Managment, Uses Less Power, Longer Battery Life, Lower Thermals, Newer Interfaces such as USB and TB whatever "is new"
Smaller SoC (i.e. nanometers etc). that's M1, M2, M3, ...
Think of M#X like this; More Cores, More Ram, Uses More Power, More Ports (of what the M# only had say 2 ports of)

The M1X for instance would be built for a Developer to transfer his project over and use the extra cores and ram to compile his projects and test his app. When the M2 comes out, the App will be ready for the M2, but there won't be any extra features, per se that the developer has to worry about taking advantage of because the M2 (M#) would mainly be concerned with Battery Usage, More Efficiency, and Newer 3rd World Tech, 5G, newer WiFi/BT standards etc...

The M2 would get the RAM (maybe) that the M1X had also, but NOT the Cores, they would go back to the lesser count of cores, until such time that the namometers work out then the M# would bump, then the M#X would leap forward in cores again... you get the idea... ;)

Laters...
 
  • Like
Reactions: jk73
Doesn’t this mean that the lower-end Macs will always be half a year ahead in the cycle? That seems very odd.
It will be sort of weird, true. Buying an M1X MacBook Pro in the fall and then the M2 MBA coming out in spring, for instance. But it’s something they’ve done with iPads (iPhone’s A12 becomes A12X in iPad Pro the following year, etc.) so maybe that’s the direction they’ll take it. It also naturally builds anticipation because if the M2 hits in spring in lower end machines, you know an M2X will be coming in MBPs in fall…

Right now, of course, I just hope something’s coming in fall if not before 💻 😄
 
  • Like
Reactions: jk73
No, because if the "trends" hold up M1X (etc) will always be the machine that has MORE CORES, i.e. more power, so depending on your definition of "ahead" they might or they might not.

Think of M# like this; Better Power Managment, Uses Less Power, Longer Battery Life, Lower Thermals, Newer Interfaces such as USB and TB whatever "is new"
Smaller SoC (i.e. nanometers etc). that's M1, M2, M3, ...
Think of M#X like this; More Cores, More Ram, Uses More Power, More Ports (of what the M# only had say 2 ports of)

The M1X for instance would be built for a Developer to transfer his project over and use the extra cores and ram to compile his projects and test his app. When the M2 comes out, the App will be ready for the M2, but there won't be any extra features, per se that the developer has to worry about taking advantage of because the M2 (M#) would mainly be concerned with Battery Usage, More Efficiency, and Newer 3rd World Tech, 5G, newer WiFi/BT standards etc...

The M2 would get the RAM (maybe) that the M1X had also, but NOT the Cores, they would go back to the lesser count of cores, until such time that the namometers work out then the M# would bump, then the M#X would leap forward in cores again... you get the idea... ;)

Laters...

Right, I understand the performance. But from the branding and consumer standpoints, it seems odd and more than a little confusing to have the MBA and MB on newer silicon than the higher-end MBPs. “The M2 is this year’s; the M1X is last year’s, improved.”
 
Right, I understand the performance. But from the branding and consumer standpoints, it seems odd and more than a little confusing to have the MBA and MB on newer silicon than the higher-end MBPs. “The M2 is this year’s; the M1X is last year’s, improved.”
Definitely agree. It's not really an issue with the iPads/iPhone since they do not compete with each other. Also given how new the M chips are, I would expect some fairly significant improvements in each generation of the first few iterations, making the Pro models on "old" chips for half the year seem odd.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jk73
I’m thinking the M1X could go a few ways (especially since it looks more and more likely that the A15 will come out before the M1X):

1. The M1X is basically just an M1 that’s been hitting the gym and came out with more cores and better graphics. Still A14 based. Muti-core and graphics will have a big improvement but single-core performance will be relatively similar to the M1.

2. The M1X is A15 based or at least incorporates some of the A15 chip improvements. We see core improvements over the M1 which will allow it to keep single core performance scores higher than or equal to the M2.

3. The M1X is the first in line of new “Pro” chips that Apple will use for their high end Macs. It may have some similarities with the M1 but its in its own category.

At this time, it’s been 7 almost 8 months since the M1 was first introduced. By November it will be a year. I find it very doubtful that Apple will put 1 year old core technology into their flagship laptops especially if an M2 is just around the corner.
 
How “just around the corner” is the M2 believed to be? If it took 8 months after the M1 for the M1X, how realistic is it that an M2 variant will be done at the same time for MBPs?
 
How “just around the corner” is the M2 believed to be? If it took 8 months after the M1 for the M1X, how realistic is it that an M2 variant will be done at the same time for MBPs?
There is no M1X. Its all just speculation (and the names are nothing but marketing terms anyway). Nobody aoutside Apple knows if the new chip is called M1x, M2 or anything entirely different. Its also not known what the chip design looks like and/or what chip it might be based on (my first guess: sharing lots of ideas with M1, but something new, more advanced, more powerful. Maybe novel interfaces/buses).
This more powerful Apple Silicon iteration is expected in upcoming months. Only Apple knows, but it seems realistic to expect an announcement by october (at latest)
 
Last edited:
Thanks. I don’t follow the Apple silicon topic very closely. When you say “an announcement by October,” do you mean an announcement of the next generation of Apple silicon, with products not shipping for months thereafter, or do you expect the announcement to be followed quickly, if not immediately, by products? Thanks.
 
Thanks. I don’t follow the Apple silicon topic very closely. When you say “an announcement by October,” do you mean an announcement of the next generation of Apple silicon, with products not shipping for months thereafter, or do you expect the announcement to be followed quickly, if not immediately, by products? Thanks.
If the next-gen Apple Silicon SoC for larger MBPs is announced in October, I would expect units to be available to buy in the first half of November. Supply may well be constrained, so it might not be widely available until Dec/Jan 22.

I would be surprised if the next SoC is just a scaled-up M1. We know that A15 will be coming for iPads and iPhones, probably in September, so it would be a poor marketing move to have the "brand-new" flagship Apple Silicon SoC to be based on 1 year-old core architecture. I wouldn't buy one.

Intel does something like this with its Xeon CPUs...they lag the same technology on the Core-i range by a year or more. Let's hope Apple doesn't follow suit.
 
I believe I was one of the first to talk about and expecting the chip to be based on M2 / A15 chip technology but I was called mad and stupid!
Now that may have been well deserved since I based that speculation on a pure hunch and what I felt was reasonable (meaning Apple probably wants to make a new big splash with their first pro-/prosumer-chip and I didn’t see why Apple couldn’t develop the “M2X” chip simultaneously with their A15-chip and either release it one or a few months before the iPhone 13 is announced, just because it’s their most important product doesn’t mean they should be stupid about their own silicone for computers... I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m wrong though and we get the plane old previously so called expected “M1X”).

I would however not really care that much if it’s this or that that we get but preferably they could give us a nice price cut if it’s the chip tech from last year, though I hope they do that anyway but that’s because everything-Apple cost 30-40% more in my country than in the US and at least 20% more than in neighboring counties! That however I see as really unlikely because, well, it’s Apple.

I’m just so ready for their 16” MacBook Pro (or even their 14” if graphics and thermals are not too far behind the 16”), all I’d need is some slightly better graphics and a tad better single core but slightly better multi core performance wouldn’t hurt but since M1 is so impressive and since it’s kind of obvious the next chip will come with better multi core performance I don’t feel the need to even wish for it...
I just feel I’m so ready for it and it doesn’t even need to be mine blowing or be based on next gen chip tech for me to buy but it would of course be nice. :)

I do however feel it’s about time now, at least for some rumors.
 
If the next-gen Apple Silicon SoC for larger MBPs is announced in October, I would expect units to be available to buy in the first half of November. Supply may well be constrained, so it might not be widely available until Dec/Jan 22.

I would be surprised if the next SoC is just a scaled-up M1. We know that A15 will be coming for iPads and iPhones, probably in September, so it would be a poor marketing move to have the "brand-new" flagship Apple Silicon SoC to be based on 1 year-old core architecture. I wouldn't buy one.

Intel does something like this with its Xeon CPUs...they lag the same technology on the Core-i range by a year or more. Let's hope Apple doesn't follow suit.

Thanks. Hope so. Need a new 16-inch MBP ASAP.
 
  • Like
Reactions: transpo1
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.