When do you expect other products to make the switch?

[hawkeye_a]

When do you expect Apple to make the switch for the rest of the MBP lineup, iMacs and MacPro? And what changes/updates to the silicone can we expect?

I’m hoping for all the products to make the switch by the end of June (WWDC-ish)

I think we can obviously expect better performance by way of higher clocks, and more cores?

i really hope we see an 8XFirestorm and 4XIcestorm in a 16” MBP, with a 16 core GPU.

And i really hope we get more ports.

Cheers

 

[Erehy Dobon]

Apple has repeatedly stated that the Intel-Apple Silicon transition is on a two year timeline.

I see no credible reason to believe that Apple would transition everything (the rest of the Mac product family) by June 2021.

Apple has also stated that Apple Silicon would be a family of Mac processors.

My guess is that the major ASi announcements will correspond with a major macOS release, thus the autumn of 2021 (with macOS 12) and autumn of 2022 (with macOS 13).

I also assume that no Intel Mac will ever be presented in an Apple release event.

Next year I would expect to see some sort of incremental revision to the M1 processor, let's call it M1X or M2.

I would expect another more powerful processor family in 2021, I'll call it the M10.

That would imply an even more powerful M-series processor in 2022, presumably for the Mac Pro and perhaps the high-end iMac Pro. Let's call that the M100 for fun.

The names are less important than how Apple balances performance and efficiency as well as add necessary GPU performance.

 

[ArPe]

iMac and MacBook Pro - spring-summer 2021

Mac Pro - Summer 2022

I think the iMac Pro should be dropped in favor of a smaller Mac Pro (4 slots)

 

[imdog]

I think people who are jealous of others who have the M1 macs are saying “well the M1X complete refresh iMacs & Mac Pros are coming out in a few months anyway!!” lol
My guess would be:

Higher end MacBook Pros & iMac (current design): Q3 2021
MacBook & iMac redesign: Q2 2022
Mac Pro & Mac Pro Mini: Q4 2022

I think they will separate the initial Apple Silicon transition from the redesign, the 2nd gen of each Apple Silicon product will be the ones with the redesign (aside from the Mac Pro). So there is a reason for people to upgrade to the next MacBook Pros & iMac, and then reason to again with the design refresh.

 

[NikoBeaR]

So you guys think no new/updated Mac Minis in 2021?

I feel like Apple is going to be releasing new computers every 1-2 years with these new processors.

 

[imdog]

So you guys think no new/updated Mac Minis in 2021?

I feel like Apple is going to be releasing new computers every 1-2 years with these new processors.

I think it won’t come until the re-design, they might release one with the same chip as the higher end MacBooks Pros/iMac but there is a lot of unused space in the Minis with these new chips. I think they are going to redesign the Mac mini or perhaps the rumored Mac Pro mini will be about the size of the current Mac mini

 

[MalcolmH]

I'm not a chip designer and dont know how close Apple are the limit on die size/number of transistors. However, their cadence of an "X" chip in the iPad range isn't annual, its quicker than that .. so I would hope that say end of Q1 we would get a M1X chip that would say add 2 more high performance cpu cores, 2 more gpu cores and ability for 4 ports .. This would then enable taking out Intel across the range except maybe the pro. Of course, Apple may sell Intel for a while so that those that use Bootcamp etc can continue.

 

[chatin]

The cool part about it is that the Mac Pro and iMac Pro will be able to use multiple M1 chips. Picture the reworked Mac Pro with 10 M1 chips for the $6K. Quite a bargain.

 

[thenewperson]

I would expect another more powerful processor family in 2021, I'll call it the M10.

That would imply an even more powerful M-series processor in 2022, presumably for the Mac Pro and perhaps the high-end iMac Pro. Let's call that the M100 for fun.

That would be weird. They could just go with different letters - N and X for example.

 

[thenewperson]

However, their cadence of an "X" chip in the iPad range isn't annual, its quicker than that

It's actually slower. We're over 2 years without a meaningful A12X successor now, and the last update from A10X to A12X took almost 2 years. I do hope M upgrades more closely follow A upgrades instead of AX upgrades.

 

[JouniS]

I don't think there will be one-to-one replacements for all Macs. Mostly because of the Mac Pro.

The Mac Pro is too customizable for the system-on-a-chip approach. Some people need multiple high-end GPUs, others need 1.5 TB memory, and others simply want as many CPU cores as possible. Yet it's also a niche product with low sales figures that don't justify developing a fundamentally different architecture for it.

Apple may want to use the same architecture in the high-end models of lower-tier Macs to fund the development. Maybe iMac Pro will replace the high-end iMac models. Maybe Apple will develop a mobile workstation-class MacBook Pro, as the power consumption will no longer be excessive. And maybe there will even be a high-end Mac Mini for people who want a cost-effective server.

The Macs that simply need an improved M1 should be updated early-to-mid 2021. The new Mac Pro architecture will probably not be available until late 2021 or early 2022.

 

[imdog]

I don't think there will be one-to-one replacements for all Macs. Mostly because of the Mac Pro.

The Mac Pro is too customizable for the system-on-a-chip approach. Some people need multiple high-end GPUs, others need 1.5 TB memory, and others simply want as many CPU cores as possible. Yet it's also a niche product with low sales figures that don't justify developing a fundamentally different architecture for it.

Apple may want to use the same architecture in the high-end models of lower-tier Macs to fund the development. Maybe iMac Pro will replace the high-end iMac models. Maybe Apple will develop a mobile workstation-class MacBook Pro, as the power consumption will no longer be excessive. And maybe there will even be a high-end Mac Mini for people who want a cost-effective server.

The Macs that simply need an improved M1 should be updated early-to-mid 2021. The new Mac Pro architecture will probably not be available until late 2021 or early 2022.

They did say the ENTIRE Mac lineup, so unless they’re discontinuing the Mac Pro then I don’t know. I wonder if we’d ever see the day where they actually sell their own Apple CPU/GPU’s and the Mac Pro would be user upgradable with those?

 

[ArPe]

I don't think there will be one-to-one replacements for all Macs. Mostly because of the Mac Pro.

The Mac Pro is too customizable for the system-on-a-chip approach. Some people need multiple high-end GPUs, others need 1.5 TB memory, and others simply want as many CPU cores as possible. Yet it's also a niche product with low sales figures that don't justify developing a fundamentally different architecture for it.

Apple may want to use the same architecture in the high-end models of lower-tier Macs to fund the development. Maybe iMac Pro will replace the high-end iMac models. Maybe Apple will develop a mobile workstation-class MacBook Pro, as the power consumption will no longer be excessive. And maybe there will even be a high-end Mac Mini for people who want a cost-effective server.

The Macs that simply need an improved M1 should be updated early-to-mid 2021. The new Mac Pro architecture will probably not be available until late 2021 or early 2022.

The Mac Pro doesn’t have to be fully SoC. SGI’s O2 and Intel based Visual Workstations had Unified Memory Architecture with upgradable memory. Just needs a direct fast bus connection to the CPU with clever engineering.

SGI Visual Workstation - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The 320 and 540 use a Unified Memory Architecture (UMA) memory system. This shares the video and system memory and runs them at the same speed, and allows for up to 80 percent of the system ram to be applied to video memory.

SGI O2 - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

O2 architecture featured a proprietary high-bandwidth Unified Memory Architecture (UMA) to connect system components. A PCI bus is bridged onto the UMA with one slot available.

 

[JouniS]

The Mac Pro doesn’t have to be fully SoC. SGI’s O2 and Intel based Visual Workstations had Unified Memory Architecture with upgradable memory. Just needs a direct fast bus connection to the CPU with clever engineering.

Using the same kind of memory for CPU and GPU is no longer cost-effective with high-end hardware. The memory used in M1 Macs is ~2x faster than is typically used with Intel CPUs but ~10x slower than in high-end GPUs. If Apple tries to use only GPU-grade memory in Mac Pros, the price of memory upgrades is going to be ridiculous.

 

[ArPe]

Using the same kind of memory for CPU and GPU is no longer cost-effective with high-end hardware. The memory used in M1 Macs is ~2x faster than is typically used with Intel CPUs but ~10x slower than in high-end GPUs. If Apple tries to use only GPU-grade memory in Mac Pros, the price of memory upgrades is going to be ridiculous.

Are you sure about that? Reports say the M1 uses low power DDR4-4266. DDR4 memory sticks already go faster than that. Corsair has 5000Mhz (costs a lot right now)

 

[cupcakes2000]

Using the same kind of memory for CPU and GPU is no longer cost-effective with high-end hardware. The memory used in M1 Macs is ~2x faster than is typically used with Intel CPUs but ~10x slower than in high-end GPUs. If Apple tries to use only GPU-grade memory in Mac Pros, the price of memory upgrades is going to be ridiculous.

I always understood that it wasn’t the ram that was faster, per se, rather the gpu architecture more optimised for ram speed with a bigger memory bus etc. I don’t think ‘raw’ graphics ram is much different to cpu ram, and likely a similar price point in that context.
I could be wrong with my very basic understanding of such things though!

 

[Yebubbleman]

When do you expect Apple to make the switch for the rest of the MBP lineup, iMacs and MacPro? And what changes/updates to the silicone can we expect?

I’m hoping for all the products to make the switch by the end of June (WWDC-ish)

I think we can obviously expect better performance by way of higher clocks, and more cores?

i really hope we see an 8XFirestorm and 4XIcestorm in a 16” MBP, with a 16 core GPU.

And i really hope we get more ports.

Cheers

- 24" iMac (to replace the Intel 21.5" iMac) - Spring 2021

- 14"/16" MacBook Pros (to replace the 4-port 13" Intel model as well as the Intel 16" MacBook Pro) - 2H 2021 (will likely be an A15-superset M-series chip and not the current A14-superset M1)

- 2nd rounds of Mac mini and MacBook Air (this time with better port options and more than 16GB of RAM) - 2H 2021 (will likely be an A15-superset M-series chip and not the current M1)

- 30"/32" iMac/iMac Pro (to replace the current iMac Pro and 27" iMac) - 2H 2021 or Spring 2022

- Mac Pro Tower and Rack (same design; different MPX modules; possibly more Afterburner options) - WWDC 2022

Unsure of the continuity of the 2-port 13" MacBook Pro; Apple could (and honestly, probably should) reconsolidate both 13" MacBook Pros when moving to the 14" redesign. Though, they could also, just as easily, have a 13" MacBook Pro on the low-end, a 14" MacBook Pro that's closer to the high-end 16" in terms of specs, and then said 16" MacBook Pro. But that'd be kind of silly. Though, there having been two 13" MacBook Pro lines was always a bit silly. Certainly, the M1 Air and M1 2-port 13" Pro have enough performance similarity to make them a bit redundant, for the time being. I can see why the 2-port 13" Pro made the jump before the 4-port 13" Pro did, but, at some point, it won't make sense to have that many 13" laptops, especially as performance gaps begin to narrow between them.

But, no, this transition isn't gonna be done by next June. No way in hell. Certainly not with the M1 being limited to two Thunderbolt 3 ports and only 16GB of RAM (compared to 32GB on the 4-port 13" Pro and 21.5" Retina 4K iMac, 64GB on the Intel Mac mini and 16" MacBook Pro, 128GB on the 27" iMac, 256GB on the iMac Pro, and 1.5TB on the Mac Pro).

 

[Mr.Blacky]

I posted this in another thread:

WWDC '21:

13" MacBook Pro will become the 13" MacBook.

Macbook Pro
14" Mini-LED Display
Apple M2
16 GB memory
256 GB SSD
4x Thunderbolt/USB-C
1x headphones jack
24 hours battery

iMac
24" Display
Apple M2
16 GB memory
256 GB SSD
4x Thunderbolt/USB-C
2x USB-A
1x Ethernet
1x headphone jack
SDXC card slot

iMac
30" Display
Apple M2
16 GB memory
512 GB SSD
4x Thunderbolt/USB-C
2x USB-A
1x headphone jack
1x Ethernet
SDXC card slot

End of 2021:

MacBook Pro
16" Mini-LED Display
Apple M3
16 GB memory
512 GB SSD
6x Thunderbolt/USB-C
1x headphone jack
20 hours battery

Mac Pro mini
Apple M3
32 GB memory
256 GB SSD
6x Thunderbolt/USB-C
2x USB-A
1x HDMI
1x Ethernet
1x headphone jack

WWDC '22:

Mac Pro
???
???
???
???
???
???