Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Will the New iPad Pro Really Have the M4 Chip?

Excluding variants of existing chips, when has Apple ever launched a new chip with a new product other than an iPhone?

M1 is a variant of the A14
M2 is a variant of the A15
M3 is a variant of the A17

Apple hasn't announced the A18 yet. So if the M4 is announced before it, would that then make the A18 based off the M4? or the M4 based off the unannounced A18?

The only way I see Apple launching M4 with the iPad refresh is if they are doing it specifically to give developers and beta testers access to iPadOS 18's rumored AI features. That way they have some sort of device to test with before new iPhones and Macs get A18 and M4 with AI chips and iOS 18 and macOS 15 (is macOS even rumored to get AI features this year???)
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: gusmula, Chuckeee, Realityck and 3 others
Apple’s AI stuff is rumored to be announced in June with a release in Q4. It doesn’t make sense to release an M4 iPad Pro if it won’t use any of the advanced AI functionality for half a year. My guess is that this will be an M3 Pro or Max in an Ipad instead of the expected base M3.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: Torty and TLewis
aows said:
I mean, they already have base M, pro, max and ultra.
Click to expand...
Sure! It’s definitely possible they could introduce a M3+. But that just adds another level onto a simple, easy-to-understand brand line-up of those 4 chips. Adding another model just seems to be the antithesis of what Apple’s been trying to accomplish with Apple Silicon. I could be wrong, though! We’ll see.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Chuckeee
Pretty sure it will be M3 and just include the neural chip from Vision Pro. It will also be featured with robust front facing cameras to support touchless gestures in same style as Vision Pro - thats why they call the event ”let loose”.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: gusmula and andyuk222
MrENGLISH said:
Excluding variants of existing chips, when has Apple ever launched a new chip with a new product other than an iPhone?

M1 is a variant of the A14
M2 is a variant of the A15
M3 is a variant of the A17

Apple hasn't announced the A18 yet. So if the M4 is announced before it, would that then make the A18 based off the M4? or the M4 based off the unannounced A18?

The only way I see Apple launching M4 with the iPad refresh is if they are doing it specifically to give developers and beta testers access to iPadOS 18's rumored AI features. That way they have some sort of device to test with before new iPhones and Macs get A18 and M4 with AI chips and iOS 18 and macOS 15 (is macOS even rumored to get AI features this year???)
Click to expand...
Remember, this year we can have A18 and A18 Pro....A18 can be based on the former N3B A17 pro
 
Orange Bat said:
Sure! It’s definitely possible they could introduce a M3+. But that just adds another level onto a simple, easy-to-understand brand line-up of those 4 chips. Adding another model just seems to be the antithesis of what Apple’s been trying to accomplish with Apple Silicon. I could be wrong, though! We’ll see.
Click to expand...
Even though I'm sure at the iOS would not be able to take advantage of an M4 chip without a big overhaul, I'm sure people will be disappointed with any version of the M3 chip. I did not jump from my M1 iPad to the M2 iPad because I could see no huge advantage in it.

I understand some do believe there was some significant tweaking going from the M1 to the M2 iPad. But can "tweaking" really be seen as a worthy upgrade? If so did Apple tout the M2 over the M1 when the M2 was introduced?

All said I would like to see an M4 in the next iPad. Yes, maybe I should just put a V8 engine sticker on my M1 iPad and call it a day! :p I'm truly not being sarcastic as I want to "future proof" any fanboy comments I make with and if the M4 iPad comes out!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Orange Bat and Populus
Orange Bat said:
It depends on what Apple’s plans for iPadOS/iOS are this summer. If Apple is really going to try and position itself as an “A.I. first” company, then introducing an “AI first” Apple Silicon chip in the iPad, then again in the iPhone, makes a ton of sense. The problem for this rumor, though, is we wouldn’t see Apple’s full vision until it announces new OSes at WWDC. So if it does have M4, I expect a release date after WWDC when Apple shows it’s vision to the world.
Click to expand...
So does iPadOS 17.5 come with AI capabilities? If not... what will they show regarding AI? And the iPadAir is already DOA cause it doesn't get the newest AI chip?
 
MrENGLISH said:
Excluding variants of existing chips, when has Apple ever launched a new chip with a new product other than an iPhone?

M1 is a variant of the A14
M2 is a variant of the A15
M3 is a variant of the A17

Apple hasn't announced the A18 yet. So if the M4 is announced before it, would that then make the A18 based off the M4? or the M4 based off the unannounced A18?

The only way I see Apple launching M4 with the iPad refresh is if they are doing it specifically to give developers and beta testers access to iPadOS 18's rumored AI features. That way they have some sort of device to test with before new iPhones and Macs get A18 and M4 with AI chips and iOS 18 and macOS 15 (is macOS even rumored to get AI features this year???)
Click to expand...
M3 is more of a hybrid A17CPU/GPU and A15NPU.
 
gonidog said:
I'm leaning towards yes. Why? Because of the little talked about zero day exploit that is built into the M1, M2 and M3 chips. Apple's move to M4 is to avoid the exploit. Regardless, it should be a fun event.
Click to expand...
If anything that exploit was overhyped and talked about too much too breathlessly. The M3 is already (partially) resistant and, contrary to the researchers initial assumptions, it turns out the M1 and M2 can in theory be patched as Hector Martin found the chicken bit in the M2 SOC that corresponds to the fix in the M3* (and it almost certainly exists in the M1). Whether Apple will bother to patch it is an open question as the exploit itself is quite limited in practice, only user land programs (kernel processes were unaffected as they didn't use the functionality in question) which have to be specifically targeted and stay running with the malware side by side for a minimum of an hour under ideal conditions and with any preemption likely screwing it up. (I mean they should, but they may not)

*the M3 (and the chicken bit in the M1/2) simply gives the option to turn off the functionality the exploit uses, obviously a better fix would be to maintain the functionality while disrupting the timings used by this exploit. Hopefully M4/5 will do so.

Anyway here's the link if you want a more technical description:

Hector Martin (@marcan@treehouse.systems)

Found the DMP disable chicken bit. it's `HID11_EL1<30>` (at least on M2). So yeah, as I predicted, GoFetch is entirely patchable. I'll write up a patch for Linux to hook it up as a CPU security bug workaround. (`HID4_EL1<4>` also works, but we have a name for that and it looks like a big...
social.treehouse.systems social.treehouse.systems
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: jdb8167, blotchy-veil, Chuckeee and 1 other person
My answer is: Who cares?

The iPad needs more OS POWER, not CPU power.

Thinner? Lighter? Sure.

But those are cherries on top. The iPad is awesome right now, but the glaring OS limitations are what hold it back from being the ONE device for me.

At the very least, iPadOS needs to be more powerful for the stronger hardware. As long as Apple codes it to the least-common-denominator-base-iPad hardware, we're going nowhere.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: subjonas, gusmula, Nick@72 and 6 others
you probably wont be gaming on your new iPad.

The world of gaming is very bad according to AMD who makes graphics chips for PC. PS5. Xbox.

And AMD says it's going to get WORSE in the coming quarters.

www.pcmag.com

AMD: Gaming Demand Is Weak, Going to Get Worse

AMD, which makes chips for the PS5, Xbox, and Steam Deck, reports a 48% year-over-year drop in gaming revenue for Q1.
www.pcmag.com www.pcmag.com
 
  • Wow
Reactions: Torty
Verified Whiskey said:
I’m going to be disappointed if it doesn’t come out with the M4 chip. Not that I was wanting or even expecting it to, but because stocks will likely take a hit because investors did want that and these so-called analysts drove that disappointment directly.
Click to expand...

So the notion of Apple’s iPad without the M4 is striking fear on Wall Street? Seriously?
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Crow_Servo and boombashi
Seems too early for the M4 which we all assume will have a more powerful, if not new, AI engine and thus will also need a new OS to take full advantage of it and the new iPadOS is typically further behind the iOS development schedule. I vote no on an iPad M4 instead I am going with the current M3 or an iPad-specific M3.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chuckeee
Orange Bat said:
Sure! It’s definitely possible they could introduce a M3+. But that just adds another level onto a simple, easy-to-understand brand line-up of those 4 chips.
Click to expand...

Except that the names are already confusing. We have 1 M3, 2 M3 Pros (11c/14g and 12c/18g) and 2 M3 Maxes (14c/30g and 16c/40g).

So we actually have 5 chips, with 2 sharing the Pro name and 2 sharing the Max name. If anything, a new M3 variant would fit right in, so we could have 2 basic, 2 Pro, and 2 Max variants.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Crow_Servo and Orange Bat
Darth Tulhu said:
My answer is: Who cares?

The iPad needs more OS POWER, not CPU power.
Click to expand...
The only hardware "power" I crave from iPad are:
  • OLED or micro LED for all.
  • More than 10-hour battery life.
  • USB-C/TB ports on both sides, plus Mac's MagSafe charging port.
  • Better front camera.
  • Better and cheaper Magic Keyboard with TrackPad.
As for iPadOS power, allow iPad to do more pro tasks:
  • Terminal for power users.
  • Files as powerful as macOS Finder.
  • Virtualization.
  • Open up audio for wider use cases, such as mixing and routing.
  • Xcode for iPad, at least for Swift and SwiftUI.
  • Single-space mode for Stage Manager, for more Mac-like multi-window experience.
  • Clipboard manager.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gusmula, whg, DesertN0mad and 3 others
MacRumors said:


While Apple's upcoming iPad Pro models have been expected to feature the M3 chip for over a year, recent reports have unexpectedly suggested that the new devices will instead feature the as-yet-unannounced M4 chip.


Last week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that he now believes there is a "strong possibility" that the upcoming iPad Pro models will be equipped with Apple's next-generation M4 chip, rather than the M3 chip that debuted in the MacBook Pro and iMac six months ago. He said a key new feature of the M4 chip will be an upgraded Neural Engine that boosts performance for AI tasks, and he believes Apple will market the next iPad Pro as an AI-powered device.

Introducing the M4 chip in an iPad and only six months after the previous chip generation would be unprecedented moves. Yet this is not the first time that the new iPad Pro models have been rumored to feature the M4 chip. In March, the chip details of 16 new Apple devices were revealed by a source with a proven track record of sharing accurate information about Apple's plans.

The disclosed technical information contained four identifiers for an unreleased chip that relates to the upcoming 11- and 13-inch iPad Pro models display sizes. This sequence of identifiers suggested that the iPad Pro will contain the M4 chip, rather than the M3. With Gurman now supporting this possibility and the potential of an AI focus, it seems like an increasingly likely eventuality.

If Apple does introduce the M4 chip in the new iPad Pro, its Apple silicon roadmap would appear to be moving faster than expected. It is possible that TSMC's N3E production volume remains low, making it more suitable for a device like the iPad rather than the iPhone or Mac at this point in time.

Apple is expected to announce the new iPad Pro models at its "Let Loose" event on May 7. Do you think the new iPad Pro will contain the M4 chip and why? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Article Link: Will the New iPad Pro Really Have the M4 Chip?
Click to expand...
M3 Pro on the 1TB and maybe 2TB models would make sense too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back