Yearly Upgrades of M-series Chips

[Analog Kid]

They need to be faster. Intel and AMD are getting more and more ahead.

More releases means going slower. We just get to watch it at a higher frame rate.

 

[Ethosik]

I think Mac mini was said to be late 2024 before its next upgrade according to one of the leakers. If Apple make thier M series chips obsolete quickly and end up forcing people to make updates way to early I mean the M2 Pro is good enough for many as it is now, then people might get a cause of looking at other markets, maybe not hardcore Apple fans but casual Apple Mac users and any businesses that use Apple computers (most use Windows) would not be able to justify the cost, especially home users.

Intel has been doing this for years. You can still get an M2 Pro if that’s all you need. They will have them available in the refurbished store. But for the same cost as it was yesterday, you can get an M3 Pro.

 

[thenewperson]

They boxed themselves in a corner. Should have just re-packaged it as V1 or something. Then it won’t matter if it’s M2 based as it’s what they deemed appropriate for that device.

I think they should figure out a way to get a Max on the mini and leave the Ultra to the Studio (and Pro). And maybe figure out a new M1 computer (nano?) instead of having it in a mini. Maybe new desktop models aren't what they need right now but it is weird how they have 2 different desktop lines split in such a way that they have to wait for the higher end chip to be refreshed before the whole line gets a refresh.

 

[theorist9]

They really need to pair Ultra with Max. It doesn’t look good having their top of the line products (Mac Studio) still at M2 Max but laptops on M3 Max.

I agree. But there could be reasons they can't do this. It's possible the Ultra, which is the most complicated chip they make, is not yet ready. Or it's possible TSMC hasn't produced enough N3B chips to enable them to release the Studios at the same time.

 

[Gudi]

There are release cycles and there are production cycles. The latter don’t care about the former. It’s actually quite amazing that Apple and TSMC were able to make a new iPhone chip every year and often on a slightly advanced process node. So maybe Apple can achieve the same for M-series processors? But than be aware that not every year can be an amazing "scary fast" revolution.