The launch of the M4 iPad Pro is a big deal for Apple. The launch of a new chip is exciting enough, but the M4 promises to revolutionize the way Apple products work. Not only does the chip offer incredible performance and unbelievable battery life, it also represents Apple’s biggest push into AI processing so far.
Naturally, some of you will be waiting for these chips to appear in Macs, rather than iPads. While we expect that select devices will get the M4 chip later this year, like the MacBook Pro or Mac mini, you may not want to hold your breath for an M4 version of the Mac Studio or Mac Pro.
According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple isn’t likely to release a new version of either desktop machine this year. We may see them from mid-2025, assuming everything goes according to plan, but no earlier than that. That means that the M2-powered machines, which debuted at WWDC in 2023, will be going at least two years without a refresh,
The good news is that Gurman believes that the only other Mac that won’t get an M4 upgrade this year is the MacBook Air. That's no huge surprise since the MacBook Air M3 has only been available for a few months, and plenty of people would be upset if Apple upgraded it too quickly.
But this does mean means the likes of the MacBook Pro, Mac Mini and possibly even the iMac may be available with an M4 chip before the end of the year. When they’ll be released isn’t clear, but Gurman added that we shouldn’t see any new Mac hardware at WWDC 2024.
That isn’t hugely surprising, seeing as how WWDC is a software-centric event for developers. While there have been hardware announcements during the keynote in the past, they’re typically quite rare. This year should be no exception and at most we should expect that hardware talk will be focused on the Apple Vision Pro headset. Any appearance would presumably hype up the rumored international release, as opposed to new hardware announcements.
The rest of the conference will be focused on the upcoming upgrades for Apple devices. iOS 18 will be the biggest announcement given Apple's focus on AI, and we'll also hear about iPadOS 18, macOS 15, watchOS 11 and visionOS 2. We'll bring you all the biggest news during the WWDC 2024 keynote address on June 10.
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