Apple’s M4 Chips are Coming in 2025, Why Is There a Delay?

Isaiah Richard, Tech Times 25 March 2024, 10:03 pm

A new report claims the next-gen Apple Silicon chips for Macs and iPads, the M4, may be released by 2025.

This follows last year's October M3 chip, which the company launched during the Halloween season. There were massive expectations that its annual release would include a new SoC for this year, but analysts are wary.

This new information may mean that this year may not be massive for Apple's offerings on the Mac platform, with its next-gen chip not yet coming.

Apple's M4 Chip is Coming by 2025, Not This Year

A new study from Canalys revealed that Apple's M4 chips will arrive by 2025, not this year as expected by the industry, as part of Cupertino's annual update cycle for new computers and processors.

More particularly, new Apple computers will arrive by early 2025, in the first quarter following the delay.

The firm speculated that Apple's M4 chip would finally focus on AI features, with the company pouring massive efforts into its development.

Since then, Apple's M-series releases have been found inconsistent. 2020's M1 was followed by the M2 in 2022, but the M3 arrived a year later, in October 2023.

Why is there a delay in Apple's M4?

The report suggested that Apple would release the M4 around the same time as Intel's Arrow and Lunar Lake, alongside AMD's Kraken Point and the Snapdragon X Elite.

Cupertino's competitors also offer NPUs (neural processing units) that help boost the handling of AI processes for devices. These are expected to be available in the next M-series release.

Apple and TSMC's M-series

Last year's M3 chip release was touted as the most powerful processor to arrive from Apple and TSMC. It offered the world's first 3-nanometer architecture, with Cupertino delivering a three-variant release.

In the Scary Fast event, Apple revealed the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max, which offer a significant upgrade compared to the M2, centered on faster and more efficient performance.

However, before the year ended, there were reports about the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) already demonstrating the 2nm chip architecture.

It centers on a smaller form factor but is more powerful than the 3nm, and it is speculated to be a chip for Apple's further development of the M-series, with the M4 being the recipient of this new tech.

Despite earlier reports of a promising 2nm chip from TSMC for Apple, the report centered on a 2025 release date for the new chip, as mass production would only start by then.

It also means a significant delay of as much as six months to a year for the M4's arrival, with 2024 not seeing many Mac developments coming from Cupertino.