Gurman: No New Mac Studio and Mac Pro Until Mid-2025

[Jumpthesnark]

If you are able to buy chip, that chip is not the future, that's normal.

What I was commenting on is people who say that Apple will now release M3-based Minis.

You can't buy the chip in those devices, so the M3 is not "normal," or the present, as far as the desktop Macs that we're discussing. They don't exist. The iMac does have an M3, but the Mini, Studio and Pro lineups all have M2-based chips, and at present day those are two versions old.

So there are people, like me, who are holding off on a desktop purchase to see what Apple does. I'm not going to buy a new device with what I see as an old chip at its heart.

 

[DavidSchaub]

What I was commenting on is people who say that Apple will now release M3-based Minis.

You can't buy the chip in those devices, so the M3 is not "normal," or the present, as far as the desktop Macs that we're discussing. They don't exist. The iMac does have an M3, but the Mini, Studio and Pro lineups all have M2-based chips, and at present day those are two versions old.

So there are people, like me, who are holding off on a desktop purchase to see what Apple does. I'm not going to buy a new device with what I see as an old chip at its heart.

I'm just saying: this is really normal for Apple.

The M4 is not the future either, heck Apple must be working on their chiplet architecture future. That will be really cool. M5 or M6 will be really cool.

Apple loves to let the Mac mini rot on the vine without being updated.

A chip being one generation newer is basically negligible for most use cases. As long as chips are within a few generations, they'll be "fine".

Apple is absolutely fine with you not buying hardware if you care about the chip that much.

I'm not saying "don't complain", I'm just saying "Apple doesn't care".

 

[NachoNoir]

So... the high performance desktops would stay at M2 for another year, while all the laptops and the iMac get the M3 and the iPad Pro gets the M4?

Now, that would be ODD.

 

[RezSeeker]

So the apparently un-fixable gofetch security vulnerability in M1/M2 is not supposed to be a concern for buyers of the highest end macs over another year. Weird.

 

[DavidSchaub]

So... the high performance desktops would stay at M2 for another year, while all the laptops and the iMac get the M3 and the iPad Pro gets the M4?

Now, that would be ODD.

So the apparently un-fixable gofetch security vulnerability in M1/M2 is not supposed to be a concern for buyers of the highest end macs over another year. Weird.

Or just... normal operation for Apple for the last 20 years?

 

[smulji]

The core problem with Windows for ARM is whether anybody is going to recompile their applications for it. It's a chicken-egg problem: if the big players sit on their hands to see what volume Snapdragon X gets before selling products for it then it will quickly be DOA. To a large extent the reason x86 has the near-monopoly it has is Windows and the inertia of its application vendors.

All of MS' first-party apps are WoA optimized. Both, Google and Opera, have said they will be releasing ARM-optimized versions of their browsers. And Adobe is on board.

 

[bradman83]

Makes absolutely no sense, one of the reasons they dropped intel was the difficulty to update their computers more often. Now they control the chips but refuse to update the computers because they just feel like it?

Did Apple ever explicitly state that, or was that always just an assumption? Apple’s publicly stated they switched to their own chips for performance per watt. It was analysts and forums readers who presumed it was because of Intel‘s update delays or cost (I chuckle at the Mac Rumors readers who claimed Apple’s own chips would cost less despite having to shoulder R&D costs and buying the most bleeding edge process).

 

[theorist9]

Apple will not refresh the Mac Studio and Mac Pro with next-generation high-end chips until the middle of 2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Gurman did say that in an article he wrote in April, but where does it say that in the more recent article you linked (from May 19, 2024)? The only mention of the Studio in that article is this at the end, where we see questions but no answers:

 

[Bregalad]

Given relative sales volumes it would not be surprising for Apple to decide that the notebooks get every new M chip and the desktops only get updated every second release. At the low end that would mean that the iMac gets odd numbers M1, M3, M5 while the mini moves to getting only even numbers M2, M4, M6. Given where things currently stand the Studio and Pro would also be only on even numbers.

If the release schedule is fairly consistent it wouldn't seriously hurt sales. Professionals generally have multi-year purchase plans and will buy what's available if a sudden expansion opportunity arises.

Not having to design, prototype and manufacture an M3 or M5 Ultra saves Apple money and hopefully means that the Ultras that do ship are the best they can be.

It makes perfect sense for Apple to wait until a node is producing a very high yield before attempting to manufacture a much larger, more complex chip. From a cost standpoint one bad M4 Ultra is like throwing away a couple dozen bad M4s. It also makes sense to wait until the initial rush of MBP orders is satisfied before setting aside any manufacturing capacity for a low volume product like the Ultra.

The move to 2nm process should go exactly the same way. A family of chips will be produced and lots of binning will take place so Apple has enough chips to meet notebook demand. The second generation of 2nm chips should have much higher yields and that's when we'll see Ultra, and possibly Extreme, variants.

 

[dandeco]

So the Mac Mini will get M4 Pro while the Studio is on M2 Max?

Even with that, the M2 Max will still be considerably faster than the M4 Pro.
I'm still planning to get a Mac Mini with the M4 Pro chip once it's out, and in the meantime my college's TV studio is already planning to replace the 21.5" Retina iMacs from 2017 in their video editing lab with Mac Studios; they're aiming at the base-like M2 Max configuration but with 1 TB SSDs. And as for monitors, they plan to get third-party UHD displays to hook up for them; they won't be bothering with the pricey Apple Studio Displays.

 

[B.A.T]

Don’t worry people. Tomorrow there will another rumor of M4 Mac Studios being released at WWDC.

 

[Eduardot]

Apple lost the cellphone to Samsung Fold 4 and 5. IF the dont launch in June de Max Studio M4, they will lose the chip war also. But then, Tim will have to Go.........

 

[ijameson]

Apple have a history of dropping updated hardware for developers at the WWDC.
This rumour is unlikely.

 

[TheWraith]

It's really strange reading how everyone here thinks Gurman is "always wrong, guessing, no sources" when he just scored the biggest scoop in rumor memory with saying the iPad Pro would have M4.

By my count he's often right. Honestly don't know what people are smoking.

 

[TallManNY]

What I was commenting on is people who say that Apple will now release M3-based Minis.

You can't buy the chip in those devices, so the M3 is not "normal," or the present, as far as the desktop Macs that we're discussing. They don't exist. The iMac does have an M3, but the Mini, Studio and Pro lineups all have M2-based chips, and at present day those are two versions old.

So there are people, like me, who are holding off on a desktop purchase to see what Apple does. I'm not going to buy a new device with what I see as an old chip at its heart.

Makes sense to me. I'm increasingly thrilled that I upgraded (from a 2018 mini) to the M2 Pro mini soon after it came out. It is a fantastic machine. But I wouldn't upgrade to it right now if I had something that was "good enough".

 

[soyazul]

I hope my iMac Pro gets one more major macOS update, then! Was looking to update to Mac Studio this year.

just wait to the M4 Mac Studio and a Studio display. There won't be any iMac Pro.

 

[EugW]

It's really strange reading how everyone here thinks Gurman is "always wrong, guessing, no sources" when he just scored the biggest scoop in rumor memory with saying the iPad Pro would have M4.

By my count he's often right. Honestly don't know what people are smoking.

Gurman definitely didn't scoop the M4 iPad Pro news. He was like some others here (myself included) and saw some of the hints early on but didn't believe they necessarily meant M4. However, then @Jamie I here at MacRumors put a bit more info together with that initial information and suggested it was likely M4.

Then with this information, Gurman came around and said M4 too publicly. However, the thread here at MacRumors was discussing this long before Gurman came out and said it, so it seemed pretty clear he was reading that very thread for the information in this particular case.

However, all that said, I don't think he's always wrong either. He's more often right than wrong, at least if you don't count being a few months off on release dates. Furthermore, it seems he has some real legitimate inside supply chain sources.

 

[jimbobb24]

I think he is wrong this time. MacBook Air chip will keep 1 previous generation chip and it makes sense. Direct jump to M4 is perfect for differentiate pro lineup. iMac and MacBook Air stay on M3 for now, Pro machines gets M4 Pro and Max. Mac mini could offer an entry level with M3 and mid level with M4. Maybe pro chip are not ready yet ok but I don’t think we will see Air with 4 while Max Studio stays on M2 Max/Ultra

This would make perfect sense….if they didnt put the M4 in an iPad leaving it with a higher processor than their best selling laptop the MacBook Air. Crazy stuff these days.

 

[jccrtv]

That’s cool, for me I run a production company and an Ultra will double export times. Working with an M1 Max studio now and if there’s no M4 Ultra next month then I will get an M2 Ultra. It’s a business expense. Next year I’ll get the M4 ultra then.

That's what I'll do too, Dave. Get the M2 new and the M4 next year. I'll wait a little longer and make sure Gurman is right.

 

[rp2011]

The core problem with Windows for ARM is whether anybody is going to recompile their applications for it. It's a chicken-egg problem: if the big players sit on their hands to see what volume Snapdragon X gets before selling products for it then it will quickly be DOA. To a large extent the reason x86 has the near-monopoly it has is Windows and the inertia of its application vendors.

I get where you are coming from, especially the chicken/egg aspect, but Intel has been a dead company walking for a long time. X86 is dead either way. There is no future for X86 and this has been known for a long time. They can keep it on life support, take it to hospice care, but it's over. People have made funeral arrangements for it and everyone is just waiting for it keel over.

 

[rp2011]

It seems Apple will maximize the utilization of the Ultra chips by making them a more worthwhile endeavor with economies of scale for their AI data centers instead of just for low-volume Macs. If that's the case, then the future of high-end Macs might still have some life left in them.

 

[Blue Nova]

By then it will be a Mac Studio M5, because they got the iPad pro with M4, it makes sense, although the dynamics might change by then. I can’t use a laptop or iPad for my design work, I need a Mac Studio.

 

[JimmyG]

One would think it would become obvious to Apple that there is a broad (and, now, disenfranchised) 27" iMac user base that's just never, ever, going to purchase a Studio. Their unit sales numbers bear out that it's a product that just hasn't caught-on with the Mac masses. What Apple is, is "all-in-one machines to rule them all", be it iPhones, iPads, Macbooks and iMacs...it's who they are, it's their DNA, and it's what folks expect them from them. I know I do!

The best (I can figure) for Apple to get themselves out of this desktop mess that they've created is to create an 18-month M-Series cadence...new 32" 6K and 42" 8K iMacs getting the "whole enchilada" of M4 releases, Studio getting M5, iMac M6, Studio M7, ad nauseam. No one needs to upgrade their desktops every year with a new chipset, 36-months seems like a reasonable, er, gap. Well, IMHO.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

However, all that said, I don't think he's always wrong either. He's more often right than wrong, at least if you don't count being a few months off on release dates. Furthermore, it seems he has some real legitimate inside supply chain sources.

I mean, if you don’t count when I’m wrong, then I’m right more often, too. LOL

There’s nothing that indicates he has any inside supply chain sources. What he DOES have is a need to put SOMETHING in his newsletter every time it publishes and enough followers that will say he’s right even when he’s wrong. So being accurate doesn’t even matter anymore, just be “interesting” enough to continue to garner engagement and clicks. I don’t think he’s said anything in awhile that couldn’t be spliced together just from wishful thinking on these boards.

 

[Plutonius]

I call BS on this. They’ve literally just released M4 - how are they going to explain updating their laptops but not the desktops? They sell more, yes, but is it any wonder if they go and do stupid moves like this?

I'm sure because of yield issues that Apple does not have enough M4 for all their products.

Apple also most likely wants to use up a majority of their M2 supplies.