After testing, the processors are put into "bins" based on the number of working cores. A "binned chip" is one that had an incomplete complement of working cores. This process increases the yield of chips from the wafer as taking a discount for a "binned chip" is better than no revenue.
So it's like producing Ultra chips and those that don't pass muster / QC are separated and made into Max chip devices ??
Not quite. An example is the options for the M5 Pro processor in the Mini. The lower cost option is 15 core CPU and 16 core GPU, whereas the higher priced option is 18 core CPU and 20 core GPU. Both of these use exactly the same design of the chip, where the higher priced option has all of the CPU and GPU cores working but the chips used in the lower cost option had 1 to 3 CPU cores that tested bad and/or 1 or 2 GPU cores that tested bad.
Mine says Oct 6 but I just did the same configuration to see if the date was a later date and shows Sep 22nd. So looks like mi Oct 6th order could be ready for pickup on Sep 22nd.
