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When will MacBook Pro 16" get Thunderbolt 5?
- Thread starter hajime
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M4 still utilizes TB4 which makes sense as it was developed months ago. Since all M4 Macs will be based on M4 they will likely inherit TB4. Apple could of course switch it out but a major point of their M SoCs is that they can develop a chip once and then throw it in most of their devices with some modifications to get the versions with more cores and higher bandwidth. In my opinion Apple would have to find a major deficit with TB4 to justify the extra cost of modifying the M4 designs after the fact. Likely M4 Pro and Max are already finalized and being tested in M4 MBP prototypes.
Apple could have started implementing TB5 back in 2023 but then I'd expect the M4 chip in the iPad Pro to have TB5. There is always a long lead time to first manufacture the chip, then testing it in device prototypes and once everything's finalized you still got to leave at least 2-3 months of time left to manufacture enough units so you can announce the new product.
The M4 iPad Pro has manufacturing dates starting in January 2024 so M4 with TB4 surely was already in M4 iPad Pro prototypes before TB5 specs were finalized and ready to be added to M4. M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max were released October 2023 so by that point Apple already had M4 ready internally. Maybe the Pro and Max versions as well.
They could always pull a switcheroo since it's Apple nobody really knows what they'll release or what features they'll prioritize. Historically though they've always been conservative with updating specs so there would always be a generation delay.
Apple could have started implementing TB5 back in 2023 but then I'd expect the M4 chip in the iPad Pro to have TB5. There is always a long lead time to first manufacture the chip, then testing it in device prototypes and once everything's finalized you still got to leave at least 2-3 months of time left to manufacture enough units so you can announce the new product.
The M4 iPad Pro has manufacturing dates starting in January 2024 so M4 with TB4 surely was already in M4 iPad Pro prototypes before TB5 specs were finalized and ready to be added to M4. M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max were released October 2023 so by that point Apple already had M4 ready internally. Maybe the Pro and Max versions as well.
They could always pull a switcheroo since it's Apple nobody really knows what they'll release or what features they'll prioritize. Historically though they've always been conservative with updating specs so there would always be a generation delay.
