New professional Macs with M4 allegedly not until later next year
Many new Macs are due to be released at the end of October or beginning of November, but two professional models are not expected until later.
Mac Studio with ports: When is the M4 version coming?
(Image: Apple)
At least three revised Mac series are expected this fall: Mac mini M4, iMac M4 and MacBook Pro M4. What is likely to be missing, however, are Apple's workstations – the Mac Pro and the Mac Studio. Both models urgently need to be updated, as they have so far stuck with the M2 SoC. According to Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, however, interested professionals will have to wait a little longer.
Ultra needs time
According to his sources, both models "need a little more time to arrive". The main reason for this is that Apple first has to have its M4 SoC planned for the machines produced in an Ultra variant, which was last available in the M2. All Mac Pro models are equipped with it, and at least the higher configurations of the Mac Studio. Apple uses UltraFusion to connect two chip units together in the Ultra SoC, a process that the company may want to replace with a simpler solution. Rumors of an even faster "Extreme" version of Apple's M-SoCs have not yet been confirmed.
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Gurman now believes that both the Mac Studio with M4 Max and M4 Ultra and the Mac Pro with M4 Ultra will come onto the market "closer to the middle of next year", although it could even take until the second half of the year for the Mac Pro. The first M5 Macs would then possibly arrive in the fall – which means that the workstations would once again be one SoC generation behind. It remains to be seen whether professionals will like this.
High investments
Apple continues to charge premium prices for its workstation products – despite the outdated chip technology. The Mac Studio costs at least 2399 euros (with M2 Max; M2 Ultra from 4799 euros), while the Mac Pro costs a whopping 8299 euros. For this, customers actually expect state-of-the-art technology.
The expandability of the Mac Pro is also reduced after Apple's switch to ARM technology, as it is still not possible to upgrade graphics cards. Whether this will change with the M4 models remains to be seen. However, rumors (and information on technical feasibility) are still lacking. Instead, the new machines are likely to focus primarily on more performance.
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