Apple M4 processors rumored to debut early next year

Apple’s M4 processor is likely to debut in early 2025, according to a new “roadmap” from the Canalys research firm — as noted by TechRadar.

Canalys believes that the new M4 systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) will also come packed with new AI-powered features.

In a March 11 Q&A session focused on the Apple Car, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman casually mentioned that Apple has just started formal development on the M4 MacBook Pro. And a January report by the Economic Daily said Apple’s product line will be “greatly upgraded,” and the new generation of M4 and A18 processors for terminal devices such as the Mac, iPad, and iPhone will greatly increase the number of built-in AI [artificial intelligence] computing cores. 

This year, the number of chips cast for TSMC (2330) 3nm enhanced version is expected to increase by more than 50% compared with last year, the article adds. 

It’s no surprise that Apple is almost certainly working on including artificial intelligence features on the Mac, as well as the iPhone. IDC expects 2024 and beyond to see personal computer sales grow due to the introduction of  artificial intelligence PCs. The research groups says such computers will ultimately drive the market forward to 292.2 million units in 2028 and a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.4% over the 2024–2028 forecast period.

Most of Apple’s interest in AI has revolved around iOS 18. However, the company’s press release for the new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air (pictured) calls the notebook the “world’s best consumer laptop for AI.” 

From the press release: With the transition to Apple silicon, every Mac is a great platform for AI. M3 includes a faster and more efficient 16-core Neural Engine, along with accelerators in the CPU and GPU to boost on-device machine learning, making MacBook Air the world’s best consumer laptop for AI. Leveraging this incredible AI performance, macOS delivers intelligent features that enhance productivity and creativity, so users can enable powerful camera features, real-time speech to text, translation, text predictions, visual understanding, accessibility features, and much more.