by MacRumors Staff
Apple's hardware roadmap was in the news this week, with things hopefully firming up for a launch of updated iPad Pro and iPad Air models next month while we look ahead to the other iPad models and a full lineup of M4-based Macs arriving starting later this year.
We also heard some fresh rumors about iOS 18, due to be unveiled at WWDC in a couple of months, while we took a look at how things are going with the iPhone 15 Pro now that it's halfway through its flagship lifecycle, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more!
Macs to Get AI-Focused M4 Chips Starting in Late 2024
Apple plans to release its first Macs with the M4 series of chips in late 2024, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
The report says that the MacBook Pro and iMac lines will be the first to be updated with the M4 series of chips later this year, while other models like the MacBook Air, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro are expected to be updated with M4 series chips throughout 2025.
Gurman said the chips are "designed to highlight artificial intelligence" capabilities on the Mac.
New iPads Likely to Launch During Second Week of May
In the latest edition of his newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said new iPad Pro and iPad Air models will likely launch during the second week of May, following reported manufacturing delays.
He also said Apple is working on new iPad mini and entry-level iPad models, but he does not expect those devices to launch until later this year.
It has been nearly 18 months since Apple last released new iPads.
Review: Six Months With the iPhone 15 Pro
It's been a bit over six months since the iPhone 15 lineup came out in September, and MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has been using an iPhone 15 Pro Max sans case since launch. Over on our YouTube channel, Dan did a long-term review to demo how his phone has held up and his thoughts on the Action button, battery life, and camera features.
If you're an iPhone 15 Pro owner, let us know how your battery life is holding up, whether you're regularly using the Action button, and anything else you've found interesting about your experience with Apple's latest high-end flagship phone!
Here Are All the Rumored iPhone 16 Colors
We recently recapped all rumored color options for the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max, so be sure to check out the list to learn about the new options expected.
At least two new color options are rumored for the lower-end iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models, including Purple and White, while the Pro models could gain new Space Black and Rose Gold titanium finishes.
iOS 18 May Feature All-New 'Safari Browsing Assistant'
One of the new generative AI features rumored to be coming to the iPhone with iOS 18 could be a browsing assistant in Safari, according to backend code discovered on Apple's servers.
While no specific details about the browsing assistant are known, the feature could allow Safari to better compete with other AI-infused web browsers available on the iPhone, such as Microsoft Edge and Arc Search.
The MacRumors Show: Apple Shortcuts and iOS 18 ft. Matthew Cassinelli
Matthew Cassinelli, one of the minds behind Workflow, joined Dan and Hartley on this week's episode of The MacRumors Show to talk Apple Shortcuts and potential improvements and AI features coming to the app in iOS 18.
Last week's episode included discussion of Apple's potential foray into robots, along with discoveries made in the iOS 17.5 beta, rumors about a new Apple Pencil, and more.
Subscribe to The MacRumors Show channel on YouTube, and listen to the podcast in Apple Podcasts or your preferred podcast app.
MacRumors Newsletter
Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.
So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!
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Top Rated Comments
10 weeks ago
Apple updates all of their phones every year with the latest CPU. I'm disappointed they can't do this with the rest of their product line, and that we're left wondering whether a given model will be updated next month or more than a year away. I thought that moving away from Intel and using their own CPUs would have let them update more often.I'd like to update from my Intel Mac mini, and I've priced out the replacement at close to $2K. I don't want to buy an M2 Pro when there might be an M3 soon or a much more powerful M4 a year from now, so I'm holding on to my money for now.
Apple could update every device at the same rate, once annually.
But that wouldn't lead to optimal sales and least possible losses:
iPhone by far outsells and generates higher profit margins than any other Apple Silicon powered product.
So every new chip generation, Apple leads with iPhone to make sure that there's more than plenty of the latest SoC to meet iPhone demand.
The rest of Macs and iPads then get the latest chip generation in descending order of popularity.
This is why products like MacBook Pro, iPad Pro and MacBook Air are almost (or entirely) on annual release schedules, like iPhone. But the remaining iPads and Macs usually see less frequent than annual releases.
Of course, Apple will adjust this dynamically if specific models increase in popularity, and vice-versa.
But Apple would face tremendous losses and potentially struggle to meet initial iPhone demand if every Apple Silicon phone/tablet/computer jumped to the latest chip on the same date, or even just within the same year.
For Apple, it's always, above all other device, all about the next and current iPhone.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DavidSchaub
10 weeks ago
By never coming out with updates for so called less popular Macs as an example they are only damaging the respective models popularity? How can they possibly gain in popularity?
...
So many of these decisions are negatively impacting Mac sales.
Because the vast majority of Mac buyers don't care if their SoC is one generation old; and given how powerful modern computers are for most activities, they're right not to care too much.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Souponastick270
10 weeks ago
The iMac just got M3 ? Surely it would make more sense for the Mac Mini to get M4 and have it skip M3 like the iMac skipped M2
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bkendig
10 weeks ago
But Apple would face tremendous losses and potentially struggle to meet initial iPhone demand if every Apple Silicon phone/tablet/computer jumped to the latest chip on the same date, or even just within the same year.
Why? Other computer companies refresh their computer lines every year, for every new Intel CPU update.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck
10 weeks ago
Because the vast majority of Mac buyers don't care if their SoC is one generation old; and given how powerful modern computers are for most activities, they're right not to care too much.
At this moment in time a lot of potential sales are from consumers with older products, example Intel based Macs. That and also consumers being attracted to what Apple offers from other platforms/manufacturers. I never lumped AS Mac users as being motivated to upgrade to newer Macs like Apples markets iPhones. ;)
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
javigarrido
10 weeks ago
Eventually Mark Gurman will get the release date right for the new ipad.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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