In a new report today, Bloomberg provided insight into what's next for the Mac with the arrival of M4 processors. I especially liked the details of Apple's plans for the future Mac Pro and Mac Studio. Here are the conclusions.
The next Mac Pro
Apple is developing a family of M4 chips with “at least three major flavors.” There will be an entry-level version (codenamed Donan), a more powerful version (codenamed Brava) and a top-end chip (codenamed Hidra).
Bloomberg reports that the new Mac Pro is expected to debut “later in 2025.” with M4 chip inside. While the report doesn't provide specific information about what chip the Mac Pro will use, it is expected to be the top-end version of Hidra – or at least some variant of it. There is no indication that Apple is testing or planning an M3-based Mac Pro.
Another change for the future Mac Pro: more RAM. The report says the next-generation Mac Pro could support up to 512GB of unified storage, which is more than the current 192GB ceiling. This is still a far cry from the previous generation Intel Mac Pro, which supported up to 1.5TB of RAM.
Mac Pro was last updated in June 2023 and features the M2 Ultra processor. The Bloomberg report notes that the Mac Pro sells in smaller numbers than Apple's other Macs but “has a strong fan base.” In response to complaints from Mac Pro fans, Apple “hopes to strengthen this machine next year.”
Next Mac Studio
As for Mac Studio, things are a little bit different more gloomy. Mac Studio was last updated in June 2023 and is available with the M2 Max or M2 Ultra processor. It has not yet been updated with the M3 chip.
Unlike the Mac Pro, however, Apple is reportedly still testing a Mac Studio with the M3 chip. The company is currently testing two different versions of Mac Studio: one with a “not yet released M3-era chip”; and one with an “M4 Brava processor variant.”
Will Apple eventually release a new Mac Studio with an “M3-era” chip? remains to be seen. At the very least, we can expect a new version of the M4 to arrive around mid-2025.
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