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The M3 MacBook Air has finally launched, and there are already rumors that Apple might release the M4 chip as early as Q1 2025. Apple’s switch to its own proprietary chipsets saw a massive improvement over its Intel-based Macs and MacBooks. Since then, the company has been improving on its M-series of chipsets approximately each year. Each subsequent chipset is slightly better than the last, and doesn’t always warrant an upgrade. However, there are rumors that the M4 lineup will also come with AI.
A roadmap for the Apple M4 chip
Canalys, a global tech analysis firm, just announced a roadmap for Apple. According to this roadmap, Apple will likely release the M4 chip in the first quarter of the next year. This isn’t guaranteed of course. A multitude of factors play into when a company announces and launches a product. Hence, the Apple M4 chip launch could be delayed.
It also seems like the Apple M4 might be the first M-series chip to ship with AI capabilities. This, of course, would be huge. Much like the shift from Intel chips to M chips, this will mark a shift in how MacBooks are viewed. AI-powered chipsets have the potential of delivering many amazing and futuristic features. These include AI-powered virtual assistants, extremely powerful image and video editing, and help with drafting documents.
The shift from Intel
When Apple shifted its Macs and MacBooks to its own M chips, it catapulted the performance gains. Understandably, the older MacBooks were very much like PCs. They had to be designed to work with Intel chipsets that were also used in other computers. As such, there was no impressive synergy between the hardware and software.
This all changed when Apple announced the M1 chip. Apple Silicon, the name for Apple’s in-house SOC company, designed the M-series chips with Apple’s own software in mind. The result was devices with much better battery life and much faster and more stable performance. This jump was huge, and nowadays nobody will ever suggest buying an old Intel-based MacBook if it can be helped.
The M2 and M3 chips were impressive improvements over the M1. However, for the average user, they didn’t represent performance upgrades worth considering. If the Apple M4 chip does ship with AI, it will be the first M chip since the M1 that will definitely warrant an upgrade. Once mocked for their relatively paltry specs, the M chips have breathed new life into Apple’s Macs and MacBooks.
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