Apple’s first M5-powered iPads and Macs may ship this year
Are you ready for the next big chip improvement from Apple? It’s on the way, it seems, as mass production of the next-generation M5 Mac processor has begun with this slice of Apple silicon expected to reach Macs perhaps even this year.
M5 is ready for production
ET News claims the processor production cycle has reached packaging, which means the silicon is made suitable for use in devices. The report claims TSMC has manufactured the wafers for these chips with packaging handled by several firms. This initial run extends to the base M5 chip, and not yet the Pro, Max, or Ultra series of chips – though investment in manufacturing equipment for those processors is being made.
Apple had been expected to use 2nm process tech to make its M5 chips but seems to have deferred that intention on the basis of price. That doesn’t mean it won’t move to 2nm chips in future, nor that the new M5 processors won’t deliver impressive performance and energy advantages in contrast to the M4 – but is a shrewd decision given the extensive gap between Apple’s chips and the competition. No one else really has what Apple has built.
iPad first, MacBook Pro second (maybe)
If Apple follows the approach it has used when introducing new chips in the last few years it seems likely it will introduce and M5 iPad Pro in the first instance, possibly toward the end of the year. M5-powered MacBook Pro systems will probably follow late this year with the chip expected inside MacBook Air early next year. We may also see it appear in an updated Vision Pro system, speculated analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The chip has also been spotted in code and may also be used to drive Apple’s AI servers for its Private Cloud Compute systems.
Better than all the rest
Sticking my neck out, I anticipate the new processor will maintain Apple’s existing pattern for chip improvements, delivering big performance gains on the previous chip, and doing so at impressively low energy requirements.
You’ll storm through video edits, data analytics, and 3D design programs at the high-end, while consumer users will continue to enjoy the smooth and stable performance Apple Silicon Macs are now recognized for. The chips also give Apple product designers the best chance they’ve ever had to deliver new and powerful products in new categories.
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