Why Mac will get annual chip updates

Apple to update Mac CPUs every year

Author

Leander Kahney
April 17, 2024

When Apple used Intel chips for its Mac computers, major CPU updates came every couple of years at best.

Some Macs remained on the same basic Intel chip design for three years or more, even if the names of the processors changed more often.

But now Apple is planning to update the chips in the Mac every year — and for every model.

Say what? Isn’t that crazy ambitious?

No, it’s not. After all, Apple’s been doing this for iPhone for more than a decade. Every year, the iPhone gets a new, redesigned A-series chip.

And now that the Mac shares the same basic chip design as iPhone, updating it annually is entirely possible. Here’s why you can expect annual Mac chip updates from here on out.

Also in today’s newsletter:

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

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One more thing ...

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— Steve Jobs to a New York Times reporter, 2008.

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