Apple MacBook Pro with Apple M1 Chip (13-inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD Storage, $1099

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08N5N6RSS

The latest data states that the new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros will launch in the third or fourth quarter of this year.

Apple partners will begin shipping new MacBook Pros in the third quarter, but it is unclear if we are talking about deliveries of finished computers, or separate components for their production. It should be noted that earlier Nikkei Asia and DigiTimes have repeatedly reported that mass production of new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros based on Apple's branded ARM chips will begin no earlier than the third quarter.

Note that really new M3 chips (M2 will have same cores, but more of them) will be postponed and we will see another version of Intel 14nm++ approach, this time from Apple, as TSMC progress is slowing down fast.

MacBook Pro that is expected as early as this summer won’t use a chip with the “M2” moniker, but instead feature the same cores — just more of them — and will be called the M1X.

• The M1X is slated for a Q4 2021 release
• The M2 is slated for a Q1 2022 release alongside the 2022 MacBook Air

M1X is an extension of the M1 that will contain more thunderbolt channels, more cpu cores, more gpu cores, and greater power draw. The M1X will be featured in the Higher end Mac Mini, the Macbook Pro 14 and 16, and a higher end iMac.

Due to issue with thermals Apple will add mostly low performance cores, as such way number is looking nice.

Now almost all leading TSMC engineers are assigned to the task of solving multiple issues with Apple M2 chip. And related issues with TSMC 5nm high performance process.

As expected, Apple induced leak

Apple's successor to its M1 Apple Silicon chip could arrive in MacBook computers by the second half of this year, according to a report from Nikkei. Tentatively known as M2, the processor has reportedly gone into production and could start shipping by July 2021.

The chipsets will be produced by fab giant TSMC using its latest technology, known as 5-nanometer plus (N5P). Production of the chipsets will reportedly take at least three months. As before, the M2 would be a complete system-on-a-chip, with CPU, GPU and AI processors all integrated.

During summer the leaks will change to allow slightly more delays.

Apple should get M2 models shipping in April already according to 2020 plans.

New marketing stage from Apple

Multiple sites and influencers already started that is internally in Apple called - "M1 is enough and it is perfect".

Main goal is to hide that iMacs and other new stuff won't get M2 chip until at least late 2021 or early 2022, contrary to expected Apple plans. TSMC is too overloaded and 4nm is mostly not much new process and more of special marketing change requested by Apple (who will get exclusive access for at least one year).

Apple PR guys are now in tight talks and sometimes talk as much as around 40% of infuencer yearly income as stimulus for Apple product proper testing and coverage, this will also include coverage of any small price drops (that become almost standard for all large tech sites since early 2020).

More on M1 HDMI hardware bug

On March 25, EIZO Corporation announced a follow-up report on its Web page regarding display compatibility issues related to M1 Macs and external monitor connections.

The problem is that when you connect an external monitor to a Mac equipped with M1, you will not be able to obtain the proper colors and gradations on your monitor.

The cause is that the YUV output used for the video signal output of the Mac equipped with M1 is alwys using limited range option, so there is a problem when converting to the full range.

According to the update, in the macOS Big Sur environment of version 11.2 or later, the problem has been resolved only on some monitors.

Monitors that work properly - models that do not have audio input / output (ColorEdge series for EIZO products), and only when this is connected via USB Type-C or DisplayPort, in this case the mismatch in color gamut and gamma value is resolved.

Even monitors that support audio input and output may be able to solve the problem if the product does not have an HDMI input.

If you use HDMI connection problems still occur even with macOS Big Sur version 11.2 or later.

Short summary - M1 HDMI implementation has severe hardware bug preventing proper use of HDMI port for grading or editing work. Use DisplayPort monitors or wait for M2 chip.

According to authoritative analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple plans to release an updated 16-inch MacBook Pro and an all-new 14-inch laptop with proprietary processors in the second half of this year. A recent report from Nikkei Asia confirms this timeline.

The publication noted that Apple has postponed the start of mass production of two new MacBook models from May or June until the second half of the year. It is reported that both new computers will use Apple's proprietary ARM chipsets. Perhaps we are talking about an improved version of the current M1. It is unlikely that Apple will equip the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which is the company's flagship laptop, with the same chip as the shareable MacBook Air.

The new MacBook Pros are expected to receive Mini-LED displays, HDMI ports and SD card readers. Some sources also claim that the company will return the magnetic MagSafe charging connector to branded laptops and ditch the controversial Touch Bar.

As PV previously reported Apple has heavy issues with new LSI/CPUs for Mac computers.

TSMC 5nm is not ready for desktop or even advanced notebook usage, and present mobile 5nm variant is used by Apple on 99% of its capabilities. But Apple still trying to make things work, even if they will take initially all 100% of TSMC capacity.

I don't have any new leaks but it can be that Apple will decide to cut frequencies even more and rely more on superb marketing machine they managed to build up. Another variant will be cutting cache and GPU performance to make chips smaller and less hot.

One more interesting rumor inside from Apple

Quite soon Apple will stop any repairs of x86 computers, including notebooks. They already stopped making lot of parts.

Apple will offer exchange to ARM based machines (sometimes with additional payment) instead of your notebook repair.

In 2022 same will happen with many x86 based desktops and integrated computers.

@vitaliy Can you link that. I have big trouble find 100RGB laptops dont need a touchscreen at all but if there is same good once which run 4k easy with RGB I like to get one.

"If you 100% want thin small and not much upgradable note - look for Carbon lineup. I myself is not big fan of such despite I own one myself for some fast simple editing work, it has nice bright 100% sRGB 2K touchscreen."

@Vitaly_Kiselev Yes, of course I considered a Lenovo Thinkpad. I specifically looked at the T and X1 Models. Here in my country/region/market, a base-model T14s with AMD Ryzen 4650U and 300 nit display costs about 15% more than the M1 Macbook Air in the specification I got (base + 16GB RAM). The upgraded model with Ryzen 7 and 400 nit display about 30% more. 8th Gen X1 Carbon starts at 30% more than the M1 Air for 8th gen i5 and Full-HD 300 nit display. Every X1 better than that is somewhere between 50% and 100% more expensive than the M1 Macbook Air. Obviously, I looked at the used options as well. A fully decked out, used T480s with an 8th Gen i7 and the 50% sRGB Full HD screen (the better one was never sold here) costs about the same as a base M1 Macbook Air. Obviously comes with 0 warranty. Older T4xx generations have really weak CPUs by today's standards, so I didn't even consider those. The laptop configurations here suck, as even the most expensive windows workstation laptops tend to come with base level displays.

@Vitaliy_Kiselev You write a lot of interesting stuff, some of it I am refusing to believe though because it barely makes any sense, even for Apple, if they want to increase their market share.

I bought the M1 Macbook Air as a student to do light work on the go when I am not at my desktop windows PC. It seemed like the perfect option because it has a much better screen, trackpad, keyboard, speakers, and build quality compared to other windows laptops in this price range. I made sure to buy it through an Apple Reseller and I also live in the EU which means I get a 2-year warranty in case Apple decides to fuck users over once again (they seem to have kind of reduced that behavior with some of their latest products).

The first interesting thing you wrote is that a high-density, fully integrated SoC cannot run at high temperatures and will be subjected to extreme degradation if that happens. For comparison, AMD's 7nm CPUs (Ryzen 3000/4000/5000) all have a maximum design limit of 105°C. Some laptops running these processors violate that and let the CPU get over 110°C in pursuit of maximum performance (

). The AMD chip is similar to the M1 by having all of the parts (GPU, controllers, CPU) in one die. Wouldn't these high temperatures also be dangerous to the chip and result in fast degradation?

Second thing is that you say the M1 does not actually perform good and it's all just thanks to software optimization. I have a Ryzen 5 1600 overclocked to 3.85GHz in my desktop computer that consumes about 110W under Cinebench R23 load. I have a Noctua NH-U12S cooler on that processor, so thermals are not an issue. My workload includes Arduino code compilation (C). Large code for more advanced ARM-based microcontrollers compiles about 3 times faster on the M1MBA running in Rosetta 2 than it does running natively on my PC. This just does not seem right with your claims.

In terms of battery life, I am getting ridiculously good numbers. I use the laptop mainly for MS Teams (x86 based) calls, during which I have about 30 Safari tabs open, Discord running (x86 based app), Spotify running (x86 based app) and VSCode running (Apple Silicon app). I keep my brightness within about a third or half and my speaker volume about a third or half as well. After about 5 hours of classes, my battery loses 25-30% charge. This means I can basically go 3 full days of school on one charge. Isn't that a good number? It seems pretty good to me.

You make a lot of claims that suggest Apple is going to absolutely torture and bully their userbase/potential customers. That just does not seem right, even for Apple. Especially the one USB-C/unlock rest for $100 thing. Also, the claim that Apple is going to lock people out from downloading apps not present in the App Store. I understand why they would do that, but if they were to actually do that, nobody would buy any new Macbook. And a lot of their current users (including me) would just leave the platform altogether. I highly doubt that's what Apple's shareholders would want given the market share of macOS has dwindled under 10% and has been overtaken (https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56116573) by Chrome(me) OS.

Lastly, a technical question, you state that the USB-C ports on the M1 go directly to the SoC, yet there is a TI CD3217B12 USB-C controller present on the board and also an Intel Thunderbolt repeater. Were you wrong in the first statement and the USB line goes to those chips first or is it actually directly connected to the SoC?