Apple’s Mac lineup for 2025 will include quite a lot of updates, with the Mac Studio anticipated to get a refresh early in the year alongside more typical updates.
The migration of Apple’s Mac and MacBook lines in 2024 saw some get upgrades to the M4, but not all models. The Mac mini, the iMac, and the MacBook Pro models all migrated over to M4, leaving behind a lot of other models on earlier chips.
According to Mark Gurman’s newsletter for Bloomberg, the upgrades to M4 will continue early in the year, and continue throughout to cover most of the remaining range.
In outlining Apple’s release schedule, the first expected Mac is the MacBook Air. It is anticipated that it will be a relatively early release and use the M4 chip, with no other expected changes, indicating it will be a spec-bump update.
Currently, the M3 MacBook Air is sold alongside the M2 version. It is proposed that Apple could decide to replace the M3 model with the M4, and keep the M2 around as an entry-level offering.
Mac Studio, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro
Another update destined for the first half of 2025 is the Mac Studio. This is a bit of a shift in expectations, as Gurman did previously say a late-2025 release was probable, so this is a bit of an alteration to a quicker release timeline.
Again, there is no word from Gurman on what will change, other than a shift to M4 Max and M4 Ultra chips. Currently, Apple has M4 Max chips in its MacBook Pro, but there have been some questions about the M4 Ultra’s interconnect.
Later in 2025, Gurman believes Apple will continue its chip cadence and shift to the M5. This would mean the introduction of the M5 variants of MacBook Pro.
While there apparently won’t be changes in the M5 versions, more is expected for 2026. It will be the 20th anniversary of the MacBook Pro, and Apple will likely make big changes for such an occasion.
Lastly, there is mention of a New Mac Pro, which will apparently use a high-end “Hidra” chip. However, reports have also claimed that Apple canceled the development of a high-performance chip for Macs in favor of an AI server chip.
If the chip cancellation reports are true, this makes it more likely for the Mac Pro to go down the Ultra chip route once again.
