2020 was a historic year for Macs. Indeed, it was this year that the Cupertino company began replacing Intel processors with Apple Silicon chips on its computers. Based on Arm technologies, and designed by Apple engineers, these chips allowed Macs to have better performance and better energy efficiency. And apparently 2025 could also be a year of big changes for Macs.
According to a recent publication by Ming Chi Kuo analysis, the next generation of Apple Silicon chips would benefit from TSMC’s N3P technology, which would improve performance. But in addition to that, the M5 Pro, M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips would use packaging comparable to that of server chips, with a separate CPU and GPU. This system would have the advantage of increasing yields during production, but also of improving thermal performance.
Production of the standard version, the M5 chip, would begin in the first half of 2025. The M5 Pro and M5 Max chips would be produced from the second half. And the M5 Ultra chip would arrive in 2026.
Apple Silicon chips are challenged by competition
For the moment, this information should be considered with caution, since it does not come from an official source. Nevertheless, it would make sense for Apple to offer significant improvements in 2025, especially for performance in artificial intelligence processing.
Indeed, today, Macs equipped with Apple Silicon chips are challenged by a new generation of PCs which, instead of using Intel or AMD processors, use high-performance Qualcomm chips. Thanks to its Oryon technology, Qualcomm is in fact capable of offering chips whose performance and energy efficiency are comparable to what is offered by Apple.
- According to analyst Ming Chi Kuo, Apple is preparing the production of its M5 chips for Macs, which could begin next year
- Apple could offer major improvements, such as a new engraving technique, or packaging designed for servers that will improve thermal performance
- For the moment, these are rumors, but Apple has an interest in offering significant improvements on the next generation of chips, since it now faces competition from Qualcomm chips for PCs
