It’s a safe bet that the Apple M5 processor will start replacing the current M4 in 2025, and it might even happen in the first half of the year.
That’s according to a roadmap of when the various versions of the chip will go into production leaked Monday by a reliable source of insider Apple information.
Look forward to Pro, Max and Ultra versions of Apple M5 processor
The team up between Apple and its chip-maker TSMC are settling into launching improved versions of the M series every year. The M3 came in 2023, the M4 premiered in 2024, and the M5 is predicted for 2025.
And Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with TF International Securities, said TSMC will start making the next generation early in the year. This will be followed by enhanced versions with increasing numbers of CPU and GPU cores over the following months.
“M5, M5 Pro/Max, and M5 Ultra mass production is expected in 1H25, 2H25, and 2026, respectively,” Kuo wrote in a blog post.
The M4 debuted months before most people expected: last spring in the iPad Pro. With M5 processor production supposedly beginning in the first half of next year, something similar could happen again. Though Kuo didn’t say which computer the chip will go into first — it could be a MacBook, Mac desktop or an iPad.
Expect the M5 Pro and M5 Max to go into MacBook Pro and perhaps the Mac mini late in 2025. The premier model, the M5 Ultra, should go into the Mac Studio and perhaps the Mac Pro in 2026.
For more, read the Cult of Mac guide to what to expect from the Mac in 2025.
3nm not 2nm
TSMC allegedly won’t have its 2nm process ready in time for the M5 family, so the processor will use an improved version of the TSMC’s 3nm process.
“The M5 series chips will adopt TSMC’s advanced N3P node, which entered the prototype phase a few months ago,” Kuo said Monday. While the components etched into the chip won’t shrink in size, each new iteration offers “better power, performance, and density,” according to the Taiwanese foundry.
