Apple suppliers will begin mass production of new 14-inch MacBook Pro, 16-inch MacBook Pro, and iPad Pro models in the fourth quarter of 2022, and all of the devices will likely remain equipped with 5nm chips, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In a pair of tweets, Kuo said Apple's chipmaking partner TSMC will not begin shipping 3nm chips until January 2023, and therefore he expects the new MacBook Pro and iPad Pro models to stick with 5nm chips. The new iPad Pro with an M2 chip is expected to be released in October, but timing for the new MacBook Pro models is less clear, with some rumors suggesting a release later this year and others pointing towards a 2023 launch.
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EMS must buy components from Oct at the latest for products that will enter mass production in 4Q22, but 3nm chips won't be available until Jan 2023. So I think new MacBook Pro & iPad Pro, which will enter mass production in 4Q22, will adopt new but unlikely 3nm processors. https://t.co/8JR4LOHFVs — 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) August 26, 2022
The new MacBook Pro models are expected to be equipped with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, which some earlier reports had suggested could be Apple's first 3nm chips. However, if the latest information shared by Kuo is accurate, the first Apple devices with chips based on TSMC's 3nm process will not be released until some point next year.
In addition to future Macs and iPads, the A17 Bionic chip in next year's iPhone 15 Pro is also expected to be a 3nm chip.
