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Apple is nearing production of M4 chips and is planning to release its first Macs with the components later this year, Mark Gurman reports for Bloomberg News.

Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
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The big focus will be supporting on-device artificial intelligence, which requires a hefty amount of processing power.

The company is planning three main variations of the M4: a base chip dubbed Donan; higher-end versions codenamed Brava that will replace the M3 Pro and M3 Max; and an M4 Ultra dubbed Hidra. At the end of last year, Apple released a regular M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max, but an M3 Ultra hasn’t come to market. (Apple could choose to wait until the M4 line for a new Ultra, but it’s worth noting that an M3 variation does exist internally.)

Here are the Mac models Apple is working on and when it expects to introduce them (as always, release plans could shift):

1. A low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4, coming around the end of 2024.
2. A 24-inch iMac with the M4, also expected around the end of the year.
3. New 14-inch and 16-inch high-end MacBook Pros with M4 Pro/Max chips, due between the end of 2024 and early 2025.
4. A Mac mini in both M4 and M4 Pro configurations, coming between the end of 2024 and early 2025.
5. New 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Airs, slated for around spring 2025.
6. A Mac Studio with a high-end M4 chip, coming around the middle of 2025.
7. A Mac Pro with an M4 Ultra chip, due in the second half of 2025.

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MacDailyNews Take: Those new MacBook Pros can hopefully debut before this Christmas because they’ll be big sellers!
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According to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, global smartphone shipments increased 7.8% year over year to 289.4 million units in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24). While the industry is not completely out of the woods, as macroeconomic challenges remain in many markets, this marks the third consecutive quarter of shipment growth, a strong indicator that a recovery is well underway.

“As expected, smartphone recovery continues to move forward with market optimism slowly building among the top brands,” said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers, in a statement. “While Apple managed to capture the top spot at the end of 2023, Samsung successfully reasserted itself as the leading smartphone provider in the first quarter. While IDC expects these two companies to maintain their hold on the high end of the market, the resurgence of Huawei in China, as well as notable gains from Xiaomi, Transsion, OPPO/OnePlus, and vivo will likely have both OEMs looking for areas to expand and diversify. As the recovery progresses, we’re likely to see the top companies gain share as the smaller brands struggle for positioning.”

“The smartphone market is emerging from the turbulence of the last two years both stronger and changed,” said Nabila Popal, research director with IDC’s Worldwide Tracker team, in a statement. “Firstly, we continue to see growth in value and average selling prices (ASPs) as consumers opt for more expensive devices knowing they will hold onto their devices longer. Secondly, there is a shift in power among the Top 5 companies, which will likely continue as market players adjust their strategies in a post-recovery world. Xiaomi is coming back strong from the large declines experienced over the past two years and Transsion is becoming a stable presence in the Top 5 with aggressive growth in international markets. In contrast, while the Top 2 players both saw negative growth in the first quarter, it seems Samsung is in a stronger position overall than they were in recent quarters.”

Top 5 Companies, Worldwide Smartphone Shipments, Market Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, Q1 2024
(Preliminary results, shipments in millions of units)
Source: IDC Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, April 15, 2024

Notes:
• Data are preliminary and subject to change.
• Company shipments are branded device shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.
• The “Company” represents the current parent company (or holding company) for all brands owned and operated as a subsidiary.
• Figures represent new shipments only and exclude refurbished units.

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MacDailyNews Take: Apple only sells premium smartphones, not glorified feature phones to pad shipment numbers like Samsung and the myriad other Android phone peddlers. That Apple held the top smartphone shipment position at all was an anomaly and a testament to iPhone’s strength.
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Apple on Friday said it did not violate a court order governing its App Store and urged a California federal judge to reject a request by Fortnite-maker Epic Games to hold it in contempt.

Mike Scarcella for Reuters:
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The Apple filing criticized what it called an attempt by Epic to make Apple’s “tools and technologies available to developers for free.”

Epic, it said, wanted the court “to micromanage Apple’s business operations in a way that would increase Epic’s profitability.”

Epic largely lost its case against Apple, but Rogers in 2021 ordered Apple to give developers greater freedom to guide app users to alternative payment methods for digital goods.

Epic said in a court filing last month that Cupertino, California-based Apple was in “blatant violation” of the court’s injunction. It pointed to Apple’s imposition of a 27% fee on developers for some purchases, which the video game maker said makes links for alternative payment options “commercially unusable.”

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MacDailyNews Take: The court never told Apple how much it could charge developers who wish to use Apple’s App Store to advertise lower places elsewhere.
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