So, Apple's WWDC 2024 event is just a few hours away and the rumor mill is running at full speed with all sorts of speculation about what could be announced.
And for once I don't really care.
Look, I think the best thing Apple could do at WWDC is announce an M4 MacBook Air, but that probably won't happen since leaks suggest Apple won't have any hardware to show off. It wouldn't be entirely surprising (after all, WWDC is a developer-focused event, so we're likely to see more software than hardware), but Apple has historically used the event to launch new products like the Apple Vision Pro and 15- inch MacBook Air shown at last year's event.
As such, I was initially hopeful that we'd see the powerful new M4 chip appear in a new MacBook at this year's WWDC, but Apple dashed those hopes by revealing the M4 earlier than I expected, and in a new iPad Pro, No. less.
Make it make sense, Apple
I'm going to be honest, Tim Cook: launching the M4 chip in an iPad like this was really a baffling move. I thought it was pretty strange that Apple revealed the M3 chip in the new iMac M3 and MacBook Pro M3 models last year, but abandoning the Mac entirely to launch its new chip in a tablet? You completely lost me there.
Now, perhaps it would be fair to say that the iPad Pro has earned itself a bit of time in the spotlight. After all, FourWeekMBA revenue stats indicate that Apple makes about the same amount from iPad sales as it does from Mac products. But the MacBook Air is a vital flagship device, and shelving it in favor of a tablet could undermine the public reception of the M4 chip. After all, the M4 simply won't work as well on an ultra-thin tablet as it does on a proper laptop, even a passively cooled one like the Air. That was the case with the MacBook Air M2 and iPad Pro (2022), which use the same M2 chip.
Leaks from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and analysis from marketing firm Canalys previously suggested that we may not see an M4 MacBook until 2025; in fact, Canalys projected that the M4 itself wouldn't appear until next year, so the M4 iPad Pro was a total surprise. .
More M4?
Apple calls the MacBook Air “the world's best-selling laptop,” so one might reasonably expect the Mac maker to want to boost its macOS flagship with a shiny new chip, but Apple shot itself in the foot by announcing the M4 so soon after the M3. MacBook Air landed late last year. As TechRadar writer Muskaan Saxena recently noted, the M4 could make the M3 MacBooks already obsolete.
Why should you buy an M3 MacBook knowing that M4 models are already on the way? It's a tough position to argue, and the M4 Air may not arrive until 2025 and could end up frustrating some Mac fans when the M4 chip is already available in the new iPad. Apple is in a tough situation: No new M4 product at WWDC will cause disappointment, but a shocking reveal would likely ruin Apple's chances of carrying over its remaining M3 Mac stock.
If Apple turns around and reveals the M4 MacBooks during the WWDC showcase later today, I'll sit back and eat my humble pie (you can yell at me on Twitter if you want). But I doubt that will happen; We'll probably be waiting a while yet, and no amount of new macOS 15 features will get me excited for this year's event.
