I wish I could get excited for WWDC, but Apple already blew it with M4

WWDC? Who cares

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So,Apple’sWWDC 2024event is kicking off soon – head to ourWWDC 2024 live blogfor up-to-the-minute coverage – and the rumor mill is running at full throttle with all manner of speculation regarding what might be announced.

And for once, I really don’t care.

See, I think the best thing Apple could do atWWDCis announce an M4 MacBook Air – but that’s probably not going to happen, asleaks suggest Apple won’t have any hardware to show off. It wouldn’t be entirely shocking – 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 theApple Vision Proand15-inch MacBook Airshown at last year’s event.

As such, I was initially hopeful that we’d see the powerful newM4 chipturn up in a new MacBook at this year’s WWDC, but Apple dashed those hopes by revealing M4 earlier than I had expected – and in a newiPad Pro, no less.

Make it make sense, Apple

I’m going to be honest here,Tim Cook– releasing the M4 chip in an iPad like this was a trulybafflingmove. I thought it was strange enough that Apple revealed the M3 chip in the newiMac M3andMacBook Pro M3models last year, but ditching Mac entirely to launch your new chip in a tablet? You totally lost me there.

Now, maybe it would be fair to say that the iPad Pro has earned a little time in the limelight. After all, revenue statistics fromFourWeekMBAindicate that Apple makes roughly the same amount from its iPad sales as it does from Mac products. But the MacBook Air is a vital flagship device, and sidestepping it in favor of a tablet could undermine public reception of the M4 chip. After all, the M4 simply won’t perform as well in an ultra-thin tablet as it will in a proper laptop – albeit a passively cooled one like the Air. That was the case with theMacBook Air M2and theiPad Pro (2022), which both use the same M2 chip.

Leaks from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and analysis from marketing firm Canalys previously suggested thatwe might 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 bestselling laptop”, so one could reasonably expect the Mac maker to want to push its flagship macOS product with a shiny new chip – but Apple has shot itself in the foot by announcing M4 so soon after theM3 MacBook Airlanded late last year. As TechRadar writer Muskaan Saxena recently noted,the M4 could make M3 MacBooks outdated already.

Why should I buy an M3 MacBook, knowing that M4 models are already on the way? It’s a hard position to argue – and the M4 Air potentially not arriving until as late as 2025 may end up frustrating some Mac fans when the M4 chip is already out in the wild in the new iPad. Apple is in a catch-22 situation: no new M4 products at WWDC will lead to disappointment, but a shock reveal would likely ruin Apple’s chances of shifting its remaining M3 Mac stock.

If Apple turns around and reveals M4 MacBooks during the WWDC showcase later today, I’ll sit and eat my humble pie (you can shout at me on Twitter if you want). But I doubt it’ll happen; we’re probably going to be waiting for a while yet, and no amount of newmacOS 15features will get me hyped for this year’s event.

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Christian is TechRadar’s UK-based Computing Editor. He came to us from Maximum PC magazine, where he fell in love with computer hardware and building PCs. He was a regular fixture amongst our freelance review team before making the jump to TechRadar, and can usually be found drooling over the latest high-end graphics card or gaming laptop before looking at his bank account balance and crying.

Christian is a keen campaigner for LGBTQ+ rights and the owner of a charming rescue dog named Lucy, having adopted her after he beat cancer in 2021. She keeps him fit and healthy through a combination of face-licking and long walks, and only occasionally barks at him to demand treats when he’s trying to work from home.

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