Top Stories: M4 Mac Roadmap Leaked, New iPads in Second Week of May, and More

Apple's hardware roadmap was in the news this week, with things hopefully firming up for a launch of updated iPad Pro and iPad Air models next month while we look ahead to the other iPad models and a full lineup of M4-based Macs arriving starting later this year.

We also heard some fresh rumors about iOS 18, due to be unveiled at WWDC in a couple of months, while we took a look at how things are going with the iPhone 15 Pro now that it's halfway through its flagship lifecycle, so read on below for all the details on these stories and more!

Macs to Get AI-Focused M4 Chips Starting in Late 2024

Apple plans to release its first Macs with the M4 series of chips in late 2024, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

The report says that the MacBook Pro and iMac lines will be the first to be updated with the M4 series of chips later this year, while other models like the MacBook Air, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro are expected to be updated with M4 series chips throughout 2025.

Gurman said the chips are 'designed to highlight artificial intelligence' capabilities on the Mac.

New iPads Likely to Launch During Second Week of May

In the latest edition of his newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said new iPad Pro and iPad Air models will likely launch during the second week of May, following reported manufacturing delays.

He also said Apple is working on new iPad mini and entry-level iPad models, but he does not expect those devices to launch until later this year.

It has been nearly 18 months since Apple last released new iPads.

Review: Six Months With the iPhone 15 Pro

It's been a bit over six months since the iPhone 15 lineup came out in September, and MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has been using an iPhone 15 Pro Max sans case since launch. Over on our YouTube channel, Dan did a long-term review to demo how his phone has held up and his thoughts on the Action button, battery life, and camera features.

If you're an ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ owner, let us know how your battery life is holding up, whether you're regularly using the Action button, and anything else you've found interesting about your experience with Apple's latest high-end flagship phone!

Here Are All the Rumored iPhone 16 Colors

We recently recapped all rumored color options for the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max, so be sure to check out the list to learn about the new options expected.

At least two new color options are rumored for the lower-end iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models, including Purple and White, while the Pro models could gain new Space Black and Rose Gold titanium finishes.

iOS 18 May Feature All-New 'Safari Browsing Assistant'

One of the new generative AI features rumored to be coming to the iPhone with iOS 18 could be a browsing assistant in Safari, according to backend code discovered on Apple's servers.

While no specific details about the browsing assistant are known, the feature could allow Safari to better compete with other AI-infused web browsers available on the iPhone, such as Microsoft Edge and Arc Search.

The MacRumors Show: Apple Shortcuts and iOS 18 ft. Matthew Cassinelli

Matthew Cassinelli, one of the minds behind Workflow, joined Dan and Hartley on this week's episode of The MacRumors Show to talk Apple Shortcuts and potential improvements and AI features coming to the app in iOS 18.

Last week's episode included discussion of Apple's potential foray into robots, along with discoveries made in the iOS 17.5 beta, rumors about a new Apple Pencil, and more.

Subscribe to The MacRumors Show channel on YouTube, and listen to the podcast in Apple Podcasts or your preferred podcast app.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!Tag: Top StoriesThis article, "Top Stories: M4 Mac Roadmap Leaked, New iPads in Second Week of May, and More" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums