Category: 📁 Tech Plans

I wonder if Apple could have CPU redesign, newer N3P process, and add cores for their A18 and M4 chips. If so, 2024 iPhone and 2025 M4 Macs could be great upgrade for tock cycle, especially compared to year old A15 in iPhone 14, and M2 Macs.

Ideas

• A18 and M4 get more cores with 3+6 - A11 started 2+4
• A18 and M4 use newer N3P process - Skip N3E of others
• M4 focuses on CPU improvements - CPU redesign
• M3 focused on GPU improvements - GPU redesign
• If so, A18 will be worthwhile tock upgrade
• If so, M4 will be solid tock upgrade too
• If so, A18 iPhone could be great choice
• If so, M4 Macs could be good choice too

Cores

• A18 Reg - 3 PC - 6 EC - 6 GC
• M4 Reg - 6 PC - 6 EC - 12 GC
• M4 Pro - 9/12 PC - 6 EC - 24 GC
• M4 Max - 12/18 PC - 6 EC - 48 GC

Dates

• A18 Reg - Fall 2024
• M4 Reg - Spring 2025
• M4 Pro & Max - Summer 2025
• M4 Ultra - Summer 2025

Devices

• Fall 2024 - A18 iPhone 16 Reg - Update - A18 goes in iPhone
• Fall 2024 - A18 iPhone 16 Pro - Redesign
• Spring 2025 - M4 15 inch and/or 13 inch MacBook Air - Update
• Spring 2025 - M4 12 inch MacBook mini - Redesign or M3 12 inch Update
• Summer 2025 - M4 Pro Mac Pro nee Studio and MacBook Pro - Update
• Summer 2025 - M4 Ultra Mac Ultra nee Pro - Redesign or M3 Ultra Update

Hi Matt. Could any of these ideas be favorable for WordPress.com's new 100 year hosting plan?

Give

• Free 101 year hosting
• Free WordPress.com setup and backup at /domain
• Free 1 year domain or domain name transfer
• $19 for 1 year domain or domain transfer - Gets card
• $99/year additional domain years up to 101 total
• Note - 1st year could be one of $19, $49, $99, $29

Money

• Ads and sponsors - 95% Cut - Large Profit
• Single site one-click subscriptions - 50% Cut - Medium Profit
• Domain name additional years - 100% Cut - Small Profit
• Single site one-click follow button - Feature - Network Effect

Names

• "Hosting 101" - wordpress.com/hosting-101
• "WordPress.com 101" - wordpress.com/101
• "Website 101" - wordpress.com/website-101
• "Domain 101" - wordpress.com/domain-101
• "Automattic WordPress 101" - wordpress.com/101
• Future Dream - "Wordpress 101" - wordpress.com/101

Sales of the 100-year plan so far - 0.

Guesses

• Mac Ultra, nee Pro, with M3 Ultra
• 30" or 32" iMac Pro with M3 Pro
• 14" and 16" MacBook Pro updates
• M3 Pro and M2 options for iMac

Notes

• N3B on 3nm was ready long ago - A17/M3 Pro
• M3 Pro vs M2 may encourage iMac Pro sales
• No M3 or A17, straight to M4 and A18

• 15.3" - M3 - Notch Design - Upgraded - MacBook Air
• 12.5" - M3 - Notch Design - Added - MacBook mini
• 13.6" - M2 - Notch Design - Discounted - MacBook Air
• 13.3" - M1 - Older Design - Removed - Discounted?

I wonder if we should design keyboards to input the bullet point character (U+2022 •) instead of the backtick character (U+0060 `), which is currently the key above the tab key and to the left of the number 1.

Notes

• Why 1 • The bullet point is a very common symbol used in lists and HTML
• Why 2 • The bullet point character is an excellent information separator
• I wonder if the bullet point should be used as a data/table separator
• Column Data 1 • Column Data 2 • Column Data 3 • Column Data 4
• I wonder if the bullet point should be used as a better colon replacement
• Title of This Book • Cool Subtitle of This Book With a Really Long Name
• I wonder if the bullet point could even be used as a filename/URL separator
• Example • 2023-08-20•bullet-point-character-on-keyboards•munro-stewart

August 20, 2023

I wonder if our personal and work technology future will consist solely of using wearable devices including headsets, glasses, watches, and other future devices. These wearable devices would completely replace all the "screens" we now use including PCs, TVs, phones, and tablets.

Wearables

• I envision Headsets replacing all computers, laptops, and televisions
• We will use these devices while at home or work for everything
• I envision Glasses replacing all phones, tablets, and readers
• We will wear these devices constantly, both inside and mobile outside
• Headsets will be powerful and display any screens or environments
• Glasses will be less powerful and display information differently

Devices

• Headset, Glasses, and Watch wearables will be all most people need or use
• In that sense, we almost merge with technology as it is always present
• Desktop or Laptop will be reserved for power users and old computers
• Even then, a wireless or wired Headset will usually be used as your monitor
• We wouldn't need a Watch, but it makes sense to track our health metrics
• Other wearable devices in the future will make us even more like a cyborg

I wonder if XR headsets will be to the TV set what a laptop is to the desktop. Some people will still use televisions in the future, but most people will transition to use a portable, smaller, and battery powered XR headset instead of a TV.

Notes

• Headsets make the TV portable and smaller, just like a laptop
• Headsets are battery powered unlike a TV, just like a laptop
• They use nearly as powerful of a processor as a console, just like a laptop
• They are fully self-contained and functional on their own, just like a laptop
• Unlike a laptop, the screen will actually appear bigger than a TV
• Unlike a laptop, a Micro OLED screen would appear better than a TV

I wonder if the rumored 5.7 inch iPhone SE could actually be a potential new size and design for the regular iPhone, possibly for fall 2023. The next iPhone SE could be based off that new design with USB-C, possibly for spring 2025 or 2026.

Notes

If there is an earlier iPhone SE in the spring of 2024, I wonder if it would be based off of the 5.4 inch iPhone 13 mini, or the 6 inch iPhone 13. However, they would need to at least slightly redesign the exterior of the device, to add USB-C, and possibly also Touch ID in the power button for cost reasons. Previously, the iPhone SE was not updated for 4 years from 2016 to 2020. Waiting three or four years after 2022 until the next iteration could make sense, to allow it to be based off of a newer design with USB-C, instead of ever having an iPhone SE based on an iPhone from the Face ID and notch era of devices.

I wonder if the new highest end Mac mini will simply get the new M2 chip, instead of having a Mac mini with an M2 Pro chip. The previous M1 chip could stick around as a lower tier Mac mini, and the M-Series Pro chips would be saved for the Mac Studio.

I wonder who has the better branding for their processor names, Qualcomm with "Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2" or Apple with "M2"?

I wonder if Apple will have a higher tier brand called Ultra in more products, similar to Apple Watch and Apple Silicon. Maybe they would therefore have a Mac Ultra as their highest end desktop for instance.

I wonder if the 2023 iPhone release may even be around June instead of September, because ARM unconventionally missed its tick-tock cycle with 3 iterations of 5nm chips. The first 3nm chips for iPhone, based on ARMv9, may be ready to release earlier than normal.

I wonder if Apple may end up with a MacBook lineup which mirrors the current iPad lineup, with a 12" MacBook mini and 5 total devices including a super budget device. There would be no 15" MacBook, which goes against some currently suggested rumors.

iPad

• iPad Pro - Large and Small - 12.9" and 11"
• iPad Air - Large - 10.9"
• iPad mini - Small - 8.3"
• "iPad" - Cheap - 10.2": Older design with newish internals

MacBook?

• MacBook Pro - Large and Small - 16.2" and 14.2"
• MacBook Air - Large - 13.6"
• MacBook mini - Small - ~12.2"
• "MacBook" - Cheap - 13.3": Older design with newish internals

Why

• So there are only 2 size choices of the mainstream SKU, Air and mini
• So there is an ultraportable mainstream 12" MacBook with good performance
• So there is a super budget device, but not way too many different choices
• "MacBook" could be old design with updated internals at budget price
• MacBook Air and mini reach main customers who want very portable Mac
• Budget "MacBook" SE would reach budget customers who just want Mac

Apple should include the Spotlight search bar at the top of the Control Center screen, so it could be accessed like a widget from within any application quicker and easier.

Apple should merge Control Center and Widgets in its operating systems, and remove widgets from the home screen or app launcher.

I wonder if TextExpander should offer both a single full purchase that includes all features offline, and a separate but optional subscription purchase, that includes an online account with cloud syncing.

What

• Single purchase for all main features
• Subscription purchase for cloud sync features
• Single purchase includes all features without account
• Subscription includes saving and syncing settings with account

Why

• Have more happy users and positive reviews
• Get many more users for network effect
• Still have recurring revenue from power users
• Make versions 2, 3, etc. for single purchase upgrade strategy

I wonder if Apple even needs to make a Mac mini Pro or an iMac Pro now, since they have the Mac Studio and have recommitted to the Mac Pro in 2019 after seemingly considering scrapping it in favor of an all-in-one iMac Pro design under Jony Ive in 2017.

If I had to guess if Apple makes a 15" MacBook, a 12" MacBook, or both sizes, I would guess they only make the 12" size, to pair with the current 13.6" MacBook Air. It could have an M3 chip based on ARMv9 and might also be the first non-Pro device by Apple with Mini-LED.

I wonder if Apple WWDC 2022 might not include the release of the newly redesigned consumer MacBook or Mac mini.

Notes

• I have an alternate idea about the products that could be announced at Apple's WWDC 2022 event, as we often expect things earlier than they arrive, like people thinking M2 could come in spring 2022, a flat Watch in 2021, or a redesigned flat back iPhone in 2022.
• Since the new MacBook and Mac mini are giant updates to decade old designs, I wonder if it could make sense to only release a MacBook Pro sans notch and a larger iMac with 5nm M1X/M2 in 2Q22, and leave the new MacBook and Mac mini for the 3nm M2/M3 with ARMv9 for around 1Q23.
• The new Mac Pro with the most powerful chip Apple will make could then be the star of the show, as long as it is ready to be released. The Mac Pro and iMac are more developer focused devices anyway, as opposed to the MacBook and Mac mini, which are targeted more at consumers.
• Rebranding or naming of products is much tougher to guess, but I wonder if there is at least a chance that the Mac Pro could be renamed to something else, based on the Mac Studio being released with a new name earlier this year, and including the M1 Pro chip.

Update - June 4th

• While my alternative guess is that the newly redesigned MacBook and Mac mini could wait until 2023 for the 3nm M1-series chip, I will add that maybe they could still release an updated MacBook Air with the old design, instead of the new colorful design.
• Since the potential third generation 5nm M1X/M2 chip for this year may not be a big enough upgrade for the new design, they could release both the MacBook and MacBook Pro this year in the old designs, which they used for the original M1 Macs from late 2020.

Previously:

@gruber I wonder if Apple could make their next iMac and consumer oriented display to each have a design with a 30 inch 6K screen, a resolution of 5760 x 3240 with 220 PPI, and a 60Hz IPS screen without Mini-LED and likely without 120Hz ProMotion. [Link]

They could. But why would they? I don’t see them making standalone displays that aren’t technically excellent, and that means ProMotion and probably Mini LED. - John Gruber

TLDR

• What size would you choose to make the larger iMac?
• I somewhat agree with your point about Pro displays
• Why would they? Larger than 27", consumer price, etc.
• Should they? Yes, according to me it's the best option
• Will they? Probably not
• Who's on first? Yes

Why 30" iMac?

• Larger than previous 27" size started in 2009
• Proportionally larger as new 24" is over 22"
• Wider horizontal resolution at 1620 over 1440
• Keeps the same 220 PPI retina resolution
• Creates 6K 5760 x 3240 standard
• Created 2K 2560 x 1440 standard

Why 30" Consumer Display?

• I agree they could leave this to others or have 120Hz
• But, allows lower cost than Pro XDRs for consumer Macs
• They DO make a consumer level of most products
• Makes a good match for all M1 Macs and forward
• Matching single or dual 24" and 30" - 27" and 32" Pro
• M1 supports up to 6K and 60Hz

Why Not 32"?

• OK, you got me there
• But, 6K at 5760 x 3240 would be a good standard
• Maybe others would also make 30" at 6K
• Could be considered upgrade to industry 27" at 4K
• In 2009, others embraced 27" 2K at 2560 x 1440
• Others haven't embraced 27" 5K or 32" 6K thus far

Why Consumer Display And Products?

• iMac, MacBook Air, Mac mini - Displays to match?
• iPad Air, iPad mini, iPad
• iPhone, iPhone mini, iPhone SE
• AirPods, HomePod mini, iPod Touch
• Apple TV 4K, Apple TV, Apple Watch SE
• iPad screen isn't technically excellent like Pro XDR, for instance

Lineup

• Suggested consumer and pro lineup of Macs and Displays
• Larger sizes for both iMacs and possible consumer displays
• iMac - 24" and 30" - Same display tech as Apple Display
• Apple Display - 24" and 30" - 60Hz IPS LED for now
• Mac Pro - Mac Pro and Mac Pro Max - Mac Pro "mini"?
• Apple Display Pro - 27" and 32" - 120Hz Mini-LED for now

More reasons in original post with idea for 30" 6K iMac and display