Looking forward to getting a new MacBook in the next year or so? You might have to wait longer than expected, as Apple chip supplier TSMC is reportedly struggling to get enough skilled workers for its forthcoming Arizona factory. That could mean we see serious shortages of Apple laptops and a struggle to get hold of stock.
The bad news comes from The Wall Street Journal. According to the outlet, TSMC has said that “people with expertise erecting semiconductor facilities were in short supply in the U.S.” As a result, the Arizona factory “would miss its target of starting mass production next year.”
What does that mean for you? Well, the Arizona plant is expected to shoulder some of the burden of manufacturing TSMC’s 4-nanometer and 3-nm chips — the latter of which will help form Apple’s upcoming M3 chip that could revolutionize MacBook performance.
If the Arizona plant is behind schedule, it could mean TSMC can’t make as many M3 chips as Apple wants. The company will still be able to rely on its Taiwanese factory, but without help from Arizona, the total output is likely to be lower. That could make it much harder to get your hands on a MacBook next year.
Fewer Macs to go around?
TSMC is reportedly flying specialists out from Taiwan to Arizona in a bid to get the factory back on track. But company chairman Mark Liu still expects chip mass production at the U.S. plant to be delayed from 2024 until 2025.
That’s obviously far from ideal and will put pressure on Apple’s ability to get its devices into the hands of its customers. It follows similar news that the iPhone 15 series could also suffer from “severe” shortages later this year.
The only good news is that there is unlikely to be a delay to the M3-equipped Macs that are coming this year since TSMC’s Taiwanese factory is running normally. Apple’s M2 series faced numerous reports of delays, with the M2-series Mac Pro only launching in June 2023 — four years after the previous version.
With any luck, you won’t need to worry about a repeat of those delays when it comes to the M3 series. But what could be an issue is the sheer number of Macs available from 2024 onwards, with the Arizona plant’s ability to ease the load on its Taiwanese counterpart now called into question.
So, if you are thinking of upgrading next year, you might have to move quickly in order to secure yourself a Mac. They may be in short supply.
Editors’ Recommendations
- The M3 MacBook Pro may launch sooner than anyone expected
- There are too many MacBooks
- MacBook Air 15-inch vs. MacBook Air 13-inch: which to buy
- iMac 27-inch: Everything we know about Apple’s larger, more powerful iMac
- Major leak reveals every secret Mac Apple is working on
In ancient times, people like Alex would have been shunned for their nerdy ways and strange opinions on cheese. Today, he…
MacBooks may finally catch up to Windows laptops in this one important way
MacBooks have been on a roll lately, and in a lot of ways, they’ve made it difficult for Windows laptops to keep up. Dollar for dollar, they tend to be faster, longer-lasting, and more feature-rich machines.
There’s been one blatant feature missing from Macs, though: Face ID. Despite plenty of rumors over the years, Apple has continued to leave Face ID off the MacBook. We’ve been asking for it for years now, but Apple can be stubborn with stuff like this.
There’s a MacBook that Apple has no right to continue selling
With the launch of the new 15-inch MacBook Air, Apple has solidified its most fleshed-out Mac lineup in recent memory. There’s a MacBook for almost every conceivable budget and use case, ranging from the $999 M1 MacBook Air up to the upper echelons of the 16-inch MacBook Pro.
Considering how well the 15-inch MacBook Air has been received in early reviews, there doesn’t appear to be a bad choice in the mix. That is, until you stumble upon the MacBook hidden in the lineup that Apple has continued to sell for absolutely no reason. I’m referring to the 13-inch MacBook Pro, of course.
There’s great news if you want to buy Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Air
When Apple launched the 15-inch MacBook Air at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), it seemed like there wasn’t too much separating it from its 13-inch sibling. Yet a new set of tests has shown that the larger model pulls ahead in some key ways, making it a much more attractive purchase if you want maximum performance in a slimline laptop.
The testing was conducted by YouTuber Max Tech, who pitted the 15-inch MacBook Air against Apple’s smaller 13-inch version. Both laptops had the M2 chip and 256GB of storage, so you might think the only difference would be found in the size of the displays. Yet that’s not how the testing played out at all.
[ For more curated Apple news, check out the main news page here]
The post Apple’s 2024 MacBooks may face some serious shortages | Digital Trends first appeared on www.digitaltrends.com
