Ahead of Apple’s November 10 event, when Apple is expected to reveal the first generation of Apple Silicon MacBooks, supply chain sources claim that the company has placed orders for 2.5 million MacBooks with component manufacturers.
According to the Nikkei Asian Review, this is an initial production order. It is expected to be followed by an order for other MacBook designs that are believed to be due in the second quarter of 2021.
Apple orders 2.5 million Apple Silicon MacBook units
Apple is apparently expecting high demand for its upcoming Apple Silicon MacBooks, according to a new report from Nikkei Asia. The report says initial orders for the new MacBooks are equal to nearly a full fifth of total MacBook sales last year:
“Apple is asking suppliers to produce 2.5 million MacBook laptops powered by its in-house designed CPU by early 2021 as the California tech giant looks to rapidly cut its reliance on Intel chips, sources have told Nikkei Asia.
These initial production orders for the first MacBooks to use the Apple Silicon central processing unit are equivalent to nearly 20% of total MacBook shipments for 2019, which came in at 12.6 million units, sources briefed on the matter said.
The U.S. tech giant is slated to introduce other MacBook models using its own CPUs in the second quarter of next year, further replacing Intel’s microprocessors, the sources added”
Unnamed sources told Nikkei Asian Review that the new MacBooks will be entirely manufactured in China. They also corroborated previous reports that the Apple Silicon processors involved will be made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), using the company’s most advanced 5-nanometer chip manufacturing technology.
The Cupertino tech giant is expected to unveil its first new ARM-based Macs at next week’s ‘One More Thing’ event. While we’re positive that new Macs will be the main focus of the event, we don’t know for sure which models will be unveiled as the first Apple Silicon Macs.
Fairly reliable leaker @L0vetodream has tweeted a vague message “13 inch X 2,” suggesting Apple will unveil two 13-inch MacBook models as the first Apple Silicon Macs. Furthermore, Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the first two ARM-based Macs would be new versions of the 13-inch MacBook Air and a new 13-inch MacBook Pro.
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