Apple's M4 chip overhaul to revive Mac sales, AI push lifts stock 4.3%

livemint.com:

Bloomberg. “The new Macs are underway at a critical time. After peaking in 2022, Mac sales fell 27% in the last fiscal year, which ended in September.

In the holiday period, revenue from the computer line was flat," the report stated. Apple shares increased 4.3 per cent to USD 175.04 on April 11 in New York, the biggest single-day gain in 11 months. They had been down 13 percent this year through Wednesday’s close.

According to people with knowledge of the matter, the company released its first Macs with M3 chips five months ago and is already nearing production of the next generation—the M4 processor. The new chip will come in at least three main varieties, and Apple is looking to update every Mac model with it, said people who asked not to be identified, as the plans haven’t been announced, as per the report. The new Macs are underway at a critical time.

After peaking in 2022, Mac sales fell 27% in the last fiscal year, which ended in September. Revenue from the computer line was flat during the holiday period. Apple attempted to breathe new life into the Mac business with an M3-focused launch event last October, but those chips didn’t bring major performance improvements over the M2 from the prior year, as per the report.

Apple is also playing catch-up in AI, where it’s seen as a laggard to Microsoft Corp, Alphabet Inc’s Google, and other tech peers. The new chips are part of a broader push to weave AI capabilities into all its products. Apple aims to release the updated computers beginning late this year and extending into early next year.