Overview
- Apple opened talks with suppliers Tuesday, according to multiple reports, after sales surpassed the roughly 5–6 million units it planned to build from leftover A18 Pro chips.
- The Neo’s low $599 entry price hinges on binned A18 Pro processors, which are iPhone 16 Pro chips with one GPU core disabled to cut costs.
- TSMC’s second‑generation 3nm lines (N3E) are effectively full, so a new wafer order would come at a premium and strain the Neo’s margins.
- Any fresh A18 Pro run would need Apple to ship chips with one GPU core turned off to match existing 5‑core GPU units in customers’ hands.
- Options reported by outlets include paying for new wafers, dropping the $599 256GB model, reallocating production, or pulling forward a rumored A19 Pro refresh, while Apple’s store shows 2–3 week delivery estimates and the Neo is drawing many first‑time Mac buyers.