New Camera Tech May Point to Ultra-Thin M5 MacBooks
Credit: Federico Orlandi
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We haven’t even seen Apple’s M4 MacBook arrive, yet the rumor mill is already focusing on the kind of tech Apple plans to pack into its M5 MacBook models sometime in late 2025 and beyond.
Following the release of its ‘impossibly thin’ M4 iPad Pro in May, it seems Apple has returned to its passion for creating the thinnest and lightest products possible, which means an ultra-thin MacBook can’t be far behind.
Fortunately, the company seems to have learned from its past mistakes (yes, we’re looking at you, butterfly keyboard). The M4 iPad Pro is an incredible piece of innovation; it’s the thinnest product Apple has ever made, and yet it doesn’t compromise on features, quality, or durability to get there.
We’re hoping Apple can work a similar miracle when it comes to its other products. There are already rumors of an “iPhone 17 Slim” for next year, and last month, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said Apple plans to “return to form” with similar strategies to shave a few millimeters off its other products.
That could start with this year’s Apple Watch Series 10, which is expected to get a larger screen with a thinner body. However, Apple’s next real tour-de-force won’t likely arrive until late next year when the first M5 MacBooks appear.
Complex products like Macs and iPads are a sum of every component inside, so slimming them down requires cutting every possible corner. However, while the lid containing the screen and camera is already pretty thin on today’s MacBooks, Apple is looking at ways to make that even thinner.
According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, one key to this could be a new compact camera module (CCM), which Apple is already lining up suppliers for. In a post on Medium, Kuo reveals that Apple has pegged Sunny Optical to supply new CCMs for the new M5 MacBooks. If all goes well, these could also expand to the iPhone and iPad.
Sunny Optical will become Apple’s new CCM supplier in 2025, with mass production and shipments in Vietnam for the CCM of the new M5 series MacBook models. Given that Sunny Optical is a first-tier CCM supplier in the world, if MacBook CCM shipments go smoothly, Sunny Optical may become the new CCM supplier for iPhone and iPad in the future.Ming-Chi Kuo
Kuo doesn’t specify which MacBooks will get the new camera modules, but if past trends continue, they’re likely earmarked for the M5 MacBook Pro. That’s the model that Gurman says Apple is focusing on for a thinner design, which makes sense in light of the M4 iPad Pro versus the M2 iPad Air.
It seems clear that Apple is equating extreme thinness with its highest-end products. However, unlike the 2008 MacBook Air, which kicked off Apple’s original era of “thinnovation,” the M4 iPad Pro delivers top-tier performance despite its ultra-thin profile.
In 2008, it wasn’t realistically possible for Apple to achieve both of these things at the same time, so the original MacBook Air ended up being more of an “executive” laptop that was fine for casual work but woefully underpowered for its $1,799 starting price (which went up to $2,799 if you wanted an SSD, which was a desirable upgrade if you were buying a machine like this).
Of course, technology has changed a lot in the past 16 years, and Apple’s M4 iPad Pro proves it’s no longer necessary to sacrifice performance for portability. That’s probably part of why it made the iPad Pro its first “impossibly thin” tablet — to make it evident that the two are no longer mutually exclusive. A similarly thin M5 MacBook Pro could prove the same for Apple’s MacBook lineup.
That doesn’t mean Apple won’t also position its thinnest devices as higher-end luxury products. The so-called “iPhone 17 Slim” remains an open question, as current rumors suggest it will be a pricier alternative to the iPhone 17 Pro, with lower specs. Still, that flies in the face of the M4 iPad Pro and rumored ultrathin MacBook Pro, so we’ll have to reserve judgment until we see what Apple does here.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
