Apple has turned chip binning into a major money-saving operation. Defective M1 chips that couldn't handle eight GPU cores ended up in the base MacBook Air with seven cores. The MacBook Neo went even further, using A18 Pro chips rejected from the iPhone 16 Pro because only five of six GPU cores functioned. Demand for the MacBook Neo was so strong that Apple burned through its entire stock of binned chips and had to order more.

This isn't a new strategy. A Wall Street Journal report details five additional products carrying binned silicon: the A15 Bionic in the iPhone SE, A17 Pro in the iPad mini, A18 in the iPhone 16e, A19 in the iPhone 17e, and A19 Pro in the iPhone Air. The practice reportedly dates back to the original iPad and iPhone 4, where A4 chips drawing too much power were routed to the Apple TV, while S7 chips landed in the second-generation HomePod instead of the Apple Watch.

The financial impact is substantial. By salvaging chips that would otherwise be discarded, Apple avoids waste and boosts production yields. Industry estimates suggest this approach has generated savings in the hundreds of millions of dollars across the company's product lineup.