It seems pretty clear that it was a mistake and that all of them sold in the last three weeks were 9 core variants.

I am not so sure of that. Apple does seem like the kind of company that would create an entirely new SKU just for improving margins in a certain product. It all helps differentiating the iPad models.

The device was released May 7th, less than a month ago. And there's only one SOC option listed on the website. I'd agree with you if there was multiple SKUs listed, but there isn't. It's the only SKU listed.

I don't think that's clear at all. My immediate assumption was that the 10-core yields were lower than expected and they have a glut of 9-core chips.

The device was released May 7th, less than a month ago. Yields haven't changed that much in three weeks.

More importantly, the M2 was released two years ago, built on a fab process that entered volume production the year before that. Yields on that chip are as mature as they're going to get.

That's a rather large mistake for a multi trillion dollar company with a very small selection of products. Wtf?

Imagine a world where you can upgrade your device's RAM, storage, and cores with a simple digital purchase. It’s a bittersweet idea—practical for many, yet potentially pricey. Could Apple be considering this innovation?

Innovation as in tried by Intel[1] in 2010 and discontinued after a massive wave of criticism?

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Upgrade_Service

IIRC IBM still uses this “innovation” in their mainframes.

GMTA. What's old is new again. And at many enterprises, 'nobody can get fired for recommending Apple'. 'Crippled hardware unless you pay up': talk about the quintessential protection racket.

No. This isn’t a B-tier Apple punditry podcast.