The difference makes a lot of sense to me. The phones are watches are primarily sold on annual leases through carriers. And no one is buying them for the chips

The difference makes a lot of sense to me. The phones are watches are primarily sold on annual leases through carriers. And no one is buying them for the chips, it's all camera and form factor. The macs, on the other hand, can more easily swap between chips in manufacturing. And the form factor is pretty static. So Apple, in a race to have the best chip in the field at any given time, is just releasing them as soon as they're ready. I agree the whole "m5 max > m6" is confusing, but I think they figure only the nerds who learn the specifics are going to care anyway.