Following Apple’s unveiling of the M4 chip earlier this year and its significant performance improvements (which we discuss in detail in our M4 iPad Pro review), all eyes are now on what the company has in store for its Mac and MacBook devices, which currently still use M3 chips.
We just got the biggest hint yet that M4-powered Macs are about to disappear thanks to Apple’s VP of Worldwide Marketing, Greg Joswiak, who teased X that an upcoming ‘week of announcements’ will start on Monday, October 28 recent rumors surrounding the production of the M4 MacBook Airlooks like it could be a very exciting week for Apple fans, so here’s what we expect to see.
M4 MacBook Pro
With Apple’s M4 Pro and Max chips yet to be revealed, this upcoming showcase could be the ideal opportunity to show off the powerful M4 variants, especially as the M4 MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch models are virtually are sure to be revealed, with Apple hopefully highlighting the big performance leap over the previous M3 Pro and Max chips.
Russian YouTuber Wylascom is said to have leaked a new model of the MacBook Pro which comes with the standard M4 chip, which, if legitimate, means the base configuration of the laptop will use a 10-core CPU and GPU just like the M4 iPad Pro, as opposed to the M3’s 8-core CPU , possibly indicating a new focus on Apple Intelligence (the company’s fledgling attempt at artificial intelligence) – although Wylascom’s information should of course be taken with a grain of salt.
The only change from last year’s M3 version that we hope to see is that the base model of every new MacBook Pro will come with at least 16GB of unified memory instead of 8GB. This will be very beneficial for gaming, which is an increasingly popular memory. prominent new focus for Mac devices with recent releases such as the Resident Evil 4 remake. Of course, every laptop released to content creators and professionals in 2024 shouldn’t come with just 8GB of memory.
M4 Macmini
Alongside the unveiling of the M4 MacBook Pro, a redesigned M4 Mac mini is expected, with Apple’s plans to make it the smallest computer it has ever made – at least, as reported by Bloombergs Mark Gurman (who has a strong reputation as a reliable leaker of all things Apple). The size is expected to be similar to the Apple TV, which should be very beneficial for those looking for a sleek desktop setup.
Fortunately, the unified memory will reportedly start at 16GB and max out at 32GB. As we mentioned earlier, 8GB of RAM for Windows PCs and Macs has been criticized as underpowered for a while now, and it will be great to see Apple finally move away from this trend for its M4-powered devices.
M4 iMac
Gurman’s reporting (among other leaks) has suggested that we’ll also be getting an updated iMac as part of the reveals next week. Other than the M4 chip itself, we can’t tell you much about the upcoming iMac – although the good news is that so does Apple reportedly ready to unveil its new Magic accessoriesincluding a new Magic Mouse.
With the M4 iMac, we’d like to see 16GB of unified memory as standard here too – the M3 model was configurable to 16GB or 32GB, but the base model only had 8GB, and we really hope Apple doesn’t repeat this.
After 2024 – M4 MacBook Air
As we mentioned earlier, the M4 MacBook Air is almost certainly still coming to market – in fact, it’s rumored to be the top priority for Apple’s 2025 release schedule. This makes sense given the recent poor sales of Mac products, and how popular the MacBook Air is – Apple will probably be eager to announce a new and improved version of its biggest laptop seller as soon as possible (without annoying anyone who recently bought the M3 model).
If reported by Mark GurmanThe M4 MacBook Air will reportedly remain the same design-wise, with the M4 chip being the only major change.
This is good news for anyone looking forward to buying a MacBook Air. The difference between the 8GB and 16GB unified memory models was very large on the M3 model, so expect the same to be true for the new M4 MacBook Air.
M4 Mac Studio
Finally, since Apple’s focus is supposedly on producing the M4 MacBook Air for early 2025, the somewhat unloved fat boy that is the Mac Studio is expected to arrive with M4 at a later date (again, according to Gurman’s sources ). The Mac Studio is essentially a powerful mini PC that looks like a larger Mac mini, but aimed at creative professionals. It was claimed that it would be in production at the same time as the MacBook Air, but this has apparently changed: the current expectation is between March and June, so not long after the MacBook Air.
Do you have a particular Mac product you’re looking forward to? Be sure to let us know on social media – for Apple, the new MacBook Pro is undoubtedly the main event planned for this coming ‘week of announcements’, but to be honest we’re more interested in a refreshed Mac mini if it’s actually ready is. to be Apple’s smallest computer.