Apple Unveils New MacBook Pro Lineup with M4 Chips
Apple has announced a significant update to its MacBook Pro line, introducing new models featuring the M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips. This announcement follows recent updates to the M4 iMac and M4 Mac Mini earlier in the week, marking a comprehensive refresh of Apple’s Mac lineup.
The announcement was made via a video presentation available on Apple’s website and YouTube channel, featuring John Ternus, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering.
The new MacBook Pro series boasts several enhancements, with the entry-level M4 model starting at $1,599 and now available in space black. Apple claims the 14-inch M4 model is up to 1.8 times faster than its M1 predecessor for tasks such as photo editing. The neural engine in the M4 chip has also seen significant improvements, now up to 3 times more powerful than in the M1, enhancing Apple Intelligence features.
In a notable upgrade, the base RAM for the MacBook Pro line has increased from 8GB to 16GB for the M4 model, addressing a long-standing user request.
The higher-end M4 Pro and M4 Max models bring even more power to the table. The M4 Pro version now starts with 24GB of RAM, up from 18GB in the M3 Pro. The top-tier M4 Max chip includes 16 CPU cores and 40 GPU cores, offering over half a terabyte per second of unified memory bandwidth. Apple states this quadruples the bandwidth of the latest AI PC chip.
According to Apple’s CPU performance chart, the M4 Max is 1.2 times faster than its M3 Max predecessor, indicating a substantial performance boost.
In addition to the MacBook Pro updates, Apple has also refreshed the MacBook Air, increasing its minimum RAM to 16GB to align with the new Pro models.
These updates represent Apple’s continued commitment to enhancing its Mac lineup with powerful, efficient chips and improved specifications across the board.