Gurman: M4 MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and iMac Coming This Year

[e-coli]

It is absolutely ridiculous that there will be M4 Max MBPs while the Studio and Pro are still on M2.

The higher-end M3 Max already had nearly the same performance as the M2 Ultra in some areas, the M4 Max is likely to beat it out across the board.

There is a well-documented limitation within the early M-series chips which prevents scaling. This would most affect Mac Studio and Mac Pro. These issues are addressed in the M4 chip design. It makes sense for Apple to have skipped the M3 entirely while focusing on the latest architecture.

 

[JippaLippa]

M4 feels like the genuine successor of the glorious M1.
The chips inbetween have "only" been incremental steps on the same original concept.

 

[madebybela]

Mac mini bros can't stop winning
May be time to upgrade from my M1 to an M4 Pro

 

[nt5672]

We don’t need the thinnest and lightest products lmao. Didn’t we already do this mess with Jony Ive? Is Apple just going in a circle? Just keep refining what already works! More battery life, more power, more green! Thinner and lighter doesn’t always mean better. Well, computer wise that is lol

Cook has absolutely no idea what he is doing. Either copy android, copy Ive, or put in a faster chip, but nothing original, no leadership.

 

[DaniTheFox]

Unlikely on the SD Card and HDMI ports. Those are professional ports while the Air is a low-end consumer model aimed at students and people buying their first Mac for media consumption and web browsing and maybe some light work.

For me SD Cards were never in professional cameras. The Nikon D-Series never had it since it introduction 1/4 century ago.

 

[3Rock]

I would really love to see the long rumored 32" iMac Pro come out. That would be a dream machine even though the price would be ridiculous.

Would love to see a thinner MacBook Pro too.

Not as many people would purchase the 32 inch because of the cost. A 27 inch would be a whole lot less costly and more sales. I would buy the 27 inch over to 32 inch any day.

 

[b.la]

It is absolutely ridiculous that there will be M4 Max MBPs while the Studio and Pro are still on M2.

The higher-end M3 Max already had nearly the same performance as the M2 Ultra in some areas, the M4 Max is likely to beat it out across the board.

I don’t get why you’re so triggered by this.

The strategy seems to be that Apple will update its portable machines with each chip iteration and have the Mac Mini/Studio and iMac alternate with each skipping a generation. As for the Mac Pro, I’m not sure that’s got much of a future in its current iteration.

If someone bought an M2 (inc Pro, Mac, Ultra) desktop machine at launch and are limited by performance, their work flow has dramatically changed or they under spec’d it.

 

[JitteryJimmy]

I wonder if they will shrink the Mini

They could probably engineer a Mini to fit in a housing the size of an Apple TV. Maybe even make it USB-C powered, and drop the internal power supply to reduce the internal heat.

That'd be less expensive to make, at the cost of ports. Maybe two USB-C and a 1Gb Ethernet.

Kind of nice in the data center too, where you could power a farm of them with a DC power rail. A cooling fan might be undesirable in such a setup, so maybe some vents that air could be forced through to add external active cooling in high density data center configurations.

 

[iMac The Knife]

32" iMac, 32" iMac, 32" iMac. Come on, say it with me!!!

 

[b.la]

What's really needed is a MacBook Air with a not-gimped port setup, adding at least SD Card and HDMI for full real world compatibility.

They already have that, the not so pro MacBook Pro with M3. It’s a MacBook Air dressed up as a MacBook Pro.

 

[DaniTheFox]

What's really needed is a MacBook Air with a not-gimped port setup, adding at least SD Card and HDMI for full real world compatibility.

All employees at our university can choose between Airs and Pros. Are we not all professionals (a few are even „Professor“).
And students have to do presentatons to us. And all our presentation devices have HDMI ports.
So if the Airs are „only“ for students (witch are not) they need a HDMI port.

 

[MichaelDroste]

Coming from a 2019 Mac Pro Tower - MIGHT go for a souped up M4 mini or MacBook Pro… see what the benchmarks and $$$$ are….

 

[cwwilson]

The M4 is an absolute monster of a chip, I really wish I had it in my 15" MBA it'd be the perfect laptop for me. 😁

 

[OrcaAreCute]

It is absolutely ridiculous that there will be M4 Max MBPs while the Studio and Pro are still on M2.

Not really. Studios and Pros are not 1-2 year cycle upgrades. The Macbook Pros and Airs are becoming like an iPhone and people who are hooked on them are definitely upgrading every 1-2 years. I would think after the first of the year, Studio/Pro will get the M4 Ultra or maybe the first M5 machines at WWDC25

 

[b.la]

All employees at our university can choose between Airs and Pros. Are we not all professionals (a few are even „Professor“).
And students have to do presentatons to us. And all our presentation devices have HDMI ports.
So if the Airs are „only“ for students (which are not) they need a HDMI port.

Or the uni could buy USB-C to HDMI adapters in the rooms so anyone can use it from mobiles and tablets to laptops.

 

[JensenKA]

Waiting patiently for the M4 Mac Mini so I can replace my 2016 MacBook Pro.

 

[DaniTheFox]

Or the uni could buy USB-C to HDMI adapters in the rooms so anyone can use it from mobiles and tablets to laptops.

Yes, we have DP mini, DP, USB-C and HDMI cable/adapters in rooms. The USB-C gives you also Ethernet and USB-DP. I like that with my iPad Pro (and the latest iPhone)

But you know how people think about dongels, when they have to travel.

 

[Noctilux.95]

I really need a Mac Studio with an M4 max but will probably go with a Mini M4 pro since it will be available a lot sooner.

 

[citysnaps]

Cook has absolutely no idea what he is doing. Either copy android, copy Ive, or put in a faster chip, but nothing original, no leadership.

Pretty astonishing considering Apple is one of the most successful tech companies in the world, with a billion active customers, 164,000 employees, and manufacturing/selling 600,000 iPhones per day every day of the year (on the average).

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Pretty astonishing considering Apple is one of the most successful tech companies in the world, with a billion active customers, 164,000 employees, and manufacturing/selling 600,000 iPhones per day every day of the year (on the average).

I'm platform agnostic and i'm always puzzled when I read comments from users saying Tim Cook needs to go because he's a bum and doesn't know what he's doing. If he is as bad as some say, Apple should have been bankrupt a long time ago under his tenure.

 

[komuh]

I really need a Mac Studio with an M4 max but will probably go with a Mini M4 pro since it will be available a lot sooner.

I'll be for sure waiting for Studio if you upgrade from M1/M2 Max/Ultra it won't be worth to downscale so much.

 

[cdsapplefan]

It is absolutely ridiculous that there will be M4 Max MBPs while the Studio and Pro are still on M2.

The higher-end M3 Max already had nearly the same performance as the M2 Ultra in some areas, the M4 Max is likely to beat it out across the board.

A pie chart showed Apple sells a ton more MacBooks 👩‍💻 than Mac desktops. There MacBook Pro’s 💻 sell like hotcakes 🥞 I’m rather shocked that these M4 MacBooks updates didn’t even come before the Big Back to School deals, guess they want to fully deplete the stocks of M3 and M2 MacBooks

 

[Sandstorm]

Still waiting for my dream machine - iMac Pro 32"/6K (& hopefully with ProMotion and FaceID)

 

[Ethosik]

Of Apple’s Mac sales, the Mac Pro makes up 2% of sales and the Mac Studio makes up 1% of sales. It just isn’t worthwhile for them to update them all that often. Even if they were running variants of the M4 while the MBP’s run M3 variants, the MBP’s would still outsell them by about 20-1.

The more they ignore these products the worse it gets. They put a death toll on the desktop line with the trash can. And let that just sit there for years. Pros left.

Apple needs to make an effort here. Two updates then you let it get stale again? Why would you put up an investment into the macOS ecosystem when Apple treats its pro lineup this way?

As someone that went from PC to Mac as a primary driver with the studio, Apple is really irritating me. They do just the bare minimum with their desktops. Maybe if they didn’t, they would sell more.

 

[Ethosik]

It’s not absolutely ridiculous. “Absolutely frustrating”? Sure. Maybe. This is a business. They know what products sell and where to drive the most in sales. They’ve finely tuned their strategy on this over many years. To them, it makes sense.

I say this as someone in the market for an M4 Max Studio.

The masses always come before the niche markets.

No it’s ridiculous. I have an M2 Ultra and an M3 Max. The max is better and cheaper than a desktop model. As someone that needs the power (M3 Max currently) but needs A LOT of IO (Mac Studio only fits this), there is no computer for me.