MacBook Pros With M4 Pro and M4 Max Chips Reportedly Being Mass Produced This Month

[chucker23n1]

Doesn’t matter, it’s about chip design.

Every Mx Pro, Max and Ultra has been something akin to “the same chip with more cores glued on.” You can see photos and X-rays, the underlying architecture is identical.

No. The cores are the same (just different counts and clock rates), but additional aspects aren’t. M chips can run on different memory controllers, can add features such as Thunderbolt, etc. The M1 Pro had different aspects than the M1.

Thunderbolt is basically the PCI bus, it’s intrinsic to the architecture.

A chips have no Thunderbolt.

m4 with Thunderbolt 5 would be different enough to justify calling it an M5.

They wouldn’t do that.

 

[Addicted2Apples]

Apple's supply chain is beginning mass production of next-generation 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M4 Pro and M4 Max chips in August, according to Taiwanese industry publication DigiTimes. With only a few days remaining in the month, that means that assembly of the laptops has more likely than not already begun.

This information aligns with display industry analyst Ross Young claiming that display shipments for the next 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are underway.

In a May edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said "you should expect M4 Pro and M4 Max chips later this year as part of the high-end MacBook Pro." He also expects Apple to release three new Macs with the standard M4 chip later this year, including a lower-end 14-inch MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini.

October is a common month for Apple to announce new Macs, including the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips last October. If that pattern repeats itself, the next 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips are likely around two months away from launching.

The standard M4 chip already debuted in the iPad Pro earlier this year, and Geekbench results showed it provided up to 25% faster multi-core CPU performance compared to the M3 chip. Likewise, moderate year-over-year performance and power efficiency improvements can be expected from the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips.

No major design changes are expected for the next MacBook Pro models, with an OLED display in particular likely still a few years away for the laptops. Gurman said Apple is also planning to make the MacBook Pro thinner at some point "over the next couple of years."

Apple's last Mac-focused event was held on October 30, 2023, and there is certainly potential for another October event this year.

Article Link: MacBook Pros With M4 Pro and M4 Max Chips Reportedly Being Mass Produced This Month

I am still amazed Apple doesn't advertise the insanely fast clock speed of the M4 chip, for everyone unaware it's 4.4GHz! (M3 was 4.05GHz), (M2 was 3.49GHz) & M1 was 3.22GHz)... I guess it's not publicly shown in case Qualcomm/Intel tries to just one-up the speed of the chip (and say: hey the new Intel Ultra Whatever chip is faster than the Apple M4).

Side note: I think the M4's CPU clock speed upgrade from the M2's is the biggest leap (for the iPad Pro) because it went from 3.5GHz to 4.4GHz (+0.9GHz in 1 generation).

 

[mrmod]

Has TB5 actually been implemented by Intel yet? And are they making discrete controllers available to OEMs?

It’s been a while since I’ve checked in on the status of TB.

TB5 was released last September and are in a few laptops jan/feb of this year. Apple will be late to the game imo when they put TB5 into the M5. The only thing apple has going for it is the efficiency of apple silicon, everything else is standard or below par these days for the high end prices.

 

[cocoua]

Well there are rumors of basically full chassis Touch Bar essentially.

But that would be a special device not a special hardware feature in all mbp.
Touchbar had so many hardware failures beyond the user experience I dont think they want to come back to that.

 

[glockenSquish]

Anyone else think it would read better as

MacBooks Pro​

?

“Singular parcels of the MacBook Pro”, formally.

 

[glockenSquish]

Yep... my 2013 Intel MBP 16 is crying while the heat it generates toasts my hands, and the fan noise drowns out every other sound within a mile of me.

My 2013 MBP knows that in 2 months, it will - at LONG LAST - finally get shelved and start collecting dust as I replace it with a 2024 M4-Pro MBP 16.

SOOOO looking forward to the M4 Pro MBP!!

I hope they fixed the fan noise issue with the M3!

 

[fifi.chichache]

This next iteration will be the one replacing my 2017 Intel Macbook Pro 13... I might have to strap myself to my chair if I don't want to be blown away cause it's gonna be some huge speed improvement.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Are speed bumps really a big thing?

Is anyone really complaining about that with the current Macs?

I think folks are overstating the draw of “even more speed” here.

 

[cocoua]

Are speed bumps really a big thing?

Is anyone really complaining about that with the current Macs?

I think folks are overstating the draw of “even more speed” here.

Faster is the only big thing in computing.

compared with extra features as integrated webcams or smoother keyboards, brighter screens or slimmer laptops faster is the king.

Faster is the only thing allows us to have real new software features for office users/students/media pros/medical/engineering/ and better media quality and effects in products for consumers.

I mean, we cant even think about how the world would be if common personal computers were suddendly 1000x faster. But you could guess how it would be with current performance but 1000x better cameras/ slimmer/ battery life etc

Maybe what you mean is that people is happy actually because their computers are faster enough to do the things software companies are able to code with current computer’s performance, but soon or later EVERYONE would need to update their system to keep up to date with new features.

So is this, that Apple had to change its plans releasing M3-M4 line because the new AI hype. And computers are yet toooooo slow to include those features as we wish.

 

[Chuckeee]

Are speed bumps really a big thing?

Is anyone really complaining about that with the current Macs?

I think folks are overstating the draw of “even more speed” here.

I agree

It has been my experience that for most users and most applications the thing that limits speed is the person in front the keyboard not the hardware/software behind the keyboard.

I realize that there are exceptions, that is why I said “most”.

 

[cocoua]

I agree

It has been my experience that for most users and most applications the thing that limits speed is the person in front the keyboard not the hardware/software behind the keyboard.

I realize that there are exceptions, that is why I said “most”.

well, M4 are coming because Apple AI would demand faster chips, so it doesnt matter if people doesnt realize this, is just they couldnt use it or could do it but very slow

 

[Chuckeee]

well, M4 are coming because Apple AI would demand faster chips, so it doesnt matter if people doesnt realize this, is just they couldnt use it or could do it but very slow

And it comes with cool aid too
🤣

 

[chucker23n1]

Are speed bumps really a big thing?

Is anyone really complaining about that with the current Macs?

I think folks are overstating the draw of “even more speed” here.

Yes and no, I suppose. For native stuff, my M1 Pro MacBook Pro (ten cores, 32 GiB RAM) still works well. For virtualization, such as to run Docker containers, or Windows in Parallels, I could use a little more oomph. But more importantly, in those scenarios, I would also benefit from even more RAM.

(Sure would be nice if macOS allowed native containerization.)

 

[chars1ub0w]

Most important thing for M4 for me is my need for more RAM.
On the M1 Max, I am at 64GB only. So limited.
Could do with 192GB. Or just 128GB.
That sawtoothing is due to GC kicking in. Slows down my code.
SSD size is not so important, 4TB is enough, can always use one or more Thunderbolt 4 4TB/8TB external SSD for data storage.

 

[polyphenol]

I'll be looking to upgrade my M1 mini (8GB/256) to something with at least 16GB. Choice will be determined very largely by prices. Most memory for least cost!

Extra processing power doesn't seem that important - but an increase would be welcome. And storage - 512 is enough. (256 is just a bit tight.)

 

[Sptzz]

Nice to see 4th generation of stuttering/skipping audio, jittery/stuttery page scrolling garbage, frame drop animations system wide. But hey you can export your video 3 seconds faster for only 5k!

 

[cocoua]

Nice to see 4th generation of stuttering/skipping audio, jittery/stuttery page scrolling garbage, frame drop animations system wide. But hey you can export your video 3 seconds faster for only 5k!

that's a pretty short resumen for so many bugs macOS is carrying out nowadays xD

 

[Sptzz]

that's a pretty short resumen for so many bugs macOS is carrying out nowadays xD

It actually saddens me because the MBP is still the best laptop ever made, construction wise, speakers, form factor, everything. MacOS is decades behind at this point. I have a much better experience with Windows 11. Ultra snappy, super smooth, fast af, heavy applications open instantly whereas on macOS it takes 8 seconds to open a browser. etc etc etc

Plus the above, which I suffer a lot. Scrolling and changing tabs whilst listening to youtube causes audio skipping, scrolling on webpages isn't smooth, it frame drops all the time, it's horrendous. If the next macOS major update doesn't change this I'm afraid I'm going back to Windows

 

[cocoua]

It actually saddens me because the MBP is still the best laptop ever made, construction wise, speakers, form factor, everything. MacOS is decades behind at this point. I have a much better experience with Windows 11. Ultra snappy, super smooth, fast af, heavy applications open instantly whereas on macOS it takes 8 seconds to open a browser. etc etc etc

Plus the above, which I suffer a lot. Scrolling and changing tabs whilst listening to youtube causes audio skipping, scrolling on webpages isn't smooth, it frame drops all the time, it's horrendous. If the next macOS major update doesn't change this I'm afraid I'm going back to Windows

yes, user experience is getting worse for daily common tasks, a snow leopard version is needed. no extra stuff, no minor and confusing changes stuff as in Finder CMD+R for .MOV rotates them, but CMD+R for ALIASES reveals the real file...

 

[kingtj1971]

It actually saddens me because the MBP is still the best laptop ever made, construction wise, speakers, form factor, everything. MacOS is decades behind at this point. I have a much better experience with Windows 11. Ultra snappy, super smooth, fast af, heavy applications open instantly whereas on macOS it takes 8 seconds to open a browser. etc etc etc

Plus the above, which I suffer a lot. Scrolling and changing tabs whilst listening to youtube causes audio skipping, scrolling on webpages isn't smooth, it frame drops all the time, it's horrendous. If the next macOS major update doesn't change this I'm afraid I'm going back to Windows

8 seconds to open a browser? Which one? I honestly haven't timed it on my M1 Max MBP or Mac Studio but I don't recall any real delay opening a browser over doing the same in Windows 10/11?

 

[chars1ub0w]

MacOS is decades behind at this point. I have a much better experience with Windows 11. Ultra snappy, super smooth, fast af, heavy applications open instantly whereas on macOS it takes 8 seconds to open a browser. etc etc etc

Maybe you have lots of junk browser extensions or something, certainly macOS browser opening doesn't take appreciable time.

I have macOS, Windows 11 and Ubuntu Linux. My preferred platform is macOS.

 

[Sptzz]

Maybe you have lots of junk browser extensions or something, certainly macOS browser opening doesn't take appreciable time.

I have macOS, Windows 11 and Ubuntu Linux. My preferred platform is macOS.

Just an example with Edge on a fresh boot. On my desktop PC it opens in less than a second.
Extensions: ublock origin, Phantom, Bitwarden, Return Youtube Dislike.

 

[chucker23n1]

Just an example with Edge on a fresh boot. On my desktop PC it opens in less than a second.
Extensions: ublock origin, Phantom, Bitwarden, Return Youtube Dislike.

M1 Pro.

Safari takes ~1 second to launch for me, then another several seconds to actually restore pages.

Chrome takes ~0.5 seconds.

 

[Eric_WVGG]

blah blah blah Thunderbolt 5

You were right, I was wrong!

 

[cocoua]

I am still amazed Apple doesn't advertise the insanely fast clock speed of the M4 chip, for everyone unaware it's 4.4GHz! (M3 was 4.05GHz), (M2 was 3.49GHz) & M1 was 3.22GHz)... I guess it's not publicly shown in case Qualcomm/Intel tries to just one-up the speed of the chip (and say: hey the new Intel Ultra Whatever chip is faster than the Apple M4).

Side note: I think the M4's CPU clock speed upgrade from the M2's is the biggest leap (for the iPad Pro) because it went from 3.5GHz to 4.4GHz (+0.9GHz in 1 generation).

but high GHz alone just means that the CPU allows that or I am wrong?
I mean, while the heat and power comsumption remains low....