The MacRumors Show: Jon Prosser Talks Apple's New iMac, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro With M4

[MacRumors]

Jon Prosser joins us on this week's episode of The MacRumors Show to talk through all of Apple's major Mac announcements from this week.

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Over the first three days of the week, Apple unveiled the new iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro with the M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips. The chips offer significantly better CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine performance, improved efficiency, higher amounts of unified memory, and more.

The new iMac features USB-C Magic accessories and a refreshed palette of color options. The new Mac mini has been completely redesigned for the first time in over a decade with a radically smaller enclosure and two front-facing USB-C ports. Finally, the new MacBook Pro has a bolstered base model, longer battery life, and a brighter display.

The new iMac and MacBook Pro gain a nano-texture display option and a 12-megapixel front-facing camera with Center Stage and Desk View for the first time. Models with the M4 Pro or M4 Max support Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, and almost all of the new Macs feature better external display support. All of Apple's Macs now start with 16GB of unified memory as standard, including the MacBook Air, with no increase in price.

See more of Jon's work over on his YouTube channel FrontPageTech or the Genius Bar podcast. The MacRumors Show also has its own YouTube channel, so make sure you're subscribed to keep up with new episodes and clips:

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If you haven't already listened to the previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up for our discussion about the first beta version of iOS 18.2 – a significant update that continues the rollout of Apple Intelligence.

Subscribe to The MacRumors Show for new episodes every week, where we discuss some of the topical news breaking here on MacRumors, often joined by interesting guests such as Luke Miani, Matthew Cassinelli, Brian Tong, Quinn Nelson, Kevin Nether, Jared Nelson, Eli Hodapp, Mike Bell, Sara Dietschy, iJustine, Jon Rettinger, Andru Edwards, Arnold Kim, Ben Sullins, Marcus Kane, Christopher Lawley, Frank McShan, David Lewis, Tyler Stalman, Sam Kohl, John Gruber, Federico Viticci, Thomas Frank, Jonathan Morrison, Ross Young, Ian Zelbo, and Rene Ritchie.

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Article Link: The MacRumors Show: Jon Prosser Talks Apple's New iMac, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro With M4

 

[Fuzzball84]

Economies around the world are struggling. I think Apple might struggle to reinvigorate sales of Macs it was expecting to with the new AI push. And that goes for other tech companies too.

The reality is that for most people, especially the introduction of Apple Silicon, they have hardware bought in the past few years that still has years of life left in them for the tasks they will be performing on them.

It’s a minority that will benefit from the increasing power of Apple silicon. The people pushing the hardware to its limits and for which every minute counts. For others, the bottleneck in any workflow will be themselves. So no matter if you’re using a late Intel Mac, an early Apple Silicon Mac, the benefit of the new hardware is practically zero at this point unless you really need something that Apple Intelligence offers.

Likewise for iPhones. People just don’t upgrade as frequently as they used to do, they are spending hard earned money on other things in their life that bring much more value. That’s why new markets around the world are so important for Apple. People are just on upgrade cycles and in some cases won’t upgrade for years.

 

[DarthDon]

USB-A is a good point. Printer, USB-Sticks. Lightning-Stuff...

 

[Naraxus]

There's a name I haven't heard in a long time. Nice guy but horribly inaccurate

 

[skoor101]

Thanks for the laugh.s Really liked the "no update" segment.

 

[picpicmac]

Economies around the world are struggling.

Can you expand on what you mean by "struggling"?

As for growing Mac sales - Apple's own marketing department likely knows more about what the world will buy than just about anybody else. That's why Apple has been able to carve its share out of the small computer sector, being one of the four companies that overwhelmingly dominate that market.

The future of all these small computers is pretty much treading water, market wise. The world wants small handheld devices, not bulky desktops or awkward laptops.

 

[Fuzzball84]

Can you expand on what you mean by "struggling"?

As for growing Mac sales - Apple's own marketing department likely knows more about what the world will buy than just about anybody else. That's why Apple has been able to carve its share out of the small computer sector, being one of the four companies that overwhelmingly dominate that market.

The future of all these small computers is pretty much treading water, market wise. The world wants small handheld devices, not bulky desktops or awkward laptops.

I can expand but won’t. Most people on here know what is meant by a struggling economy. Most politicians, economists, and even the general public.

If you need help with it you could always ask Siri and she will direct you to a relevant resource. 😀

 

[Fuzzball84]

Can you expand on what you mean by "struggling"?

As for growing Mac sales - Apple's own marketing department likely knows more about what the world will buy than just about anybody else. That's why Apple has been able to carve its share out of the small computer sector, being one of the four companies that overwhelmingly dominate that market.

The future of all these small computers is pretty much treading water, market wise. The world wants small handheld devices, not bulky desktops or awkward laptops.

I’ll give you a few hints

Growth rates
Inflation
Policy
Debt

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or had your head in the sand, you’d know that those economic issues have been at the forefront of various governments tasks around the world for the better part of 15 or so years.

 

[CarAnalogy]

There's a name I haven't heard in a long time. Nice guy but horribly inaccurate

Pretty sure Apple burned all his sources. His last round of rumors was inaccurate because those were the decoys. Doesn’t seem to have tried much since.

Considering how good his recent parody video was, he might want to pivot to that.

 

[fathergll]

Dan comparing a maxed out $4700 Mac Mini with 8TB of storage to a base $4000 Mac Studio Ultra with 1TB of storage and then asking which one you would want to pay for is one of the weirder comparisons i've seen in a while. 🤣

 

[BradMacPro]

One of the comments they had was the new Mac mini lacks the SD-XC card slot in front like a Mac Studio has. I see three problems with that. The new Mac mini is so lightweight that putting in a card on a Mac that won't sit still on the desk would be frustrating. Unlike a much heavier and therefore stable Mac Studio. Also that connector takes up a lot of space inside the machine, and the tiny Mac mini doesn't really have the space for that. And finally it's a marketing thing, that not having it on the Mini, more people might consider the Mac Studio instead. And a final thought, as Mr. Prosser noted, he no longer uses SD cards. Maybe Apple has read the tea leaves and also came to the same conclusion and dropped it because people are using these cards less. And front mounted dongle for a SD card reader would do for those few people who need it.

 

[amartinez1660]

One of the comments they had was the new Mac mini lacks the SD-XC card slot in front like a Mac Studio has. I see three problems with that. The new Mac mini is so lightweight that putting in a card on a Mac that won't sit still on the desk would be frustrating. Unlike a much heavier and therefore stable Mac Studio. Also that connector takes up a lot of space inside the machine, and the tiny Mac mini doesn't really have the space for that. And finally it's a marketing thing, that not having it on the Mini, more people might consider the Mac Studio instead. And a final thought, as Mr. Prosser noted, he no longer uses SD cards. Maybe Apple has read the tea leaves and also came to the same conclusion and dropped it because people are using these cards less. And front mounted dongle for a SD card reader would do for those few people who need it.

I agree, there’s this constant complaint regarding keeping USB-A, HDMI, SDCard, etc… instead of just embracing the ultimately more flexible “everything port”: Thunderbolt 4/5.

Sure thing for some legacy situations it would need a dongle, but if an option is available, why would you?
An HDMI screen won’t charge your laptop and would rather be connected through the TB one if it has it.
Also an HDMI and SD reader (and a DVD reader, depending on how far back people feel stuck) ultimately makes the machine bulkier too, permanently… Also TB ports daisy chain.

I have an M3 Pro 18GB 1TB, and I’m truly glad it has all these ports and readers, like many I welcomed their comeback too… however, objectively, I have used the HDMI port a total of never times.

 

[CarpalMac]

Economies around the world are struggling. I think Apple might struggle to reinvigorate sales of Macs it was expecting to with the new AI push. And that goes for other tech companies too.

The majority of people clamouring for"AI" are the marketing teams of the businesses that are pushing this gimmick. If anything I am repelled by products where it is mentioned.

 

[Palliser]

Solid episode

 

[michaeljk]

What person buying a MM that plans to use an SD card or USB A won't be buying a cheap hub or dock? Problem solved.

 

[CarAnalogy]

I agree, there’s this constant complaint regarding keeping USB-A, HDMI, SDCard, etc… instead of just embracing the ultimately more flexible “everything port”: Thunderbolt 4/5.

Sure thing for some legacy situations it would need a dongle, but if an option is available, why would you?
An HDMI screen won’t charge your laptop and would rather be connected through the TB one if it has it.
Also an HDMI and SD reader (and a DVD reader, depending on how far back people feel stuck) ultimately makes the machine bulkier too, permanently… Also TB ports daisy chain.

I have an M3 Pro 18GB 1TB, and I’m truly glad it has all these ports and readers, like many I welcomed their comeback too… however, objectively, I have used the HDMI port a total of never times.

I know it's probably about the size of the port, but it galls me daily that I have an HDMI and SD slot I rarely use, but need an adapter nearly every day for Ethernet. I have a USB-C HDMI cable, and can get an adapter for the rare times I need SD.

Really glad they didn't remove Ethernet on the Mini.

 

[Mac mini power user]

I agree, there’s this constant complaint regarding keeping USB-A, HDMI, SDCard, etc… instead of just embracing the ultimately more flexible “everything port”: Thunderbolt 4/5.

Sure thing for some legacy situations it would need a dongle, but if an option is available, why would you?
An HDMI screen won’t charge your laptop and would rather be connected through the TB one if it has it.
Also an HDMI and SD reader (and a DVD reader, depending on how far back people feel stuck) ultimately makes the machine bulkier too, permanently… Also TB ports daisy chain.

I have an M3 Pro 18GB 1TB, and I’m truly glad it has all these ports and readers, like many I welcomed their comeback too… however, objectively, I have used the HDMI port a total of never times.

HDMI is now available on every Mac aside from the MacBook Air (which never had it in the first place, as it had DisplayPort or has Thunderbolt). I think Apple could have kept an SD card slot on the mini, but then again the mini is the entry-level desktop Mac. Certainly they could have HDMI to the iMac. Regarding Thunderbolt being the universal port: this was the rationale for the I/O on the 2016-2020 Intel MacBook Pros. This has proven to be untrue, as SD card slots and HDMI ports continue to be widely used, even if other media transfer interfaces (WiFi, USB cable from camera to computer) and display connection methods (DisplayPort over Thunderbolt, MiraCast) exist. It's about the existing ecosystem, standards, and convenience. Apple found out the hard way with the late Intel MacBook Pro models that too radical changes will lead to pushback (see also Butterfly Keyboard and TouchBar).

 

[Geekett]

The Apple Studio display really needs to be updated. This thing is expensive and massive. So thick and heavy.

I wish Apple release a new ASD as thin as iPad Pro and also a «cheap» display (around 800 $) with the same design as the iMac 24