Top Stories: New M4 MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini!

[MacRumors]

Following the iPad mini launch last week and a tease about Mac announcements for this week, Apple indeed made three key Mac product announcements: new iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro models.

These machines bring the M4 chip series to Apple's Mac lineup for the first time, but each in its own way offers several new features and changes that go beyond processors, so read on below for details on all of the hardware announcements plus the release of iOS 18.1 and related updates with Apple Intelligence!

Apple Announces MacBook Pro Models With M4 Pro and M4 Max Chips, Thunderbolt 5 Support, and More

Apple saved the biggest news as a wrap-up for the three-day flurry of announcements, and that's the MacBook Pro.

The entry-level 14-inch machine with the M4 chip got a major upgrade bringing it closer in line with higher-spec models with features like a space black color option, a third Thunderbolt port, and more.

The higher-end models with M4 Pro and M4 Max chip options take things to the next level with Thunderbolt 5 ports and up to 40 graphics cores for maximum portable performance.

Apple Announces Redesigned Mac Mini With M4 and M4 Pro Chips, Two Front USB-C Ports, and More

As expected, the Mac mini not only received an upgrade to M4 and M4 Pro chip options, but it also got its first design overhaul since 2010 with a significantly smaller form factor.

Other improvements include a pair of USB-C ports and a 3.5mm audio jack on the front for easy access, as well as three Thunderbolt ports on the rear with M4 Pro models featuring cutting-edge Thunderbolt 5.

Apple Announces iMac With M4 Chip, Center Stage Camera, Nano-Texture Display Option, and More

Kicking off the week was an update to the iconic iMac, with the all-in-one desktop getting an upgrade to the M4 chip, a new Center Stage camera, and optional nano-texture display glass to reduce glare.

Apple also finally updated its Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Keyboard accessories to feature USB-C charging ports, moving Apple tantalizingly closer to ending its use of Lightning. But in case you were wondering, yes, the Magic Mouse charging port is still on the bottom.

Apple Announces MacBook Air Now Starts With Increased 16GB of RAM With No Price Increase

In a bit of a surprise move, Apple this week announced that it has boosted the memory on all M2 and M3 MacBook Air configurations at no extra charge, bumping the starting memory to 16GB on all models.

With that change and the rest of this week's announcements, Apple's entire Mac lineup now starts with at least 16GB of memory, which will help support new and future Apple Intelligence features.

Apple Releases iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 With Apple Intelligence

This week wasn't just all about hardware, as Apple also released iOS 18.1, macOS Sequoia 15.1 and other related updates to deliver the first Apple Intelligence features.

Apple Intelligence features are currently available only in U.S. English, but they can be used in most countries as long as the device's region and language are set to the United States. Support for English localizations in several other countries is coming in December, with many other languages rolling out in 2025.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

Article Link: Top Stories: New M4 MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini!

 

[Sirious]

All really good updates honestly. I am not one of those who upgrades their computer regularly but I always get envious when there is new hardware

 

[TheOldChevy]

Should I stay and wait for the Studio with an M4 Max or
Should I go and buy the mini with the M4 pro ?

 

[dynamojoe]

I'm in for a 14" M4 Pro 24G/1T. I'm kinda bummed it won't be delivered until the 19th. Are other M4Pro orders also slow or did I just pick a less-popular config?

 

[adamw]

Glad to see that the M4 Max is very impressive in speed. See this video:

 

[CarAnalogy]

Big week, lots of good upgrades. For the first time since I got this M1 MBP I'm jealous of the new version. 18.1 is good, earnings are...a bleak vision of things to come, but fine for now.

 

[Crow_Servo]

Should I stay and wait for the Studio with an M4 Max or
Should I go and buy the mini with the M4 pro ?

Oh dang, I know this one! Hope someone else has the definitive answer without knowing anything about this person’s use cases…

But in all seriousness, I’m probably going to wait for the Mac Studio, since for the extra $600 it will likely be worth it for the extra benefits.

But I could also save $1000 and get the regular Mac Mini with 512GB storage and 24GB RAM and be just fine.

With Apple, it’s all about willpower. How long can you hold out for the perfect version of your desired product (which may never come)?

 

[tkrsh]

No wifi7 no OLED ? no thank you.

 

[Realityck]

The launching of the most used Mac Products now updated to M4 SoC's now sets up a wonderful season for people that been waiting some time for a technology catch up as well as additional buyers that are new to them. It's the perfect time to announce them just before the mad holiday rush.

This last week is when for example all the new TVs take a nosedive and attract people into stores. All these new Mac models won't help anyone's wallet.

 

[Lihto]

Should I stay and wait for the Studio with an M4 Max or
Should I go and buy the mini with the M4 pro ?

It's tricky.. m4 pro1600$+100$ for 10gigabit.. and studio is 2000$ with 10gigabit, and its gonna come with more ram and M4 Max with 300$ more. This studio should be best buy if they release soon..

 

[Realityck]

No wifi7 no OLED ? no thank you.

IMHO the MBP display they are currently is a decent adaption of a Mini-LED display compared to OLED's for laptops. There are pros and cons with both types, neither is ideal. Eventually it will happen but thats a guess of 2026 presently.

"The 14-inch MacBook Pro has 8,040 miniLEDs spread across 2,010 local dimming zones,
while the 16-inch offers 10,216 miniLEDs across 2,554 local dimming zones."

We all know WiFi7 is very new still, so likely its held back until sometime when Apple makes there own instead od continuing using a 3rd party's.

What You Should Know About Apple's 5G Modem

For the last several years, Apple has been working to create its own 5G modem, with the eventual goal of eliminating the need to use third-party...

www.macrumors.com

 

[Siliconguy]

Should I stay and wait for the Studio with an M4 Max or
Should I go and buy the mini with the M4 pro ?

is the use value of six months of M4 Pro plus resale of the mini worth more than the cost of the Studio M4 Max plus the sale of what you have now?

In other words, will the M4 Pro generate enough extra income in the next six months to be worth the change?

 

[cocoua]

This is very impressive!!

We would need to wait for the ultra to see real PC world competition as CPU is 35% of the performance 3D artist/video editors/ AI world need for work, and the other 65% is GPU performance

 

[cocoua]

Should I stay and wait for the Studio with an M4 Max or
Should I go and buy the mini with the M4 pro ?

Do your workflow evolves around GPU or CPU?

 

[wbeasley]

They muted the iMac rear colours... would have prefered they made the front side less pastel instead.
only the blue and silver look good from the front.

the rest are incipient

 

[apple_mike]

I'm in for a 14" M4 Pro 24G/1T. I'm kinda bummed it won't be delivered until the 19th. Are other M4Pro orders also slow or did I just pick a less-popular config?

I’ve got the following, I assume the same as yours, with Nov 8 delivery. Maybe you missed the first wave.

Apple M4 Pro chip with 14‑core CPU, 20‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
24GB unified memory
1TB SSD storage

 

[patent10021]

When M4 Studio Ultra/Extreme...

 

[JimmyG]

BREAKING NEWS: This just in...Apple's 2024 Mac refresh continued to ignore the HDR content market by steadfastly refusing to provide its long-devoted iMac user base with an XDR iMac. iMac content creators and artists working in HDR for their 1080P, 4K, 6K and burgeoning 8K video and still imagery needs will once again have to continue shopping about to try and cobble something together for their all-in-one HDR needs.

In other news today...

 

[Realityck]

BREAKING NEWS: This just in...Apple's 2024 Mac refresh continued to ignore the HDR content market by steadfastly refusing to provide its long-devoted iMac user base with an XDR iMac. iMac content creators and artists working in HDR for their 1080P, 4K, 6K and burgeoning 8K video and still imagery needs will once again have to continue shopping about to try and cobble something together for their all-in-one HDR needs.

In other news today...

Display support for models other then the base model 8 core M4.
Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at 1 billion colors and:

• Up to two external displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz or one external display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz

Thunderbolt 4 digital video output

• Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C

Video Playback

• Supported formats include HEVC, H.264, AV1, and ProRes
• HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10+/HDR10, and HLG

======
Even if Apple incorporated a Studio Display in a larger iMac it wouldn't be HDR capable, that takes mini-Led or OLED. But as you can see what is stopping anyone from using HDR capable external displays?

 

[dynamojoe]

I’ve got the following, I assume the same as yours, with Nov 8 delivery. Maybe you missed the first wave.

Apple M4 Pro chip with 14‑core CPU, 20‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
24GB unified memory
1TB SSD storage

Yup, that’s what I ordered (plus the edu software bundle) but I didn’t order until Wednesday. Ah well, my own fault for not being ready to pull the trigger. I can wait another two weeks.