Apple just revealed the MacBook Pro M4, updating its perennial best laptop contender with its latest chips. But these new 14-inch and 16-inch laptops don’t just pack the same silicon found in the latest iPad Pro, iMac and Mac Mini — they’ve also got two speedier versions as well: the M4 Pro and M4 Max.
I’m even happier to note that, just like with the iPhone 16, there’s a greater uniformity among the MacBook Pros, so you don’t sacrifice as much by getting the entry-level model. Oh, and Apple’s also fixing the memory issue that reviewers have lamented for years. Preorders are live now ahead of the 2024 MacBook Pros’ Nov. 8 release date, so it’s the perfect time for me to analyze the news to help you know if it’s time to buy or time to wait. Because while the new MacBook Pros look like the best MacBooks Apple’s made, they’re still priced that way as well.
The new MacBook Pro features Apple's latest chips, gives all users a trio of USB-C ports and offers the Space Black colorway to the entry-level M4 model too.
What do the MacBook Pro M4 spec bumps add under the hood?
While we love the MacBook Air for most users, the MacBook Pro exists in Apple’s lineup for the self-selecting crowd of performance-hungry individuals who need the best they can buy. To that end, you won’t be surprised to hear that the latest generation of Apple’s in-house chips packs an improved punch from last year’s, though those with last year’s excellent MacBook Pros with M3 definitely don’t have as much reason to reinvest. However, those using first-generation Apple silicon-based hardware should expect to see a difference.
For example, image processing in Affinity Photo is 1.3 times faster on the regular M4 version of the 14-inch MacBook Pro than it was on the MacBook M3 and 1.8 times faster than the 13-inch MacBook Pro M1. Expect similar gains for the M4 Pro-based 16-inch MacBook Pro working on 3D visualization in Cinema 4D and the Max 16-inch MacBook Pro performing scene rendering in the Redshift 3D renderer. Those kinds of applications can serve as a guide for helping figure out which flavor of the M4 chip is best for you.
Upgrading from M4 to M4 Pro to M4 Max gets you increasingly more CPU and GPU cores, which means more torque for everything, including gaming. That’ll make it perfect for top Mac games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Resident Evil 4, and well equipped for the incoming port of critically adored action game Control, which will feature ray tracing-enabled graphics. The company also notes that the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips feature a Neural Engine that’s up to two times faster than what the M3 Pro and Max packed, which it claims will provide “blazing” performance for Apple Intelligence, the company’s new tool kit that includes generative AI features and the new Siri you can now type to.
The MacBook Pro’s display tech has more or less stood still this year, as it seems the company hasn’t figured out how to bring OLED — which we saw on the iPad Pro M4 — into its laptop format. That said, you still get a gorgeous Liquid Retina XDR display with up to 1,000 nits of brightness that I loved in my MacBook Pro M3 review.
Speaking of brightness, your screen should stay aglow longer, as Apple’s now quoting up to 24 hours of battery life, beating last year’s estimates by two hours. Plus, Apple’s adding the anti-reflection nano-texture display that modifies the panel’s glass, an optional upgrade we’ve seen in both the iPad Pro M4 and iMac M4. Those who tote their laptops into very bright environs will see the value in this optional upgrade to their screen’s glass panel.
Apple doubles down on default MacBook memory
Apple’s announcement today also affects all its MacBooks, as the MacBook Pro M4s are a part of a lineup-wide shift to 16GB of starting memory, doubling the 8GB allotment Apple had been defaulting to for years. This is a huge deal for tab and app hoarders such as myself, but it’s not exclusive to the MacBook Pro either.
Apple is also giving that memory bump to the MacBook Air M2 and M3 models it currently sells, which will keep their existing pricing. For those looking for a stationary Mac, the iMac M4 and Mac Mini M4 also start with 16GB of RAM.
Apple gets the MacBook Pro M4’s design and ports right
Those who look very closely at their laptops probably felt a bit irked by how Apple gave only two USB-C ports to the entry-level MacBook Pros with M3 and three USB-C ports to those with the M3 Pro and M3 Max. Fortunately for 2024’s shoppers, the MacBook Pros with M4, M4 Pro and M4 Max all offer three USB-C ports for connectivity. This is a huge difference for display connectivity, among other needs.
However, the MacBook Pro M4 is still the baby brother on USB-C, as its ports use the Thunderbolt 4 spec and are kinda left in the dust by Thunderbolt 5 in the MacBook Pros with M4 Pro and M4 Max. This new generation of connectivity offers multiple 8K monitor connections (as opposed to dual 4K displays), up to 540Hz gaming performance (up from 240Hz) and maximum bandwidth of up to 120GB per second (three times that of Thunderbolt 4).
Each MacBook Pro M4 is also available in the same two colors: the traditional silver and the stylish Space Black option introduced last year. That might not sound like great news, but Apple previously only offered Space Black for the Pro and Max chip-equipped models.
Just like with the iMac M4, Apple has also upgraded the webcam on all MacBook Pro M4 models from a 1080p FaceTime HD sensor to a 12-megapixel shooter. This upgraded camera offers the Center Stage tool that can adjust the zoom to try to keep you in the frame as you move around.
To those of you who hear this and think “overkill alert,” you’re not wrong. But that’s the great thing about a MacBook Pro: Buying now means getting a future-proof laptop, especially if you go above and beyond the regular MacBook Pro M4.
The takeaway
This year’s MacBook Pros are all about choice and ports, and sometimes both. Not only do all MacBook Pros with M4 give you a trio of speedy Thunderbolt 4 USB ports for connecting devices and extending your display but you’ll have the option of Space Black no matter which M4 chip you put in your MacBook Pro. And this is all while these 2024 updates to the 14-inch and 16-inch models maintain last year’s model’s starting prices. We’re not quite ready to stamp our approval on these workhorses, so stay tuned for our full review.
Henry T. Casey is a writer for CNN Underscored covering electronics. He reviews hardware and accessories to help Underscored audiences make the right purchases for their needs. Something of a movie buff himself, he's a member of multiple movie theater membership programs and collects physical media.
