In a surprising twist, the first product to ship with the new Apple M4 chip wasn't a Mac, it was the new iPad Pro. As exciting as that is for iPad fans, it's leaving many Mac fans wondering when their devices will get an M4 refresh.
On May 7, Apple unveiled its cutting-edge M4 chip designed to take AI capabilities on Apple Silicon to a new level, launching right in the heat of an AI boom in consumer tech. However, while the iPad Pro M4 is certainly a sleek device, Macs remain the preferred Apple products for power users. Luckily, we may not have to wait much longer to see the M4 Mac line-up.
Here's everything we know so far about the potential release window for the M4 Macs, the chips each model could get, and why Apple put the iPad first this year.
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While Apple still has yet to officially announce the M4 Mac line-up, it did reveal macOS 15 "Sequoia" and Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024 on June 10. Both will run on the M4 Macs, which we expect to see later this year, potentially as early as October 29 based on Apple's release date patterns.
Only a week after the WWDC keynote presentation, there are new rumors circulating about the next generation of MacBooks: they may be getting an ultra-thin design update. Apple is reportedly planning to make the iPhone, MacBook, and Apple Watch much thinner, following the iPad Pro M4's lead. The MacBook Pro M4 could be the first Mac to feature this new ultra-thin design, but we'll have to wait and see.
Here's a look at some of the recent news and rumors on the M4 Mac line-up:
- Apple is making the iPhone, MacBook and Watch thinner, but what's the catch?
- When will Apple launch everything announced at WWDC? Every upcoming release date
- ChatGPT on iPhone, iPad, and Mac: Release date, price, and if it works on your device
- MacBook Air M4: Everything we know so far
M4 Mac makeover rumored for late 2024
As surprising as it is to see the powerful M4 chip launch in an iPad first, the Mac might not be far behind. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple may be gearing up to announce the first M4 Macs at the end of the year with more to follow in 2025. A late 2024 launch makes sense considering Apple announced the first M3 Macs in October 2023.
The entire Mac line-up is getting an M4 makeover, too. There will reportedly be at least three varieties of the M4 chip, most likely following a similar pattern to the current M3 line-up, which includes the M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max.
The M2 series had a fourth member, the M2 Ultra, which has yet to appear in M3 form. Apple may bring the Ultra back with the M4 series, although it likely won't arrive until 2025 if Apple still plans to release an M3 Ultra Mac.
We won't know for sure until we get an official announcement from Apple, but the new round of M4 Macs will likely include:
- Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, and Mac Mini with base M4 chip
- Macbook Pro, Mac Studio, and Mac Mini with M4 Pro chip
- Macbook Pro and Mac Pro with M4 Max chip
- Mac Pro and Mac Studio with M4 Ultra chip
The first group of M4 Mac devices will most likely be the Pro line-up with the Air models following in 2025, similar to Apple's release schedule for the M3 Macs.
The highlight of the M4 generation is AI, so we can expect to see Apple show off on-device AI capabilities when they unveil the first M4 Macs. This is especially true after the announcement for Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024 in June. Apple Intelligence is Apple's new AI platform, which is designed to run mainly on-device (as opposed to through the cloud).
The M4 Macs and Apple Intelligence
It's difficult to understate the importance of AI in the next generation of Apple products. While it was a little late to the party, Apple has joined the AI boom now that it announced its new Apple Intelligence platform. This new suite of AI features will roll out in stages over the next several months and into 2025. It will also play a major role in Apple's plans for the M4 Macs.
When Apple announced Apple Intelligence at WWDC 2024, it focused heavily on privacy and security, which have become major concerns after controversy surrounding leaders in the AI world like OpenAI. Privacy has always been a top priority for Apple, so it's no surprise that the company is making it a central part of its AI plans.
However, making AI completely private is no small feat. The best strategy for ensuring privacy is keeping all of the AI's processing on the user's device (that is, no data gets sent to a cloud server where it might be saved, exposed, or exploited). The only challenge is, on-device AI requires quite a bit of processing power.
That's where Apple's M-series chips come in. Apple has been slowly beefing up the neural processing units (NPUs) in its M-series chips, which means these chips are getting better and better at processing AI tasks. NPU performance got a nod in Apple's announcement for the M4 chip in May, but it will likely be a star of the show in the M4 Mac presentation since people are far more likely to use a Mac for AI tasks than an iPad.
Plus, the first round of Apple Intelligence features will likely be out on macOS 15 by the time Apple unveils the first M4 Macs. So, Apple will want to emphasize that the M4 Macs have the strongest on-device AI performance yet, both to promote the new Macs and encourage people to try out Apple Intelligence. The M4 Pro and M4 Max chips will also likely get a big NPU performance boost to offer even more AI processing power.
Why did Apple put the M4 chip in the iPad first?
Since the launch of Apple Silicon in 2020, Apple has announced new M-series chips in Mac devices first. So it's perplexing that Apple chose to start with the iPad for the M4 generation.
One possible reason for this unusual release schedule could simply be awkward timing. It's only been about 7 months since Apple launched the first round of M3 Macs, but it didn't release any new iPads in 2023. Plus, it was no secret back in May that several of Apple's competitors were getting ready to launch devices with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, one of the only AI processors that can compete with the M4 chip.
Apple likely wanted to announce the M4 chip before the first devices with the Snapdragon X Elite hit shelves, which happened in mid-June, just days after WWDC 2024. Due to the timing of its Mac release schedule, starting with an M4 Mac may have been technologically unfeasible and could have hurt M3 Mac sales. The iPad, on the other hand, was long overdue for a refresh.
The iPad is also a less complicated device than the Mac line-up, particularly the high-end Macs. The iPad doesn't need the more powerful versions of the M4 chip like the M4 Pro or Max. By starting with the iPad, Apple was able to get the M4 generation out the door while still giving its product development teams more time to get the more powerful versions of the M4 chip ready for the Mac line-up.
While Mac fans may be disappointed they won't be getting the M4 chips first, it looks like they won't have to wait much longer. We'll be covering all the latest rumors and news on the M4 Macs, Apple Silicon, and Apple Intelligence, so stay tuned for more info.
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