If you’re shopping for new Apple products, the iPhone 16 might be on your mind right now. The next-gen iPhone series will be unveiled next Monday. They’ll hit stores less than two weeks later.
But Apple will also update several Macs this year, which will get the new M4 chip that Apple unveiled earlier this year. That chip powers only the 2024 iPad Pro models, Apple’s ultra-thin tablets that feature OLED panels.
New reports say that Apple will launch the M4 Macs in the coming months, with a November release date reportedly in the cards for various models. And it’s probably time to get excited about one particular Mac, the M4 MacBook Pro, because the starting price might be better than ever.
According to MacRumors, Apple will release the new M4 Mac models in November. It’s unclear whether Apple will hold a launch event in October, as it did in previous years. That’s always a possibility but not a guarantee.
A few days ago, reports said Apple had already started manufacturing the 14-inch and 16-inch M4 MacBook Pro models. We didn’t get a release date estimate at the time.
Separately, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also addressed the imminent launch of M4 Macs in the Power On newsletter. The reporter didn’t mention a specific launch window, but he said that Apple will launch M4 Macs starting at the end of 2024 and extending into the first half of 2025.
He mentioned three Mac models that will get the M4 chip: The Mac mini, the iMac, and the MacBook Pro. The former will also receive a big redesign that will include the removal of the USB-A chip. Gurman also said that suppliers from China will start shipping the M4 Mac mini to warehouses worldwide in early September. The M4 Pro version will begin shipping in October. That means Apple won’t unveil the M4 Mac mini until at some point in October at the earliest.
Gurman’s information fits with MacRumors’ report. Apple will likely launch the first M4 Macs at the same time.
A few days earlier, Gurman said Apple was testing M4 MacBook Pro models with 16GB of RAM. That would make this year’s MacBook Pro refresh all the more exciting. Previous variants started with 8GB of RAM, and an upgrade to 16GB cost $200.
If the rumor is accurate and Apple is ready to ditch the 8GB RAM minimum on MacBook Pros, the M4 models will be much cheaper than their predecessors. You’ll save $200 because you won’t have to upgrade to 16GB yourself.
I’d still expect the M4 14-inch MacBook Pro model to start at $1,599, just like the M3 generation. As for the M4 16-inch MacBook Pro, a $2,499 starting price still makes sense. But the M3 variant already starts with 18GB of RAM, and I don’t expect a change there.
While the M4 MacBook Pro RAM upgrade is just a rumor, it makes plenty of sense, considering what’s happening right now. Apple Intelligence is one of Apple’s big focuses. Apple Intelligence will be available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Apple’s AI requires at least 8GB of RAM, regardless of device. That’s why bumping the base storage on the MacBook Pro might be the way to go.
