Now that the iPad mini 7 rollout is complete, Apple will unveil several M4 Macs next week. The list includes the highly anticipated M4 MacBook Pro refresh. The cheapest version of that laptop has already leaked from Russia. Local YouTubers were able to get their hands on devices that were probably stolen from a warehouse.
The base M4 MacBook Pro should bring a big upgrade many users have requested: 16GB of RAM in the cheapest configuration. That should be great news to anyone looking to upgrade this winter, not just for the performance but also for the price. Apple is unlikely to increase the MacBook Pro’s starting price, so the 16GB memory upgrade should come free of charge.
If you’re looking for an even cheaper MacBook featuring the M4 chip, you’ll have to wait for the M4 MacBook Air. The 13-inch and 15-inch variants of Apple’s lighter, more portable laptop will not be part of the fall 2024 release schedule. But a new report says the new Air will launch very soon, as Apple is about to start production.
Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman says Apple’s M4 MacBook Air release date should be set for early 2025.
Gurman said Apple should release the M4 MacBook Air after a December software update. The new laptops are likely to arrive between January and March in the first quarter of 2025.
The schedule makes sense, considering that Apple updated the MacBook Air with the M3 chip last March. Before that, Apple introduced the M2 15-inch MacBook Air in June 2023.
The new M4 MacBook Air will not be different from its predecessors. The 13-inch (J713) and 15-inch (J715) machines should feature the same design as the MacBook Air launched in 2022. It’s unclear at this point what other upgrades might be in the cards for the laptop aside from the big M4 chip update.
Apple introduced the M4 chip earlier this year with the OLED iPad Pro refresh. The big selling point of the M4 will be Apple Intelligence, of course. But the chip should also be faster and more energy-efficient than the previous versions. It’ll be interesting to see whether the M4 will give the 2025 MacBook Air any sort of battery life boost beyond the already great battery life of its predecessors.
Gurman mentions the M4’s ray tracing support as another major update. High-end games use ray tracing to handle light processing better. Gamers expect the feature from devices that can support AAA games. The iPhones also support ray tracing, which was introduced with the A17 Pro chip that powers the iPhone 15 Pros.
The M4 MacBook Air won’t be the only new product Apple launches early next year. The reporter says Apple will use the same spring product release cycle to unveil the iPhone SE 4, brand-new iPad Air models, upgraded iPad keyboards, and the new entry-level iPad 11 models.
It’s too early to tell whether Apple will host a media event in early 2025. But the M4 Macs aren’t likely to see a press conference, considering that Apple has decoupled them from the iPad mini 7 launch. Instead, Apple will hold hands-on demos for select video creators.
Finally, Gurman said Apple is also working on the iPhone 17, including the thinner iPhone 17 Air.
