When will Apple release the first batch of M4 Macs? If reports are accurate, the M4 MacBook Pro models will be the first to launch with the new chip later this year. While Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman already shared an M4 Mac roadmap, display analyst Ross Young is the latest source to corroborate these changes.
In an X post, Young said panel shipments for new MacBook Pro models will begin in the third quarter of 2024, suggesting an end-of-year release. Apple usually holds a Mac-centered event in October. With new Macs and iPads expected for later this year, this would add up.
For the first time, Apple revealed a new M-series chip in an iPad instead of a Mac. In May, Apple unveiled the M4 iPad Pro, the thinnest and most powerful iPad to date. While we had high hopes for iPadOS 18, it doesn’t seem the next operating system update will bring a breakthrough experience for Apple’s most expensive iPad models.
According to Apple, the M4 chip has a powerful new CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores, with next-gen ML generators. Up to 50% faster CPU compared to M2. With a 10-core GPU, it offers Dynamic Caching and hardware ray tracing. M4 can deliver the same performance as the M2 with just half the power. The Neural Engine comes with a 16-core design, with up to 38 trillion operations per second. It’s 60x faster than Apple’s first Neural Engine. This will be useful for the upcoming Apple Intelligence platform.
Alongside the M4 MacBook Pro later this year, Apple will likely unveil the M4 Pro and M4 Max processors for the 14-inch and 16-inch models, making these the most powerful Apple chips. In addition to this laptop, Apple is also expected to unveil a new MacBook Air, Mac mini, iMac, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro with the new chips.
That said, none of these computers are expected to undergo huge design changes as Apple prepares to launch thinner devices and OLED displays for the MacBook Pro in 2026.
