[16 September 2024] According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is planning another major event for October 2024. After the iPhone event ‘It’s Glowtime’ in September, which was received rather cautiously by many due to the lack of groundbreaking innovations, the next big announcement is now imminent. This time the focus will be on the new MacBook Pro M4, other new Macs and iPads, with the unveiling of the first Apple computers powered by the new M4 chip likely to be the highlight of the event.
What do we know about the M4 in Macs?
MacBook Pro M4: Apple’s new flagship
Apple is expected to equip its MacBook Pro range with the powerful M4, M4 Pro and M4 Max chips. No major design changes are planned, with the focus being on the introduction of the new, faster chips. There is also speculation that Apple could unveil the Mac mini in a completely new, more compact form. This would be the first major redesign since 2010. Despite the smaller design, the new Mac mini M4 is rumoured to have an integrated power supply.
The iMac could also receive an update, although Gurman believes this is less to be the case as the model will not be updated until the end of 2023. Apple has been reluctant to add new features to the iMac in the past, so an update with an M4 chip is under discussion, but should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Power upgrade for iPads at October event?
As well as the Mac news, the iPad is also in the spotlight. The iPad mini, which has been on the market unchanged since September 2021, will finally get a refresh. Rumours suggest that Apple will equip the device with a more modern chip, possibly the A15 Bionic, which will support Bluetooth 5.3 and WiFi 6E. In addition, an improved display should solve the previous ‘jelly scrolling’ problem. The iPad mini’s design is expected to remain largely unchanged.
Another topic could be the 11th generation iPad. The tenth generation iPad has been on the market for two years now and it would be a good time for an update. No specific new features have been announced, but it is not expected to be a major upgrade.
In summary, the upcoming October event could see a major launch of the M4 Macs, especially the MacBook Pro M4, as well as updates in the iPad segment. In particular, the unveiling of the MacBook Pro M4 is likely to excite many Apple fans and tech enthusiasts as it demonstrates Apple’s continued progress in the area of powerful and energy-efficient chips.
Will the Macbook Pro M4 receive a complete Re-Design in October?
[August 5, 2024] According to Marc Gurman, there are increasing signs that almost all Macs will come with the new M4 as early as October 2024, i.e., a Macbook Pro M4, an iMac M4 and a Mac Mini M4. There are said to be several versions of the M4, including M4 Pro and M4 Max. Apple is also said to be working on completely redesigning one of the existing Macs.
Apple MacBook Pro M4: which Macs will have it this year, and which ones next year?
You may recall that in May 2024, the redesigned iPad Pro was the first Apple product to feature the latest generation of Apple Silicon CPUs, the M4. It was only a matter of time before the new CPU would also be available in the Mac product range. This seems to be the case for many models in October 2024, even before the next generation of iPhones is launched.
As we mentioned in June 2024, we expect new MacBook Pro M4 and Mac Mini M4 models in October, 2024. There also signs that a new iMac is on the way. Gurman’s sources additionally say that Apple might be working on a redesign of one of these three based on the new, extremely thin design of the iPad Pro. Could we see new MacBook Pro M4s that are even thinner?
In 2025, the Macbook Air, Mac Pro and Mac Studio will likely be added. It is expected that the Mac Studio and especially the Mac Pro will also receive options for a new CPU design. The rumor mill says that this might be M4 Extreme, two M4 Ultra CPUs in one. It will be interesting to see!
[June 19,2024] Hardware was noticeably absent at this year’s WWDC, but that does not mean Apple isn’t going to release new Macs. According to display analyst Ross Young, there are strong indications that MacBook Pro M4 models, in addition to new Mac Minis, will come out in Q4. Here’s what we know.
WWDC 2024 was all about AI – in disguise
Compared to Google, Meta, and Microsoft, Apple seems to have been taken by surprise by the surge of AI in recent years. While the company has sometimes just waited out trends and then introduced features with its own spin on them, it appears that the tidal wave that is generative AI completely blindsided them.
So, expectations were sky-high at WWDC 2024. Apple introduced iOS 18, macOS 16 (named Sequoia), and updates for the operating systems for Apple Watches, iPads, and their VR production, Apple Vision Pro. To many analysts’ surprise, Apple rarely mentioned AI, and when it did, they renamed it to Apple Intelligence.
In both iOS 18 and macOS 16, Apple Intelligence will bring features like text summaries, automated replies, image generation, and even text generation and research through GPT-4o, where Apple collaborates with OpenAI. Shortly before WWDC 2024, Apple introduced the new iPad Pro, both with an OLED display and their new line of CPUs, M4. That makes it very likely that we’ll soon see MacBook Pro M4 models!
Macbook Pro M4 – What we can expect
Having only recently updated its line of professional laptops to the latest generation of Apple Silicon CPUs M3, it was unlikely that Apple would introduce MacBook Pro M4 models at WWDC. But both Marc Gurman, analyst at Bloomberg and one of the most trusted sources on all things Apple leaks, and display analyst Ross Young believe that MacBook Pro M4 models will come this year.
While we only know about the M4 CPU in the latest iPad Pro, there is enough evidence from past generations to speculate on the upcoming models. Compared to M3, the base M4 model has nine CPU cores instead of eight CPU cores and ten GPU cores instead of eight GPU cores.
M4 MacBook Pro models are expected to arrive in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes, with M4 and M4 Pro CPUs in the former and M4 Pro and M4 Max CPUs in the latter. M4 Pro is likely to come with up to 14 CPU cores, depending on the Macbook model, while the M4 Max will likely bring up to 18 CPU cores. What’s most interesting for music producers, however, is the number of performance cores for each model. Furthermore, the maximum amount of RAM will likely increase to 48 GB for Pro and possibly 256 GB for M4 Max.
When will the MacBook Pro M4 models arrive?
While Gurman has already stated a while back that Apple will likely release MacBook Pro M4 and Mac Mini models this year, display analyst Ross Young recently issued a tweet for subscribers that narrows this down to Q4. Young claims that shipments of panels for both the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are expected in early Q3 of 2024. Which would make a release in Q4, usually in October for new Apple products, very likely!
How Apple will include AI features in its news models remains to be seen. What’s much more important for music producers, however, besides the performance cores, is if the next version of macOS might finally be one that won’t break plugins. Because on this end, Apple’s recent track record isn’t the best.
More on the new Apple laptops
