Cupertino, California – Apple is gearing up to introduce its new MacBook Pro models featuring M4 chips towards the end of 2024. The M4 chips are anticipated to bring enhanced performance and new artificial intelligence capabilities to Apple’s popular laptop lineup. The upcoming M4 MacBook Pro is expected to focus on AI functionality and may come equipped with an upgraded Neural Engine with a significant increase in cores, setting the stage for improved performance in handling AI tasks.
The current lineup of M3 chips boasts a 16-core Neural Engine, but Apple has not made changes to the Neural Engine cores for a number of years. With the launch of the M3 chip last year, Apple transitioned from the 13-inch MacBook Pro to the 14-inch MacBook Pro, offering three different chip options. The entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, starting at $1,599, is slated to receive the standard M4 chip, which is likely to feature similar CPU and GPU capabilities as the current M3 chip.
For those seeking a more powerful option, Apple is set to refresh the higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M4 Pro and M4 Max chips, which are expected to offer even more robust performance capabilities. The M3 Pro currently provides up to a 12-core CPU and up to an 18-core GPU, while the M3 Max offers up to a 16-core CPU and up to a 40-core GPU. Details regarding the CPU and GPU improvements for the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips are yet to be revealed.
While no design changes are rumored for the MacBook Pro lineup at this time, a refresh of the internal components is expected with the M-series update. Apple’s last design update for the MacBook Pro was in 2021, coinciding with the shift to Apple silicon. Based on Apple’s past design refresh cycles, the next design tweak for the MacBook Pro is likely to occur in 2025 or 2026.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro is anticipated to receive the M4 chip in late 2024, with the higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models expected to follow suit in late 2024 to early 2025. The launch timeline suggests that consumers may see the new M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max variants released simultaneously or staggered over several months. Considering that the M3 MacBook Pro models were unveiled in October 2023, a refresh around October 2024 seems to align with Apple’s product release schedule.