October 30th, 2024

Apple Introduces M4 Pro and M4 Max

Apple has launched the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips, enhancing performance with advanced GPU capabilities, Thunderbolt 5 support, increased memory bandwidth, and improved AI features while prioritizing user privacy.

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Apple has unveiled its latest chips, the M4 Pro and M4 Max, which join the existing M4 chip to form the most advanced family of processors for personal computers. These chips utilize second-generation 3-nanometer technology, enhancing both performance and power efficiency. The M4 family boasts the fastest CPU core globally, excelling in single-threaded and multithreaded tasks. The GPUs have been upgraded with faster cores and a ray-tracing engine that is twice as fast as previous models. Notably, M4 Pro and M4 Max introduce Thunderbolt 5 support and significantly increase unified memory bandwidth by up to 75%. The M4 chip features a 10-core CPU and GPU, while the M4 Pro and M4 Max offer up to 14 and 16 cores, respectively, with the latter achieving up to 2.5 times the speed of the latest AI PC chips. The M4 Max is particularly designed for demanding tasks, supporting up to 128GB of unified memory and 546GB/s memory bandwidth. Additionally, the M4 family enhances Apple Intelligence, integrating advanced AI capabilities while prioritizing user privacy. The new chips also contribute to Apple's sustainability goals, with energy-efficient designs that help achieve up to 24 hours of battery life across devices.

- Apple introduces M4 Pro and M4 Max chips, enhancing performance and efficiency.

- The M4 family features the fastest CPU core and improved GPU capabilities.

- Thunderbolt 5 support and increased memory bandwidth are key upgrades.

- M4 Max is tailored for high-demand professional workflows.

- The chips support advanced AI features while ensuring user privacy.

Apple to upgrade base Macs to 16GB RAM, starting from Apple M4 models

Apple will upgrade its base Mac models to a minimum of 16GB RAM with the M4 chip, enhancing performance and supporting configurations up to 32GB, launching in October 2024.

Alleged M4 MacBook Pro Unboxing Video Reveals These Four Upgrades

An unboxing video suggests a new 14-inch MacBook Pro with a 25% faster M4 chip, 16GB RAM, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a potential Space Black color, expected to launch by November 1.

New Mac Mini with M4

Apple's new Mac mini features M4 and M4 Pro chips for improved performance, is carbon-neutral, includes Thunderbolt 5, and offers enhanced user interaction. Pre-orders start at $599, shipping November 8.

M4 Mini vs. M2 Mini

Apple's new M4 Mac mini features a smaller design, upgraded 10-core CPU and GPU, improved connectivity, and starts at $599, offering better performance than the M2 model.

M4 MacBook Pro

Apple announced the new MacBook Pro with M4 chips, offering up to 24 hours of battery life, Thunderbolt 5, and enhanced features. Pre-orders start today, with availability on November 8.

14 comments

By @mostlysimilar - 3 months

I'm happy that Apple continues to push forward, but I suspect my M1 Max from 2021 will last me a decade or more. It's just a beast of a machine.

I hope they're also working on redesigning the MacBook Pro to feature a display without a notch. I'd buy that instantly.

By @submeta - 3 months

I had ordered an M3 Max 14 inches with 48GB, 1TB, with 16-Core CPU, 40-Core GPU. When I picked up the device last week, the sales person told me I had the right to return it within 14 days because the M4 models were to be released soon. I had paid almost 4600 EUR for that.

Today I happily ordered the M4 Max with 64 GB with otherwise same specs for 4600 EUR!!! Yay! Will return the other device happily.

Thanks @Apple for a huge increase in specs for not even 100 EUR more :)

PS: I just needed the RAM, as my M2/16GB constantly was using swap memory of up to 16GB and was really slow for my taste. I don't do "heavy weight lifting" with it, just leave all apps and tabs open :D

PPS: I use VS Code, Emacs, Firefox (eats my RAM super fast :), and a ton of other apps, and in Firefox I use lots of web based apps (Figma, Lucid chart, Canva and some more)

By @coffeeindex - 3 months

Meanwhile my M1 is still a racehorse for 90% of my use cases

By @exabrial - 3 months

Why aren't they benching it against the M3?

By @doctoboggan - 3 months

Around announcements like these I always look for good deals on the previous models. Anyone know any particularly good deals for M2 or M3 based macs now?

By @dcchambers - 3 months

A top-level M4 Max w/ 128GB of unified memory is a beast for local LLM inference. It means we could see an M4 Ultra with 256GB of memory!

I think theoretically you could run inference on Llama 3.1 405B (4 bit) on a Mac Studio which is kinda nuts.

By @SirMaster - 3 months

How do these compare in performance to the M3 Pro and M3 Max?

Seems like the M4 Max has the same "specs" as the M3 Max. Same core count, gpu code count, and memory amount.

By @blackeyeblitzar - 3 months

What’s the case for new MacBook Pros? The design hasn’t changed since the M1 as far as I know, and maybe even earlier with the x86 Retina display MacBook Pro. These minor specification changes don’t make real life use much better. When will Apple do a bigger redesign?

By @shostack - 3 months

Any chance these will be competitive against dedicated gaming PCs with rtx 40xx and 50xx cards?

By @mmwelt - 3 months

> It’s up to 1.8x faster than M1, so multitasking across apps like Safari and Excel is lightning fast

Is multitasking across a web browser and Excel slow on any CPU nowadays?

More seriously, though, it probably shows that CPU speed is not the bottleneck for most tasks nowadays.

By @virgildotcodes - 3 months

Interesting that GPU core counts and max memory remained static from M3 Max at 40 and 128 respectively, cost saving measure to account for the bump from 8 -> 16gb at the low end of the line?

By @starf1sh - 3 months

Equipping the MBA with 16 gigs but maintaining M2 and M3 cpus, thats's an interesting take. I do pity folks who got those with 8 gigs. Their resale value just went down a lot.

By @pkage - 3 months

Dupe of: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41995701 (171 comments)

Apple to upgrade base Macs to 16GB RAM, starting from Apple M4 models

Apple will upgrade its base Mac models to a minimum of 16GB RAM with the M4 chip, enhancing performance and supporting configurations up to 32GB, launching in October 2024.

Alleged M4 MacBook Pro Unboxing Video Reveals These Four Upgrades

An unboxing video suggests a new 14-inch MacBook Pro with a 25% faster M4 chip, 16GB RAM, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a potential Space Black color, expected to launch by November 1.