Apple updates MacBook Pro laptops with new M4 Pro and M4 Max chips

Apple's new M4 processors promise improvements in CPU and GPU performance from generation to generation MacBook Pro 14 And MacBook Pro 16 Laptops. The new M4 Pro and Max chips, which follow Apple's M4 and M4 Pro updates iMac And Mac Mini Desktops will also potentially bring better and faster AI performance and battery life.

The M4 chips all feature a 16-core 2nd generation neural cluster, which is slightly faster than the first generation and is designed to support early Apple Intelligence features. These features will continue to roll out with macOS 15.1 and future updates. The M4 has up to 10 CPU and 10 GPU cores, while the M4 Pro has up to 14 CPU and 20 GPU cores and the M4 Max has up to 16 CPU and 40 GPU cores. This means there's likely a big jump in performance between the Pro and the Max when it comes to gaming. The biggest jump over the M3 generation is the Pro, with a significant increase in memory bandwidth of 150 GB/sec. to 273 GB/sec.

All MacBook models including M2 and M3 MacBook Air (with an expected M4 upgrade early next year) will now have at least 16GB of memory, as that's really the minimum required for AI processing via an integrated GPU like AppIe's. However, there is no price increase for the entry-level models. The entry-level MacBook Pro 16 has 24GB of RAM instead of 18GB.

Physically, there are no visible changes to any of the MacBook Pros, with the exception of an additional Thunderbolt port on the 14-inch model, for a total of three ports; All systems with an M4 Pro or Max have Thunderbolt 5 ports. (You finally get an upgrade from the 1080p FaceTime camera to the 12-megapixel center stage camera. Yay!) The M4 model of the 14-inch model is now also in Space like the higher-end versions Black available.

Thanks to the new tandem OLED video controller in the M4 chips, the Liquid Retina XDR displays can achieve up to 1,000 nits in SDR, plus the option for the new non-reflective nanotexture layer. It increases the price of both sizes of laptops by $150.

And battery life is expected to be a few hours longer than before in some cases, but as always this varies greatly depending on the internal components and battery capacity.

The MacBook Pro 14 starts at $1,599 (£1,599, AU$2,499) and the MacBook Pro 16 starts at $2,499 (£2,499, AU$3,999). Pre-orders begin today and systems are scheduled to ship November 8th.