M4 MacBook Pro packaging leak gives hope for an October event

AppleInsider

Packaging for the M4 14-inch MacBook Pro may have leaked, ahead of the rumored October event.

MacBook Pro could get M4 chips this fall

After failing to appear during September's "Glowtime" iPhone 16 event, the Mac and iPad lines are anticipated to turn up during a second one. With an October event becoming a possibility, it seems that at least one Mac line will see an update during it.

In a Sunday X post by serial leaker "VNChocoTaco," an image is provided for what could be a sticker for the back of a MacBook Pro box.

M4 14" Macbook Pro ?
Not confirmed, take it with a pin of salt. I got sent this. pic.twitter.com/kbIRYurndw

-- ShrimpApplePro (@VNchocoTaco)

September 29, 2024

The sticker is labeled for a 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M4 chip, 16GB of memory, and 512GB of storage. This may not necessarily be for a base model MacBook Pro, as the M3 version had 8GB, 16GB, and 24GB memory capacities.

The rest of the listed specifications seems similar to the existing model, including three Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI, an SDXC card slot, and MagSafe 3.

While the image is seemingly laid out correctly and resides above an Apple security strip, there's no guarantee that it's actually genuine. The leak poster also admits "Not confirmed, take it with a pin (sic) of salt. I got sent this." There is a market for faked Apple product security strips, for fraudsters to empty out a box, and replace it with a similar weight, and a faked security strip.

And, there appears to be a typo. An indistinct section of text seems to say that the box contains a "16-inch MacBook Pro."

However, while we cannot tell if the leaked sticker is genuine, it seems to be a plausible set of details, other than the aforementioned 16-inch MacBook Pro inclusion. Aside from being sourced from an fairily prolific leaker with a decent history, It matches the current-gen MacBook Pro for the most part, which would be the case for a spec-bump update.

Rumor Score: Possible

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raymondai

…Easily read the serial nos. by the barcode….will it let Apple find out the leaker…?

Xed

raymondai said:

…Easily read the serial nos. by the barcode….will it let Apple find out the leaker…?

They could also do it by the WiFi and BT MAC addresses.

9secondkox2

um... does Apple usually use the verbiage "Mx CHIP" on it's packaging. That's new to me. They usually specifiy the exact chip configuration (i.e. M3, M3 Max, etc) where they communciate it. But they usually don't put the SOC configuration in that location.

Not saying there isn't validity to an already rumored October event as there is precedent - just that this packaging is a bit dubious. Looks like existing packaging with specs photoshopped on.

in fact, I am not sure Apple puts the SOC on these stickers. I thought it was just RAM and SSD storage.

Also, that pull tab is waaay closer to the sticker than would normally be the case for a laptop box. someone when through the trouble of placing it so that you can see the pull tab and think it's the box. That's some effort and good thinking - if you're trying to pass off a fake. but apple puts the sticker in the middle of the underside of the box. not toward the bottom where the pull tab is.

Then there are the artifacts in the sticker copy.

Then there's the pull tab somehow being placed on top of the sticker. 

There are too many issues with this image.

I'm going to say fake.

 

Compare to this:



In fact, notice the bottom left corer of the top box where the pull tab is. See the shadowing there? Looks kinda like the shadowing on the close-up image sent to ShrimpApplePro. Even the angle is similar. I wouldn't doubt this was the source image used in the photoshop. some bleiding modes, adjustment layers to trhow off the contrast and tone. rotate slightly, and voila. Low res looks like a cheap zoom in rather than a fresh photo. Don't know whay a faker wouldn't just go to a store and get a nice close-up of the box.

cpsro

"10-core CPU" alone might be a major improvement. All base M3 processors are 8 core.

9secondkox2

raymondai said:

…Easily read the serial nos. by the barcode….will it let Apple find out the leaker…?

No, since that code will lead to an already resold unit that never had this spec sticker on it.

cpsro

9secondkox2 said:

In fact, notice the bottom left corer of the top box where the pull tab is. See the shadowing there? Looks kinda like the shadowing on the close-up image sent to ShrimpApplePro. Even the angle is similar. I wouldn't doubt this was the source image used in the photoshop.

The images look very different to me. The text layouts are entirely different--text is left justified versus centered. The whole layout of specifications and certifications is organized completely differently.
What looks oddest to me is that the product description is so close to the pull tab and there's no visible bottom edge of a product description stick-on label.

blastdoor

cpsro said:

"10-core CPU" alone might be a major improvement. All base M3 processors are 8 core.

We already know the M4 has 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores.

danox

Awesome I hope Apple sells as many of those MacBook M4 Max (192 gig) machines that they can to the power users in AI development. It would’ve been really great if the Mac Studio M4 Ultra (256 gig) could’ve made the cut this year…..

https://bair.berkeley.edu/blog/2024/05/29/tiny-agent/  Apple is perfectly position to provide hardware solutions to talented young coming up.

williamlondon

danox said:

Awesome I hope Apple sells as many of those MacBook M4 Max (192 gig) machines that they can to the power users in AI development. It would’ve been really great if the Mac Studio M4 Ultra (256 gig) could’ve made the cut this year…..

But when it does get released, what a screamer of a machine that will be.

Edit: first time I tried to post this an authentication box appeared on the left for a moment, looked like it approved, then disappeared, and then didn't post my comment. Is it supposed to be interactive? What's up with that?

le studios

Put this under Click Bait/Fake News. 🤣

9secondkox2

cpsro said:

9secondkox2 said:

In fact, notice the bottom left corer of the top box where the pull tab is. See the shadowing there? Looks kinda like the shadowing on the close-up image sent to ShrimpApplePro. Even the angle is similar. I wouldn't doubt this was the source image used in the photoshop.

The images look very different to me. The text layouts are entirely different--text is left justified versus centered. The whole layout of specifications and certifications is organized completely differently.
What looks oddest to me is that the product description is so close to the pull tab and there's no visible bottom edge of a product description stick-on label.

Not referrign to how similar the spec sheet is. referrign to how similar the base image is. The spec sheet is fake and someone copied and pasted from another source onto it. There are so many things wrong with that photo.

100% fake.

Xed

williamlondon said:

danox said:

Awesome I hope Apple sells as many of those MacBook M4 Max (192 gig) machines that they can to the power users in AI development. It would’ve been really great if the Mac Studio M4 Ultra (256 gig) could’ve made the cut this year…..

But when it does get released, what a screamer of a machine that will be.

Edit: first time I tried to post this an authentication box appeared on the left for a moment, looked like it approved, then disappeared, and then didn't post my comment. Is it supposed to be interactive? What's up with that?

It's a bug. Best practice for now is to copy your post BEFORE you hit Post Comment just in case that appears and doesn't actually post your comment.

edit: I just had it, but I copied my reply so I was able to post it again with ease. I assume that AI is aware of this issue.

eriamjh

This is so fake.

stenar

I don't see anywhere that it says it contains a 16-inch MacBook Pro. It looks to me like it says 14, but the bottom of the 4 is not showing up because of the lighting.