New M4 Macs are expected to launch on November 1

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware

Apple's next hardware event will take place in late October, with at least the MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iPad mini expected to ship on November 1.

M4-equipped MacBook Pros will be the highlight of Apple's late October event.
M4-equipped MacBook Pros will be the highlight of Apple's late October event.



As has been rumored for some time, Apple is expected to show off its updated MacBook Pro lineup, offering a low-end 14-inch model with the M4 processor, as well as higher-tier 14-inch and 16-inch models with the M4 Pro or M4 Max chips in an event in late October.

The report by Bloomberg disclosing the dates also mentions the expectation of a new iPad mini.

M4 MacBook Pro & Mac mini -- at least



Ever since the introduction of the M4 varieties of iPad Pro, there has been demand for Apple to do the same for its Apple Silicon Mac models.

Apple is expected to make big changes to the M4 Mac mini

Rumors predict a new smaller form factor that shifts away from its long-running design for something even sleeker. There's even talk of it having five USB Type-C ports instead of USB-A.

An M4 MacBook Pro could be arriving soon
An M4 MacBook Pro could be arriving soon



A more obvious change would be to the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro. Updated in fall 2023, a one-year gap between updates would be reasonable for Apple's flagship Mac offering.

A revision to the iMac is possible, but almost nothing has been rumored about it recently, other than a possible 32-inch version. The MacBook Pro and Mac mini releases seem like a lock for November 1.

iPad, iPad mini



Both the iPad and iPad mini haven't been updated for quite some time. The iPad was last refreshed in the fall of 2022, while the iPad mini hasn't seen an update in three years.

While rumors haven't said much about the base-grade iPad's updates, the most likely change -- if one arrives in October -- will be a spec-bump update to a more modern chip. This makes sense as Apple would want to bring Apple Intelligence to as many devices as possible, and that would include the iPad.

Tablet displaying a colorful home screen with multiple apps and widgets, placed on a white surface against a purplish background.
The iPad mini hasn't been updated in three years.



For the iPad mini, there are a lot more possibilities, including a shift of the front camera to the side so it can be better used in a landscape orientation. There are also thoughts that the rear camera could be updated to a 48MP sensor to match the iPhone 16, rather than staying on a 12MP version.



Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    h4y3sh4y3s Posts: 85member
    I asked ChatGPT "about what year did all the computers in the world equal to the computing power of an iPhone 16" and it calculated that would have required millions of computers from the late 80's or early 90's, so around then! 

    I was at Thinking Machines then, we had just sold a 1024 processor (each with 1 MB RAM!) machine with 1024 1GB hard drives, for $25M, which would become the world's most powerful computer by about 5x). We couldn't buy 1GB RAM though we scoured the Earth! It shipped with 512MB and we filled in the rest after 6 months!  

    My iPhone 16 ProMax is about 25X the power of that machine, and it runs off of a 1 ounce battery!
    williamlondonnubusbonobobapple4thewinsurgefiltermarklarknetroxstevedownunderwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 19
    Would it be too much to ask for an Apple Studio update with the rest of them? I know the current Wunderzwillinge united squad arounde it being delayed until the WDC, but wouldn’t it just make more sense to release them all at once?
     
    My internal Devil’s Advocate says that releasing too many M4s at the same time would put far too much pressure on M4 production line and could create a really bad backlog
    williamlondonbonobobsurgefilterwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 19
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,578member
    T.bias said:
    Would it be too much to ask for an Apple Studio update with the rest of them? I know the current Wunderzwillinge united squad arounde it being delayed until the WDC, but wouldn’t it just make more sense to release them all at once?
    Mac Pro and Mac Studio likely to be updated in the second half of 2025, and thus likely announced at WWDC.

    And without getting into a long-winded explanation, no it would not make any sense for Apple to release all its products at once for many, many, logistical and manufacturing reasons, among other factors. Even if you just wanted all the Macs (not anything else) released all at once, that wouldn't be practical from a production point of view.

    Tim Cook was the wizard overseeing Apple's manufacturing and logistics before he became CEO, it is precisely because of what he did and his subordinates have done since that the company can produce so many products and categories of products across a given year.
    williamlondonronnsurgefiltermike1watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 19
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,570member
    chasm said:
    T.bias said:
    Would it be too much to ask for an Apple Studio update with the rest of them? I know the current Wunderzwillinge united squad arounde it being delayed until the WDC, but wouldn’t it just make more sense to release them all at once?
    Mac Pro and Mac Studio likely to be updated in the second half of 2025, and thus likely announced at WWDC.

    And without getting into a long-winded explanation, no it would not make any sense for Apple to release all its products at once for many, many, logistical and manufacturing reasons, among other factors. Even if you just wanted all the Macs (not anything else) released all at once, that wouldn't be practical from a production point of view.

    Tim Cook was the wizard overseeing Apple's manufacturing and logistics before he became CEO, it is precisely because of what he did and his subordinates have done since that the company can produce so many products and categories of products across a given year.
    I’m skeptical. The Mac Pro and Mac Studio have tiny volumes compared to just about every other product they sell. I seriously doubt it would be a big logistical issue to release these at the same time. 

    The only non-marketing reason I can think of for waiting until much later to release the high end desktops is if Apple is making a bunch of m4 ultras for ACDC purposes and wants to use every one they can get for that purpose.
    williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 19
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,499member
    blastdoor said:
    chasm said:
    T.bias said:
    Would it be too much to ask for an Apple Studio update with the rest of them? I know the current Wunderzwillinge united squad arounde it being delayed until the WDC, but wouldn’t it just make more sense to release them all at once?
    Mac Pro and Mac Studio likely to be updated in the second half of 2025, and thus likely announced at WWDC.

    And without getting into a long-winded explanation, no it would not make any sense for Apple to release all its products at once for many, many, logistical and manufacturing reasons, among other factors. Even if you just wanted all the Macs (not anything else) released all at once, that wouldn't be practical from a production point of view.

    Tim Cook was the wizard overseeing Apple's manufacturing and logistics before he became CEO, it is precisely because of what he did and his subordinates have done since that the company can produce so many products and categories of products across a given year.
    I’m skeptical. The Mac Pro and Mac Studio have tiny volumes compared to just about every other product they sell. I seriously doubt it would be a big logistical issue to release these at the same time. 

    The only non-marketing reason I can think of for waiting until much later to release the high end desktops is if Apple is making a bunch of m4 ultras for ACDC purposes and wants to use every one they can get for that purpose.

    I suspect that Mac Studio 2025 with M4 Ultra will be a significant upgrade for many users since I am sure Apple is ramping up the numbers of neural cores which do much better than GPU cores at machine learning. 


    macxpresssurgefilterwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 19
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,933member
    T.bias said:
    Would it be too much to ask for an Apple Studio update with the rest of them? I know the current Wunderzwillinge united squad arounde it being delayed until the WDC, but wouldn’t it just make more sense to release them all at once?
     
    My internal Devil’s Advocate says that releasing too many M4s at the same time would put far too much pressure on M4 production line and could create a really bad backlog
    I assume you mean Mac Studio...Those are probably waiting for the M4 Ultra and/or M4 Extreme (if one does exist) which won't be until next year. I'm guessing the Mac Studio will only have the M4 Max and M4 Ultra models available similar to how they're configured now with the M2, leaving the M4 Ultra and M4 Extreme for the Mac Pro to better differentiate the 2 models. 

    You're most likely correct in saying the releasing too many M4 models would overwhelm production with long wait times to get your order delivered. 
    williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 19
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,933member
    netrox said:
    blastdoor said:
    chasm said:
    T.bias said:
    Would it be too much to ask for an Apple Studio update with the rest of them? I know the current Wunderzwillinge united squad arounde it being delayed until the WDC, but wouldn’t it just make more sense to release them all at once?
    Mac Pro and Mac Studio likely to be updated in the second half of 2025, and thus likely announced at WWDC.

    And without getting into a long-winded explanation, no it would not make any sense for Apple to release all its products at once for many, many, logistical and manufacturing reasons, among other factors. Even if you just wanted all the Macs (not anything else) released all at once, that wouldn't be practical from a production point of view.

    Tim Cook was the wizard overseeing Apple's manufacturing and logistics before he became CEO, it is precisely because of what he did and his subordinates have done since that the company can produce so many products and categories of products across a given year.
    I’m skeptical. The Mac Pro and Mac Studio have tiny volumes compared to just about every other product they sell. I seriously doubt it would be a big logistical issue to release these at the same time. 

    The only non-marketing reason I can think of for waiting until much later to release the high end desktops is if Apple is making a bunch of m4 ultras for ACDC purposes and wants to use every one they can get for that purpose.

    I suspect that Mac Studio 2025 with M4 Ultra will be a significant upgrade for many users since I am sure Apple is ramping up the numbers of neural cores which do much better than GPU cores at machine learning. 


    Absolutely! If you have either an M1 series Mac or an Intel Mac even more so. If the M4 Extreme is a thing for the Mac Pro I cannot imagine how much power it would have. With the thermals on the Mac Pro combined with the efficiency of the M4 series I bet a user could run it at unlimited 100% CPU usage and not have it overheat or even clock down. 
    williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 19
    thttht Posts: 5,664member
    One would hope that Private Cloud Compute would provide a place for a lot of Mac Pro units to go. Use it as an opportunity to design a Mac Pro that would work well in a rack and on a desktop. Big difference would be to have the Mac Pro be able to host these rumored compute units. Whether they are PCIe cards, custom backplanes, who knows, but it is an opportunity to have a lot of Ultra SoCs shipped and Mac Pro and Mac Studio units would be a nice side benefit.
    h4y3swatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 19
    gwmacgwmac Posts: 1,813member
    I don’t imagine anyone is requesting or care about sleeker desktop Macs. Personally I would prefer a thicker one with great cooling and tons of ports so I can throw away all these hubs I need because my Mac lacks enough ports. 
    80s_Apple_Guymacmaniacblastdoorwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 19
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,729member
    Hopefully Apple will get the WiFi on the Mac mini figured out. Getting the M2/M2 Pro version of the Mac mini to work with anything other than the 2.4 GHz channels has been impossible. It's hard to believe that Apple cannot get something so fundamental to work correctly. Lots of online chatter concerning this flaw from owners. Crickets from Apple.
    williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 19
    iPad mini with Face ID and an M chip for Apple Intelligence please.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 19
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    iPad mini with Face ID and an M chip for Apple Intelligence please.
    I’d guess an M2 or possibly an A18 …. No way on the Face ID or a better screen (except fix for jelly scrolling)
    edited October 6 watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 19
    dewme said:
    Hopefully Apple will get the WiFi on the Mac mini figured out. Getting the M2/M2 Pro version of the Mac mini to work with anything other than the 2.4 GHz channels has been impossible. It's hard to believe that Apple cannot get something so fundamental to work correctly. Lots of online chatter concerning this flaw from owners. Crickets from Apple.
    It seems your experience is very different than mine. I haven't had any issues connecting to the 5 GHz channels. I wonder if it is a combination of the router and Mac Mini that is causing the issue.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 19
    y2any2an Posts: 226member
    This was surely inevitable as the launch of Apple Intelligence needs credible desktop and laptop targets. 
    diman80watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 19
    mpantonempantone Posts: 2,238member
    It's clear that Apple doesn't have the bandwidth to refresh their entire Mac lineup at the same moment. It's not just a manufacturing issue, it's more about the software as well as hardware engineering. So to mitigate this, they focus on the mainstream/higher volume products first (notebooks, Mac mini, and now iPod Pro, etc.) before pivoting to the M-series Max and Ultra SoCs and the products that rely on those chips.

    I also have a hunch that a certain number of hardware and software engineers have been more recently focused on getting Apple Private Cloud Compute systems up and running before directing their attention to Mac Studio, Mac Pro, etc. One thing I don't expect is for Apple to market the Apple Private Cloud Compute hardware -- it will remain in-house for internal use only. It is naive to assume they will resurrect the long-dead Xserve product as a shipping SKU.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 19
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 3,121member
    If the Mac Pro  included in October updates, I don’t think it will get an m4 st all. It may end up the first machine launched with the m5 generation. P
    erhaps even with the rumored “extreme” variant. 

    Would be awesome to see an m5 ultra 32” iMac next year too. Perfect time for it. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 19
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,480member
    mpantone said:
    It's clear that Apple doesn't have the bandwidth to refresh their entire Mac lineup at the same moment. It's not just a manufacturing issue, it's more about the software as well as hardware engineering. So to mitigate this, they focus on the mainstream/higher volume products first (notebooks, Mac mini, and now iPod Pro, etc.) before pivoting to the M-series Max and Ultra SoCs and the products that rely on those chips.

    I also have a hunch that a certain number of hardware and software engineers have been more recently focused on getting Apple Private Cloud Compute systems up and running before directing their attention to Mac Studio, Mac Pro, etc. One thing I don't expect is for Apple to market the Apple Private Cloud Compute hardware -- it will remain in-house for internal use only. It is naive to assume they will resurrect the long-dead Xserve product as a shipping SKU.
    The mini is already Apples rack product I would not be surprised if the new design was able increasing rack density and easy of deployment. And that Apple recycled lots of m2 minis from current hosting companies for the initial release. 

    Then when the hosting companies rollout m5 or m6 hardware cloud compute gets the m4 recycled machines.

    Leaves then the option for Apple to expand cloud compute to user deployments of recycled minis in the second version or so. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 19
    The Mac Mini has stayed the same shape and size since the days when it incorporated an optical drive. A size reduction is 14 years overdue. Then they can either make the 'Studio' Mini-sized or just eliminate it as a bad idea.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 19 of 19
    timmillea said:
    The Mac Mini has stayed the same shape and size since the days when it incorporated an optical drive. A size reduction is 14 years overdue. Then they can either make the 'Studio' Mini-sized or just eliminate it as a bad idea.
    Mac mini is not a bad idea at all.
    27" iMac also has it's market.
    Size reduction for Mac mini is long overdue, especially since there are no upgradable internals.
    watto_cobra
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