New MacBook Pro arrives with M4 Pro, M4 Max, and a black colorway

AppleInsider

Apple has introduced its update to the MacBook Pro, upgrading the chips from M3 to use M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max, and adding Space Black to the mix.

14-inch MacBook Pro

The new 14-inch MacBook Pro and the 16-inch MacBook Pro have finally followed after the iPad Pro in gaining M4. Launched on Wednesday, Apple's update to the portable models gives the movable workstations a lot more performance.

The key of the change is the M4 chip, which offers consumers a considerable performance bump for single-core and multi-core applications over M3. As well as that, Apple's bringing in the M4 Pro and M4 Max to the table.

The M4 has a 10-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores, and a 10-core GPU.

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The M4 Pro is offered with either a 12-core CPU with 8 performance cores and four efficiency cores, or 14 cores with two more performance cores. The GPU is either 16 cores or 20 cores, depending on the version.

The new M4 Max option starts with a 14-core CPU with 10 performance cores and a 32-core GPU. There's an upgrade available to a 16-core CPU with a 40-core GPU.

The memory bandwidth also scales up with the chip tier. While the M4 is at 120GB/s, the M4 Pro goes up to 273GB/s, and the M4 Max hits 410GB/s or 546GB/s, depending on the variant.

While the internals are bolstered with more performance, the rest of the MacBook Pro models are practically the same as the predecessors in many other ways.

This includes the 14.2-inch and 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR displays, offering resolutions of 3,024 by 1,964 and 3,456 by 2,234 respectively. The mini-LED backlit screens have a maximum brightness of 600 nits for standard content, 1,000 nits sustained for full-screen HDR content, and 1,600 nits at a peak.

True Tone, ProMototion, and Wide Color (P3) support return as usual. At the top of the display is a 1080p FaceTime HD camera with an advanced ISP for computational video improvements.

Audio is provided by a six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers, complete with Spatial Audio support and even Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking when using compatible hardware. There's also a trio of mics with high signal-to-noise ratios and directional beamforming, and even a 3.5mm headphone jack with support for high-impedance headphones.

Connectivity-wise, there are three Thunderbolt 5 ports on the M4 Pro and M4 Max versions, depending on the model, while the M4 uses Thunderbolt 4. MagSafe 3, HDMI, and an SDXC card slot round out the physical connectivity options.

Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 are also included for wireless connectivity.

Another change is color, with customers now able to get a Space Black version alongside the existing Silver variant.

Shipping on November 8 with preorders starting from Wednesday, the M4 14-inch MacBook Pro starts from $1,599, and the 16-inch starts from $2,499.



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Galfan

Is it just me or does the M4 Max feels like a less improvement. Maybe it's because M4 Pro took such a leap I was expecting M4 max to become a 16 and 18 CPU with maybe 32 and 42 GPU cores but it remains the same on core counts as M3 Max......I think I got my hopes up a bit too much

blastdoor

Galfan said:

Is it just me or does the M4 Max feels like a less improvement. Maybe it's because M4 Pro took such a leap I was expecting M4 max to become a 16 and 18 CPU with maybe 32 and 42 GPU cores but it remains the same on core counts as M3 Max......I think I got my hopes up a bit too much

Yeah, the M4 Pro was definitely a bigger improvement over the M3 Pro. But part of that is because the M3 Pro wasn't much better than the M2 Pro. So, comparing both M4 Pro and Max to their M2 counterparts, they are similarly large improvements. It's just that for Max, more of that improvement happened during the M3 generation while for Pro more of the improvement happened during the M4 generation. 

9secondkox2

Not going to lie. A bit disappointed that the m4 pro added cores and the Max did not. 

Reserving judgement until performamce reviews come in. But… kinda sad. 

Hopefully we see what the Ultra is all about tomorrow. 

foregoneconclusion

Galfan said:

Is it just me or does the M4 Max feels like a less improvement. Maybe it's because M4 Pro took such a leap I was expecting M4 max to become a 16 and 18 CPU with maybe 32 and 42 GPU cores but it remains the same on core counts as M3 Max......I think I got my hopes up a bit too much

Memory bandwidth difference is what to look at per the Pro/Max versions of the chips. Max can have double the transfer rate. 

nubus

Did MBA M3 and M2 just get 16 GB as minimum? A $200 extra value. Interesting!

twolf2919

Does anyone know if there are any big improvements to SSD speeds of late?  I have a 2021 MBP (32gb, Max chip) and my daily workflow revolves around compiling thousands of  files of code - a faster processor isn't  going to help me much, but a much faster SSD would definitely get me to upgrade.

Well....maybe the new matte display might too: I'm writing this, barely able to read my screen with all the reflection going on :-(

discountopinion

Beautiful machines, cannot afford them at all sadly. Will stick with M1 series for some years more.

smartburro

Wasn’t the Space Grey color changed to Space “Black” for the M3 MBP? During the Apple video they acted like it was a brand new color.  I remember seeing review videos talking about M3 models being noticeably darker but still not black. I could be misremembering though. My memory isn’t what it once was. 

The new models look nice, especially the matte screen option, and I would love to get one. But, my M1 Max MBP with 64GB of RAM is still meeting my needs. Don’t want to drop another $4k + unless I have to. Adding a 4th monitor to my setup would be pretty sweet though…

spheric

9secondkox2 said:

Not going to lie. A bit disappointed that the m4 pro added cores and the Max did not. 

It didn't. They just returned from the castrated M3 Pro to the original market position for the "Pro" CPUs — as basically identical to the Max, except with less graphics power. 

And also an entry-level binned version of the Pro with two cores shut off. 

We're back to the M1 Pro/M2 Pro product lineup. 

HOORAY!

williamlondon

24 hour battery life seems like a good thing with these new beasts.

johnwhite1001

A disappointing upgrade.  Still the unnecessary notch remains.   Really no excuse for it in such a high priced laptop.  An example of what happens when too much work from home  is allowed.   Also has only WiFi 6E when WiFi 7 should have been incorporated.

mpantone

Galfan said:

Is it just me or does the M4 Max feels like a less improvement. Maybe it's because M4 Pro took such a leap I was expecting M4 max to become a 16 and 18 CPU with maybe 32 and 42 GPU cores but it remains the same on core counts as M3 Max......I think I got my hopes up a bit too much

It’s not wise to expect a linearly scaling improvement. Some generations will likely have larger increases than others. And some SoC variants will have bigger increases than others.

Remember that it’s not just core counts or clock frequencies. There are other factors like cache size and memory bandwidth that heavily impact real world performance.

 Comparing simple specs will result in simple conclusions.

tyler82

johnwhite1001 said:

An example of what happens when too much work from home  is allowed. 

Says the person commenting in the middle of the day in the middle of the work week.