It seems like the wait for M4 Macs may not drag on too much longer, as a leaker has restated a previous promise that new MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac models with the M4 chip remain on target for launch later this year.
Bloomberg’s Mark Guman previously said to expect these refreshes between the end of 2024 and early 2025, so he seems to have settled more firmly on the former possibility (add seasoning, as with any leak).
Last October, the M3 chip debuted in the MacBook Pro and iMac during Apple’s ‘Scary Fast’ event. So, we could perhaps expect an October launch for these rumored M4 Macs as well, depending on how quickly Apple can move (considering three refreshes represent quite an effort).
Gurman also informs us that we should expect the MacBook Air, Mac Pro, and Mac Studio to get the M4 chip, but not until 2025.
Most of these M4 Macs, this year and next, will be focused on making the devices more powerful with that big processor upgrade and peppier AI performance will be a major part of that, according to the report.
In short, we shouldn’t expect much in the way of changes with these incoming Macs aside from the addition of the M4 chip, though at least one model is apparently set for “more dramatic changes.”
It remains to be seen which Mac could get that dramatic overhaul, but it probably won’t be the MacBook Pro M4 later this year, going by current rumors. Also, we’re not going to see an all-new iMac 27-inch with M4 either, you may recall.
While we are confident that the M4 chip will appear in some Macs at the end of this year, we must remain cautious until Apple makes official announcements about these next-gen devices.
Do we need a refresh though?
Unfortunately, I need to get on my soapbox about the current trend in the tech world of pumping out new products continuously on what feels like such a relentless basis.
Yes, it’s great to get fresh Macs every year in one respect, and I understand that the M4 chip is going to push much further with AI capabilities – and that Apple has to keep up with the overall pace of the industry in the world of PCs.
But we’ve only just got M3 Macs, really, and this constant rush for new hardware feels like a poor choice in environmental terms. Indeed, the whole impact of driving forward with AI is something of an environmental nightmare – it feels like the industry is very much in a rush to get somewhere, fast, without giving enough thought to how that might affect the wider world.
Via MacRumors