Quick Summary
Apple's M4-powered Macs are expected to launch in October. There will be M4 MacBook Pros, an M4 iMac and a radically different, M4-powered Mac mini.
As we reported last week, Apple is planning some big upgrades to the Mac product line: the M4 processor is coming to many models before the end of 2024. However, while early reports suggested that the new M4s would be available in October a new report says that they'll ship the following month, November 2024.
The report comes from "a reliable source familiar with the matter" speaking confidentially to MacRumors. And it doesn't necessarily conflict with the previous reports of an October launch: the new M4 Macs could be announced then and start shipping a few weeks later. And a very late October launch is likely: last year's "scary fast" event for M3 MacBook Pros happened on the 23rd of October.
So what's coming in this year's spooky season?
Apple's M4 Macs: what to expect
We're told that Apple has four new M4 Mac models ready to go. There's an entry-level, 14-inch M4 MacBook Pro; new versions of the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros with M4 Pro and M4 Max processors; a new M4 iMac; and most interestingly of all, a new and very different M4-powered Mac mini. That's apparently going to be the tiniest Apple computer ever made, with a design that looks more like the current Apple TV 4K than the chocolate-box mini I have on my desk.
The M4s that have appeared in testing logs so far, as reported by Bloomberg, have all been base models, not the M4 Pro or M4 Max versions. But that doesn't mean they aren't imminent.
It's also possible that the new M4s will see the end of the most criticised thing about M-series silicon: the relatively titchy 8GB of unified memory that comes with the entry level processors and some of the better ones too. The M4s are expected to come with 16GB minimum and possibly more in the M4 Max.
