Apple has begun internal testing of four new Mac models powered by the M4 chip, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports. The company plans to refresh its MacBook Pro, Mac mini and iMac with the next-generation chips as early as October, the first iteration of which was introduced with the iPad Pro 2024.
Developers Spot New M4 Macs
According to the developer logs, shared with Gurmanall four machines tested are equipped with base M4 chips. Three of these Macs have a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU. The fourth model has a different configuration, with an 8-core CPU and an 8-core GPU, a M4 configuration that is still unheard of to this day. All of the M4 Macs tested have at least 16GB of RAM, with some going as high as 32GB of unified memory.
The M4 chip used in the 256GB and 512GB iPad Pros has a 9-core CPU and 10-core GPU, while the 1TB and 2TB iPad Pro models use a version of the M4 chip with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU. The latter configuration will therefore be present in some of the new Macs.
Gurman doesn’t mention the M4 Pro or M4 Max chips, which are expected to be included in the most expensive 2024 Mac mini models, as well as the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros. As always, the Pro and Max versions of the M4 chip will get more CPU and GPU cores, as well as a higher maximum memory capacity.
It remains to be seen whether these more premium variants will be launched at the same time.
Earlier rumors suggested that the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros could get refreshes, and a new, thinner Mac mini, currently in development, would come with M4 and M4 Pro chip options. The Mac Studio and Mac Pro are off the table for now, as is the iMac. They’ll get refreshes in 2025 at the earliest.
One thing is certain, with Apple Intelligence and the arrival of AAA games, the Cupertino company has no other choice than to equip its computers with ever more powerful processors.
In the meantime, we will be getting the new iPhone 16, Apple Watch 10 and AirPods 4 on September 10.